Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion

The Feb. 18 letter from Rodger Anderson on climate change contains at least two errors. First, the mass of the atmosphere is about 5,000 trillion metric tons, so adding two parts per million of carbon dioxide [CO2] requires the addition of about 10 billion metric tons, not the 400 billion he calculated. That’s about the amount currently released each year from burning fossil fuels. But the total CO2 budget is a little more complicated. There are other sources, and some is removed by dissolving in sea water.

His second error is his assertion that the debate over climate change continues to grow. The debate has been over for many years among the climate scientists, who are in the best position to know. It is at least 98 percent certain that the climate is warming due to the generation of greenhouse gases by humans. Ginned-up controversy certainly has grown, but the actual facts are pretty clear and have not changed much in the past 20 years.

James E. Pickett

Niskayuna