Global Warming—On Mars?

The JPL probe Global Surveyor has been orbiting Mars for the last nine years, allowing scientists to collect detailed information about changes in the Martian geography. They have been surprised to find that the Martian surface is much more active than previously thought. In particular:

[F]or three Mars summers in a row, deposits of frozen carbon dioxide near Mars' south pole have shrunk from the previous year's size, suggesting a climate change in progress.

Anybody burning fossil fuels on Mars that we don't know about?

In all seriousness, scientists specializing in climate change here on Earth had better find a way to account for the new data, if they can find the time in between ranting about methane emissions and SUV's. I'm all for eliminating harmful emissions, especially if we can do that by transitioning away from petroleum, but we need to keep a sense of perspective. If much of the climate change we are experiencing is not due to human action, nor can it be reversed by human action, then economic development becomes all the more vital. Only advances in technology will give us the tools we need to thrive in a changing climate, and those advances will come more slowly if general economic activity is choked off by Kyotoesque government controls.