Climate change is beyond doubt

■ If anybody still doubts that climate change is not a real phenomena, and some do, and that our current spell of fantastic weather is all just a once-in-a- generation type of thing, it is worth noting that this is the third “unusual” weather event we have had so far in Ireland.

And we’re only just about halfway through the year.

This current heatwave, with the possibility of a nationwide drought, comes after the heaviest snowfall in March in more than 36 years.

And before that Storm Ophelia, which is interesting in itself because storms that eventually become hurricanes do not track that far north because of the lack of warm water, and warm water is the lifeblood of a hurricane.

Luckily for us, by the time it hit Ireland it was downgraded.

But it was still a very powerful storm, and we were told that it was going to be the highest winds we’ve experienced in 50 years.

And it certainly did do some damage.

CFCs are on the rise again and the damage they can do to the ozone layer is serious, and scientists are struggling to find where they are coming from.

I do not think it’s unrealistic to say that the exhaust fumes we emit from our cars and planes, trains and power stations the world over, and everything else in between, is not having some kind of effect on our planet.

Climate change will have consequences for us all and human activity – and in some cases inactivity – seems likely to be the main culprit.

Cathal McMahon Newmarket -On-Fergus, Co Clare