Look, I'll try to explain it in a non-difficult way
Global warming = temperatures go up.
Temperatures go up = ice caps melt in the poles (expecially the north pole, this summer
for the first time both the northwest and the northeast passages opened)
Ice caps melt = lots of cold, fresh water go in the oceans
Cold fresh water in the oceans = it disturbs the hot currents which mainly from the tropical/equatorial gulfs go warming the coasts around the world
Hot currents disturbed = Heat goes down around
and it is increased the chance of typhoons floodings hurricanes etc. due to pressure jolts
The thing is obviously much more complicated. Still it's not that difficult to understand that global warming can make the temperatures go both ways.
And btw nobody just "listens to non scientists like Al Gore", (he made a great documentary while not scientifically perfect, and has the merit of having brought "sixpackjoe"'s attention to the problem); still ppl even listen to commissions of top-climatologists and scientists of other branches (including Nobel prizes) which say the problem exists, it's serious and even the Kyoto protocol wouldn't be enough to stop the huge and dangerous climate changes of the next centuries. -
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/conten.../306/5702/1686
Our sons will pay for our greed.