Re: Fanning fear of fire and flood (B.C. Views, Oct. 4)
I was predictably disappointed with Mr. Fletcher’s B.C. Views piece from Oct. 4.
Again, he uses terms such as “professional doom-mongers” without offering a clear definition. He exaggerates by suggesting the print media (Bloomberg News) can shriek.
When checking the NOAA website to which Mr. Fletcher referred, I read the statement: “Global surface temperature in 2016 was the warmest since official records began in 1880. It was the third year in a row to set a new heat record, and the fifth time the record has been broken since the start of the 21st century.”
In a graph that followed, it was shown that CO2 in the atmosphere has risen 25 per cent since 1958 and by about 40 per cent since the Industrial Revolution.
When checking the UN’s IPCC fifth report from 2014, I read the comment from one of the working groups: “Human influence on the climate system is clear. It is extremely likely (95 to 100 per cent probability) that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951 to 2010.”
We must remember that the I.P.C.C. does not do the research, but looks at all the peer-reviewed research happening globally.
We can infer that if heat drives our climate systems, then increased heat will drive those systems differently.
I am disappointed that Black Press has chosen Mr. Fletcher to share his grasp of climate science.
Ron Robinson
Nelson, B.C.