Don't ignore science

Regarding Ron McCarley’s March 7 letter denying climate change, I wish to make these points. First, I applaud his service as a submariner. Yes, it is possible to breathe higher levels of carbon dioxide, however, both submarines and spacecraft have filtering systems so the levels don’t get too high, resulting in death (remember the lithium hydroxide canisters in Apollo 13?). And yes, plants will thrive in an atmosphere with higher levels of carbon dioxide. However, these have no bearing on the role of CO2 in climate change. His analogy to the number of seats in Neyland Stadium is catching, but disingenuous. The current CO2 levels of 400 parts per million do correspond to 40 seats of the approximately 100,000 seats in the stadium. We are introducing CO2 into the atmosphere at the rate of 28 billion tons annually, (equaling 1 ppm increase per year; see the Keeling Curve) from the combustion of fossil fuels. That’s not an insignificant amount. On average, Tennesseans individually contribute 21 tons each year. There is a close correlation between the average earth temperature and carbon dioxide levels over the past 400,000 years and today’s levels are the highest ever and increasing more rapidly than any other point in this time period. A second consequence of increasing CO2 levels is ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide reacts with water producing carbonic acid. For the first time in many thousands of years, our oceans are becoming measurably more acidic, (Google “ocean acidification”) potentially changing the ecosystems of our oceans, reducing our food supply and affecting the jobs of many who depend on the ocean. This is arguably a more serious immediate concern and a direct result of burning fossil fuels. I believe everyone wishes the best world for their children and grandchildren. We should listen to the scientists. We ignore them at our peril.JEFF G. WARDESKAJohnson City



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