text: is global warming a result of industrialization?  what are other possiblilities?   industrialization sure contributes to the phenomenon known as global warming. but, if i am to understand correctly, then, according to a scientist featured in a program i once came across on the discovery channel (canada), a couple of hundred million years ago, a most unique event occurred, one most rare and that never before occurred in earth's history.  there are 4 things that can and do dramatically affect the earth's temperature, besides the heat generated by its core. these are volcanic eruptions, especially gigantice ones such as the 1883 eruption of mount krakatoa in indonesia, comet, asteroid and meteroic impacts, what phase the earth is in during its orbit around the sun and, finally, how far towards or away from the sun the axis it revolves around is tilting.  any one of these can reduce the earth's overall temperature and make for a harsher and/or longer winter. two of these create truly severe conditions. but a couple of hundred million years ago, the incredible happened. the earth was in the long and most distant portion of its orbit around the sun, the portion we associate with winter, its axis was at its furthest possible tilt from the sun and it suffered a collision with a space object (though it's not clear yet whether this was a comet or an asteroid).  the fact that it was during its long, winter phase meant that the earth would be cold to begin with and would receive less light and heat from the sun than usual. the fact that its axis was at its furthest point from the sun meant that the winter season would be that much harsher and would last that much longer than usual. but the combined effect of all 3 factors created a vicious cycle.  the winter season meant that temperatures were cold to begin with and that there was snow and ice on the ground already. the distantly pointing axis and the particulates from the collision kept temperatures cold and reduced them further. this meant that come spring and summer, much less snow and ice melted than usual and at a much slower rate. this in turn meant that by the time the next winter season came, the precipitation (snow and ice) of the last one was still for the most part on the ground. this created a larger mass of ice and snow, which froze into ice. this larger mass further sucked even more heat from the air around it and the ground below it. that further reduced temperatures, which caused even more precipitation to fall and accumulate, resulting in an even larger mass of ice and snow. this created permanent glaciars and permitted the creation and growth of pernanent icecaps at the 2 poles. these events have since locked the earth in an ice age. an ice age has two periods, a warming period and a cooling period.   so what does this have to do with global warming you ask? until such time as at least some scientists became convinced of the phenomenon you know as global warming, the earth was in a warming period. it is my opinion and belief, given the available data, that, just as the earth experienced the simultaneous occurrance of 3 factors that allowed the creation of permanent glaciars and polar ice-caps, it can also experience the simultaneous occurrance of factors at the other end of the spectrum and that that is what the earth is experiencing right now. so i believe that the phenomenon of global warming is natural, and thus i support it, but that is aggravated by industrialization (mostly the various forms of pollution and environmental degredation), which i do not support.  whatever your goals and intentions, the best thing you can do is to gather the maximum amount of available information, and understand what theories are being expounded and how many acknowledged figures support them, so as to be able to accurately and fairly perceive the situation as it truly is and form an informed and educated opinion about it. finally, not to be selective or act as a form of propaganda, i highly recommend "state of fear" by mr. micha