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LETTER: Greenhouse gases affect climate change

Methane traps from 75 to 100 per cent more heat than CO2
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Dear Editor:

This letter is directed at the few people who are either not capable of accepting man-made climate change as a fact, or are simply not aware of the changes in our climate over the last century.

This comment comes from David Suzuki’s latest newsletter:

“Most people understand that human-caused climate change is a real and serious threat. True, some still reject the mountains of evidence amassed by scientists from around the world over many decades, and accepted by every legitimate scientific academy and institution. But as the physical evidence builds daily — from increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events like droughts and floods to disappearing polar ice to rising sea levels — it takes an incredible amount of denial to claim we have no reason to worry.”

Perhaps those people should make an effort to watch the receding glaciers (we have some here in B.C.) or the unusual floods (we have some of those in B.C. as well), or monitor the astronomical increase in the world’s population who are going to add significantly to our greenhouse gases.

Methane, a gas which has increased about 15 per cent since 1750, traps from 75 to 100 per cent more heat than CO2.

The oil and gas industry (part of which is in the Peace River District of B.C.) produces about 42 per cent of Canada’s methane gas; agriculture (mostly cattle and the use of fertilizers) about 28 per cent; and landfills about 22 per cent.

Some of the landfill operations, such as suggested for Summerland, manufacture biomass, which, if it can’t be used for heating purposes, or, heaven forbid, vehicular fuel, will end up in our atmosphere as well.

Nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas, comes from the use of chemical fertilizers (which will be needed to grow more crops for our burgeoning population) and the burning of fossil fuels, has a warming potential 310 times that of CO2.

Ah well, maybe all those scientists don’t know as much as the deniers do.

Frank Martens

Summerland