If you watch TV you're probably very worried about the prospect of Global Warming - every day a different study confirms that the world is heading towards global disaster, and man is the main factor in creating this dangerous change in climate. 

Heavyweight politicians like Al Gore chime in with their un-disputed facts, presenting convincing evidence that Global warming is a fact.

However, do a little research on the Internet, and you'll find thousands of web sites dedicated to debunking the Global Warming theories, claiming that it is all a myth made up by government to force us to change, and to create wealth for many people. These doubters point to convincing statistics showing that Global Warming is simply part of a cycle that occurs naturally.

So which side of the argument is true?

"There are many who still do not believe that global warming is a problem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of a massive and well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly funded by polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming out of a fear that their profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so much pollution into the atmosphere." - Al Gore

There's no doubt that going green is a good thing for the environment - even if the whole Global Warming 'thing' is a scam, there's no harm reducing our footprint. However, to go blindly into the 'green' world is very dangerous.

• 'Green' light-bulbs contain mercury, providing their own environmental issue.
• Electric cars remove fumes from the atmosphere; however, in the US, 50% of the electric is produced at 'clean' coal power stations - there is no conclusive evidence that these power stations are clean, and there are other environmental issues such as coal dust that enter the equation.

Read more about the Energy Efficient Light-Bulbs & Electric Cars here:

There is a lot of information available, both on the TV and the Internet. Suddenly there are millions of experts out there all who 'know' everything there is to know about Global Warming and many other issues.

With the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Myspace, it's very easy to spread disinformation especially about a highly publisized issue.

For instance, did you know that the Swine Flu was caused by Global Warming - there was a NY Times article that refered to a 'longer flu season' because of Global Warming - search and you'll find dozens of pages stating that Global Warming is creating the Swine Flu.

These articles play on people's fears and do not base their information on science.

Some examples:

Did you know that the whole Global Warming debate has a carbon footprint?

Let's calculate the electric used to create view this Hub and other global warming sites for example. (My assumptions or not based on any scientific fact and are merely to demonstrate a point):

• A search for Global Warming on the Internet brings up 33 million 'hits'.
• Assume that the total time to design each of these sites, plus the time people take to read each of these sites comes to about an hour per site.
• The average computer use 50w of electricity in an hour

Total kwh used = 33,000,000 x 50/1000   =  1,650,000 kwh

Total pounds of CO2 per kwh = 0.524lbs (See source below)

Total lbs of CO2 due to the design, implementation adn reading of all of these Global Warming websites: 864,600lbs.

Then you have TV coverage, travel to Global Warming rallies and conferences, the energy used to design and create 'green' products, or re-package products that were already green etc.

It soon adds up - simply removing the debate from the mass media and leaving the scientists to work on the problem would have a huge impact in itself!

Sources:

 Both of the statements below are accurate according to 'experts' - the problems in a lot of cases is the facts are being reported, but the whole picture is not - this happens on both sides of the equation.

 "Greenland ice sheets melting: Global warming advances faster than anticipated"