Swimming against the tide of evidence

Patrick McKay’s views go against the vast majority of scientific opinion.

He refers to the Oregon Petition, a widely discredited petition promoted by a US pressure group in 2001. There is no evidence that most of the signatories were professional scientists, never mind climate scientists. But in any case, the perception of climate issues in the USA has shifted radically since then.

In June 2005 the US Academy of Sciences signed a joint declaration with ten other national academies of science, stating that “there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring… It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities”, and that the science was now “sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action”.

Mr McKay’s dismissal of modelling as an occult practice is somewhat ironic, given that building services engineers increasingly rely on modelling techniques to predict the performance of safety and other systems.

A host of reputable bodies in the UK are involved in assessing climate change, including the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the UK Climate Impacts Programme and Sir Nicholas Stern’s recent commission for the Treasury. All agree that we need to reduce our emissions by at least 60% by 2050 and that the next ten years are crucial.

Building services engineers have a vital role to play in this task, since emissions from buildings are a major element of the UK carbon budget. They may wish to consult other more reliable sources of information such as DEFRA’s Climate Challenge website: www.climatechallenge.gov.uk .

Philip Gray, environmental performance advisor, property services, Northants County Council