Global Climate Change

The more I read in State of Fear, the more I start to change my mind about global warming.  When I came into the class I thought that global warming was for sure happening because of humans and the differences were dramatic.  I certainly wouldn't consider myself an expert on the topic, but my opinion of global warming was that it was definitely true and happening.  I believed much of what was told me from news sources and internet sources because I saw many convincing pictures.  What hits me the hardest when it comes to global warming are the pictures of glaciers and their changes.  I have seen several examples of photos taken of glaciers 60 or 70 years ago compared to pictures taken in the exact same location currently.  In some cases, the glaciers are completely gone.  The pictures were so dramatic and showed that of course something was happening.  If global warming wasn't causing the glaciers to melt, then what was?  But after reading the information presented in Chrichton's book, I was very surprised to see that not all glaciers are changing, and in many cases, places are actually getting colder and glaciers are growing.  I have started to wonder if maybe the glaciers melting in some areas are just natural occurrences that are supposed to happen, and there is not any actual harm.   I wonder if global warming is as serious of an issue as it is being presented as.  Crichton's book relates so well to the way global warming has been presented to the United States.  To me, the idea of global warming kind of came out of no where and became very serious.  It started showing up in news stories and more research started being done when I was growing up.  Most importantly, Al Gore's documentary illustrated what global warming was, which kind of sent our country into a global warming frenzy.  Al Gore's documentary reminds me of Henesey's plan to make global warming a serious issue.  Although the book is a much more extreme version, both cases show that the media has what it takes to convince people.  If global warming starts showing up regularly on the news and there is a popular documentary about it, it must be an important topic and very serious. 

So, I don't really know what to think about global warming anymore.  I'd have to do more research on it to firmly decide what side I stand on.