Some comments on climate change

THE letter from TT Weller makes two references to climate change which I feel require comment (Newbury Weekly News, April 7).

Firstly, the role of carbon dioxide; there are two aspects to this point. When I first became interested in chemistry, the only books available to me were very much out of date and quoted values for the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the order of 0.03 per cent, derived from experiments carried out in the mid-19th century, a period when the burning of coal had already begun. Modern analytical techniques not only provide more accurate analyses of the current situation but also provide data for earlier times.

As a result we can be confident that prior to the widespread burning of coal the atmospheric carbon dioxide was slightly less than 0.03 per cent compared to the current values of slightly more than 0.04 per cent.

Thus human activity has increased the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by essentially one third.

I do not see this as trivial – am I to understand that an increase of one third of my income is of no consequence?

During the time that I have lived in my present house, there have been several occasions when I have improved the insulation, variously adding cavity insulation, double glazing and loft insulation.

Each time my fuel bills have been reduced – yet the actual amount of material involved was very small compared to the size of the house, certainly nowhere near one third. With reference to glaciations, there is no mystery here.

The Earth moves around the Sun in an entirely predictable manner mathematically.

It is quite clear that the current changes in climate are in no way related to variations in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

FR FROOM

Westmead Drive

Newbury