In your Jan. 30 issue Jim Hyde states that “there is overwhelming consensus among scientists that climate changes are man-made.” I am not sure what “overwhelming” signifies in this context but I must point out that there is a large body of scientists who insist that climate changes are not man-made. Indeed, the report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change is entitled “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate.” The report is written by outstanding scientists from many nations and supported by many scientists worldwide. The summary includes the sentence, “As NIPCC shows by offering an independent non-governmental ‘second opinion’ on the global warming issue, we do not have any convincing evidence or observations of significant climate change from other than natural causes.”

Richard S. Lindzen, professor of Meteorology at M.I.T., has stated emphatically that “The Climate Science Isn’t Settled.” He has also stated that “predictions of catastrophe (due to climate change) are unwarranted,” and has presented evidence to support that statement.

This is hardly the forum to present data on climate change. I simply want your readers to understand that there are many theories on climate change and none have been proven scientifically. Attempts to reduce “carbon count” could be economically disastrous and totally without affect on the climate. I hope that “Whidbey Citizen Climate Lobby” will make an intensive study of the available data before recommending changes in our behavior.

Thomas D. Smith, Ph.D.

Oak Harbor