Ralph Prothero (Letters, November 5) is only partly correct in explaining global warming today. Global warming is mainly caused by mankind having burnt, and blithely continuing to burn, fossil fuels so adding to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is incontestable science supported not just by ˜Green people" but by at least 88% of US climate scientists.
It is true that water vapour is a powerful greenhouse gas but the amount in the atmosphere is kept in check by the weather. Any excess is simply removed within days as rain or snow so that there is no net accumulation over time. The problem with carbon dioxide, and most other greenhouse gases, is that they stay around for tens of years or more and presently are being added to the atmosphere faster than natural processes can remove them. The natural balance has been upset. It is a bit like leaving a tap running into a bath with the plug out; there is a rate at which the water going down the plughole can keep up with the water entering from the tap but if you open the tap a little more soon the bath will overflow! To diminish global warming we must all cut back on greenhouse gas emissions by greatly reducing, or removing altogether, our dependence on fossil fuels.
Bob Whitmarsh, Winchester Action on Climate Change
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