CNN.com - What's the buzz?

What's the buzz on ... global warming?
Each week, CNN.com takes a look at trends in the blogosphere by tracking one topic across gender and generation with the help of analysis tools from Umbria Inc. This week the focus is on global warming and a recently released report that makes strong claims humans are to blame for climate change.

(Note: In the chart below, positive sentiment accounts for blogs that acknowledge the existence of global warming, while negative sentiment includes comments that discredit global warming.)

Overall opinion (January 31-February 6)

So what does this mean?
Bloggers are sharply divided on global warming and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that concluded with "90 percent" certainty global warming is linked to manmade gases.

Among bloggers who posted positive comments, many cited the recent report, made recommendations for combating the effects of global warming and claimed that global warming was to blame for Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on New Orleans, Louisiana.

Key factors contributing to negative blog posts about global warming included anger over criticism of the work of climate change skeptic Timothy Ball, the recent cold weather in many parts of the United States and disagreement within the scientific community that global warming exists or is insurmountable.

In their own words
The Commentator on Friendly Misanthropist

For the record, I am one of those that remains skeptical about the hysteria around global warming. Something in its math is not adding up. One problem is the bacteria of special interest that has littered the whole process of discourse. They remind me of people who move forward with picks and shovels heading from house to house trying to convince (and scaring) people of their "noble" cause while laying waste to the paths they walk upon. I don't question their commitment or knowledge, I question their wisdom.

Emme on Simple Living

The past two weeks have brought frightfully cold weather to Minnesota. The past 14 days have been colder than normal. This morning was well below 0 degrees.

Last week brought about the UN climate change findings. With the cold weather here and amounts of snow elsewhere can be confusing. Global warming? where is it? With this weather it can't be happening. Some people have even commented that they would welcome a little global warming.

Well, there is a difference. What we are experiencing now is weather related. Weather is what happens on a day-to-day basis. While climate is long term. We should not confuse weather with climate.

Searchquant on Convenient Untruth
You are perhaps here because you have doubts about global warming. Or you are here because you can't fathom how someone could stoop so low as to want to cast doubt on the human causes of global warming.

In either case (and especially if you are currently a firm believer in anthropogenic global warming) you owe it to yourself to thoroughly research the topic -- including dissenting views. If ever there was a topic that warranted disbelief, critical thinking, and evenhandedness, this is it. What we as a society decide will have an impact for decades to come -- not on the environment as some would have you believe, but rather on a much more variable aspect of human existence, namely the economy.

Alex Steffen on Worldchanging
What's more, while we're heartened by the media's generally good reporting on the severity and unanimity of the IPCC's conclusions, we're a bit disappointed that more reporters haven't picked up on the fact that the IPCC's conclusions are baselines, conservative findings they were sure they could scientifically defend (and in some cases, even less bold than that) and � many serious scientists believe that the most accurate climate models suggest we can expect to see much more dramatic effects, much more quickly, particularly as regards how quickly the seas will rise. Worse, there has been little acknowledgment that some of the major wildcards, like the possible release of massive amounts of methane from melting permafrost, or a huge change in the climate functions of the ocean due to acidification leads to (as Andy Revkin puts it) "a more than a 1-in-10 chance of much greater warming, a risk that many experts say is far too high to ignore."