Quote Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF View Post
Of course it's sensible. We are fully aware that changes like this can and do happen on a regular basis without the existence of Humans, nevermind our modern technological industry. Why, then, should we presume that this instance is an exception to those, except through an arrogant presumption that we are oh-so-important and that nothing can happen unless we're involved? What about the fact that Mars is undergoing global warming, and her icecaps are melting? Could the sun perchance have something to do with that? Or is that somehow our fault as well?

As to emissions - you're right about cause-effect relationships happening in sequence. What you're wrong about is the sequence. Temperature changes happen first, and then emissions change. Usually several hundred years later.
Of course the climate changes without our involvement. But it doesn't follow from that therefore we have no effect, or that changing our behavior won't have any effect. Sure, there are other factors working to influence global climate. But anyone who says humans don't have a major effect is just a fool. We may not "destroy the earth" but clearly we have the power to make the planet less hospitable for humans.

What emissions are you talking about? Are you saying we emit more carbon or other gases into the atmosphere as a result of changing climate?

Ultimately, our global climate is changing, probably based on a large number of factors both in and out of our control. Given the options of doing nothing and blaming it on the sun, and curbing pollution to reduce human-caused negative effects, the produnt choice is to fix what we can. Saying that we have no effect just serves to rationalize the easy choice of doing nothing. Just about the only people left advocating that course of action are contrarians and oil companies.

edit: concernign the Mars South Pole melting, see RealClimate » Global warming on Mars? Réchauffement global sur Mars ?.