THE frequent opinion pieces printed in the Herald on climate change despair expressed by some people is becoming a concern. I believe an apparent lack of logical evidence-based argument is distorting the argument for climate change action towards the hysterical.
For example, Ron Glanville ('The not-so-lucky dip of a changing climate', Opinion 8/3) expressed the sentiment that "... it is certain that disease outbreaks and appearance of new diseases are becoming more likely due to the impacts of climate change". "Certain"? Really? How did he measure that certainty? What is its value and what is it compared against? I would suggest that there is no answer to those questions. There was no evidence provided to support his claim "that disease outbreaks and appearance of new diseases are becoming more likely", let alone evidence that climate change was somehow causing it.
When academics publish reports with the same lack of logical evidence-based argument, it makes the climate argument even more confused, as shown by Oxford University ('Deaths 'directly linked' to climate change', Herald 3/3). They said "researchers claim at least 1500 deaths in Britain can be directly linked to climate change over the last two decades". Two bad heatwaves and four floods over 20 years were their extreme events. Poor dears, how did they cope? 1500 deaths over 20 years equals 75 deaths per year. Five minutes research would have told them that in Britain excess winter deaths (excess over other seasons) averages about 39,000 per year from the cold. The 2017/18 winter excess was over 50,000 dead, the highest for more than 40 years, from the cold. How does that compare to heatwave deaths from global warming?
If people want to despair over climate change then despair over the arguments put for it rather than the bad weather we may get sometimes.
Peter Devey, Merewether
Secret identities are puzzling
LET me get this right. The name of someone who threatens to bomb council is kept confidential, but someone who objects to the moving of a community garden on the foreshore is named and shamed and banned from council premises for many years to come?
Kevin Coffey, Cooks Hill
Blame humans, not breakwall cats
I WOULD like to take a moment to respond to the letter from Glenn Wilson (Letters 8/3). The Animal Justice Party's four core values of kindness, equality, rationality and non-violence are applied to all areas of decision making. Last year, the Port of Newcastle commissioned a shooter to carry out what could only be described as a horrific cat massacre, killing many and leaving others seriously wounded and maimed. The Stockton breakwall cat colony has been well managed over the past few years by Rochelle Wood and the Stray Cats Project. Before this ongoing work there were over 100 cats, on the night of the cull there were 36 remaining, of which over 90 per cent had already been desexed. I believe humane non-lethal management of this and other community cat colonies must be our goal; after all, it is human irresponsibility that led to this concern in the first place. And just to offer a slightly wider perspective, Mr Wilson - according to NSW government figures, 517,956 hectares of native bushland were cleared from 1998 to 2015. World Wildlife Fund Australia estimates that this killed at least 9.1 million mammals, 10.7 million birds, and 67.1 million reptiles - more than 86.9 million animals in total-based on averages of measured animal densities.
Darren Brollo, Animal Justice Party
We could steel a new nightlife hub
IT has been suggested that Newcastle city is where all roads lead, so night life entertainment should also remain. Once this was correct, but today there's another choice.
The ex-BHP site is perfect for sport , recreation, and entertainment. It is not surrounded by condensed living yet still central to most Newcastle suburbs and transport with ample room for parking. It even has heavy rail available. If the once CBD can change, the former BHP can change. Even cruise ships could berth there, maybe a casino; the benefits are unlimited. No other city has this opportunity sitting on their door step, to not take advantage would be ludicrous, it could become an international destination with the right management .
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
SHORT TAKES
PETE Evans ticks a lot of boxes. He is a conspiracy theorist, anti-science and a COVID denier. I am not the biggest fan of cancel culture but I do think Mr Evans is intent on spreading dangerous misinformation, and his Instagram and Facebook accounts have been shut down for this very reason. Just as social media sites don't want his nonsense, nor do many Novocastrians ('Petition to keep Evans out', Newcastle Herald 10/3).
Glenn McCarthy, Islington
CARL Stevenson (Letters, 10/3) talks about people living in inner city Newcastle and their rights to a safe and quiet environment after dark. Carl resides in Dora Creek, which is an example of the perfect place you could retire to and enjoy the serenity. The center of Newy needs the vibrancy of restaurants and nightlife to sustain current and future entrepreneurialism. If anyone has seen the Will Smith movie I Am Legend, this is a perfect example of inner city Newcastle at the moment. Unsafe streets, lack of police on the beat; if this is what we want for inner city Newcastle, we best put the security gates up now.
Tony Morley, Waratah
I SEE Pat Garnet wonders whether Mr Porter's denial will pass the pub test. I guess this depends on your personal beliefs and your political bias. Would Milton Orkopoulos's denials have passed your pub test? We are all innocent until we are proven guilty.
Dennis Kershaw, Caves Beach
WITH all the hullabaloo of the Oprah interview with Harry and Meghan screened last Monday night, did anybody happen to catch the Newcastle flavoured snippet? When referring to the similarities of history repeating itself with how well a job Meghan did handling her first overseas tour to Australia there was a photo of Charles and Diana in Australia with the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Joy Cummings. Perhaps it makes up for the absence of any reference to the 1983 royal tour encompassing Newcastle in The Crown season 4.
Rosanna Rossi, The Hill
ON the contrary Colin Fordham, (Short Takes, 9/3), I have not engaged in what I consider unconscionable conduct by engaging in a concerted effort to undermine the basic tenets of Australian law by attempting to deny Christian Porter natural justice and the presumption of innocence for political gain. I am pointing out that elected members of the Opposition, who have a responsibility to uphold the Constitution and Laws of Australia, are apparently unable or unwilling to uphold these basic responsibilities and as such, in my opinion, have rendered themselves unworthy to represent the electorate in our Parliament in Opposition or in the positions to which they aspire as Ministers in a future Labor government.
James Williams, Hamilton North
IF a member of my family married a person of a different skin colour, and if a baby was on the way, it would be likely that my family members would wonder what colour skin this new little person would have. I think most families, including the British Royal Family, would wonder similarly. I find this perfectly normal.
