The one thing that climate change deniers never do

Sir, – The one thing that illustrates the climate deniers’ responses is an inability to weigh up all factors.

They believe in their tiny minority-held assertion that because there is uncertainty their view is absolutely certain and all others must be disparaged.

There is mention of water vapour being a major contributor, and it almost certainly is. But the proponents of this as an excuse are ignoring the fact that the warmer the world and atmosphere the greater the amount of water vapour held in it.

This is a major contributor to the blanketing effect but it is taken account of in the climate models. The greater the warming the more vapour the atmosphere can hold, causing more warming, and the blanketing effect of CO2, methane, water vapour and other gases is way out of proportion to their volume.

We all know that one or two nations are responsible for the biggest share of warming, so it is incumbent on the rest of the world to continue to apply pressure on them. We cannot do that by just washing our hands of it – “It’s the big boys wot done it”. Yes there are issues but once again the deniers have never evaluated the predictable costs of doing nothing about the situation.

Reports of damaging weather events and the increase of their occurrence are statistical facts and those pretending otherwise are either ignoring them or, worse, twisting a statement to fit with their preconceived views.

The weather facts are not models or assumptions but collections of real life data. The world has not experienced such an increase in new weather patterns in recordable history, and still less in folk memory or indeed peat, soil and ice core analysis going back long before humans evolved.

We evolved to live in a particular climate. That climate is changing quicker than we can evolve and statistically there is a clear link to over-dependence on burning hydrocarbons for energy.

Nobody said change would be easy or cheap, but once again no denier actually weighs up the cost of change and compares it with the cost of carrying on as we are.

They would make a better contribution to the debate by not erecting barriers to finding a solution by evangelically asserting their interpretation as the only truth.

If China, the USA, India and the rest of the industrial world do not change their habits, what then?

Nick Cole. Balmacron Farmhouse, Meigle.