just because you find the significant increase of temperature at the poles dosn't mean it's not a global phenomenon, it's just that you wont' find significant figures pulling from the equator. it's like looking at the mean distribution, and ignoring the outliers.
It's the outliers you pay attention to, because they have the most impact on the whole. you could say no big deal the middle isn't changing that much, not significant -- but you'd be deceiving yourself.
say you put a meatball in the microwave, but you take it out too early, the outside is pretty warm, but if you were to bite into it, you'd get cold meatball center. Looking at the average increase of temperature of the meatball as a whole might not indicate any significant warming, but you know that it is getting cooked. Our situation is a little different -- the temperatures are backwards, we're dealing with the poles to the equator, not outside to a core, a meat ball is delicious and dirt isn't.... whatever, the example is still useful.
If the poles are heating up, the whole planet is heating up, you just don't know it if you're in the middle.
--- now on to 'you can save the planet, i'm all for that, but i don't have to change if i don't want to' again give me your justification for this? Say we prove beyond a doubt that gas guzzling and keeping your house at an excessive temperature difference (Heat or AC) are the sole contributors to global warming. How are you justified in continuing your actions? (it's obviously not the case but it is your logic)
If we find particular practices are damaging, you should no longer be free to practice this. DDT and CFC's are good examples of things people wanted to be able to do but were not allowed because of the damages it did to the rest of the environment.
You're not able to contain the damage you do to only yourself. You don't have the right to harm others in pursuit of your freedom.
the biggest problem i see is your argument comes from maintaining luxuries, while the argument for 'going green' (yes i agree pretty shitty name -- give me another i'll use it) is based on maintaining basic needs. Needs > Luxuries