Letter about climate change

To the Editor,

In “The Professor forgot to tell us something,” (FCJ, Monday, July 8, 2019) Col. Stan Gudmundson resorts to an old rhetorical trick: If you don’t have the facts on your side, attack the source. The facts are these: the Earth is getting warmer, and emissions of carbon dioxide caused by human activities are the major cause. The article that Jeff Erding cited was indeed published in 1922, but it has little to do with whether or not global climate change is caused by human activities. As I stated in my previous letter, “Every single one of the facts Erding states is blatantly false or misleading.”

Properly understood, science does not depend on politics or religion. Through a tenuous and convoluted causal chain, Gudmundson connects my claim to George Soros, the boogieman of all conservatives. First of all, the source I cited was snopes.com, not IFCN, and snopes.com is a recognized credible source for debunking false claims. Even if George Soros funds the Poynter Institute, and the Poynter Institute funds IFCN, none of this has anything to do with climate change. The earth simply doesn’t care if George Soros funds the Poynter Institute.

The Earth is getting warmer. This is true whether Col. Gudmundson, Jeff Erding, or I believe it or not. We are in an existential crisis because of the effects of climate change, and it is necessary for people of all faiths and political opinions to band together to mitigate its effects. 

Kim A. Stelson

College of Science and 

Engineering Distinguished 

Professor

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis and Lanesboro, Minn.