The enviros made a big mistake emphasising global warming. I think they did it because it was a concept that was easy to grasp and thus easier to get everyone behind. There are many other problems more serious but not as readily apparent or "glamorous".
the big 3 that I see.
1. species die-off. we are in the middle of a massive animal species die-off. In the 4 BIL year life of the planet there have been 5 previous. The only difference now, this one is caused by man and the conditions conducive to recover are not as good.
2. the trash vortex. Most plastics do not biodegrade-ever, they break down but remain even at the molecular level. 20% of all plastics get into waterways and reach the ocean. Man has made plastics for 50 years, it's been collecting in the ocean all that time. In the North Pacific there is a weather phenomenon called a gyre. A persistent swirling high pressure weather system that causes doldrums and a large circular water pattern or vortex. The plastic collects there. It's as large as the continental United States. There's more plastic by weight than there is plankton.
An estimated 1 MIL water birds die annually due to plastic which fills their stomachs till they starve. Periodically swirls of garbage have been reaching shore, they innundate places like Hawaii with huge piles of washed up plastic garbage.
The world uses over 1.2 TRILLION plastic bags a year,that's over 1 million bags a minute. On average we use a plastic bag for 12 minutes before it's disposal, it can then last in the environment for centuries. The same thing is happening now with single serving water bottles.
BBC Hawaii | Message in the Waves | No More Plastic Bags
3. Bio engineered seeds. Monsanto is the leader of a diabolical science experiment. Seeds that produce seedless plants. They cross polinate on the crops/plants around them, producing more of the same. Who knows where this is going to end. Of course they didn't do much of a study before it was released to the public, who knows what's going to happen within 50 years. Right now 2/3 of the bees world wide are dying, no-one can figure out why but it may be connected. It's one thing to experiment with science, it's quite another to just release it on the world without knowing the consequence.