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WINTER2005/VOLUME 24, NUMBER 1 LettersOCEAN WARMING “This spectacular tropical storm season, predicted months ago, is spawned by unusually warm surface waters. Whether this warming is anomalous, or ominous, remains unclear. Some experts believe it reflects a larger-scale climatic transition toward warmer seas.” This quotation from John W. Fitzpatrick’s essay in BirdScope (Autumn 2004) left me aghast. Since when has Cornell University rejected the Enlightenment and science? Global warming is a scientific fact! There is no longer any scientific debate about whether global warming exists. Dr. Fitzpatrick’s waffling is disgraceful. This is not a political issue, a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans or between environmentalists and neoconservatives. At its core, it is a philosophical issue. Does Dr. Fitzpatrick support the Enlightenment, the scientific method, and reason, or does he instead embrace anti-intellectualism and the rejection of science? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology must be responsible and defend the spirit of the Enlightenment. If it means upsetting politicians who reject science and manipulate science for political ends, then so be it. Global warming is a fact, just like evolution. We must take politicians to task when their words and actions run counter to scientific fact. If we do not, scientific facts like global warming will never be politically confronted, and all of nature will suffer the consequences. Bill Janus I appreciate your letter. When I read your first few words, I thought you were going to yell at me for tentatively suggesting the connection between warmer ocean waters and global warming, which is not a scientifically proven point. The fact that this particular summer’s tropical Atlantic surface waters were warmer than usual could have resulted from anomalies in ocean or air currents unrelated to global warming. As a staunch defender of science, I tried to stay accurate to the known facts: the connection has been suggested by some experts but remains unproven. In contrast, you are absolutely correct that global warming itself is a proven fact. Moreover, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence is that we humans have played a direct role in bringing it about. As I tried to stress at the end of my essay, I couldn’t agree more that it is indeed time we demand that our politicians pay heed to this coming danger. John W. Fitzpatrick LIFE BIRD What a thrill last Sunday! After 50 years of bird watching, I saw a bird I’d never seen before. There, just outside my kitchen window, was a wee olive-gray bird with a bright orange patch glistening in the sun. He flitted among the blue spruce branches that brushed my window, after perching on the sill peering in at me as if to say, “May I come and visit?” Meanwhile, his more modest mate with her brilliant yellow crown patch was feeding on the treats between the spruce needles. What a delightful pair. After five minutes or so they left to thrill yet another lucky bird watcher. Their trip from Canada to warmer climes was half over. November 7, 2004, will remain in my memory as that special day when I saw a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets. Ellen Vidal Hollmeyer
For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Tim Gallagher, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-2443. email: twg3@cornell.edu |
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