Balanced coverage gives lopsided view

A recent news article talked about the GOP candidates' denial of human-caused climate change. Polls report fewer people believe climate change is an urgent problem. I believe this is partly the result of media policy - TV, magazines and newspapers - of presenting a "fair" coverage of climate change.

The scientific evidence is over 90 percent certain that climate change has increased since the Industrial Revolution and the beginning of the use of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases are now greater than they have ever been in the last 650,000 years. But the media reports the pros and cons on a 50-50 basis? No wonder people are confused.

Science students know that statistics are crucial, but not easy. Scientists use statistics as their lifeblood. From the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the terms "extremely likely" means it is at a 95 percent certainty level, "very likely" is a 90 percent level, and "likely" is a 66 percent level of certainty. Scientists can't say statistically that something is or isn't true "100 percent." Scientists, if anything, understate their case. That is the bad side - they are now seeing things getting worse much faster than they predicted.

But, on the humorous side, one climate change solution is that "if all else fails, we can burrow underground to cool off!" Is this what our GOP friends are doing? They are trying the ostrich solution - bury their heads and wait for the problem to go away.

There are lots of green jobs and technology we can develop that solve greenhouse gas problems. Al Gore's new book, "Our Choice," talks about solutions and one is that revised agriculture methods could be a huge remedy until we have alternative energies in place. Don't be a fossil or an ostrich. Let's go green!.

Sandra Kaptain

Climate Change Chair

League of Women Voters

Co-Chair

Elgin Climate Change Org.

Elgin