As a scientist who has studied the global warming issue extensively, I can say with high certainty that man's influence on global climate is at best minimal. The temperature data of the recent past does not support the theory of anthropogenic global warming.

While carbon dioxide levels have continued to increase at a steady rate, global temperatures as measured by both satellites and land/sea stations have remained flat since 1998. That is over nine years with no measurable increase in the temperature. More recent trends of are showing a significant cooling is beginning. As reported by NOAA, April was the 29th coldest in the lower 48 states out of the last 115 years.

One problem with carbon dioxide is that it is a poor absorber of radiation and accounts for between 4 percent and 8 percent of the ''greenhouse'' effect. Water vapor, on the other hand, accounts for over 90 percent of the "greenhouse'' effect.

Another issue with carbon dioxide is that its ability to absorb radiation is highly logarithmic. The first 100 ppm of this gas produces a net warming of 2.25 degrees Celsius. The next 100 ppm adds only another 0.3 degrees of additional warming.

The amount of warming added from manmade emissions of since 1940 can produce no more than 0.1 degrees of warming. Thus, as more carbon dioxide is added, it has an ever smaller and smaller effect. Those in the pro-AGW crowd believe that carbon dioxide has a positive feedback - that increasing this gas creates a cascading effect. This is the so-called "tipping point'' that you will hear them describe.

Recently, climate scientist Roy Spencer using data from NASA's Aqua satellite has disproved this positive feedback exists. Unlike Al Gore, I would welcome an open debate on this subject.