a misnomer...

Global warming is actually a misnomer - a wrong or inaccurate name or designation.

When people hear it they're thinking, "It's gonna get hot." Yes, it's going to get hot, but in the wrong places. All of the talk of the warming is pointing to places like Antactica and the Artic: the massive icebergs falling off of the glaciers; the giant ozone hole at the bottom of the earth. This is causing a major problem for the rest of the world but not necessarily with it getting warmer. Yes, there will be droughts and great heat but what about the rest of the world? Not every place will become overheated.

What it is actually doing is playing havoc with weather patterns, seasonal changes, moisture levels, violent storms, etc.

In Chicago today we have had a snowfall, actually more slush than snow, and we're into April. One commenter on a blog wanted to know where the global warming was. We had warm weather - in February & the beginning of March - 70's. That's unusual. We're having snow today. That's unusual too but not unheard of.

The naysayers on global warming are pointing to the literal act of warming and say that they aren't seeing it. That's not what it's all about. It's much more complicated than this. The Earth is a very large space, no matter how small it seems at times, and has an enormous range of climate differences. Not all are going to be effected in the same way.

The problem is that no one really knows what's going to happen in the long run.

That may be the greatest misnomer. If the experts don't really know what's going to happen and the naysayers are wont to admit that the phenomenum actually exists, will it be too late to do anything about it?

for more information: An Inconvient Truth