No evidence storms caused by climate change

Further to your headline quoting a Prof. Devoy, of Beaufort Research (Irish Examiner, Jan 4), claiming a causal connection between the recent storms and flooding and climate change — perhaps he is not aware that the causes were: unusually high spring tides; high water levels from last Thursday until Monday, Jan 6, which were the highest of any that occurred last year; unusually low atmospheric pressure, which causes a corresponding increase in the height of the full tide; and onshore gales and storms raising wave levels above normal (and even abnormal) in coastal areas.

The UK meteorological office said a few days ago: “Climate models provide a broad range of projections about changes in storm track and frequency of storms. While there’s currently no evidence to suggest that the UK is increasing in storminess, this is an active area of research under the national climate capability”. In addition, an IPCC report released in the autumn of 2012 said that no robust connection can be made between recent extreme weather and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. A newspaper, which is a serious commentator, ought to engage in more fact-checking, before publishing such erroneous and alarmist views, based on unsubstantiated and hypothetical connections.

David Whitehead