[Winona Online Democracy]
Re: [Winona] Why Get Involved?Here's a rather long post. The forum doesn't look too busy these days, so I thought I would put it out there. Apparently the Daily News didn't like it.
This is not an exact copy of the email sent to Jerome (Each time I read something I write, I tend to make changes.) February 25, 2007 Jerome Christenson Winona Daily News Opinion Page Editor PO BOX 5147 601 Franklin St. Winona, MN 55987 Dear Jerome, The following is a response to the editorial by Stan Gudmundson that was published on Sunday, February 25: ------------------- According to Stan Gudmundson the global warming theory is silly. Whether Stan believes humans are contributing to global warming or not, the issues surrounding the current discussion of global warming certainly are not "silly." While Stan offered a very nice lesson on the complexities of global heating cycles in his editorial of Sunday February 25, he missed the point. These facts are not disputed by scientists, whether or not they believe humans are contributing to global warming. As an argument for or against the human factor these facts are red herrings. They are relevant to the study of the CO2 cycle's role in global warming but not to the argument Stan was trying to make. In my experience, support for the "global warming theory" is politically neither conservative nor liberal. It seems to me that if people are belief-driven, they insist that humans could not possibly have such an impact on the global climate. People who look at facts and data, on the other hand, seem more willing to accept the premise that we indeed are now able to have an impact on global climate. Stan and others for whom the following "facts" might prove to be inconvenient need read no further. A gallon of gasoline weighs approximately 6.25 pounds. Many cars have fuel tanks that will hold 15 gallons or more. Fifteen gallons of gasoline weigh 94 pounds. This tank of gasoline when burned creates carbon dioxide (CO2), water, and a bit of carbon monoxide (CO). The CO2 produced by burning this one tank of gasoline weighs approximately 300 pounds! Remember, the gasoline is mixed with Oxygen from the atmosphere at the time that it is burned. It has been estimated that the average American family with two cars tosses 20,000 pounds of CO2 into the air each year. In fact, 314 million metric tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere every year by automobiles in the United States alone! Belief-driven people have often argued that what we do is miniscule compared to what Mother Nature does and they often talk of the CO2 released by volcanoes as evidence of this fact. Well, just for the record here is one more fact: Volcanoes in total are estimated to release only 130-230 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year! Belief-driven people also have their "theory killer" statement that CO2 levels lag the increase in atmospheric temperatures. In reality ice core curves correlate closely for temperature rise. True, there is a slight lag between CO2 levels and arctic temperature increases but this fact is not a theory killer because; (1) the lag is not observed in every cycle, (2) the CO2 cycle is enormously complex (as Stan himself has stated), and (3) the arctic temperatures are the very first to respond to changing CO2 levels. In his editorial Stan goes on to state, "...manmade carbon dioxide production cannot account for the climate variability described above [in his letter]." That is a "belief" statement not supported by the facts. Next Stan says, "...most of the recent warming began before 1940." That's not surprising, considering the complexities of global heating cycles and it disproves nothing. Finally, Stan plays his "trump" card and states, "...frightening scenarios forecast by the theory haven't occurred." While it may be an "Inconvenient Truth" I urge "believers" like Stan to continue to ignore the data if they wish. But please, join the rest of us and look around. Experience the changes. Whether or not you "believe" the temperatures in the arctic regions are increasing or decreasing, the ice is still melting. The glaciers are still disappearing. Minnesota winters have become wimpy (even after two feet of snow). Novembers are now sunny and dry. Summers are hot. I could go on and on describing things that are happening right now here and elsewhere. But that might be a tad too inconvenient. -Leslie Hittner
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