The difference is that even during a full on nuclear exchange at the height of the cold war (1984 I believe), there would still be humans left. The death tolls would be significant, in the hundreds of millions to even a billion, but about half of the population would survive after the exchange, and a half again after the nuclear winter subsided. There were never enough arms to totally wipe out the human race. And a large section of the population didn't live near primary targets.

Wrong. There were enough Nuclear weapons on the planet at the height of the cold war to destroy all human live four times over. And it doesn't matter if a large section of the population didn't live near primary targets (which wasn't true either), because the climatological changes post an all out nuclear war would have destroyed all life on earth.

Now when you're talking about climate change, and many of the models indicate not only intolerable shifts in temperature as well as the atmosphere changing to essentially be poisonous, then I think he has a point. Granted, it would take hundreds of years to get to this state, but it's a lot more deadly consequence than the 90 minutes it would take to get off a nuclear exchange.

See above... those who die in the first 90 minutes would be the lucky ones. I was actually happy that I did grow up in a primary target area, because I wouldn't have to be around to suffer the end of man.

Actually, Nature has a way of controlling the climate. (hint) It's the largest unexplored area of our planet. El Nino is just the beginning. As more polar ice (fresh water) melts, and gets into the circulatory flow of the planet, changes the salinity of the current flows, causing temperatures of waters of all the world to change, effecting the climate directly.

We can continue to pollute the earth, the climate will change, and adjust, and begin eradicating humans. I really DON'T care, because nature will still survive. If it is our destiny to destroy ourselves, who are we to stop it?

RE: AM - Gore warns on climate change