Letters to the Editor: What climate deniers and COVID anti-vaxxers have in common

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·2 min read
Vehicles are stranded after a heavy downpour in Zhengzhou city, central China's Henan province on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Heavy flooding has hit central China following unusually heavy rains, with the subway system in the city of Zhengzhou inundated with rushing water. (Chinatopix Via AP)
Vehicles are stranded after a heavy downpour in Zhengzhou city in central China's Henan province on July 20. (Associated Press)

To the editor: The recent climate-related catastrophes in Germany, China and the United States should be enough to end lingering doubt that our planet is heating and, in turn, wreaking havoc as a result of our continued spewing of greenhouse gases.

Scientists have warned of these horrendous outcomes. But, like the doubters of the COVID-19 vaccine's safety and efficacy, climate change deniers, many of whom are elected to leadership positions in this country, ignore facts and science as proof stares them in the face.

Hearing the regrets of many unvaccinated hospitalized COVID patients — now gasping for breath — makes for an ominous analogy. Will climate change deniers come around before civilization takes its last gasp in a man-made hostile environment?

Vaccine mandates may be coming, and so should stiffer mandates to end fossil fuel burning.

Gloria Sefton, Trabuco Canyon

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To the editor: Thank you for another insightful article on climate change. However, one primary driver of climate change conspicuously absent from the article was human overpopulation, something that scientists have been warning us about for years.

Earlier this month, the group Scientists Warning Europe stated unequivocally that climate change is being driven by both overconsumption and overpopulation, and that there is no hope of assuaging the ravages of climate change, let alone our planet's nascent mass extinction event, unless we can reverse our 220,000-person-per-day growth. The group says this planet should have no more than 3 billion people on it; now, it has almost 7.9 billion.

If we are serious about mitigating climate change, we will soon need to break the taboo that prevents us from addressing overpopulation.

Robert Johnson, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: We have wildfires, floods, pandemics and rising homicides with more and more guns available —and yet there are billionaires having fun and escaping to space.

What is wrong with this picture? It's like "The Twilight Zone" of my youth come to life.

I want to feel hopeful for the future, for my granddaughters. My family and I do our best in conserving. When will the tide turn and deniers wake up and come back to Earth?

Esther Friedberg, Studio City

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.