I know that there is a terrible war going on, but should Jews be concerned about global warming? Why or why not?

Just an opinion...

As citizens of this Earth, we have a duty to preserve the world for ourselves, for other citizens, for our descendants.

As religious citizens of this Earth, we should want to preserve the world as G-d created it and intended it.

As Jews who will one day leave this Earth to join our Maker, we know that we will be judged by our deeds down here, even though Heaven will not be polluted. Thank Heaven for that!

By the way, there is also a phenomenon called "Global Dimming." Because of the very same layer of pollution that is causing heat to be trapped IN, some sun light is being trapped OUT, just about equalizing the problem. On the other hand, of course we do not want to say, "Great, then let's continue to pollute!" We still have to figure out a way to stop polluting and keep temperatures stable. (My sources for this are a PBS "Nova" special and a non-related public radio program in which a locally prominent meteorologist was speaking.)

Given the principle that our world as we know it will exist for no more than 6000 years, might it be valid to ignore factors which won't have an impact until well after that time?

According to the Movie "An Inconvenient Truth" with Al Gore lecturing on Global warming, it is supposed to have an impact in as little as ten years, and definitely forty years if nothing is done about it. We are experiencing record-breaking high tempuratures, the glaciers and ice is melting at a faster rate than ever and keeps melting faster and faster as the time goes on. It is happening very quickly. In the meantime, noone seems to be taking the problem very seriously. Everyone seems to still be joyriding in their big SUV's,etc.

On one hand, we, as Jews are so few in number that why should we care what our impact on the earth is? Especially when we are just fighting to survive as a nation. If we trust in HaShem he will take care of us regardless of what any problems may be. And like I read in another post recently, Hashem has promised the Jewish people that we will never die out. So don't worry.
On the other hand, HaShem put us here on earth to lead by example. The way we wage war is killing us. But as long as we always have the Lamed-Vavniks among us the world will exist in a way that we can tolerate it.

I agree with Raybin when she says that "HaShem [has] put us here on earth to lead by example." Surely, the concept of Tikkun Olam demands that we do whatever possible to preserve the health of our planet today. Scientists are constantly debating, as scientists are wont to do, the exact effects of global warming. But it is very hard to debate that an overabundance of carbon-gas hovering above is a healthy prospect for mankind. Whether or not this gas is melting the ice-caps, causing a greenhouse effect, or killing valuable flora, it remains a disgusting, unpleasant addition to our ecosystem...to our milieu at large. It drastically diminishes the quality of life for millions of people, and is in no way a good thing.

It is a very self-defeating proposition to place limits on our effectiveness because of our statistically minor presence in the world. We are Jews, and despite (and in spite of) our numbers, we are the ONLY hope for mankind. Human salvation necessarily starts with Jewish action, and proceeds in a wave-like, ripple motion outwards, towards the rest of mankind. That's the habit of the mitzvah, its means of locomotion. It starts with us, then gestates to a more worldly effectiveness. We should never underestimate the tremendous impact of a single mitvah; every mitzvah has cosmic consequences.

If I may... We do not know if Hashem intended the world to stay as it was after the Flood or to continue evolving.

In addition, the glacial record in Antarctica indicates that there were at least 7 glacial periods (Ice Ages) in the history of our planet. We know for sure that these could not have been caused by automobiles and factories.

Al Gore's movie - he's a politician. Politicians tend to exaggerate things as fit their agendas; otherwise, they would not be politicians.

G-d created our world as a self-sustaining system. There is nothing we can do to reverse a global warming or global cooling; but using less gasoline sure feels better both for the lungs and for the wallets. In addition, anything that can reduce our dependency on our adversary (oil) is a welcome change.

1. The discovery of global dimming was made by an Israeli scientist at Volcani Institute.
2. There has been no change in the temparature or weather in Israel in the last fifty years. (A little bit cooler at some sites do to intensive agriculture.)
3. So there is global warming. What are you suppose to do about. So far every major effort has resulted in the opposite effect.
4. We do not rely on miracles. If there is a problem in the physical world, we do what we can. and then pray.