If some consensus can be reached that the temperature of the earth is rising, whether it be normal long-term climate change or the product of mankind, is there anything that mankind should do about it in order to possibly artificially reverse the trend?

If the up and down tends are in fact "normal", some things have changed quite a lot since the last time there was a significant enough change in global temperature to melt the polar ice caps. That change is that there are hundreds of millions more inhabitants on the earth than there were the last time this happened. Hundreds of millions of those live in areas that would disappear if the 80-foot rise in ocean levels were actually to occur. Eighty feet? Say goodbye to the two largest cities in America. In fact, I think we could say goodbye to Tokyo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Calcutta, Buenos Aires, Manila, Rio de Janiero, and on and on. Add San Francisco, Miami, Houston and Washington to New York and Los Angeles, which would all be underwater if the oceans rose by 80 feet.

Hey! Maybe I've answered my own question and identified an opportunity at the same time. The problem of global warming is so massive--regardless of what's causing it--that it's probably unsolvable. What's going to happen will happen. But we've been moaning about how to get rid of those elected representatives that are supposed to look after governing us in Washington. With no Washington, what are the chances they'd all go back home and not come back?

Too bad none of us will be around to find out.