The biggest problem in the debate over "global warming" is that most of the proponents are ignorant of the basic concept of Sglobal change through time. The earth has been continually changing for the last 4.5 billion years and the present time not unique in its characteristics, except for the fact that the present level of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere is about the lowest it has ever been. Those who would debate the reality of man as the source of global warming should at least learn the basics of the system and the characteristic behavior of its components before they begin maligning those whose careers and lifetimes have involved acquiring a long-tem historical framework into which the debate should be placed.

The last ice age (of between 5 and 13, depending on how you define a glacial stage) ended about 18,000 years ago. During that time, sea level due to melting of glacial ice rose approximately 420 feet according to data from the research scientists and geologists who have specialized in that field. The melting of ice which produced that sea level rise took place primarily between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago with only a few feet of rise continuing from 6,000 years ago to the present.

It is highly unlikely that industrial activities of man were responsible for the melting of two/thirds of the last pleistocene maximum in the time frame for 18,000 to 6,000 years BP. It is also highly unlikely that man's activities were responsible for the earlier multiple advances and retreats of ice sheets of similar or greater extent in the million or so years prior to the most recent cycle of advance.

As a person who holds a Ph.D. in Geology and as a professor/consultant in Environmental Geology for over 40 years, I feel that the ranting of people who do not understand the context of SSGlobal Change and Climate Change are doing more harm to the effort to solve environmental problems than aid in the solutions that are necessary. If you wish to fruitfully add to the efforts in problem-solving, then take a course in earth history or at least read a text which deals with global change over a longer period than the last 30 years`.

I respect the right of people to have their own opinions. I do not respect those who do not acquire the information appropriate to developing the opinions they express. Individuals should develop their own opinions, not blindly express those of others without critical review of the basis for those opinions. I would rather depend on the opinions of scientifically-trained commentators than those of individuals whose academic credentials consist of a degree in Political Science.

James F. Howard, Ph.D. Geology and Environmental Science