Okay, Phil, if you're "well educated in earth sciences," then you should know better.

Yes, it is the earth we are concerned with. And, yes, it is true that the sun gets hotter as it grows older, but this is a process that takes place over millions of years, and in the brief period of time we are talking about, the effect is negligible to the point of non-existent. The eleven year sunspot cycle affects us far more than this does. Our descendants (should we survive our own shortsightedness) will not have to worry about increases in the sun's temperature for a few billion years yet, and much can happen between now and then.

And yes, NASA receives government funding, but if what you imply is true (that they would cobble the science to keep their funding), then how do you explain the fact that what NASA is saying regarding global warming runs completely counter to what the Bush administration is saying? Answer me that.

And the same holds for the Stanford Solar Center. Neither of these agencies is toeing the government line, so your argument just doesn't wash.

I have studied geologic history as well as astronomy. So perhaps it is you who needs to learn a bit about astronomy, particularly the evolution of stars, especially main-sequence, G spectral class stars like the sun.

I support candidates who favor signing the Kyoto treaty.

Don Firth

P. S. By the way, even if it were true that an increase in the sun's temperature is the main factor in global warming, how smart is it for humans to keep accelerating the process by continuously pouring greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere? Raises a question about whether or not there is intelligent life on this planet.