Letter to the Editor - October 29, 2020

Charleston’s recent high tides were impressive. This week's "Nature Notes" column addresses the science (pages 14-15).  Questions, however, remain.

Today, if one questions the dogma, he or she is labeled an "ist" or an "er.” I question some of the dire, man-made global warming assumptions and predictions, so I am called a "denier." We have kept sea level records for about a century now. In that time, Charleston’s has risen roughly one foot. There are also shark's teeth in the Edisto River bed near I-95 deposited long before man had any environmental significance. Those are facts. The projections of dramatic sea level rise facing us are scary, but they are conjecture.

Some climate scientists warned as recently as the 1970s that the next great cooling trend had begun. I studied engineering, including some graduate-level work in weather-related physics. I do not discount the possibility that the seas will continue to rise. I also believe that we affect this planet significantly and must be good stewards. But how much man is steering this ship versus mostly riding along has not been determined.

Albert Einstein said, "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain."  Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Planck stated, "We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist..." Finally, Mark Twain warned, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.”

Without dissent and questions, the earth would still be flat. Question on. You are in good company.

Frank Conway

Nature Notes columnist

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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