Public should read U.S. government’s climate change report

The recently released climate change report by government scientists (Aug. 9 Review-Journal) will likely disturb the current administration and others who value the economic good of the few over the welfare of the many.

We will hear from deniers that global warming is baseless speculation, that anthropogenic CO2 contributes little to global warming and that the problem is too complex to understand. We will hear the that Earth’s temperatures have always changed with no explanation of how or why. Though sufficient for a religious belief, based on existing facts, science requires an explanation capable of standing up to rigorous tests and critical analysis.

We will also hear that more study is needed before the role anthropogenic CO2 plays in global warming is known. This is reminiscent of the denials that smoking is the major cause of lung cancer and the problem of ozone depletion. There were politicians who put, above all else, tobacco industry profits and the cost to DuPont were we to ban the various Freon compounds used as spray propellants and in air conditioners.

In the current administration, we unfortunately have in President Donald Trump, Energy Secretary Rick erry and EPA Director Scott Pruitt, three individuals with minimal scientific training who accept as true the comments from a few industry funded “experts” while ignoring the overwhelming support of the scientific community.

One can only hope that anyone rejecting the findings of the report will at least read the executive summary as it exists in the draft.