Don’t ignore the science, do your part | Letter to the editor

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Four preventable tragedies.

In 1856, Eunice Foote described how CO2 trapped solar heat in a jar, speculating this may happen in the atmosphere. Later 19th century scientists like Tyndall and Arrhenius are usually credited with discovering the greenhouse gas effect, and linked it to fossil fuel consumption. In spite of James Hansen’s congressional testimonies in the 1980s, CO2 in the atmosphere has gone up to 412ppm. 

Just 73 seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven aboard, including elementary school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Students watched in horror. Roger Boisjoly and other engineers at Morton Thiokol had warned that the “O” rings would fail at cold temperatures and tried to stop the flight the night before. Management caved to political pressure from NASA. 

On Jan. 30, 2020, WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. A month later, in spite of Dr. Fauci’s warnings to the contrary, President Trump said, “One day it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” We now have over 1,000 deaths per day in the U.S.

All of the above preventable tragedies came from ignoring science. 

Having to close all of our local schools would also be a significant, preventable tragedy. Ask the kids. Ask the parents. Almost 95 percent of Washington school districts must go to all remote learning, but not in Jefferson County. 

Our schools, our health department and our public hospital district are all well prepared. Now it’s our turn to do our part. Please stay safe and keep the number of new cases down! It takes a village!

Dr. Kees Kolff
PORT TOWNSEND