Strange claims in global warming letter

A recent letter, written by James Roehrborn, regarding my recent statements on the topic of climate change made some strange claims. Mr. Roehrborn sprinkles isolated facts amongst misinformation to give readers a false impression about the dangers of global warming. Mr. Roehrborn is correct in noting that there are other greenhouse gases aside from carbon dioxide. One of the more important ones is methane. He is also correct in stating that methane is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. This gives us the impression that we are worrying about the wrong gas. Is he right?

The short answer is no. What Mr. Roehrborn doesn’t say is that the amount of methane in the atmosphere is far, far lower than the amount of carbon dioxide. There is about 200 times more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than methane. When you add the entire warming effect of all the methane particles in the atmosphere, they are only a fraction of the carbon dioxide.

Another claim that Mr. Roehrborn made was surprising; he stated, “why can’t we trust God to continue to sustain us.” That is strange theology… What he seems to suggest is that we can just destroy this wonderful planet, which is a true gift, and somehow God will make it right. I have a different view. I think we are obligated to take care of this precious gift. Readers will have to decide whose theology they agree with more, to me it is pretty obvious.

Dr. John Abraham

University of St. Thomas

St. Paul, MN

Tags: opinion, letters