a] Weather and climate are different - most noticeably in time scale; however,

b] Both are chaotic systems, in the mathematical sense: extremely non-linear, with all measurable parameters oscillating (at all time scales) around some mean value which itself changes over time. It is a percieved trend in a parameter called the mean global temperature - the average temperature of the entire atmosphere - that has been labeled "global warming".

c] If, as the data seem to indicate, the mean global temperature has increased (regardless of causes), it indicates that more energy has been introduced to the system.

d] Contrary to popularized misconception, more energy in a chaotic system will not smooth out the oscillations - it will make them larger. On time scales ranging from days to years (and possibly decades), we will see more dramatic extremes in regional average temperatures, rainfall, wind patterns, etc. - that means colder as well as hotter. The rising trend in the mean global temperature will remain imperceptible, except to sensitive instruments.

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If the people who inhabit high elevations, like the Incas or the Sherpas, begin abandoning their traditonal homes because they can no longer breathe up there, you can worry about atmospheric leakage into space. Until then...

Take a deep breath, and try to make sure that what you read is factual.

Fox