I don’t mind a good debate as long as facts override myths. Last week a letter to the editor stated that the students promoting carbon dioxide levels held to 350 parts per million were out of touch with reality. Of course the letter was filled with “Beckian bull.” The first was the “many prominent climate researchers” statement. Please name them. One hundred forty national academies of science from around the world say different.

The idea that the increase in carbon dioxide is helpful to crops is an example of myths spread by the uninformed. Of course if research by such institutions as the California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina State, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab or Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory means more than a TV talk show host, then this isn’t news. But if you do get your news from talk shows, then you know that an increase in temperature and carbon dioxide reduces the quantity and quality of food production.

Also, if you are a college student then the simple physics of how much heat it takes to raise the temperature of water should not be news. Knowing that NOAA, who has been measuring water temperatures around the world for nearly 100 years, states that “average temperatures of waters at the oceans’ surface in July were the highest ever recorded,” should be news.

Understanding it takes more energy to warm water than air and 75 percent of the Earth is covered with water should be enough data to convince you.

Having an opinion is easy; having the facts is not. Having the facts in an opinion piece is smart.

Harry Applin
Former Adjunct Professor