A little ray of sunshine on global warming

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2006�:
"The partisan gap on global warming seems to be shifting, according to the poll. In 1998, 31% of Republicans and Independents alike were sure that global warming was happening; it was not a distant 39% among Democrats. Today, 46% of Democrats and 45% of Independents are certain, and 26% of Republicans feel that way, according to the TIME/ABC News/Stanford University poll."

The bad news, of course, is that the war for the hearts and minds of the people in general is not going well. Nearly forty percent say global warming is already a serious problem, sixty percent say they feel personally threatened to a great degree and almost ninety percent agree global warming threatens future generations.

The little ray of sunshine is that Republicans appear to be getting smarter.

I won't go into any long discourse on global warming at the moment, but ask the doom and gloomers about the following:

1) Temperatures were substantially warmer than today during the so-called Midieval Optimum. At that time the Vikings were growing wheat and raising cattle in Greenland and may have been making wine in Massachussetts. What disasters were associated with this warming period? Since this was centuries before the Industrial Revolution, what human activity could have caused this warming period to occur or was it a natural phenomenon?

2) Temperatures appear to have been warmer still over four millenia ago when the first cities and large scale settled agriculture appeared in the Middle East. What disasters were associated with this warming period? Since this was millenia before the Industrial Revolution, what human activity could have caused this warming period to occur or was it a natural phenomenon?