Pay attention to global warming

I'm pleased The Acorn informed its readers about the over 1,000 rallies nationally- one of them at the Thousand Oaks Library at 10 a.m.- to be held this Sat., April 14, urging Congress to take action against global warming.

Unfortunately, the article about the rallies concluded with some seriously misleading statements.

According to the article, some "experts" claim the effects of global warming have been "overstated" and that increased carbon dioxide levels have had only a "benign" effect on the environment.

There is a strong scientific consensus contrary to the views of the unnamed experts that the article cites. If this consensus wasn't clear before, the recent reports on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have removed all doubt.

The panel, which is the world's authoritative body on climate science and includes hundreds of scientific experts from over 130 countries, has concluded that carbon dioxide and other manmade greenhouse gases are causing the earth's temperature to rise and that the effect of this climate change is and will be devastating.

Denying the catastrophic impact of global warming on our planet and that human activity is the primary cause of that condition is this year's equivalent to earlier assertions that the world is flat. The problem is no longer subject to serious dispute. The only open question is whether we have the strength and wisdom to take immediate, bold action to attack the problem. David S. Ettinger Oak Park