Horace, > Is this just a guess?
There have been a number of recent computer simulations. The number that keeps popping up, such as in this Oxford University report, is that dangerous levels of climate change will happen as early as 2026. Other studies how sooner but this date of 2026 seems most accurate for such things as the total extinction of seals, polar bears etc. and methane levels which will cause human deaths in large numbers in artic regions. http://baltimorechronicle.com/021005Davidson.shtml The United States is the only country with land in the Arctic region that has not signed the Kyoto Protocol. This is a critical step because as you are no doubt aware, the Northern ice cap is warming at twice the global rate... That is probably why you feel that "runaway" has already begun. But in some areas, there is little or no warming, which is why there is any argument at all. If we could send all the skeptics of global warming to Alaska for a tour of the situation, there would probably be no skeptics left who were not on the petro-payroll. Jones
