You'll see how scientists tease out ancient climate records from ice cores, tree rings, coral growth patterns, lake sediments and even monastic records. You'll find out why it's so hard to predict the effects of perplexing feedback systems. Low clouds shade the planet and cool it. High clouds trap heat and warm it. Watch that air space.
Some effects appear contradictory.
For example, burning fossil fuels puts plenty of carbon dioxide into the air. But it also generates a lot of sulfate aerosols that make clouds shinier and reflect more incoming sunlight back into space before it can hit the Earth. Moreover, carbon dioxide is, undeniably, plant food. Humanity dumps between 6 billion and 7 billion tons of carbon into the air every year. But only about half stays there.