We need a new look at climate

Letters to the editor for May 17

We need a new look at climate

Regarding "Consensus on climate change," May 9): Perhaps Adam Davidson-Harden should follow his own suggestions and try to check both sides of the anthropogenic global warming subject with an objective point of view. If you check the material resulting from Climategate, you will find the Climate Research Unit in England, along with a number of supporters of its stated views, leaves much to be desired.

At best they have tainted all the data they claim supports their view. At worst they have blatantly suppressed, lied about or falsified significant portions of the data. Collectively this group has attempted reputation- and career-assassination of any and all who disagree or question their results. Either way the data that was collected not only needs to be assessed completely from start to finish by both sides of the argument, but seen to be objectively examined.

Atmospheric CO2 levels have been at least six times higher than present levels in the planet's past without causing disasters. In those past times it appears the temperature increased 700 years before the CO2 levels increased, not after.

If Al Gore really believes what he preaches in "An Inconvenient Truth," why am I reading about him buying vacation property in Florida that is going to be 13-20 feet below the predicted high-water mark in a future years? The computer models predicting all these disasters can't even produce yesterday's weather when all the known factors are entered into the system.

Man-made CO2 is only a small part of the equation. Should we concentrate on that to the exclusion of all other influences on the planet's climate? No. Should we be concerned about man-made CO2? Maybe.

What we really need is to have all the influences on our climate examined collectively instead of concentrating on only a very small part of it. If we are causing it, then we need to do something about it. If we are not, we need to stop wasting financial resources on something we can't change and start adapting to what nature is going to throw at us.

From W. Johnston, Kingston