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I agree with Jeremy Conlin (Daily Bee, March 21, 2019) that it is important that school children “are being taught all the facts.” However, Roy Spencer, whom he cites in his letter is a dubious source for unbiased factual information about climate change. Spencer is a spokesman for the George C. Marshal Institute, a front group for various corporate interests, including major oil companies. Furthermore, his analytical methodology is the subject of well-deserved criticism. (Search the web for “Roy Spencer Climate Asylum.”)

If Mr. Conlin has represented Spencer’s latest book correctly, the claim has been made that the strongest hurricane to strike New England occurred in 1635. Even if that claim were true (there is evidence the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was worse), it ignores the fact that the 10 most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record have occurred since 1934. One of the strongest was “Irma” in 2017.

Mr. Conlin further claims “there has been no decline in polar bear numbers or health”. According to current data, of the 19 polar bear populations, three are declining, six are stable, one is increasing, and definitive information is lacking for the rest. Numbers are expected to further decline as the extent of polar ice decreases due to ocean warming. (Search for “Polar Bears International.”)

One fact worth teaching school children is that, since the establishment of the satellite record in 1978, the Arctic sea ice extent during the summer and autumn has decreased approximately 50 percent. (Search for “Climate Signals Arctic Sea Ice Decline.”)

JACK DeBAUN

Sandpoint