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I hope that I’m not the only one to rebuff Malcolm Parkin’s explanation for climate change (Letters, 25 September). While it is true that the Earth’s orbit round the sun

varies, the timescale of these effects is far longer than the current warming – indeed, I believe that calculations show we should actually be about to enter another Ice Age!

I don’t know where Mr Parkin gets his information, nor his motives for castigating scientists and those seeking to halt the planet’s rising temperature, but if he truly believes that astronomical events are to blame instead of emissions of greenhouse gases, we should quickly check that the earth isn’t spiralling towards the sun.

TIM BOLTON-MAGGS Annandale Street, Edinburgh