Colin Southgate’s letter of 6 June is headed “Time to stop the madness”.
I agree with that, but whereas his “madness’ is Net Zero, mine is directed at those who, like Mr Southgate, oppose it! “Net zero” means no longer adding to the total amount of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere.
He castigates a scientist studying ocean acidification for “a waste of time and money, as the oceans are not, never have been, nor ever will be acidic”.
He should read what Wikipedia says about “Oceanic acidification”. “Between 1950 and 2020, the average pH of the ocean surface fell from approximately 8.15 to 8.05. Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the primary cause of ocean acidification.
A lower ocean pH has a range of potentially harmful effects for marine organisms that provide food and livelihoods for many people.”
Mr Southgate refers to “the unproven hypothesis that carbon dioxide is causing the climate to change.”
He cites among those “brave enough to speak out” that this is “untrue” the former Science Adviser to Barack Obama.
But in Scientific American in 2008 John Holdren (who held this role) wrote “The ongoing disruption of the earth’s climate by man-made greenhouse gases is already well beyond dangerous and is careening toward completely unmanageable”. — Michael Bassey
