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Letters to the Editor

Letter: Climate change is really happening

IslandPacket newsroom@islandpacket.com
Hilton Head IslandOnce again a writer has twisted the facts so that they are 180 degrees from the actual natural situation. He is fascinated with elevated carbon dioxide levels, especially in closed environments such as greenhouses, where elevated CO2 can stimulate plant growth under artificial conditions. From these very limited findings, he reasons that at a level of

40 percent in CO2 (from its current level of 401 parts per million) "crops and forests will benefit."

If CO2 increases by 40 percent, we will have deserts where there are grasslands, and our coastal plains will be underwater. Our rich farmlands will dry up and lose their fertility. The resultant increase in the temperature of the Earth will kill crops quickly and forests more slowly.

We do not live in a greenhouse. Our planet is quite sensitive to elevated temperature, and increased CO2 is the primary driver of elevated temperature. We must face these facts now before it is too late and these preventable disasters occur.

These elevated atmospheric CO2 levels are the direct cause of climate change that cannot be ignored.

Allan M. Lefer

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Letter: Climate change is really happening."

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