Competent climate change sources

I felt compelled to respond to Phil Thayer’s letter (“Other info on global warming,” March 26), in which he seemed to suggest that there are a significant number of climate scientists who justly disagree with consensus about the present rate of climate change. If such a group espousing legitimate contradictions exists, they certainly are not the ones Phil Thayer named.

For instance, S. Fred Singer claims to be a peer-reviewed climate researcher, but has had zero contributions to the subject since 1971, except for speaking in front of fellow deniers. And there is Dennis Avery, who proclaims that CO2 concentrations are declining. CO2 is increasing at an accelerating rate, as are global temperatures, and all categories of severe weather. Then there is Tim Ball, a geographer not a climate scientist, who says that CO2 is not a greenhouse gas. It is.

Thayer almost got it right by naming Roy Spencer, an actual climate scientist. Except that Spencer reached contradictory conclusions about heat feedback loops that ignored scientific arguments and findings of his peers, and was widely criticized for it. One should not ignore facts.

Then Phil dropped David Hart’s name (a George Mason Tech. policy professor) as a skeptic, which is undoubtedly true since all scientists and engineers are professional skeptics. But he is not, in fact, a climate change denier. Hart states “… we need innovation in low carbon technology if we are to ward off the worst effects of climate change.” Phil should have done more reading.

Barry J. Kathrens

Spokane