A STUDY of air bubbles trapped in a 3.2-kilometre long ice core from Antarctica, the oldest ever drilled, shows that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today are at their highest levels in 650,000 years.

Carbon dioxide concentrations are 27 per cent higher than any of the past peaks evident in the frozen record of climate change, which spans six ice ages and six warmer interglacial periods, European researchers found.

In a separate study, US researchers have also found that sea levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago.

These new pieces of evidence on the impact of human activity on climate come in the lead-up to a conference on how to combat global warming that opens in Montreal on Monday.

It took European scientists in Antarctica more than eight years to drill the 10-centimetre wide cylinder of ice, working in temperatures below minus 40 degrees. They chose a remote site called Dome Concordia, 1000 kilometres from the nearest base, where the low rate of snowfall had allowed an ancient section of ice to accumulate.

A CSIRO scientist, David Etheridge, said obtaining the ice core and analysing it was a huge effort by the European team that would lead to a better scientific understanding of global warming.

full story at link

source- www.smh.com.au

I wish that someone would've said something to me before I ate that can of chilie a couple of hours ago. Now I feel so guilty!

Greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFC (some forms of hydrocarbons and hydroalkanes). Wheather greenhouse gases are directly responsible for global warming (which we know for sure is a problem) is a issue to debate for some.
In our atmospheric levels these gases are responsible for letting heat from sun pass through or refelct back which in turn affects the temperature of the planet, kind of themal flask for our planet.
Scientific data shows that we have such fluctuations in last 400 mln years and current peak in the climatic changes are those of ice-ages. Besides that they found that CO2 is about 30% higher than at any time, and methane 130% higher than at any time and the rates of increase for CO2 is 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years. so credit does go to industrial revolution in last 20 years which we are part of.
well should we be worried about this ? .. i don't think so ..

I don't think they had factories coughing up green house gases 650 million years ago. I'm not saying that we don't have any effect on global warming but, I think that most of it is the natural cycle.

it may somewhat be a natural cycle-but alot of things are still to blame (pollution). I don't really have a whole to say other than that.
I signed a pledge two weeks ago, along with about another million people to try and stop global warming. (not exactly stop it, but at least help slow the process down). The more we harm the Earth, the quicker it'll happen.

same, I ate some mexican and ruined the atmosphere....sorry

I think all resources would be better used to adapt to the coming changes. It's not man-induced. Man can't stop it, slow it, cause it, or speed it up. All resources that attempt to stop or slow it are a waste.

Pollution shouldn't be confused with Global Warming. I think we should still address pollution problems, but as far as it affects global warming I think it's a political maneuver originally for an economic purpose probably for grant money that got expanded internationally cause as a mantra message, it worked.

where did they get the 650, 000 years ago figure from???

A team of scientists working with European project for Ice coring in Antarctica (EPICA).
They are drilling ice deep inside upto 3 kilometers roughly since 1999.
This particular area in artic region is called as Dome concordia (Dome C). Special thing about this region is atmospheric gases since last 900,000 years are traped in the form of small gas bubbles inside these ice cores.

I would really like to agree on this, but reports in last few years made this issue highly debatable.
Lets take example of Carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases, while natural processes like photosynthesis can absorb some of the net 6.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions produced each year, an estimated 3.2 billion metric tons is added to the atmosphere additionaly from human activities.
If this rate continues to grow Greenhouse gases are going to trap radition from earth more and more resulting rise in avg temp, rise will be miniscular we all know.
But carbon cycle is one of the natural process responsible for managing earth where life can grow and evolve. Debate shouldn't be how much it is going warm up the whole thing, but why we are distubing this process beyond a limit we don't understand, or at least why we are not taking any measure to control it. Especially when we don't know much about it. I don't know if anybody has able to create such a carbon cycle in lab, so 1 would know how much is enough and where to stop with greenhouse gases.

Besides this, the political maneuvering part, it is also true. But its strange, US is front runner in such things especially when UN start discussing about it. But US doesn't seems to be doing propoganda over this. Also we can consider the fact that only 2 countries in the world US and Australia are not supporting the KYOTO pact suggesting some plan to reduce the emissions on earth for controlling greenhouse gases of which 25% of CO2 from fossil fuels is alone from US. Maybe US political circle is upstaging this view that greenhouse gases are not directly related with global warming, which they are quite capable of. However Logically this could be even european lobby hyped up the issue to get some money out from US in emission trading.

If we talk from science perspective, something has happened in last 150 years - industrial; revolution, which was due for growth of human mankind and this will have effects even though not in immediate future.

Not interesting at all, I expected some sort of were all doomed discusion. What a bummer.

It quite simple to know where the CO2 registers from: human actvities involving human made machines. Cars mainly. I mean, you eat sugar it become water and carbon dioxide, but I doubt whether that what making the levels so high.

eating sugar won't generate carbon dioxide, sugar always had carbon, nothing to do with eating part of it. eating sugar cannot raise levels of green house gases i doubt too.