How warming works

Re “The climate crisis deepens,” editorial, Nov. 5

The Times’ editorial on the planet’s growing climate crisis couldn’t be clearer about the urgency of the problem. What adds to scientists’ sense of alarm is the understanding that climate change is not just another environmental problem.

The script we usually follow goes like this: We pollute until we can’t stand the pain anymore. Then we repent and pass laws to fix the problem. Mother Nature begins to repair the damage and things go back to normal.

Climate change won’t follow this pattern. Someday we will stop contributing to the greenhouse gas overload, but the Earth will keep heating with added carbon dioxide still in the atmosphere for decades to come. When warming finally levels off, it will stay high for generations, continuing to raise sea levels and generate powerful storms and scorching droughts.

We must focus on the legacy we’re leaving to our grandchildren. Michael Segor San Luis Obispo

Sean Gallup Getty Images A COAL-FIRED plant outside Bonn, Germany, site of the ongoing U.N. climate change conference.