The following is an open letter to Gov. Rick Scott and all the citizens of the State of Florida.
Not since the Paleocene/Eocene epoch circa 60 million years ago has the mean temperature of Earth risen as fast as it has over the past 100 years. The Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) was caused by large methane outgassing events.
In the 1800s, Earth was in a cooling trend, as detailed in the well-known Milankovitch cycles of warm/cold periods. After a short lag period, the Industrial Revolution created our lust to burn fossil fuels and elevated atmospheric gases, notably carbon dioxide, but others as well. This traps infrared radiation that would otherwise escape.
So yes, governor, climate change is real, Elvis is dead, we did go the moon and the Earth is not flat.
Dr. J. William Louda, Loxahatchee Groves
Editor’s note: Dr. Louda is a research professor in environmental chemistry at Florida Atlantic University.
1. Florida used to be underwater.
2. Where forests once stood, we now find deserts.
3. Volcanoes spew poisonous gases into the atmosphere.
4. Cities that once were are underwater.
We live on a dynamic planet.
It constantly changes.
Yes, people do pollute, but the harranguing, scare tactics, name calling and politicizing need to stop.
And of course, the only answer to Climate change is Money.
Nobody denies we live on a dynamic planet. However, the effect humans have had on the planet is also vast, and many people deny that. And I agree that scare tactics and name calling must stop. Again, however, denying the issue must also stop. Look at the statistics since the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the science should become obvious even to a non-scientist.
On a lighter outlook we can always be sure that no matter what humans do to the planet, Earth will survive. It might not be with humans or life as we know it and in the same condition it is now, but it will survive.
Science, your holy grail, seems to be in disagreement with you.
Science is in disagreement with Dr. Louda? I don’t think so, thousands of studies and 99.7% of scientists working in the field agree with him. And, as a matter of fact, even the Vatican Science Academy has agreed with this. Before you come out with a statement like that please do research and back up what you have to say. Where is your information coming from (Rush, maybe?). Please also let us know your background and where your opinion comes from. Andrew Rosen (University of Edinburgh/M.Phil.-Geographical Sciences).