To the editor:

Ginny Clark’s letter of Sept. 10 must be quoted in order to reply: “When reading the article about Charlie Perry’s sunspot research (Sept. 7), I have to admit I was completely flabbergasted. If reported correctly, the statement of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s position on solar radiation is ludicrous. The article states their position being that ‘solar radiation plays a small part in the warming and cooling of the planet.’ (emphasis added)”

This shows the danger in reading very bad science reporting, as the letter of David Burress so clearly pointed out. The quote in Ms. Clark’s letter, taken from the newspaper article, is ludicrous. Also it is not the real panel statement. So that people don’t think the UNIPCC are complete fools, I will point out that their report can be found on the Internet in about 30 seconds, and one can read it. It tells us (on page 38) that CHANGES in solar radiation play a small part in the warming and cooling of the planet.

In general, what we see here is that when people find an interesting idea, they want to use it to explain everything. Most things going on around us have multiple influences. As Einstein is supposed to have said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”