I suppose it must be obvious to any casual reader of this thread that going to page 1 of this thread and reading forward is probably the best bet. Scads of informative posts peppered through the thread - not by me but by others.
To respond to the baiting going on here is to risk just repeating all that has gone before with little effect for the primary provocateurs, because that's all it is.
I would recommend entering the dialog via certain links, understanding that this is not a this-or-that situation. The 'warmer' (as he was described here) in the video linked above was being dead-on straight about public policy and how the science informs it.
As for the SPM of the IPCC report (2013) - and it's problems/constraints - start one's reading here -
LINK:
RealClimate: A failure in communicating the impact of new findings
If you are interested in some rejoinders to the catch-phrases repeated in the above linked video, you can start here -
LINK:
Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics and what the science really says
Some examples -
- Models are unreliable:
Models successfully reproduce temperatures since 1900 globally, by land, in the air and the ocean.
LINK:
How reliable are climate models?
- "CO2 increase is natural, not human-caused":
Many lines of evidence, including simple accounting, demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the increase in atmospheric CO2 is due to human fossil fuel burning.
LINK:
What is causing the increase in atmospheric CO2?
- "CO2 was higher in the late Ordovician":
The sun was much cooler during the Ordovician.
LINK:
CO2 was higher in the late Ordovician
- "They changed the name from 'global warming' to 'climate change'":
'Global warming' and 'climate change' mean different things and have both been used for decades'.
LINK: http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-global-warming.htm
- "It hasn't warmed since 1998":
For global records, 2010 is the hottest year on record, tied with 2005.
LINK:
What has global warming done since 1998?
TEXT:
"No, it hasn't been cooling since 1998. Even if we ignore long term trends and just look at the record-breakers, that wasn't the hottest year ever. Different reports show that, overall, 2005 was hotter than 1998. What's more, globally, the hottest 12-month period ever recorded was from June 2009 to May 2010.
"Though humans love record-breakers, they don't, on their own, tell us a much about trends -- and it's trends that matter when monitoring Climate Change. Trends only appear by looking at all the data, globally, and taking into account other variables -- like the effects of the El Nino ocean current or sunspot activity -- not by cherry-picking single points.
"There's also a tendency for some people just to concentrate on surface air temperatures when there are other, more useful, indicators that can give us a better idea how rapidly the world is warming. Oceans for instance -- due to their immense size and heatstoring capability (called 'thermal mass') -- tend to give a much more 'steady' indication of the warming that is happening. Records show that the Earth has been warming at a steady rate before and since 1998 and there is no sign of it slowing any time soon (Figure 1). More than 90% of global warming heat goes into warming the oceans, while less than 3% goes into increasing the surface air temperature."
- "Global warming stopped in
1998,
1995,
2002,
2007,
2010, ????":
Global temperature is still rising and 2010 was the hottest recorded.
LINK:
Did global warming stop in <strike>1998</strike>, <strike>1995</strike>, <strike>2002</strike>, <strike>2007</strike>, 2010?
- "CO2 is plant food":
The effects of enhanced CO2 on terrestrial plants are variable and complex and dependent on numerous factors
LINK:
CO2 is plant food
- "Human CO2 is a tiny % of CO2emissions":
The natural cycle adds and removes CO2 to keep a balance; humans add extra CO2 without removing any.
LINK:
How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
- "CO2 is not a pollutant":
Through its impacts on the climate, CO2 presents a danger to public health and welfare, and thus qualifies as an air pollutant
LINK:
Is CO2 a pollutant?
For context:
"We commonly think of pollutants as contaminants that make the environment dirty or impure. A vivid example is sulphur dioxide, a by-product of industrial activity. High levels of sulphur dioxide cause breathing problems. Too much causes acid rain. Sulphur dioxide has a direct effect on health and the environment. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is a naturally occuring gas that existed in the atmosphere long before humans. Plants need it to survive. The CO2 greenhouse effect keeps our climate from freezing over. How can CO2 be considered a pollutant?
"A broader definition of pollutant is a substance that causes instability or discomfort to anecosystem. Over the past 10,000 years, the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide in theatmosphere has remained at relatively stable levels. However, human CO2 emissions over the past few centuries have upset this balance. The increase in CO2 has some direct effects on the environment. For example, as the oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, it leads to acidification that affects many marine ecosystems. However, the chief impact from rising CO2 is warmer temperatures."