Letter to the Editor

Thoughts on climate change

Not being an atmospheric scientist but having read and attempted to critically analyze global warming, or climate change, here is what I have concluded. By the way, science works a lot like that.

1. The amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is increasing, and humans are probably at fault.

2. No one really knows how much warming will occur this century. We do know that computer models vary wildly, depending on the way data are inputted and manipulated. At best we have educated guesses.

3. Many reasons exist for mankind to move from fossil-fuel use. This will occur with innovation, not with the heavy hand of government. Did anyone have to ban or heavily tax horse transportation in the last century?

4. We do not know how much this current warming trend may be a natural phenomenon nor how much may be man-made.

5. Only a fool never changes his mind after acquiring solidly researched information. Information and world views change. Only ideologues and zealots do not.

6. We need new environmental groups, more people in the field collecting data with fewer people at computer screens massaging the data. More scientists and fewer lawyers.

STEVE SHELTON, Jackson