It’s wrong to deny threat of global warming

Vernon Bostick, Las Vegas

Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 2:04 a.m.

Global warming deniers frequently allude to climate change in geological history. The point they are trying to make is generally only implied, but I think this is their argument: Global warming is a natural occurrence; therefore it is not caused by people and we can’t do anything about it. Climate change in geological eras occurred over a span of many millennia. Equating this with a change occurring over a few decades is a non sequitur.

Global warming ended an ice age and its animals 10,000 years ago. The world has been warming from purely natural causes at a rate of 1 degree in five centuries. We could live with that, but 1 degree in 30 years is a serious threat to our planet and our way of life.

If a man were to add an extra blanket to his bed, he would be warmer because less of his body heat would be radiated into the room. This is what we have done to the world. We have wrapped it in a blanket of carbon dioxide and other insulating gases by burning coal, gas, oil products and forests. The world is getting warmer because it is not cooling off at night as much as it used to.