To the editor:Thanks for providing a forum for news and discussion.
A week or so ago you had a column on climate change. I read it several times to catch your train of thought. It was not clear to me what your stand was concerning both Y2K issue and climate change. That’s probably how you intended it. You were discussing the discussion.
I think that those scoffers who compare these two issues are making a good comparison. However, they are proving a point opposite to what they intend to prove.
The Y2K computer issue was very real. The reason it appeared to be a non-issue after the new year passed was because analysts, programmers, software engineers and computer makers worked very hard for two to three years expanding files to use a four digit date and changing programs to use new date routines. Think of all the places dates are used: due dates, interest periods, mortgages to name a few. The difference between 98 and 99 is one year. The difference between 99 and 00 is 99 years. Consumers Energy made their fixes and advanced their calendars into the 2000s well before the year end and then adjusted them back once we were into the new year.
So it is with climate change we need to observe the signs and make reasonable (and perhaps some unreasonable) modifications in how we live life.
Some say humans can’t change the climate but consider some examples. The Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s was a direct result of human activity. Paper companies ruined the Kalamazoo River for a time. Cleanup is taking decades. One company contaminated a large area of ground water in the Rockford area. The oceans are loaded with plastic residue. These examples are not global, but show what can happen on a large scale.
All food for thought!
Henry Raad
