Debate: Is global warming an issue?
Side: Yes

It is absolutely and issue and to say that it is not is to deny basic facts about science.-Sea level rise is being measured; that's a fact that has been observed all over the world.-Glaciers are retreating, and ice caps are melting at an alarming rate; that has been observed all over the world over the last century.-CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation; that is a fact that exists all over the universe including here. The Planet Venus has active geology, which has given the planet what Astronomers call a "runaway greenhouse effect." The Average Global Temperature on Venus is around 900 degrees fahrenheit. It is hotter on Venus than it is on Mercury, which is MUCH closer to the sun. So, we know CO2 traps heat; that is not up for debate. -Earth naturally has CO2 in its atmosphere because Earth has active geology (not nearly as active as it is on Venus); that is why the planet is inhabitable at all, and isn't -200 degrees at night and +300 during the day. So, we know what CO2 does, factually.-CO2 comes out of your car's tailpipe; that is a fact that everyone should know by now. CO2 also comes out of smokestacks and industry. We know that; it is not up for debate. -CO2 levels have risen exponentially since the industrial revolution (when we started using fossil fuels for energy on a wide scale). This is not a conjecture. It has been observed. Today we have levels of CO2 that the planet has not seen in over 800,000 years, when we had a much more active geology and no broadleaf vegetation. -The AGT of Earth has risen at the SAME exponential rate as the CO2 levels starting at the same time, almost like magic, except it's science; this has also been observed.-We are seeing a mass extinction beginning as a result of climate change. It will likely be every bit as bad as what happened to the Earth when the dinosaurs were killed. My friend who is a scientist at a University in Florida is doing research on this very topic, and he is seeing it for himself in the everglades. Most of the arguments against all this evidence are from people that either do not understand the science and evidence behind it, or it does not fit their political views, so they reject it. The problem is, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, you still live on the same planet and scientific laws and theories still apply to you. This is one of those times when "conservatives" should stop denying science or they risk becoming irrelevant and going the way of the whig party. 98% of scientists with PhDs from all around the world are not denying these truths because it would be stupid for them to. Since 2012, there have been around 2500 peer-reviewed scientific journals that were written by over 9000 respected scientists. ONE of them denied climate change. Everything I said about climate change can be found on NASA's website: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ It can also be found on ANY reputable science website. None of this is made-up conjecture. I don't care what party you belong to, facts are facts, and we are seeing it happen. It isn't a hypothesis. The theory regarding CO2 trapping heat has been around since the 1890s, so this theory is nothing new; now we just have a century of evidence, and evidence from other planets, to corroborate it. Denying that global warming is a problem is absurd at this point. We see it happening, and it has been happening. To deny it, you would have to:-Deny that CO2 traps heat, which it does on earth and on other planets, which is observable.-Deny that sea levels are rising, which is an observable fact.-Deny that glaciers are retreating, which is an observable fact.-Deny that heat melts ice, which it does on your counter when you set an ice cube on it; you can watch that happen in your home.-Deny that there is a mass extinction happening, which is observable.-Deny that CO2 levels are rising, which is observable.-Deny that the Average Global Temperature of Earth is generally rising, which is observable.Again, any reputable scientific website will explain everything I just said. If you don't believe me, hopefully you'll defer to the brilliant minds that put a man on the moon: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/If you do not have a PhD in science and think you know more about science than NASA, you're pretty much beyond my help.