The Citizen newspaper and climate change

The Citizen seems intent on publishing letters that call into question climate change - see another one below - such letters do nothing to help.

Photo: Whiteshill viewed from Stroud

As I said in an earlier letter: "No one is pretending that the science around climate change is fully understood or that every piece of bad weather is a sign of climate change. Indeed it is also important to note that our vulnerability to flooding is going up mainly due to flood plain developments. However the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and it's analysis by 2,500 of the world's top climate scientists shows our role in causing global warming and that our weather is set to become more extreme. They paint a scary future if we don't act. Furthermore not one of the 928 climate change-related articles published in peer-reviewed journals in ten years has doubted the cause of global warming, yet more than half of the published articles in the popular press have done just that. We need responsible journalism. Climate change is deadly serious and critically urgent. We can tackle it together, but the longer we leave it the more devastating are the consequences."

That letter led to Ian Mean, the editor, congratulating me on the words - but it seems not to have reached other editors of the letters page - indeed something similar is going on over Staverton where it is clear beyond any doubt that the Airport is expanding and intent on more expansion yet they are still trying to pretend the work is about safety - The Citizen, who recently came out in an editorial against the Airport's plans still uses the Airport's language of safety in over half it's articles....

Is this about, as one Green writes..."News paper editors publish letters that they think will provoke a response..." He goes onto say "suppose we stopped responding to the deniers then maybe there would be less letters like this published. I'm not sure we need to debate this stuff in the local press any more - there's a whole slew of films coming out soon (11th Hour for example) that explain and expound the extent and urgency of the environmental crisis. Most of the mass media is now overwhelmingly supportive of the fact that climate change is a serious problem needing urgent attention."

I'm not convinced - too many people I talk to about climate change would love to hear the science is wrong - indeed even doubts can stop people from acting - I think we still need to tackle such letters - and welcome ones like the letter at the bottom of this blog entry, which sets out the science again. We cannot afford to let people be in any doubt that we need action.

CLIMATE CHANGE: IS IT ALL HYPE? 12 April 2008
Further to Mr Booth's letter of March 22 about climate change - can he or his scientific friends please inform us of the percentage change in the carbon dioxide component of the atmosphere. I have yet to see a scientific figure for any investigation completed during the last few years. Some people would remark 'proof not hot air'. This remark may also be repeated by the considerable majority of scientists who question the hype. I understand that people who live in Bodiam Avenue would blame local brook flooding not on climate change but on irresponsible planning consent and negligence. G.Williams, Tuffley

RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER COPIED TO ME:
In response to Mr G Williams' letter bemoaning the lack of evidence of increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere I can only conclude that he has been wilfull in his desire to avoid such evidence. I would refer him to the website of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (www.ipcc.ch) where he can read as many papers on the subject as he wishes. Or perhaps try www.nasa.gov or www.metoffice.gov.uk. In summary though carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased from 280 parts per million at the onset of the industrial revolution to 380 parts per million now with a continuing rise of between 1 and 2 parts per million per year. This is already the highest concentration of carbon dioxide seen for 650,000 years according to a recently concluded five year study of Antarctic ice core samples, and is a man made increase according to the IPCC who have peer reviewed over 600 scientific papers published on the subject for their latest nobel prize winning report. To therefore say that the "considerable majority of scientists question the hype" is also simply not true. Richard Bossons, Stroud