Letter writer: Climate-change denier displays lack of scientific understanding

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Michael Ivey displays for the world his own sad lack of scientific understanding when he claims that carbon dioxide “is not now and never has caused Earth’s atmosphere to warm” [“Climate-change Believers Betray Their Naiveté,” July 8, Xpress]. How and why CO2 acts as a greenhouse gas is well understood and documented in the scientific literature, whether Ivey believes it or not.

Credible information is available on the web for those who want to examine it. Too bad that many of our politicians also subscribe to the abundant “conspiracy” notions afloat in today’s thinking. We seem to be living in a society that wears scientific ignorance as a badge of honor.

— Mike Wright
Weaverville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

12 thoughts on “Letter writer: Climate-change denier displays lack of scientific understanding

  1. Jason

    99% of all climate change deniers have one thing in common; religious blind obedience

    • Jimbeaux

      Wake up. Of course climate change is real. But catastrophic climate change is not happening and the whole movement is funded by Big Green. There’s so much money to be made by convincing rubes that we are putting the entire planet in peril that Big Green is easily able to buy politicians and the media. Earth is not nearly that fragile, and the whole idea is predicated on the unsound theory of tipping points. Besides, look it up yourself: the rise in CO2 follows the warming of the earth , not vice-versa. Get your head out of the sand. You’re being manipulated by greedy folks with an agenda every bit as nefarious as any Rupublican religious nutcase.

      • dingo

        One need only look down the street to Asheville’s own arm of NOAA, the National Climatic Data Center (now called NCEI), where much of our climate science research comes from, to see the ordinary people doing work on this topic in order to understand that no one is driving Ferraris to and from work. There is no Big Green money behind the science, the facts, and the reality of the situation.

        I did look up your bit about CO2, and it is incorrect.

        “Over the last 800,000 years, natural factors have caused the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration to vary within a range of about 170 to 300 parts per million (ppm). The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by roughly 35 percent since the start of the industrial revolution. Globally, over the past several decades, about 80 percent of human-induced CO2 emissions came from the burning of fossil fuels, while about 20 percent resulted from deforestation and associated agricultural practices. In the absence of strong control measures, emissions projected for this century would result in the CO2 concentration increasing to a level that is roughly 2 to 3 times the highest level occurring over the glacial-interglacial era that spans the last 800,000 or more years.”

        https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/indicators/

        • jimbeaux

          Of course the people in the trenches aren’t driving Ferraris. The run of the mill government worker isn’t the one reaping the huge financial windfall from Climate Change Alarmists. I should know – I’ve been a contractor with the US Environmental Protection Agency for nearly twenty five years, working hand-in-hand with the scientists. It’s the folks who run the environmental activists groups and Big Green corporations who are getting wealthy by exploiting the fears they help foster. Five environment-specific groups alone raise more than $1.6 billion per year (Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, and the Sierra Club). Michael Mann (director of Pennsylvania State University’s Earth System Science Center and part of a group of climate scientists who run the website “RealClimate,” which provides news and commentary on global warming and climate change to counter the blogs operated by skeptics) has alone received $6 million, mostly in government grants, for his controversial work on climate change (can you say “hockey stick graph”?).

          As far as CO2 goes, even Michael Mann said that increases in CO2 follow increases in temperature by up to about 1,000 years during interglacial periods**. However, I will backpedal just a tad. What I should have said was “the rise in CO2 **sometimes** follows the warming of the earth”. If the theory that CO2 drives temperature change is accurate, then a rise in CO2 should always come before a temperature increase, not after it.
          **as per Chemical and Engineering News, http://cen.acs.org/articles/87/i51/Comes-First-CO2-Heat.html

          For an interesting take on how Global Warming has corrupted science, read this: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/what-the-climate-wars-did-to-science.aspx
          About Matt Ridley, the author of that article above: Matt Ridley’s books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 30 languages, been short-listed for nine major literary prizes and won several awards. His TED talk “When Ideas Have Sex” has been viewed more than two million times.

          With BA and DPhil degrees from Oxford University, he worked for the Economist for nine years as science editor, Washington correspondent and American editor, before becoming a self-employed writer and businessman. He was founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He was non-excutive chairman of Northern Rock plc and Northern 2 VCT plc. He also commissioned the Northumberlandia landform sculpture and country park. He founded the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal and is a weekly columnist for The Times.

          As Viscount Ridley, he was elected to the House of Lords in February 2013. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

    • Tom Harris

      Silly comment by Jason. Climate change cause questioners (they are not denying climate change) are practicing scientific skepticism, just like all good scientists do.

  2. Steffi Rausch

    Thank you Mike Wright for writing this! If you want to get involved with climate change solutions please reach out to us at the Citizens Climate Lobby. We have an Asheville Chapter now that you can follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ashevilleccl and signup for email updates. We would love to have your help!

  3. Because science:

    Updated data from NASA satellite instruments reveal the Earth’s polar ice caps have not receded at all since the satellite instruments began measuring the ice caps in 1979. Since the end of 2012, moreover, total polar ice extent has largely remained above the post-1979 average. The updated data contradict one of the most frequently asserted global warming claims – that global warming is causing the polar ice caps to recede..
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2015/05/19/updated-nasa-data-polar-ice-not-receding-after-all/

Leave a Reply to Peter Robbins ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.