Check climate credentials

Those who discount human causation of global warming commonly cite the “United States Senate Minority Report on Global Warming” which lists some 700 scientists who supposedly substantiate their position on the subject (“Warming ‘consensus’ crumbles,” Letters, Aug. 19). An examination of the relevant credentials of these scientists appears in an article in the September/October 2009 “Skeptical Inquirer.”

The best measure of scientific expertise in a particular discipline is the number of pertinent articles a scientist has published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. According to the article, only 15 percent of the scientists listed in the Senate report have ever published any research related to climate science in such journals. More than 50 had no science credentials at all, many were news media weather reporters, and almost 4 percent actually supported the concept of human-caused warming.

Podiatrists and dermatologists are both types of medical doctors. But that does not mean the former’s opinion regarding the treatment of malignant melanoma should be given the same consideration as the latter’s. The same discretion should be exercised in weighing the opinions of scientists.

Currently, it is the consensus of those scientists working most actively in the field of climate research that human activities are a contributing factor in global warming.

Jack DeBaun

Sandpoint