Reader’s letter: Rely on data, not just soundbites

When I read M. Patchett's letter (Trillions Being Wasted On Climate Emergency (News Views, December 28) I found it to be the best such submission for ages and I pointed many people to its inclusion.

In his riposte to Mr Patchett, Michael Bassey (Climate Action Must Be Taken, News Views, January 24) drags out the same old alarmist views

However, it is no longer good enough to keep quoting headlines and sound bites from alarmist organisations, media channels and left-wing newspapers without providing any proof or data.

Yes, we have recently experienced disruptive weather but the data shows the primary culprit is the current position of the jet stream. Naming storms does not make them any different.

Reading so-called record temperatures on airport runways gives false comparisons.

In a recent televisoion report on flooded homes in the East Midlands that had flooded multiple times, residents demonstrated that this was due to blocked drains.

We have virtually stopped dredging rivers and ditches to comply with EU regulations. We have left the EU, so why aren't we resuming basic maintenance?

Why are we moving to electric vehicles when data proves that there simply is not enough rare earth materials on the planet to make all the batteries that will be required and that it will be simply impossible for a renewables-driven grid to supply enough energy to charge them without fossil fuels back-up?

Mr Patchett is right to point out that CO2 is not a proven cause of climate change, (nor methane from cows, I might add).

Could I suggest a book called School Science For Tomorrow's Citizens. An entry on page 59 reads: “Arrange and rearrange the facts until some apparent solution to the problem arises. Call this a hypothesis. Test this hypothesis against the known facts. If it is not in accord with all of them reject it and seek another hypothesis”.

So far, CO2 as a cause does not meet this test. — C. SOUTHGATE, Coddington.