Sir, - Hundreds of climatologists and other scientists, after spending years interrogating the evidence on global warming, have concluded that we have a serious problem, and that it is related to human activity (An Irishman's Diary, April 3rd). These scientists would not dream of disparaging Kevin Myers's insights on the intricacies of Irish involvement in the first World War, because they would acknowledge that he has expertise and a substantial intellectual track record in this difficult area, and his views therefore deserve to be taken seriously. Some reciprocity would be nice.
I agree that it is a difficult challenge to meet. There is still some scientific uncertainty (and there always will be). The costs of slowing human emissions of greenhouse gasses are not negligible, and Europe, which is most vocally committed, has done virtually nothing so far to back up rhetoric with action. But we should start, and the Kyoto Protocol represents such a start.
In my view, the two most important US presidents in terms of their environmental contribution were Theodore Roosevelt, who created the National Parks system, and Richard Nixon, who created the Environmental Protection Agency. Both overcame ferocious opposition from well organised lobbies, and were assured by these lobbies and their supporters in the media that the economy and the "plain people" would suffer irretrievable harm if they insisted on persevering.
But they did, the sky didn't fall, and we today and our posterity are the beneficiaries. More recently the US, under presidents Reagan and Clinton, led the way in mobilising the market, via emissions trading, to sharply reduce emissions of ozone-depleting CFCs and acid-rain-causing sulphur. So dismay at President Bush's inaction is not a mindless, partisan reflex. It is disappointment that a country with such a distinguished environmental record and such capacity for effective action has, on the global warming issue - I think temporarily and uncharacteristically - ducked. - Yours, etc.,
Frank J. Convery, Heritage Trust Professor of Environmental Studies, UCD, Dublin 4.