Teaching the global-warming issue in school

I read with great interest your article “Heated Discussion,” (Metropolitan, May 12). I am particularly concerned about the one-sided view many schoolchildren are getting on global warming. I was pleased to see that some educators have indicated they are presenting both sides of the global-warming issue, but my concern is that this practice is not being implemented uniformly in the nation’s schools and a balance view is not being presented to the public at large. “An Inconvenient Truth” has been shown at several area high schools; why has the excellent film “The Great Global Warming Swindle” not been shown? This film was produced and aired in the United Kingdom in March 2007 and also was shown in Australia in the summer of 2007. It not only describes the way the climate works, but also makes the case for the fact that man is not likely to be able to control the climate. It is easy to understand and gives scientific explanations behind the issues. Why is this film not required to be shown to present the other side of the debate?

I have been told that in some schools, man-made global warming is taught as fact. The idea that global warming is indisputably man-made simply is not true. There is no “consensus” on man-made climate change, and in addition, “consensus” does not establish fact. There were several periods during the Earth’s history before industrialization when the climate was warmer or cooler than it is currently.

One of the most important facts Al Gore’s movie does not mention is that the most important greenhouse gas is not carbon dioxide. Instead, 95 percent of all greenhouse gases are water vapor, over which man has no control. Of the remaining 5 percent, carbon dioxide is measured in parts per million, a very small number. If man were to give up all modern conveniences, such as cars, electricity, factories, etc., it would not be enough to affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thus change the climate. Many other factors are involved, and I hope teachers are giving equal time to all sides of the debate.

JOANNE E. THEON

McLean