Dear Editor:
Climate change, and the extent to which human behaviour is contributing to it, is, thankfully, not something we need to guess about or form opinions on.
It’s a question of fact, and questions of fact are why we have science to answer them. To find out what science says about an issue, we don’t figure out what 97% of scientists say in a poll, we don’t read blogs written by economists, we don’t read books written by people with vested interests on either side of the issue, we don’t watch a movie starring a prominent politician.
There is exactly one good way to find out what science says, and thus what the facts say: read peer-reviewed papers published in respected scientific journals. When you read those papers, you find out that they prove climate change is real, that humans are contributing to it, and the more evidence we gather, the more we realize it is happening faster than we originally predicted. This isn’t something you can dispute, that’s what the papers say.
If you don’t care about facts, think whatever you want, but if you care about facts, that’s what the facts are – period, end of sentence. If you think the science is wrong, then go prove it in a peer-reviewed paper in a respected scientific journal (good luck).
If you are a conspiracy nut who thinks that the scientists behind them were bribed, ask yourself who has more money, Greenpeace or Exxon?
David Brandow,
Guelph