Greenhouse gases

Published on 22/11/2012 00:00

Your editorial and report (21 November) that greenhouse gases have reached record levels confirm that the Scottish Government’s “me too” green energy policy will have no measurable effect on global emissions.

It is an inconvenient truth that for political dogma alone and for no other reason, wind farms are being allowed to destroy large parts of our wilderness 
landscapes so important to our tourist industry, while the resulting higher energy prices are
driving businesses out of Scotland and leading to widespread fuel poverty.

Bio-fuels also have little to offer in carbon saving and in the meantime they are threatening to eat up land in Scotland that would otherwise be used to grow crops, which will push up food prices.

The only alternative in the short term is to replace coal with gas through fracking, as has happened in America, which has already helped to reduce carbon emissions significantly while cutting energy costs at the same time.

Alan Black

Camus Avenue

Edinburgh

According to a report released by the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), greenhouse gas emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere in 2011 smashed all previous records.

The worst of the global warming gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – all reached new highs in 2011 the WMO said in its annual Greenhouse Gas report. Between 1990 and 2011 there was a 30 per cent increase in radiative forcing, the warming effect on our climate, because of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping long-lived gases, the group reports.

Carbon dioxide alone reached 140 per cent of the “pre-industrial level” (before 1750).

In particular, planet-warming gas methane reached new highs in 2011, at 1813 ppb – 259 per cent above the pre-industrial level.

These billions of tonnes of additional carbon dioxide in our atmosphere will remain there for centuries, causing our planet to warm further and impacting on all aspects of life on earth Future emissions will only compound the situation,

The WMO report placed the blame squarely on human activities including fossil fuel use, cattle breeding, rice agriculture, landfills and biomass burning. Five major gases emitted in such practices account for 96 per cent of the warming climate the groups said.

This is again another stark warning of the consequences if carbon emissions are not cut drastically world wide

Alan Hinnrichs

Gillespie Terrace

Dundee