Comments

First, to capcap: another explanation of the seemingly "random" distribution of fossils is that the landmasses on which the animals died have moved over the course of, oh, let's see...billions of years, thus areas which once were under the ocean are now dry land, and vice versa. One of these two explanations actually has scientific evidence to back it up, including easily visible observations of plate tectonics. Which one is it? Oh wait, it's mine. Now, to those calling global warming a hoax, scam, scare, or other related term: Carbon Dioxide, in its gaseous state, is capable of retaining ultraviolet radiation in the form of heat much more effectively than the majority of gases in the atmosphere of Earth. The simplest example is the comparison of two planets in the Solar system. One has an average surface temperature of 465 degrees Celsius (738 Kelvin, 869 Fahrenheit). The other has an average surface temperature of 125 degrees Celsius (398 Kelvin, 257 Fahrenheit). Which one is closer to the sun? The second one I mentioned, which happens to be Mercury. The other is Venus - nearly twice as far from the sun as Mercury, but on average more than 300 degrees Celsius hotter. Why? simple: Mercury has little or no atmosphere; Venus has an atmosphere composed of roughly 64% Carbon Dioxide. Earth's CO2 percentage is much smaller, roughly .0003%. But it's growing very rapidly (if current trends continue it will reach .0004% by roughly 2010). Finally, to those wishing for another volcanic event like the one mentioned in this article, it's not quite so simple. For reactions to occur to convert biological material into petroleum and related substances, not only must large amounts of life die and settle on the ocean floor without decaying, but they must be covered by large amounts of certain kinds of silt and certain types of enzymes, then be subjected to immense pressure for several million years. If a reaction could be found to do the conversion at a rapid enough rate to be useful, oil companies would be paying for your table scraps. I don't know about you, but I, personally, would rather not wait the eons involved.