Reader responds to heat wave article

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to Mr. Richard Moore’s news analysis “USA heat wave!  But is it really hot?” in the August 8 edition of the Northwoods River News.

Mr. Moore cites meteorologist Anthony Watts who is a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute’s climate change center.  Apparently Mr. Watts claims the data that indicates things are getting hotter is inaccurate and that actually heat waves are on the decline. 

Mr. Watts was never trained as a meteorologist, nor was he trained as a climate scientist. 

Mr. Watts was a radio and TV meteorologist. In short, a guy who reads the weather report that real meteorologists create. Watts made the same claim in 2007 and a report by Watts was published by the Heartland Institute in 2009 making this assertion. NOAA investigated and in 2010 concluded that if anything, the data underreported temperatures. Things were getting hotter. And yet, here we are hearing it one more time. It seems that Mr. Watts subscribes to the philosophy that if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

The Heartland Institute’s website says that their mission is “To discover, develop and promote free market solutions to social and economic problems.” 

Since they address climate change on their site they must think it’s a problem. But then why deny it? Climate change finds its basis in science. The 97% of the world’s actively publishing climate scientists who say that climate change is the result of human actions do not skew their findings to serve liberal or conservative philosophies. Nor does their research take into account free market solutions or social and economic problems. It’s just climate science. Pure and simple. It appears to me that the Heartland Institute’s real mission might be political, and science takes a back seat. If it takes a seat at all.

Happily, Mr. Moore does cite an actual climate scientist in his analysis. Judith Curry. She is not alone among academics that believe that climate change is not an immediate threat to the planet. That group of climate deniers is small.  

According to NASA 97% of climate scientists believe that climate change is real, man-made and poses a catastrophic threat to the planet if more is not done soon.

Meanwhile Canada burns and we breathe the smoke. The south broils. NASA and NOAA say July was the warmest on record. 

Sounds hot to me.

Michael Kuczek

Harshaw