Threat of global warming is real

There are some who would wait for irrefutable evidence before taking a stand to end pollution. At least this was the opinion of letter writer Robert Graham of Naperville, who cited surveys that showed only 56 percent -- a solid majority -- of climate scientists believed humans were causing the changes in climate in 2003. Mr. Graham failed to report how many scientists believe humans are affecting the environment. The answer would be: a whole lot more than 56 percent.

What we should be talking about is not whether or not global warming exists. It is not whether or not the blame for rising temperatures can be passed off on the gas-guzzlers of the world. It should be on how we can most effectively clean up after ourselves.

Even if global warming doesn't exist, everyone still knows that pollution is bad - dumping poisonous gases into the air we breathe just isn't a good idea. None of us want our children to grow up choking on smog - we all know that that just isn't healthy for anything.

Even if global warming doesn't exist, we're still running out of fossil fuel - and with more and more developing nations entering the world's arena of petroleum consumption, the supply is being depleted faster than it ever has before. Many of us will live to see the end of the supply, and if not us, then our children will be forced to deal with the consequences. Wouldn't it be nice to feel confident that all the world's transportation infrastructure won't grind to a halt in 60 years? That would throw more of a wrench in the economy than government spending on alternative energy sources.

Even if you don't believe in global warming, irrefutable evidence is all around us. It would be considerate to clean up that evidence a little bit.

Carolyn Carson

Glen Ellyn