OPINION:
Contrary to what “Wearing out words” (Comment & Analysis, Aug. 14) states, the “doomed planet movement” is certainly not losing momentum. If anything, more and more citizens are watching the recent floods in the Midwest and the unprecedented wildfires out West and are asking what’s going on with our weather (the short-term events that constitute the “climate”).
Yes, “global warming” was the wrong term chosen early on to refer to the extremes in climate. These extremes are inevitable as the delicate balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is skewed by the massive amounts being released by the industrial might of civilization, and in a time frame shorter than anytime in prior Earth history.
And while true that carbon dioxide is “plant food,” remember that a person given two gallons of water in one sitting may well die from electrolyte dilution, while that same person would die of dehydration if those two gallons were rationed out over a few months.
So although a trace gas, it is that very trace amount of carbon dioxide that provides the “global warming” that prevents the Earth from being a frozen ice ball. But now we’ve artificially created a too-much-of-a-good-thing scenario by dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate much faster than the natural systems can possibly absorb. This is such simple, high-school-level science that I’m shocked your editorial team would even consider this outdated avenue of argument.
And while recent short-term global temperature readings may not be climbing consistently everywhere, no data that I’ve seen indicates the planet is cooling. Finally, to say this is a “lefty plot” to advance a big-government agenda is shortsighted at best and conspiracy-theory nonsense at worst.
Those who love the Earth now know that our flagrant overuse of fossil fuels is altering the ecology in ways we can’t continue if we want to sustain our civilization.
The institution of a carbon tax will prevent this disaster and be good for the economy as well.
RICK CUTLER
Arlington, Mass.
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