Joseph E. Connor wrote in the March 25 Herald that we should “stop the handwringing and pseudoscience” (page A4, March 25 Herald). He challenged to name one person who died of global warming.

According to a UN report, at least 300,000 people die each year as an indirect cause of global warming — measurably increased floods, typhoons and other violent storms; excessive summer heatwaves and forest fires; and crop failures causing starvation and unaffordable food prices which, in turn, stimulates civil unrest and wars.

Perhaps, Mr. Connor does not understand what global warming is. As the air heats up, it holds more moisture. As the ocean heats up, it releases more moisture into the atmosphere. That atmospheric moisture adds to the fierce flooding and storms. Warmer air over dry land makes the land drier as it sucks up the available moisture, causing droughts.

Climate science is not a pseudoscience. Here’s a citation of the UN report: www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/29/1.

Oscar Sisk
Retired science teacher
Poulsbo