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Problems in the heat of the night
• THE positive legacy from Mr Blair’s reign is that we should at least all now share Tim Newark’s healthy scepticism of official pronouncements. But Blair further taught us to seek out the motivation behind any deliberate slanting of emphasis (Beware of ‘sexed-up’ reports, May 4).
We must be equally wary ofa accepting the views of other organisations. If the views expressed on its website concerning genetic modification of crops and the use of nuclear power are representative then the Scientific Alliance is more interested in promoting economic growth through the use of existing British technology than any sense of scientific inquiry.
The Scientific Alliance is long on questions concerning both the extent of man’s responsibility for climate change and the value of taking precautionary steps while being short on any deeper examination, even where it acknowledges some of the answers.
For instance, the Scientific Alliance notes that “Cities are generally warmer than the countryside, forming so called ‘urban heat islands’” but goes on neither to conclude that this is one certain example of man’s effect on climate nor to find any questions as to the concerns that this might raise.
It only asks how this might be accounted for when calculating “global average temperature”.
For inner-city boroughs such as Islington the “urban heat island” phenomena, whereby city centre temperatures, particularly at night, have now been observed to be as much as eight degrees Celsius higher than those in the surrounding countryside, will exacerbate our experience of any warming.
During our lifetime, global average temperature may rise by only a degree or two but we have already observed periods of more extreme weather, including record-breaking high temperatures.
Combine these with an exaggerated heat island effect, brought about by insensitive increases in density of development and use of air conditioning, and we will have a very real problem.
Elderly people, in particular, benefit from cooler nights during hot spells if they are to get the respite that enables them to cope with daytime temperatures.
CHRIS GRAHAM
Tollington Park, N4 |
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