To the Editor:
The Daily Journal recently published an opinion by David Carlson that parroted the global warming and climate change scare tactics of the alarmists without identifying the source. Rather than believing him or me, or any one individual, perhaps the better source for information is the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, or the IPCC, reports. That is where the alarmists claim to go for their information — unfortunately the alarmists cherry-pick their data in “marketing” their ideology by developing graphs that distort the truth that can be found in the actual data. Many times the alarmist graphs are proof of a weather change not a climate change, by leaving out very important facts contained in the IPCC report.
Certainly, the IPCC statistics need to be utilized to make an informed decision, but I suggest that everyone read a book by a scientist who believes in global warming and mankind’s role in it. Steven Koonin’s book titled “Unsettled: what Climate Science Tell Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters” answers those questions well using the actual IPCC reports and should be required reading by anyone interested in an actual solution and not in marketing a policy which will be unachievable and may actually harmful to the world population. Koonin believes that mankind does contribute to climate change — as do I. In the book, he examines the data and the graphs that are out there and gives a balanced perspective that allows us to better understand the risks, costs, and what can and cannot be done to respond to the problem.
We all are bombarded daily by the media and others without regard to any reasoned analysis of the information readily available at the IPCC and elsewhere. Koonin’s book fills that void. It isn’t written as a marketing strategy nor does he fall victim to “virtue signaling” — he deals with the facts and shows us how the old saying by Benjamin Disraeli — and popularized in the U.S. by Mark Twain — that there are “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.” Context and perspective will allow us to make the right decisions, at the right time and for the right reasons. All interested persons should read the book before swallowing the alarmists’ position “hook, line and sinker” or contributing to the echo chamber of extremism.
Paul A. Hass
Franklin
