Letter to the Editor

Science is not a religion

Tue, 12/04/2018 - 3:00pm
Dear Editor:
 
Science of Climate, of NASA space, or of Medicine is based on proven facts that has been duplicated by scientists around our globe. Stating “I don’t believe” has no value without contrary factual data accepted by global scientists.
 
We have one planet with one ocean that keeps all living species alive during their expected average life spans.  The Baobab Tree of Life has been known to live as long as 5,000 years with its average life span around 1,000 to 3,000 years. It is dying much faster. We have scientific reasons to determine the cause of a tree dying that had survived with or without rain in the middle of the African desert.  Last year the 1,000-year+-old Sunland baobab, the largest of these trees in Africa, “toppled over.”  Another famous baobab, the Chapman tree in Botswana, collapsed in 2016.
 
Research, by Adrian Patrut of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and an international group of colleagues, finds that in the past 12 years, “9 of the 13 oldest and 5 of the 6 largest individual trees have died, or at least their oldest parts/stems have collapsed and died”.  Having 70 percent of these trees dead within 12 years, eons before expected, is not normal.
 
Climate harm is real when it changes expected life spans of thousand year old survivor trees. When this happens to the older and strongest, what happens to the weaker and youngest species?
 
Known cause of illness helps scientists determine the best treatment.  When cause is not known treatments are hopeful, but not guaranteed.  Cause for Leukemia was unclear in 1982 when I moved to Woburn, Massachusetts, and good treatment was rare.  EPA scientists found the largest cause came from contaminated water through inhaled shower steam through the  nose and mouth leading into lungs and blood.
 
Known causes of observable climate change is of utmost importance to determine the degree of life threatening issues that could be destructive for all earth species.  Known scientific causes guide solutions required to save lives. To ignore science is to ignore God who forever sends viable solutions that we frequently ignore.
 
Jarryl Larson
Edgecomb