Madam, - In his Irishman's Diary of July 19th, Michael Parsons displays a common misapprehension about global warming by linking the predicted rise in global temperatures to a possible increase in sunshine in Ireland.
In the first instance, it is a rise in average global temperatures, not in the temperature of Ireland, that is predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Secondly, such a rise in temperature does not necessarily equate to an increase in dry, sunny weather. Indeed, the IPCC predicts an increase in precipitation in many areas, as well as a rise in global sea levels - changes that can only result in severe flooding in many parts of the globe.
Thus it seems that the phenomenon of global warming will be difficult for all and catastrophic for some. If Mr Parsons is correct that "many Irish people are secretly delighted by the prospect of global warming", then they would be better served by informed media comment on the issue - particularly as efforts to curb climate change will require more than the jettisoning of neckties in Brussels.- Yours, etc,
Dr CORMAC O'RAIFEARTAIGH,
Lecturer in Physics,
Waterford Institute of Technology,
Waterford.