To the editor:

In the recent article “Skeptic rejects global warming theory” (Journal-World, Sept. 24), certain views were highlighted. Other scientists were interviewed who took varying views, ranging from describing without evaluation the views of the skeptics (with a clarifying letter since published in this newspaper by M. Lee Allison, Sept. 27), to uncertainty about a “stuck” global debate on causes, to highlighting that something drastic is going on.

Nothing in the article emphasized that there is a consensus: “Human activities are increasingly altering the Earth’s climate. These effects add to natural influences that have been present over Earth’s history. Scientific evidence strongly indicates that natural influences cannot explain the rapid increase in global near-surface temperatures observed during the second half of the 20th century. : Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have increased since the mid-1700s through fossil-fuel burning and changes in land use, with more than 80 percent of this increase occurring since 1900. : It is virtually certain that increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will cause global surface climate to be warmer.” – from the 2003 statement of the American Geophysical Union, representing more than 41,000 scientists.

While no connection can be drawn between a particular hurricane and global warming, more such extreme events are predicted. A disservice has been done by an article which does not make this clear.

Science sometimes finds results that make us uncomfortable. A current strategy by science deniers in both the evolution and climate-change areas is a propaganda campaign to make uncertainty seem much greater than it really is.

Adrian Melott,

Lawrence