An Open Letter From a Scientist to Cynical Friends:  It bothers me when some of my most educated and intelligent friends express a sense of futility or even doubt about the affects of Global Warming and resulting changes in the global climate. This cynicism is perhaps more dangerous than the problems facing civilization and future generations. I wrote this open letter to remind us that we hold the reins to a runaway climate. We can't do much alone but together we can change the world; after all, we already did. A stick alone may be fragile but a stick in a bundle is strong.  We may have simply forgotten what got us here in the first place.  

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The Earth as seen from space. (Photo Credit: NASA)

​"Climate Change Is Not Subject To Your Opinion" The sky is actually falling. The clearest human finger print on the atmosphere is found by satellite measurements. The lower atmosphere where the vast majority of GHGs are present is called the troposphere. Above that is the Stratosphere. GHGs work like a blanket and are trapping more and more heat in the troposphere,consequently there should be less heat reaching the Stratosphere. Over the past 35 years that is exactly what we have observed. The troposphere is warming and the stratosphere is cooling. In addition the stratosphere is also shrinking. As it shrinks it is getting thinner. So the upper layer of the stratosphere (stratopause) is actually falling.




Photo Credit NASA