As I foretold you, were all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air

                                                        ......Are melted into air, into thin air

In Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" Prospero brings the play to a conclusion by saying:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air

The bad actor in global warming is CO2 coming from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.  Altogether, it is estimated that humans have put about 350 gigatonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution began.  And this CO2 has indeed melted into air, into thin air, as its' build-up in the atmosphere is literally invisible.   

The global warming theory predicts that the build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere will increase the greenhouse effect, trapping more solar energy and producing a gradual warming of the Earth.  Up until now scientists have had to point at the temperature record to prove that the greenhouse effect was growing stronger---there was no way to directly measure changes in the greenhouse effect.  But now, for the first time, scientists have now directly measured the magnitude of the Greenhouse Effect caused by CO2 buildup in the atmosphere.

Using incredibly sensitive instruments located in Alaska and in Oklahoma, atmospheric scientists measured the amount of extra heat being trapped in the atmosphere due to the build-up of CO2.  Their measurements indicate that an additional 0.2 Watts per square meter in infrared energy is being released by the excess CO2---about  10% more heat then would be trapped and emitted if CO2 concentrations were still at natural levels.  The data also clearly shows that this number is increasing each year as the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise. 

So the debate over the effect of atmospheric CO2 on the Earth's greenhouse effect is now resolved.  The scientific data now clearly shows that increased CO2 in the atmosphere is causing an increase in the greenhouse effect.  This brings to mind more words from William Shakespeare, who wrote:  

                   Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof

When it comes to the greenhouse effect and global warming, we now have ocular proof.  Even better, we've got the numbers to prove it.

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