Letter: Relax about there being a climate crisis

To the editor,

I am responding to the letter from Chuck Goyette, “Climate crisis needs our action, attention.”

I have some advice: First, take a deep breath. You seem to be having a panic attack.

There is no climate crisis. The earth has been slowly warming since the Maunder Minimum of 1700. The earth is still 2 degrees C cooler than it was in the Medieval Warm Period, from 1000 to 1250 AD when the Vikings were growing vegetables and barley in Greenland. The oceans are rising at a rate of 7” per century. The polar bears are thriving. Hurricanes and tornadoes are decreasing in both intensity and frequency. The Antarctic ice cap is at record levels.

Climate models are not even close to accurate. They assert that positive feedback loops can magnify warming from 1 to 2.5 times. The actual number is about 8.5%. They all ignore the effect of underwater volcanoes. Hint, you can google the Honga Tonga volcano from 2021. That increased the water vapor content of our atmosphere by 10%. That has given us a rise of 1 degree C, which will fade away over the next 5 years. The models also don’t give any credence to the role of water vapor on climate. Hint, it is responsible for 96% of the greenhouse effect. CO2 is a trace gas. Not a surprise when you consider that it only makes up 0.042% of the atmosphere.

Yes, CO2 levels have risen from about 0.028% to 0.042% since 1850. And what is the effect of that? A likely rise in temps of about 1 degree F. An additional increase of 140 ppm should give about a half a degree F. That is because as CO2 levels go up, additional CO2 has less effect. We are already seeing 83% of the potential warming we will ever get from CO2.

What else has happened. Well the earth has greened by 15% in the last 30 years according to satellite measurements. The deserts are shrinking. Why, because increased CO2 levels make all plants more drought tolerant. They need less water. Crop yields are higher by about 15%. And why would that be? Could it be that is because the primary role of CO2 on earth is as plant food?

Steve Ross
Crookston, Minnesota