Human Activity and Extreme Weather

This piece appeared in the Methodist Recorder, 29 Oct 21, and is republished here by permission of MR and the writer.

Dorothy Robinson's article in the Methodist Recorder (8 Oct) was extremely interesting and her work in the conservation of wildlife and plants is to be commended; but I must take issue with her statement in relation to climate change: "What we probably didn't expect - and what we now experience - is the change in behaviour of the weather, causing hurricanes, floods, wild fires and droughts."

There is little, if any, evidence that things are getting worse, yet whenever an extreme weather event occurs the immediate response of so many is "It's because of climate change/global warming."

Human activity may often be a factor which partly determines the amount of damage caused by an extreme weather event; but in the case of floods the real problem may be a failure to maintain flood defences or to dredge rivers and in the case of wild fires it may be because flammable material has been allowed to accumulate. Climate change does not start fires, but people often do, whether deliberately or by accident.

HC, habitat21

Thanks Howard - Ed.

Editor's comment
Most of the world's carbon dioxide is in the oceans, and this responds to temperature, according to Henry's Law. When the temperature increases, CO2 is released; when it decreases, CO2 is absorbed. Chemists, engineers and physicists know this. Regretfully, most climate activists do not.

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