Letter: A Tipp about taking responsibility on climate change

SIR – I write with reference to your report on senior NFDC Tories in the A&T (17th September). Politicians have a special responsibility to inform themselves about the science of climate change and not make unsubstantiated distortions in order to dodge their responsibility.

For Mr. Tipp, our NFDC chair, to claim global warming is only partially caused by humans is alarming to hear in this age. He needs to catch up and inform himself of the evidence. He might start with NASA website: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence. Or if he wants something closer to home, the UK Met Office site www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/climate-change-in-the-uk.

It is now well established that every year that passes CO2 emissions climb ever faster due to human activity. Other “natural changes” to climate are negligible in the time frame involved. That young people are passionately concerned about the world immediately ahead is something Mr Tipp should consider with deeper reflection rather than simply dismiss as the thoughts and work of “extremists”.

The need for international action is clear. All governments need to do their bit. The NFDC like thousands of local councils has its part to play in curbing CO2. We have all seen the pictures of the melting ice caps. We live in a coastal community. The Environment Agency (hardly extremist) is now working on the assumption of a sea level rise of one metre in a hundred years should emissions not be curbed quickly. This amounts to an emergency, especially for young people who will pick up the costs. Our sea defences and cliffs are already taking a visible battering. Our low lying coastline is vulnerable as beaches, marshlands, creeks and nature reserves face slow submergence. The shingle at Hurst is distorting in ways not seen for hundreds of years as storms and wave patterns change and become more virulent. Hurst Castle’s wall collapse should be a wake-up call for us all.

Mr. Tipp should step up as chair. He should work for a united NFDC, help in the overall effort and back policies that will protect our children’s future. History will judge who the extremists are – a term that may indeed be used to describe those who stood in the way of those who cared to act.

Ben Collins,
Keyhaven