To the Editor:
It is not global weirding that is here, but political weirding: politicians who believe that they can repeal the laws of nature.
The basic science of global warming is really relatively simple. As the oceans and the air above them become warmer because of increased carbon dioxide, more water evaporates into the atmosphere. As we know, what goes up must come down—hence the increased snowfall in Washington (which probably deserves it) and Pittsburgh (which most certainly does not).
It would be nice if the increased precipitation fell in arid areas, but there are reasons of nature why these are arid in the first place, and global warming will only worsen, not alleviate, that situation.
The heavy snowfalls most certainly do not confirm the absence of global warming. The only thing they confirm is the ignorance of the politicians who make that claim.
Zvi J. Doron
Pittsburgh, Feb. 17, 2010
The writer, a retired nuclear engineer, is co-author of a book (in German) about energy and climate, published in Switzerland in 2008.
Note from KBJ: This letter typifies the mindset of the dogmatist. Everything counts in favor of global warming. Nothing counts against it. If we were experiencing a warm winter, it would be cited as proof (not just evidence) of global warming. Heads I win; tails you lose.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 