As soon as I saw the figure 97 percent in Greg Jayne’s Nov. 23 column, “Climate change ‘debate’: Hot air overshadows science,” I knew we were in for more of the usual nonsense. For an explanation of why that is so, see “The Myth of the Climate Change ‘97%’,” at on.wsj.com/1sWAKZz.
As Mark Twain remarked in “Chapters from My Autobiography,” “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.’ ” Words and thoughts to keep in mind when quasi-religious fervor takes over — as it has in this matter.
Bob Harper
Vancouver
