IB次元官网网址檓 writing in response to the letter by Ken Lane that appeared in the Feb. 14 online edition of the Sooke B次元官网网址 Mirror.

Lane suggests that carbon dioxide generated by human activities is only four per cent of atmospheric carbon dioxide and composes less than one molecule per 1,600 molecules of all atmospheric gases, and as such is B次元官网网址渉ardly sufficient to be a significant factor in climate change.B次元官网网址� Lane makes three errors.

It is an error to say that humans generate less than four per cent of carbon dioxide, and another error to say that this number of molecules is not enough to be a significant factor.

TodayB次元官网网址檚 reading from the Mauna Loa observatory shows that our atmosphere has 417.31 parts per million carbon dioxide. ThatB次元官网网址檚 up almost 30% from 1940.

Part of the point of studying the atmosphere, as done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is to learn about the roles of gases in climate change. Small changes can have profound effects.

LaneB次元官网网址檚 third error is to say that the change in atmospheric carbon dioxide is hardly significant compared to B次元官网网址渇orces that are planetary, lunar, solar, and celestial B次元官网网址� We can only strive to adapt.B次元官网网址� On the contrary, part of our adaptation should be no longer continuing to make carbon dioxide such a significant factor in climate change.

The change in atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1950 is more significant than Lane admits. While it is one of several factors in climate change, it is a significant factor. Because it is due almost entirely to human activities burning fossil fuels, it is a factor humans can influence.

Paula Johanson

Sooke

editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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