Climate debate hots up

Published on Friday 17 October 2008 21:13

Ian Baxter cites the Nasa temperature record in accusing me of propagating a myth of no recent global temperature increase. (Letters October 15).

The Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre data show

that from 2002 to 2007, the annual anomaly versus the long-term average has been about plus 0.4C with no statistical trend.

This is only a few years and no conclusion could be drawn about temperature trend, but what Mr Baxter ignores is that carbon dioxide, supposedly the major driver of man-made climatic warming, has inexorably and uniformly risen in concentration for every one of these years, with close to zero correlation with temperature. The previous three years 1998-2000 also show no temperature correlation with change, but 1998 was an atypically warm El Nio year.

We are making some of the most expensive global decisions ever, on the basis of what atmospheric physicist James Peden has described as "computerised tinker toys with which one can construct any outcome he chooses".

(DR) JOHN ETHERINGTON

Llanhowell

Solva, Pembrokeshire