RE: “Dunbar conscious of climate change” [Letters, Oct. 24]:
The real cause of global warming is the heat emitted by our energy use, not the carbon dioxide byproduct of fossil fuel combustion.
There are no correlations of carbon dioxide to temperature where it can be stated that carbon dioxide was a cause, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would have you believe that from its paleoclimatology data a climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide can be determined. It was solar heat due to the Milankovitch cycles that caused the rise in temperature.
On the other hand, energy consumption alone can account for the temperature rise. One example in 2008: 16 terawatts of energy use raised the temperature 0.04 degree Fahrenheit, one fourth the potential heat rise.
Cooling from glacial melting and absorption of 5,000 btus per pound of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis prevented more. I doubt that Kyoto even considered this.
Now we are stuck with ridiculous schemes to sequester carbon dioxide, and we are beset with proposals for advanced nuclear power. Nuclear power emits twice the total heat as its electrical output.