Why would we need to know exactly what causes a warming trend? The idea that we HAVE to know exactly what is going on is part of the problem. Its the idea that humans can figure everything out and control it. Its kind of a god complex if you ask me. Certainly we might figure it all out in the future, I just don't think we're there yet.

Because this is something that is resulting in very real negative effects, and if it continues those effects could be catastrophic, and if there's something we can do about it, we should do it. And also we do know what has caused these shifts throughout earth's history, and it appears to be tied to the presence of greenhouse gasses.

Yeah, it's usually a guess. Except people don't even admit things are guesses anymore. They claim they are certainties.

But it's not just a guess, it's a conclusion supported by all the available information. It is the guess with the highest probability of being correct.

The point being...we supposedly have scientists that believe the world is going to end in a few years, but they're still concerned about their bottom line.

First off, the world isn't 'going to end in a few years' we're just going to be faced with more increasingly catastrophic problems and challenges resultant from the increasing global temperatures. And it's not the scientists who care about the bottom line necessarily, it's the journals. And either way, everyone's gotta make a buck. Just because we're going to have big problems in the future doesn't mean we can just stop paying rent now. People don't go to the arctic for months to pull ice core samples for fun or for charity (well, some people might), they get paid and they need people to pay them etc.

I think the information should be free, but what can you do? That's how the industry works.