Tom Fletcher has again written about climate change and again what he has written is riddled with errors. Even more ludicrously, he has insinuated wide-spread scientific fraud as well. We now know that to stop further increases in the surface temperature of the Earth, to slow the effects of ocean acidification and of sea-level rise, we must stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
A child in kindergarten today will be 90 in 2100. How many readers of Mr. Fletcher’s column have a family member or know someone close to that age today? Do we believe it’s reasonable and responsible to tell a child that we don’t care what kind of world they will be living in at the end of their life? That we don’t care how acidic the oceans get? How extreme heat-waves are? How much worse storms, floods and droughts will be?
Based on what I know from studying climate change and working with scientists from around the world I will continue to oppose the denial of science. I will not ‘attack the skeptics’ with ‘zeal’. Instead, I’ll continue to use evidence that has been gathered and the physics and chemistry we understand well to show people what kind of change they can expect if we continue to burn fossil carbon.
It’s 2015. The climate of the Earth is changing. The change is due principally to human activity. The change is harmful. The change can be slowed or stopped with timely action. We need to act now.
Ed Wiebe
Saanich