Letter: Nature’s air conditioning being destroyed

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Dan Pursley, under the headline "Just a Lot of Guesswork Going On," ends his Feb. 1 letter with this statement: "That is exactly the case with the global warming debate. Nothing but guesses." I would like to inform Mr. Pursley and his readers that there is no debate and no guesswork on global warming.

All scientists studying climate change (2,000 worldwide) agree on the causes and consequences of global warming. The only dissenters are shills hired by air-polluting industries to create the delusion that global warming is controversial. The evidence for global warming is indisputable and overwhelming. I have space to cite only a little bit of this evidence, but it is available from a number of sources.

Glaciers all over the world are in meltdown. This is causing devastating floods in the Himalayas. Glaciers are vanishing in the Alps. Glacier National Park began with 150 glaciers. There are only 25 now and in 20 years there may be no glaciers in Glacier National Park.

The polar ice caps are melting. Satellite photos show that from 1978 to 1995 the Arctic ice cap shrank by 1 million square miles. Between 1995 and 2005 another million square miles vanished. This vast expanse of white ice reflected 95 percent of the sun's heat back into space. When this ice is replaced by water, 95 percent of the sun's heat is absorbed. This warms the water and increases the rate of melting. The Antarctic ice shelf is melting likewise. The polar ice caps reflecting the sun's heat have served as our air conditioners for 10,000 years. Global warming is destroying both.

Vernon Bostick, Las Vegas