Scarcely a day goes by without Global Warming being mentioned on a news or weather bulletin, but, oddly six out of ten of the British public believe that 'many scientific experts still question if humans are contributing to climate change', and that four out of 10 'sometimes think climate change might not be as bad as people say'. In fact, climate scientists are fully agreed that global warming is happening, and that it is man - made. This points to a massive failure by the media to communicate the truth accurately.

The evidence that global warming is not just a theory, but is actually taking place, is summarised in these 12 points.

1. Global temperatures are rising, as shown by the graph below.

2. Carbon Dioxide has increased from 280 parts per million in pre-industrial times to 377 ppm, the highest concentration for 650,000 years. CO2 is of course the main greenhouse gas, produced by buring sncient stores of coal, oil and gas.

3. Extreme weather events are increasing. We hear of floods and droughts all the time, and the miserable summers of 2007 and 2008 are examples of weather changes. Any one weather event is not proof of anything, but when seen on a world basis, the trend is clear, as the next graph shows:

4. Glaciers are melting in many places. In fact, it is difficult to find an account of a glacier that is not melting.

5. The Arctic and Antarctic ice caps are shrinking.

6. Permafrost is melting, causing, among other things, houses in tundra regions to lose their foundations.

Thanks to Cary http://picasaweb.google.com/CaryAdaTrip for this

7. Tropical diseases are spreading.

8. Fish from warmer waters are being found in British waters. http://tinyurl.com/63wugv

9. The Gulf Stream is losing its power, (down 30% at the last report) which could, confusingly, mean a drop in the UK average temperature.

10. Coral reefs are dying.

11. Islands like Kiribati and Vanuatu are finding the sea steadily encroaching onto the land, with rising water tables. http://tinyurl.com/67mex5

12. The jet stream has changed its position. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology report that "the Earth's jet streams, the high-altitude bands of fast winds that strongly influence the paths of storms and other weather systems, are shifting-possibly in response to global warming… over a 23-year span from 1979 to 2001 the jet streams in both hemispheres have risen in altitude and shifted toward the poles. The jet stream in the northern hemisphere has also weakened. These changes fit the predictions of global warming models and have implications for the frequency and intensity of future storms, including hurricanes.

The scientific evidence for these facts can be chased up here:

All these facts are consistent with the predictions of global warming theory. Worse still, there is a likelihood of "tipping points", where global warming kicks off processes which make it happen even more quickly.

The vast majority of climate scientists are convinced that there is a real problem. There are only a few eccentric voices, like the discredited programme put out by Channel 4, who want the people to doubt the reality of global warming. Some of them are in the pay of oil companies like Exxon. Do not let them fool you.

In view of all this, there is no reasonable doubt that our burning of fossil fuels is causing serious changes in our climate, and that the Government should take urgent action to break our addiction to oil, gas and coal, and start a massive programme of energy conservation and renewable energy, together with other measures such as tree planting. This programme can succeed, but it has to be massive - on the scale of the kind of thing that happens in wartime, and it has to start NOW. In doing so, we will be able to kick-start the world economy out of the growing recession.

Global warming is already happening, it is going to be serious, but it can be tackled if everyone - people, business, and governments - take radical action. You can help this to happen by voting for the Green Party, because we are the only party that is prepared to take radical action. Where we lead, the Government will follow.