This climate change has not been going on forever

(Provided graphic — Curt Stager)It’s not always easy to speak up when a conversation turns contentious, but sometimes it is necessary. A recent commentary published in this newspaper on March 22, titled “Climate change is not a hoax — It’s been going on forever,” raises several claims that misrepresent climate science. At this time when truth and trust in science are under attack more than ever before, it’s especially important to respond to climate misinformation with the support of reliable evidence.Let’s start with the central premise: Yes, Earth’s climate has always varied — we climate scientists are the ones who discovered and documented that fact in detail. This is one of many reasons why we also know that the rapid, planet-wide warming we’re experiencing now is not part of any natural process or cycle. It’s a different kind of change that is primarily driven by a buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.A temperature chart included in the commenta...