To quote Ronald Reagan, “Here we go again!” Despite all of the evidence and the warnings of experts (rather than those with a political or economic axe to grind) about climate change, people like Alan Yoder (Letters, Herald, Sept. 19) continue to deny what is now obvious to almost everyone else, that we are changing the Earth’s climate, that it is inexorable, and that unless something is done, the effects by century’s end could be catastrophic.
Of course there are websites out there that dispute the facts, though for the life of me I cannot understand why. Addressing global warming will be challenging and expensive. There will have to be massive shifts to renewable energy sources or nuclear power, and we will be forced to phase out the burning of coal and even oil. But the net effect of the technological response to global warming may well be positive.
None of Yoder’s “facts” are true, and some of this has been pointed out by Gary Rottman (Letters, Herald, Oct. 7). The effects of the 11-year sunspot cycle are very small and have been known for a long time. The solar energy output is being constantly monitored and there is no correlation between solar radiation and the global temperature increases that have been tracked over the last half-century.
I could go on. The cause, beyond any reasonable doubt, is the large-scale emission of greenhouse gases, mostly by burning fossil fuels.
The international community is committed to limiting the global temperature rise in this century over pre-industrial levels to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), but even this goal may not be achievable. There are some not too radical scenarios that project global warming of 6 degrees F. or more. Even at the lower goal there will be agricultural disruption, more severe droughts in the Southwest United States, less snowfall and spring runoff, and likely the end to winter sports, just for starters.
It is time to stop hiding from the facts and to get on to the business of addressing the problem.
Dan Purrington
Durango
