In defense of an esteemed physicist

RE: JACKIE Ericksen Jan. 4 op-ed “It’s time to address climate change”

I am delighted to actually debate climate change, instead of The Sky Is Falling declarations so common in the news media.

First, Dr. (Fred) Singer is a distinguished atmospheric physicist. He was the first director of the U.S. Weather Satellite Service and served as professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. His colleague, Dennis Avery, is a dear friend of mine. I am not a climatologist, just a Ph.D. scientist who reads and discusses important questions. The 97 percent quote is about scientists, not climatologists. Most scientists, if actually surveyed, would answer that this is a very complex science and that there are too many unknowns to give a simple “2 degrees is doom” answer.

The influence of solar activity on the Earth’s temperature has been typically explained by the Sun’s particle radiation deflecting cosmic rays, which, when present, generate high atmospheric clouds. This is not new — I studied it in the ’60s. Because the Sun is in a quiescent state, more clouds form and many authorities predict temperatures will decrease in the near future.

I speak of the carbon cycle to indicate that the presence of carbon is both commonplace, and necessary to life on Earth. If CO2 were a pollutant, as the EPA once said, why aren’t mothers warned to stop breathing on their infants?

CO2 levels have been high in the geologic past. During the Cambrian period, levels were 15 times higher than the current 400 ppm. Yet, Earth survived. During recent geologic times, temperatures, measured by ice corings, have been +4 to -6 C from the current levels. Earth survived. Data indicates that rises in CO2 lag temperature increases and thus are the result, not the cause, of temperature increases. Perhaps this increase is due to more favorable environments for both plants and animals when the temperature increases.

Remember, Earth is still recovering from the Little Ice Age — we should be grateful some warming has occurred! BURKE NELSON Albuquerque