Even given doubts, it’s prudent to reduce carbon emissions

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JEFF JACOBY’S July 1 column on climate change uses areas of legitimate scientific doubt to discredit real and true warnings of possible danger to the planet. The books he cites do raise some reasonable doubts. Computer models of climate are not wholly reliable. It is possible that there are processes that will mitigate global warming.

But there is no legitimate scientific doubt that burning of fossil fuels is raising the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. There is no doubt that the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is higher now than it has been for millions of years, and that, taken as an isolated effect, an increase in carbon dioxide results in an average increase in surface temperature. There is some doubt as to what this means for the future, but most scientists around the world are convinced that the possibility of grave danger is real.

A hundred years from now, the possible increase in surface temperature could lead to mass extinction and billions of human deaths. A few decades from now, the acidification of the oceans could lead to mass extinction and the death of most ocean life.

A substantial reduction of human carbon emissions is a prudent reaction to these warnings.

Antony A. Stark Cambridge