[Brrr!] Reader's Letter Of The Day

From the FT:

Sir, You have published three letters (February 1, 4 and 8) scolding Andrew Turnbull (January 31) for querying exactly how alarmed we should be about the part played by human civilisation in the undoubted change of climate we are witnessing these days. None of your correspondents seems to be aware that climate change is a constant experience of this wonderful planet. At least, they have not mentioned it.

The climate has been changing for more than 4bn years. Climate change has preoccupied our species during the whole of its brief time on Earth.

Humanity has flourished during the last 15,000 years or so as a result of the Earth emerging from a 100,000-year-long "ice age". Indeed, for most of the past 1m years, the non-tropical parts of the world were gripped by ice sheets many thousands of metres thick.

The last "ice age" was preceded by the Eemian interglacial, which lasted for only 16,000 years, from 130,000 years ago to 114,000 years. During this short period, as during our present Holocene, life flourished. The Eemian was also considerably warmer than this present interglacial, being on average 5°C warmer than now. The sea level was four to six metres higher than at present.

If we have a concern about humanity’s survival of climate change, I would be more concerned about how very brief the last few interglacials have been. The Holocene is now as old as the Eemian, just before the last "ice age" suddenly and savagely set in.

Hugh Sharman, Aalborg, Denmark.M