The Hockey Stick in a Larger Context

The Copenhagen talks have been in the news the last couple of weeks.  The President just today announced a nonbinding agreement between various governments  to pursue measures designed to mitigate rising global temperatures.

I am probably the least knowledgeable person on this issue in the world and I truly have no real stance.  All I know is that a bunch of people say that human-induced global warming is fact, while others say that the jury is still out.  It’s pretty hard for someone to have a confident opinion in such a climate.

One thing I am pretty confident in, however, is that temperatures have fluctuated dramatically throughout Earth’s history – long before the alleged drivers of human-induced global warming existed.  I think this video sums it up pretty nicely for anybody who’s curious:

I’m sure there’s a scientific reason as to why we should think that our actions are what are driving the current hockey stick.  But I can’t help but think it would take a pretty persuasive argument in the face of these statistics.