Editor:

In the mid-80s, I did a research paper for my college meteorology class on global warming. Unfortunately, the predictions that were made have come true and seem to be accelerating. I hear too many of us are still denying what’s happening and our responsibility for it. So let me share why scientists put the main cause for the extreme weather on us.

There are several gases that contribute, including water vapor (clouds), but the main problem is carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide doesn’t just warm the earth by not allowing heat to escape the earth, but also creates acidity in the oceans. This is a double whammy. The shellfish and coral reefs (nurseries for our fish) can’t take the acid. Today’s oceans are 30 percent more acidic than in 1900. We know the extra CO2 is from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). We know this because CO2 comes in different “flavors” (isotopes). We know that volcanoes produce one “flavor” and that animals breathing create another and so on. The extra CO2 is fossil fuels’ “flavor.”

Those who want to say that changes have always been happening don’t seem to realize that the level of CO2 has remained the same since about 800,000 years ago, through the ice ages (18,000 years ago) and other climate fluctuations. You have to go back 20 million years to get to levels of CO2 that we hit in 2014. During this time, sea level was 100 feet higher than today. Major cities like NY, Houston and Norfolk, would be under water and all of Florida. We can continue to lie to ourselves that thermometers are right wing or left wing or pretend that chemistry has an agenda. But we’re causing climate extremes that will put our children and their children in hell. We can fix it.

Sandy Bruton

Cumberland