•Climategate •Extend council terms? •A sensical solution •Gold coins Climategate John Burns is convinced that global warming is a hoax and that man has not had an influence on recent climate change (“Actual footprint,” Letters, Dec. 15). My view is
•Climategate
•Extend council terms?
•A sensical solution
•Gold coins
Climategate
John Burns is convinced that global warming is a hoax and that man has not had an influence on recent climate change (“Actual footprint,” Letters, Dec. 15). My view is somewhat less optimistic.
As evidence he references the hacked e-mails from the East Anglia Climate Research Unit — the so called “climategate.” These e-mails are nothing more than about a decade of chatter between scientists discussing disparate interpretations of data — the usual give-and-take that we scientists partake of.
I can assure Mr. Burns that we like nothing better than to disprove one another’s pet theories; this is how science moves forward. Furthermore, we do not suffer fools (hence my infrequent letters) — one e-mail writer said he would like to kill a certain obnoxious individual whose main goal in life is to disrupt research by filing FOI requests. Who amongst us has not made similar statements and yet not carried out the deed? Clearly such banter should have been carried in the pub and not on the computer.
Here is what Michael Oppenheimer, a preeminent climatologist at Princeton said of the e-mails: “The important issue is whether anything has been added to or subtracted from the science of climate change. Nothing has changed. The Earth has warmed more than 1 degree Celsius over the last century. Global sea level has risen 7 inches. Both major ice sheets are losing ice rapidly. The ocean is more acidic than it used to be.” Coincidentally, today’s news describes the “sinking” of the Seychelles caused by rising ocean levels. This seems a rather elaborate hoax.
Mr. Burns also bemoans the EPA proposal to classify carbon dioxide as a detrimental gas on the basis that is a natural part of the biosphere and hence not a poison. I can assure Mr. Burns that certain other effluent gasses from our bodies (don’t ask if you don’t know) are already regulated by the EPA.
I regret that Mr. Burns finds Al Gore and his “inconvenient truth” annoying. The Gore family does have a way of presenting such disturbing information — one recalls a senator from the previous generation who was at one point the sole voice of dissent against a war in Southeast Asia, and who accurately predicted the disastrous consequences of that undertaking.
Over the past century, man has continued with massive deforestation of the planet whilst pumping enormous quantities of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Perhaps Mr. Burns is correct that these activities are unrelated to the observed climate changes, which appear to be unprecedented in their rapid escalation. But if he is wrong, he may be dead wrong as far as future generations are concerned.
Robin Clark, Kalaheo
Extend council terms?
The reasoning makes absolute sense. But the problem lies in the council’s transparency issues; these closed-door sessions just do not foster the kind of trust in the system that I need to support such an initiative.
Sorry, but without this kind of openness and accountability you won’t get my vote. I would rather have the choice every two years to express my level of confidence in work our council has done.
Thomas McCall, Anahola
A sensical solution
There are those advocates for building the bike path on the dunes of Wailua Beach who don’t believe (or even disrespect) ancient Hawaiian culture. For them, I quote some practical, medieval, ecological sense from the Christian Bible:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
It is very bad precedent to build on our beaches. The beach and its dunes are the ecological interface between the land and the ocean wilderness. It is sacred to Hawaiians, but it should be sacred to all humans. There is a perfectly durable road behind Coco Palms that would not require rebuilding the path every time there was a big swell and storm surge.
Gordon LaBedz, Chair, Surfrider Foundation
Gold coins
First Koloa, now Calgary. A promising new Christmas tradition.
A gold coin valued at $1,200 was found in a Calgary Salvation Army kettle, according to the Calgary Herald.
Will Brown, Penticton, B.C.
