WARMING: Columnist accepts science

Congratulations for having at least one columnist who accepts science and is not afraid to say so. On Aug. 8, Sholeh Patrick wrote, “Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas — a chemical that traps heat like a greenhouse — and considered a major contributor to climate change. Greenhouse gases have been steadily increasing in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.”

This statement could not be more appropriate considering what is happening on our planet right now. The last five years have been the hottest on record. July was just recognized as the hottest month in recorded human history. This past May saw record hot temperatures throughout the southeast. In mid-July an extreme heat wave affected 85% of the U.S. Heat waves and record temperatures have blasted much of Europe this summer including Paris, Spain and the Netherlands. A heat wave in Japan in August has been linked to 57 deaths.

Climatologists have been nearly unanimous in agreeing that this global warming is man-made and is due to the carbon dioxide human activity is adding into the atmosphere. Scientists have also determined that the oceans are absorbing much of the CO2 that we put into the atmosphere and are also absorbing up to 90% of the excess heat that is being trapped within our atmosphere.

On Aug. 18, in what appears to be another desperate attempt to deny the science of global warming Randy Mann wrote about underwater volcanoes as a possible source for ocean warming, even while admitting there has been no established evidence to support this theory. It’s time for Randy and his mentor, Cliff Harris, to acknowledge the real science and the facts. Man-made global warming is here, it’s getting worse every year and mankind needs to act decisively to counteract it because the future of a livable planet is at stake.

JAY WILSON

Everett, Wash.