Letters

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Readers responded to September's special issue "Energy's Future: Beyond Carbon" like there was no tomorrow--with critiques, alternatives and prescriptions to help assure that there will be. Critical letters ranged from global warming deniers to cautious skeptics, many of whom felt it was unscientific for Gary Stix to pronounce in the introduction, "A Climate Repair Manual," that "the debate on global warming is over." Vern Porter of Elk Grove, Calif., begged to differ: "It seems potency of water vapor as a greenhouse gas is largely ignored and its capacity to moderate temperatures unappreciated."

Then there were readers who concluded that if global warming is upon us, we should strive to adapt to it rather than to reverse its effects. Others felt achieving sustainability would require humanity to surmount not only technological but also cultural hurdles, including the willingness to control population growth. The largest volume of responses, however, offered options that were not covered, from harvesting lightning to white rooftops to underground homes lit with LEDs as well as a low-tech return to using clotheslines, more rail transport and the 55-mph national speed limit.

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American