Letter: You don’t need extreme events to see global warming

An Oct. 19 letter argued that climate-change proponents are using the recent spate of natural disasters to advance their viewpoint.

First of all, most reported comments by meteorologists and climate scientists take pains to point out that any individual event cannot be solely attributed to global warming. Second, the reality of global warming is based on comprehensive studies of climate-related measurements and their interpretation. It is not inferred from the occurrence of extreme events.

It is true that climate modeling predicts an increased severity and frequency of extreme events. But that is the opposite from arguing that these events are the basis for deducing that global temperatures are increasing.

The letter is a good example of the straw man logical fallacy. If you can’t win the debate, you advance a different issue that you can win.

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Letter: You don’t need extreme events to see global warming."