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Jeremy Conlin (Daily Bee, Dec. 9, 2018) brings up a research paper on ocean warming that was published in the journal “Nature”. He insinuates that, because the paper contained errors, global warming is not supported by reliable evidence. What this example really demonstrates is that, once subjected to critical scrutiny by the scientific community at large, problems are normally quickly identified and corrected.

Within two weeks of publication, the authors of the “Nature” paper acknowledged their errors, reworked their calculations, and submitted corrections to the journal. That is the way the self-correcting, peer-review process in science operates. The fact remains, decades of research show that the oceans absorb most of the Earth’s accumulating heat and the absorption is accelerating. For details, see “Scientists acknowledge key errors in study of how fast the oceans are warming” at wapo.st/2GiWRtJ .

Mr. Conlin criticizes the latest U.S. climate assessment for improperly reporting the extent of hurricane damage. Be that as it may, damaging rainfall from hurricanes is increasing. See “Climate change is making hurricanes even more destructive, research finds” at http://bit.ly/2Cf95zj .

Those who seek to discredit the findings of climate scientists often claim that, in the 1970s, climatologists predicted global cooling. Fact: Of the relevant research papers published between 1965 and 1979, 62 percent predicted warming, only 10 percent predicted cooling. See “What were climate scientists predicting in the 1970s?” at http://bit.ly/2PDjtV2 . While deniers pretend to rely on facts, they are clearly not adverse to misrepresenting them to serve their own self interests.

JACK DeBAUN

Sandpoint