Re: John Crisp's Nov. 3 commentary, "Blinders the latest fashion":
This commentary discusses our willingness to ignore facts we don't like. As proof, he cites a poll that indicates only 57 percent of people believe that global warming is real. So let's look a few facts.
If we look at global temperature data and we pick our starting point as 100 years ago, we would indeed say that the Earth is warming. But if we start 10 years ago, we would say that the temperature is stable. But then if we start 5,000 years ago, we would say that the Earth has cooled. Then again, if we start 100,000 years ago, we would say the temperature is cyclical.
These facts don't even begin to touch on whether humans have caused these temperature changes. Yet despite the uncertainty the data implies, some people still try to stifle discussion by blithely claiming, "The debate is over!"
Crisp is indeed correct that we humans often practice "willful disbelief." But when it comes to global warming, who is more guilty of this -- the skeptics or the believers?
-- Todd Strasburger, Thousand Oaks