Listen to climate scientists

Joe Booth (Letters, Sept. 17) concludes from his analysis of climate data that humans are not responsible for global warming. He contends increasing temperatures are simply part of a natural cycle. What he fails to mention is that 97 percent of climate science experts disagree with him.

Scientists have studied natural climate indicators going back many hundreds of thousands of years. From these studies, they have learned how factors such as the intensity of solar radiation, volcanic activity and atmospheric greenhouse (heat-trapping) gas concentrations influence global temperatures. Based on the current status of these so-called forcing factors, the climate should now be cooling. Instead, it is heating up at an accelerating rate.

The only factor that now correlates with this rapid rise in worldwide temperatures is the increase in human-caused atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas that is now released into the atmosphere by human activities to the extent of some 30 billion tons per year. Atmospheric concentrations of this gas are now higher than they have been in at least the last 800,000 years.

Citing a single data point (a temperature in Africa from 1922) does not negate these facts. See skepticalscience.com for more details.

Jack DeBaun

Sandpoint