Todd threw a bunch of science speak at me to suggest that global warming is "real" but "Global Warming" is also a political football that has little to do with actual science. But I think you already know that...
Anyway, as I understood it, we're in a warming cycle that started with the melting during the last ice age which ended 12,000-ish years ago. So we have another 3000-5000 years of warming to look forward to. The "mini ice age" thing is a bit of a misnomer, but a "quiet sun" can reduce global temps by about 1 degree. I tend to trust him from the angle that he has no political interest, he's just a climatologist and cares about numbers and stuff.
it's called an 'inter-glacial'...and it started off 'warm' (melted the glaciers didn't it?)...and oddly enough has been cooling ever since..
of course there are cycles...it gets warmer, then cooler...but the warm HIGHS have been getting consistently lower and the cold LOWS...have been too.
It might be that we're coming to the end of the interglacial...or already have.
or...in a more understandable format complete with helpful historical annotations
from a bit longer perspective.
when he said global warming is 'real' he left off one word.
it's real PROFITABLE...all those grants and things.
it's a cash cow.