Dear Editor:
The misleading assertions by global warming activists in “Activists urge action on global warming” (Oct. 26), show exactly why, as the article notes, “global warming has long been met with skepticism.”
In the article, a global warming activist told 65 people at Annapolis High School the “sea level is rising,” raising fears that Chesapeake Bay will soon be inundated by flood waters. Yet the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now predicting a sea level rise during the entire next century of merely one foot, which is consistent with the gradual sea level rise since the end of the last ice age.
The same activist asserted “droughts are increasing,” yet the U.S. National Climate Data Center reports that current drought events are nothing unusual and that drought is less prevalent now than in the 1930s, just before atmospheric carbon dioxide levels began rising. Virginia state climatologist Dr. Patrick Michaels also reports that droughts are in long-term decline over the last millennium.
Another activist asserted that hybrids and other unconventional cars save consumers money in the long run. Yet Consumer Reports says just the opposite –– unless gas prices rise to nearly $6 per gallon in the next five years.
With global warming activists asserting “facts” like these, is it any wonder the general public is skeptical of alarmist warming claims?
James Taylor
James Taylor [[email protected]] is senior fellow for environmental affairs for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of Environment & Climate News.
