Solve the climate crisis

Since George Will, in his column (Aug. 14, “With a closer look, certainty about ‘existential’ climate threat melts away”), quotes only one source, Steven Koonin, let me do the same thing with an article from Yale Climate Connections.

In his article, titled “A critical review of Steven Koonin’s ‘Unsettled’” (May 2021), Mark Boslough quickly points out the bias that Koonin weaves throughout his book. To use a Red Team/ Blue Team process of equal numbers of climate scientists and climate deniers as the basis of the book when the actual ratio of believers/deniers is 97/3 proves the point.

The sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, recently published, provides a massive amount of evidence that our planet is being warmed primarily because of human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The concentrations of heattrapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere haven’t been as high as they are now in millions of years. And while the oceans absorb much of the heat, they too are warming and acidifying to the detriment of the flora and fauna that call the oceans their home.

We can no longer afford to have climate deniers such as George Will try to convince the public that all is well. While climate science is complex and “unsettled,” the overwhelming evidence of global warming must show us the way forward if we are to leave a livable planet for our children and grandchildren.

While individuals can help, it will take the governments of the world to solve the climate crisis. I urge you to tell Congress to act quickly to “put a price on carbon” to slow, and then eliminate, greenhouse gas emissions.

BRUCE COOPER

Cranberry The writer is a group leader of the Slippery Rock chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.