Scientific consensus on climate

To the editor:I am amazed that climate change is still viewed as controversial. Recently, hundreds of top scientists from around the world concluded we have an immediate, serious problem, which is, in part, human-caused. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is as credible as you can get. The methodology is rigorous, the conclusions are peer reviewed and the members are in consensus. To dismiss their findings is to deny the credibility of science in general. Is this what we've come to?

So let's be clear: There is no controversy among the vast majority of world's top scientific minds. The climate is in big trouble, and human activity is an important cause.

The other side of the supposed controversy involves a handful of marginal voices, some of whom are literally on the payroll of special interests. I suppose we could find a few experts who still question whether smoking causes lung cancer and then claim the issue is controversial. The parallel is exactly correct. An extremely small minority now claim the climate issue is debatable, the media play along and the problem is politicized. As this nonsense plays out, we waste precious time that should be spent addressing the problem.

So, take a long look at your children. What kind of world are they going to live in? Are you really ready to bet their lives on the opinions of a few flat-earth mercenaries? I'll stick with the consensus view of the world's top scientific minds.

ROBERT POLACK JR., Cape Girardeau