Climate ostriches risk the future

Fifteen years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I sought multiple opinions regarding the diagnosis plus the advice of a team of oncologists. I could have hacked everyone's personal e-mails and rejected their consensus because of negative comments about competing teams of oncologists. I could have argued that the little finger on my left hand felt great -- so their diagnosis must be wrong. And I could have sought the views of corporations, politicians and political commentators who denied the existence of cancer.

I am alive today because I not only chose to accept the diagnosis of the experts, but also listened to and followed their advice regarding treatment.

Sadly, when it comes to climate change, there are many uninformed or unscrupulous individuals who want us to doubt climate change and its causes for equally lame reasons. They want us to reject the overwhelming evidence because it contradicts their personal beliefs and because a few e-mails from climate scientists suggest they are human too and occasionally make unfortunate comments in personal letters. And now, because it turns out that maybe the Himalayan glaciers are not melting quite as quickly as suspected, they want us to pretend the planet is not warming, the polar ice packs are not melting, weather patterns are not becoming more severe and our biological life-support system is not responding negatively to changed temperature and rainfall patterns.

If we stick our heads in the sand as these ignorant folks urge, we risk the lives of future generations.

ALAN JOURNET, Cape Girardeau