Letters to the Editor

Correspondent Peter Wood often writes great letters, but unfortunately his latest one (Nov. 22) falls short. He is absolutely correct that runoff from our pine forests is a huge problem, as yet unaddressed by any government. Mud from forests clogs our harbours and the ever-present storms bring destructive tsunamis of logs down river valleys often sweeping along everything in their path including fences and buildings and onto our beaches.

He is also correct that the ocean temperature is rising, albeit extremely slowly, just as it has many times in the past. However, he is wrong to state that this acts as a sink to mitigate global warming. In fact warmer seas release more CO2 to the atmosphere, not less, and they are one of the major contributors to the current rising CO2 in our atmosphere. The oceans are warming naturally as we move out of the Little Ice Age which lasted from about 1300 to 1850, and is exactly what one would expect.

The oceans are actually alkaline not acid, as he seems to suggest, and there is no shortage of dissolved CO2 to form marine shells.

Using the Manapouri dam to produce electricity to make hydrogen would be a ridiculous waste of a valuable electricity resource. If we must go down the silly, but currently trendy, path of making hydrogen then let’s make it from our abundant fossil fuels including natural gas as this is so much more efficient.

He states that “the latest ocean report makes frightening reading”. Although of a different generation he seems to be joining the majority of young people who have moved from the ‘Age of Aquarius’ that I grew up in to the new ‘Age of Anxiety’. The Lancet recently reported that 75% of youth think the future is ‘frightening’ with climate anxiety being a major factor. This ridiculous climate nonsense is reinforced every day in their schools, by their parents and in the media. No wonder so many feel suicidal and plan on having no children of their own. There is no climate crisis and certainly no climate emergency and the future is looking great and these children will undoubtedly be healthier, richer, better educated and live longer in a cleaner world than any previous generation. We should all be celebrating our progress, not endlessly wringing our hands.

Alaistar Brickell