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Evidence overwhelming on climate change

Bob Lowth (July 11) asks us to think critically about global warming. Unfortunately, he showed very little desire to do so himself.

Despite his claims to the contrary, multiple studies have shown that approximately 97 percent of climate experts agree that global warming is happening and human activities are causing it. This shouldn’t be surprising. Science is driven by evidence, and no matter what Mr. Lowth believes, the evidence is overwhelming.

And what about those skeptical 3 percent? Well, they certainly don’t publish any research supporting their position. Geoscientist James Powell did an exhaustive search of the scientific literature from 1991 through 2012. He located 13,950 peer-reviewed papers on climate change, written by 33,690 authors. This represents all of the scientific knowledge we have on the subject. Out of these papers, he found just 24 articles (written by 34 authors) that rejected human-caused global warming. Two dozen. Out of nearly 14,000.

In fact, the most prominent research project led by a climate skeptic, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study, resulted in unequivocal verification of man-made global warming. As lead researcher, Richard Muller said in a New York Times op-ed last July: “Call me a converted skeptic.”

Mr. Lowth is, at best, sorely misinformed. The science is solid. Climate change is real and is a serious problem. We know how to combat it. But fighting it is difficult enough without also having to fight against an avalanche of misinformation.

Matt Grisko

Des Plaines

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