global warming, anyone?

i'm reading Michael Crichton's 'State Of Fear' and i gotta say, i am really skeptical right now of everything. i mean you guys have all seen/heard the conspiracy theories.. that man never really landed on the moon (apparently it's all videotaped on a set), that alien lifeforms were found in Area 51 (DNA tests have been carried out on remains that were smuggled out), that Atlantis is a real, underwater city (suspicious wall-like formations stretch for miles and miles near the Marianas Trench).. but why do we believe whatever we believe? because for some reason, whatever we read/saw struck a chord with what we wanted to believe.

so everyone's heard about global warming.. by definition, the theory that increased 'greenhouse gas' (CO2, CH4, NOx, CFCs etc) levels are causing an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere. right? why do you believe that? because in the press we see these freakish weather phenomena that have been attributed to 'global warming'. because we know an increase in atmospheric temperatures will lead to changes in weather patterns. note very carefully.. we see these on the press, and the informed opinions we hear/read are all again covered by the very same press. its like using info from a source to justify that source - how do you do that?!

governments are pouring billions of dollars into this 'global warming', creating a need and filling that void. huge investments are being made into disaster prevention and such like.. is any one else slightly suspicious that all this looks too 'artificial'?

i'm not trying to debunk global warming, and i'm not saying that doomsday is here either.. its just that i have serious doubts now.. because when you look at the work of scientists that has been published in peer reviewed journals.. the same set of data can be molded like clay to whatever shape you want.. check this out:

"Antarctic peninsula has warmed several degrees while the interior has cooled somewhat. Ice shelves have retreated but sea ice has increased"

- Science Vol. 296: 895-99

firstly, the Antarctica holds 90% of all the ice on the planet! if i carefully neglect that the Antarctic peninsula only covers 2% of the continent of Antarctica, then i can gladly say yes, global warming is taking place! however, if i add the fact that Antarctica has been melting for the last 6,000 years (since the last interglacial period), then suddenly the statistic that the interior is cooling means that in fact we are on the brink of another Ice Age!!

"During the last four interglacials, going back 420,000 years, the Earth was warmer than it is today"
- Nature Vol. 399: 429-36

does this mean that global warming is a cyclic process?

there are numerous such nuggets of raw data, open to manipulation.. so, who do we believe? my recommendation is that you switch off your comp, get up, go get a drink.. and just chill. whatever has to happen is not gonna happen in our lifetime anyways! hehe!