Letter to the Editor: Climate Change

To the Editor:
This is a summary of some of the facts about Climate Change presented by Matt Ridley and Benny Peiser in the Wall Street Journal, on p. 28, November 28-29, 2015. Ridley is a columnist for the Times (UK), and Peiser is the director of the Global Warming Policy forum.

“…the world is barely half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than it was about 35 years ago. Also, it is increasingly clear that the planet was significantly warmer than today several times during the past 10,000 years.”
“…but, Antarctic sea ice has increased, and Antarctica is gaining land-based ice, according to a new study by NASA scientists published in the journal of Glaciology.”
“…climate change and its likely impact are proving slower and less harmful than we feared, and decarburization of the economy is proving more painful and costly than we hoped.”
“Scientific skeptics are now routinely censored, or threatened with prosecution. One recent survey by Rasmussen Reports shows that 27% of Democrats in the U.S. are in favor of prosecuting climate skeptics. This is the mentality of religious fanaticism, not scientific debate.”
“China’s coal consumption is growing at 2.6% a year. India’s at 5%, which is why coal was the fastest-growing fossil fuel last year.”
I ask you, with these facts at hand, how can Climate Change be a greater threat to the U.S. than Terrorism?

Bob Moline
Genoa