Basic science reflects damage from humans

Laban Needham (Letters, Sept. 14) thinks climate change is just a case of scientists looking at the evidence and concluding that humans are changing climate — that’s what rational people are supposed to do, look at the evidence!

But as one might learn in sixth-grade science, in the past climate has been controlled by the Milankovich orbital parameters: eccentricity, precession of the equinoxes, and the cyclical shift in the inclination Earth’s axis that regulates our seasons. Those three factors have now been overwhelmed by human alteration of the atmosphere. I suggest he go to Wilmington or Houston and tell the people it’s all a figment of their imaginations. Storms are moving slower and picking up more moisture from warmer oceans and dumping it in staggering quantities. The reason storms are moving more slowly and stalling out is too complex to explain in a short letter, but it is definitely caused by climate change because the Arctic is warming much faster than the rest of the planet, decreasing the temperature gradient from tropics to poles.

What should we do about this? If you’re in a hole, stop digging! The more carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere, the worse it will be. Renewable clean energy (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, tidal, wave) are good, but insufficient. We need carbon-free nuclear energy for base-load power and a renovated grid to accommodate the renewables. Unfortunately, that takes investment in infrastructure, a concept that has been abandoned in favor of tax cuts for corporations and the very rich. MALCOLM CLEAVELAND Fayetteville