Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I am writing in response to Ted Williams’s comments on climate change (“Climate change talk is pure politics,” March 6 Readers Write). Mr. Williams makes a series of comments in his letter to justify his statement that the science of climate change is “Far from … being settled.”

His first point states, “There has been no measurable warming in the past 17 years.” In fact, according to the NOAA and NASA atmospheric temperature records, the last decade was the hottest since temperatures have been recorded. Additionally, the oceans continue to warm dramatically, including at depths greater than 700 meters, and the Arctic continues its planet-leading massive warming.

His second point states, “As for the CO2 issue, our contribution has been puny compared with that released by approximately 100 active volcanoes around the globe.” According to the USGS (volcanoes.usgs.gov), volcanoes emit 0.26 billion metr...