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Sunday, February 08, 2009
Letters Editor, National Post
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Taking Time Out to Understand the “CO2 Problem”
Dear Editor,
The comment from Michael E. Mann, titled “Tabloid fossil-fuel shill” published on February 7 reminds me of an article by Dr. Ralph M. Rotty titled, “The Nature of the CO2 Problem: Certainties and Uncertainties” published in 1984 in Environmental Progress.
Dr. Rotty suggested then that; “If the theory is correct, within the next two decades the signal of the CO2 effect on climate should become quite clear.” He was referring to the small size of a CO2 induced warming “signal” relative to the “noise” of natural climate variability.
It seems that 2 ½ decades later the warming signal is not clear at all. In addition we are now regaled incessantly with other kinds of “noise” from Dr. Mann and many others who make identification of signal versus noise very difficult. His assertion, copped from an army of global warming dogmatists, that those who question aspects of CO2 induced global warming are “purveyors of fossil fuel-funded disinformation” is particularly odious and unhelpful.
Actually, Dr. Rotty’s article still seems very current and thoughtful. Fast forward from 1984 to 2009 and, if he were still with us, he might again indicate we have a couple of decades to evaluate the signal and “gain time to better understand all of the aspects of the problem”. Is it time for another time out?
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast