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AP:

PARIS (AP) - The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The scientists - using their strongest language yet on the issue - said now that world has begun to warm, hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution. The report also linked the warming to the recent increase in stronger hurricanes.

"The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that is not due to known natural causes alone," said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments.

The phrase "very likely" translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by man's burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.

What that means in simple language is "we have this nailed," said top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who originated the percentage system.

If you know anything about the way science works, 90% certainty is a phenomenal conclusion. It way sound like this leaves room for doubt, but it does not. Let me explain...

In science, nothing is ever proven with absolute certainty. Nothing. And to understand why, all you need to do is think about the future. Do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? Or ten years from now? Or 1,000? No, of course you don't. Which means that although you can demonstrate that up until this very moment you know something to be true, you cannot ever say with absolute certainty that something will change in the future to demonstrate that it is fault.

An example: Right now, gravity works in an entirely predictable way. You drop an apple, it falls to the ground. And although you expect - in fact, as a non-scientist you will say that you are certain - that it will continue to do so tomorrow, you have no way to prove without any doubt that it will. It cannot be done.

Science works by a process of endless falsification. We can demonstrate that things are not true, but we can never with 100% certainty say that they are now and will be forever. To do so takes you from the realm of science into the realm of faith.

Which brings us to climate change. Yes, for the foreseeable future there will always be doubt. For the foreseeable future, there will always there will always be people who try to convince others that this doubt means that we do not have to act. They will say to act will be too expensive, and that we cannot incur the cost until we are certain that it is necessary. The problem with that, however, is that by the time we are certain it will be way, WAY too late.

Remember that when you consider this quote:

"It's very conservative. Scientists by their nature are skeptics."

Their entire lives are built around the premise I described above. It is the reason that so many in the fundamentalist religious community, both the ones here at home and in the Middle East, constantly battle to have science removed from our nation's classrooms. Scientists begin with doubt and work outwards from there. They begin by supposing that they do not know, then work to discover how they can learn.

Will we listen before it is too late? Will we have the courage to do what needs to be done?

Change is coming, and it is coming fast:

The report says that global warming has made stronger hurricanes, including those on the Atlantic Ocean, such as Hurricane Katrina.

The report said that an increase in hurricane and tropical cyclone strength since 1970 "more likely than not" can be attributed to man-made global warming. The scientists said global warming's connection varies with storms in different parts of the world, but that the storms that strike the Americas are global warming-influenced.

Will we step up and lead, or will Mother Nature tell us to get out of the way?