Letter sent to Scientific American in response to the article "ClimeApocalypse".
Letters to the Editor
Scientific American
In “ClimeApocalypse”, Michael Shermer seems to be advancing
climate denialism by stating that “Climate
change is not our only problem.” This statement diminishes the immediacy of a
formidable concern. As the window for mitigating the impacts of climate change
rapidly closes, Shermer’s skepticism only ensures scenarios that are more
intractable and dire. The complex consequences of climate instability pose the
most significant and immediate threat to the viability of our natural life
support system. I would counsel Shermer
to read leading climatologist James Hansen’s book “Storms of My Grandchildren”
which provides a compelling summary of the overwhelming evidence for dangerous
and potentially irreversible warming. As we burn more carbon (atmospheric
levels recently exceeded 400 ppm from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm), our
children and grandchildren will be forced to reckon with a world no one alive
today would recognize.
Shermer’s use of Bjorn Lomborg as an authoritative source is
laughable. Lomborg has degrees in political science with no background in
science or climatology. His first book “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” is a
polemic of politicized science that nurtures continued complacency among the
uninformed. Lomborg’s disdain for economic sustainability on a small planet
with finite resources and an estimated carrying capacity of 2.5 billion people
is dishonest and negligent. His book is a fairy tale of thinly disguised
science filled with gross distortions and simplifications of complex issues.
Lomborg’s disingenuous advocacy and sloppy scholarship
resulted in very negative reviews of the “The Skeptical Environmentalist” in Nature, Science, and Scientific
American. Shermer, and the think tank economists he gives so much credence
to, seem oblivious to the frightening reality that every issue on the
Copenhagen Consensus Center’s list (with
the exception of an exponentially growing human population) is currently
affected by greenhouse warming and will become more intransigent as levels of
heat trapping gases continue to rise. Unabated population growth will act as
one more positive feedback process that will exacerbate the rate and magnitude
of the planet’s warming.
Jeff Johnson
Wakefield, R.I.
02879
401-789-4570
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