Dr. Roy Spencer's new website is worth visiting. It explains very well what is going on. A responsible scientific approach is needed, not an alarmist political approach. Cap and Trade is a money making and control scheme.

Please see http://www.drroyspencer.com/index.php

The ice is disappearing due to increased soot pollution, primarily from China. When you darken snow and ice, it melts much more quickly. See the results of a simple demonstration I did at: http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2008/04/a_simple_experiment_1.html .

Recent published scientific research demonstrates that 94% (!) of the ice melt is due to darkening rather than 'global warming.' In fact, temperatures were colder than normal in the arctic this past summer yet there was still a relatively large ice melt.

You can demonstrate for yourself that soot is the primary factor by watching this graph, updated daily: http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/seaice/extent/AMSRE_Sea_Ice_Extent.png .

If warm temperatures were causing less than normal ice, it would stay below normal throughout the year. However, the fact that the ice rapidly recovers to normal or greater extent in winter (when there is no sunlight in polar regions) indicates it is the darkening of the ice field that causes the rapid melt.

Now, one could argue that melting due to soot is a bad thing and it may well be. But, changing CO2 levels will have virtually no effect on soot melt.

With regard to lessening ocean heat content, upload: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/goos/meetings/2008/XBT/S_Levitus.ppt and go to slide 16.

You can see a graph of the lowering sea level here: http://sealevel.colorado.edu/ .

With regard to Soros' comments about boosting 'green' energy, General Electric is doing the opposite. It is throwing in the towel on 'green energy.'

From The Wall Street Journal, "General Electric is the latest to throw in the towel, after the abrupt departure of Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. The conglomerate, which makes energy gear like wind and gas turbines as well as underwriting renewable-energy projects, says it is bailing out of the clean-tech investment game for now, once it finishes with existing projects"

Hope this answers your questions.

Mike

Incidentally, you might want to visit my site. It's one of the most popular green investing sites on the web. It also covers the latest related global news and research too. It's at http://investingforthesoul.com/

Best wishes, Ron Robins

1. Atmospheric temperatures are the coolest they have been in more than a decade: http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/uah_msu_sept2008.png

2. Ocean heat content (even more important than #1) has been dropping for 5 years (Levitus, slide 16).

3. Sea levels are falling. http://www.topix.com/world/australia/2008/08/sea-levels-falling

Cheer up! Actually, the news these days is quite good on the global warming front.

Mike