Threat's seriousness not dependent on status of crisis

Regarding Monte Heil's letter (Daily Bee, Dec. 15), whether or not a situation has reached the status of a crisis depends on an assessment of how serious a threat it poses. Based on the increasing harmful effects of global warming, most climate scientists have concluded that climate change has reached that threshold.

Heil claims that modern science is inferior to 17th-century science and that it produces “pseudoscience” and “junk science.” I have asked for his scientific credentials to determine if he has relevant expertise that could persuade anyone to take this outlandish claim seriously. Once again he has declined to provide that information. Until he does, we can assume he's just grossly misinformed about the history of science.

The reason Heil doesn't fall up out of bed in the morning is accounted for by Newton's Law of Gravity. A scientific law is a repeated, consistent, well-documented observation of a natural phenomenon that is often described in mathematical language. However, Newton's law breaks down at high speeds and at the atomic level. The law cannot even be used to accurately calibrate GPS systems. Einstein's theory of general relativity explains why Newton's law is provisional. Scientists are still working on a theory to describe gravitational forces at the atomic level.

Science has provided overwhelming evidence that the world is warming at a rapid rate that's cause for concern. (This year could become the hottest on record.) The fact science doesn't prove anything with absolute certainty doesn't change the validity nor significance of that observation.

JACK DeBAUN

Dover