Global warming has been going on beginning some 18,000 or 12,000 years ago, depending on what planetary researchers you believe, if at all, when the last ice age began to recede.

Actually, this process was present before the last ice age and is responsible for all fossil fuels, which is why we have oil in Alaska when Earth was much warmer.

The system that has worked perfectly since that time is called photosynthesis. It is the system taking place in trees and any other green, leafy plant, for that matter. This process takes in CO2 and gives off oxygen and nitrogen which is important, as follows:

1. Without CO2, we would die of starvation.
2. Without oxygen we would die of asphyxiation.

Those who think we can do better than this process, including the elimination of fossil fuel, are asking for something far more dangerous.

Some things you do not hear about:

1. Volcanic eruptions that can put 85,000 tons of CO2 in the air at each eruption, about which we can do nothing.
2. The biggest greenhouse gas is water vapor (clouds), also about which we can do nothing.
3. The world’s food production is up 3% due to a very small increase in CO2.
4. Forest fires that put thousands of tons of CO2 in the air, due to poor management or no management at all.
5. The world’s biggest air polluters, China and India, get a pass.
6. The USA has done more to prevent air pollution than any other industrial nation.

The people who call for preserving the forests are the same ones who call for the elimination of fossil fuels for heat and energy. The irony is, the huge fires in California, Oregon and Washington could be substantially reduced if properly managed, as one of these conflagrations puts thousands of tons of CO2 in the air.

Clifton E. Foster
Consulting forester
Gray