Responding to the letter “Mother Nature will have the last laugh” from Oct. 22, the writer presents his opinion on “the key question” whether and why climate change takes place.
He puts forward a common repudiation of global warming concerns, that the climate changes and has always changed, regardless of (and dismissing) human influence. I disagree, and so do nearly all climate scientists.
According to a 2021 Cornell University survey of 88,125 climate-related studies, “more than 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that climate change is mainly caused by humans.” There are indeed inherent climate variations attributable to Mother Nature: changes in the Earth’s orbit, solar variability, volcanic activity, etc. Climate scientists are certain that these background factors can’t account for the unprecedented extent of climate change in the last 150-odd years.
Specific human activities associated with rapid climate change are: transportation, electricity generation, industry and manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas development, buildings, deforestation, and lifestyle choices.
I do agree with the writer that Mother Nature will have the last laugh. Warming of the atmosphere by human-caused increases in greenhouse gas concentration is simple physics: relentless, impassive, and inevitable. If you drive your car off a cliff Mother Nature, in the form of gravity, will have the last laugh. Our dire climate predicament is no different.
Jeff Heehs, Durham
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