Opinions are like elbows, we all have a couple of them. As a non-scientist, but semi-informed layman, I believe that climate change is caused by excess global warming. Excess global warming is caused by often wasteful human activities- especially the burning of fossil fuels. Granted, volcanoes, methane from cows, and the sun are also factors, BUT to assume that the copious burning of fossil fuels does not add to our heat-load is pretty silly. Sixty million gallons of petroleum burned every day is a horrendous amount of heat calories. As is the tons and tons of coal used in the majority of our power plants. It is documented that our cities are in fact 'heat islands', and it is probably because they generate a lot of, well, heat! Climate Change means just that, change. CC does not necessarily mean the overall climate will get hotter. It may even cause major global cooling, and some suspect (myself included) may bring on a new Ice Age. We just don't know. Climate change will cause catastrophic weather events such as droughts, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, decreased crop production, heat waves, increased insect damage, more disease and epidemics, etc. While energy-company funded scientists clamor that CC is just an illusion, or is caused by the sun, it appears a responsible majority of unbiased scientists feel that climate change is real and serious. Until there is consensus on the causes of warming, let us not be distracted from the issue at hand. The issue is that the climate is changing, and very rapidly. Let us not get lost on who is responsible, or how or why or when. We must address what to do about it, not who made it happen. Let's see the forest and the trees and instead use our still considerable remaining energies to fixing the problems. In my opinion, here is how it will play out. Hotter, record-breaking summers. Colder, record-breaking winters. Spring and autumn will virtually disappear, lasting only weeks. Weekly or bi-monthly temperature oscillations may get extreme. Each year the temperatures will continue to break records. The tremendous change in seasonal temperatures will tax our systems to the breaking point. Tremendous winds will rip out much of our infrastructure and buildings. Our economic and industrial ventures will suffer even more. In the end, ice will once again cover much of our world. Climate change is, in my opinion, the third greatest threat to humanity. The second is Peak Oil and the collapse of our culture. The first is Global Thermonuclear War. But then, I may be wrong. I hope so. You may still think that human activities have no effect on our climate. Please, quit using Fox News as your sole source of information.