LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Science backs climate claims

To the editor:

I wish to protest the cartoon that appeared recently in the South Whidbey Record, mocking former Vice President Al Gore. It attempted to find something humorous in portraying him bundled up in an unusually cold Washington, D.C.

One doesn’t have to do much research about global warming and climate change to find out that cold spells here and there over the short term are consistent with warming trends worldwide that have been scientifically documented. Extremes in weather patterns, changes in ocean currents, melting glaciers, melting polar ice caps, Greenland losing much of its ice cover — these are some of the major changes that are taking place.

We can be proud that Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing this matter to greater public awareness. The fact that a few pseudo-scientists and others attempt to undermine their efforts and discredit them in various ways is something that educated and well-informed people should be able to see through.

One of the most positive developments recently (that went largely unreported in the American press) was the appointment last week by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of Todd Stern as a Special Envoy for Climate Change under the State Department.

Having such a position is long overdue, and will hopefully lead to much needed progress in this area.

Rebecca Sundberg

Langley

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