The vast majority of scientists who study climate change for a living have concluded that human activity is contributing to global warming. Heck, even the Bush administration admits it, having listed the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.
And yet Ron Smith trots out maverick scientists and even Michael Crichton, the science fiction writer, as "experts" on the subject who suggest that climate change is solely the result of sunspots and other phenomena not related to human activity ("What the global warming fear-mongers won't tell you," Commentary, Jan. 7).
I find Mr. Smith's logic bewildering and dangerous; bewildering because he refuses to admit to the power of humans to affect the climate and dangerous because his way of thinking will further expose future generations to the perils of global warming.
I wonder if Mr. Smith also consults witch doctors for health issues and psychics for financial matters.
Bill Klemer, Timonium
Kudos to The Baltimore Sun for having the good sense to print Ron Smith's latest column, which presented a well-thought-out rebuttal to the editorial board's own position on global warming.
I, for one, am in agreement with Mr. Smith's point of view. But I was hesitant to write my own viewpoint to The Baltimore Sun, assuming it would either remain unpublished or be edited down to make me appear to be a miscreant who could be labeled as the dreaded "flat-earth type" ("A New Year's resolution," editorial, Jan. 2).
But it was refreshing to see an uncensored and honest excoriation of The Baltimore Sun's seemingly unendingly politically correct and liberally biased point of view.
Steve Couzantino, Pasadena
Arguing over the scientific evidence for global warming is like the classic misdirection used by magicians to distract us.
The truth is that cleaning up emissions and wasting less of the Earth's resources just makes sense, and that finding alternate energy sources is as needed now as it was when humans were limited to a campfire.
They looked around and found faster, cheaper and more efficient ways to cook and stay warm.
Why shouldn't we 21st-century humans do the same thing?
Doing nothing but arguing is pointless.
Lynda Gomeringer, Baltimore
Beyond global warming, one of the major problems facing the world is convincing enough of the public that the situation is real and serious so that we can do something about it.
