Both Francis McDonagh (“When the dream becomes a nightmare”, The Tablet , 28 February 2015) and Guy Consalmagno (“Global Warning”, The Tablet , 28 February 2015) claim drought events as evidence of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, however, is unable to establish any connection between anthropogenic activity and frequency of drought. Furthermore simple physics dictates that a warmer world should be a wetter world, and our world is warmer than it was. So the present water issues are probably the result of natural weather cycles than the deeds of man.
In reference to the current value of 400 ppm for CO2 in the atmosphere Guy Consalmagno finds it “hard to see any effects that would be good news for humanity”. Modern farmers under glass push up the CO2 concentrations in their greenhouses to beyond 600 ppm to improve yields. Careful experiment has confirmed for many crops, the growth in harvest as CO2 levels rise. As a result it is estimated that we are enjoying a 15% boost in food production from the higher CO2 level. Not only that but plant life in general benefits as well, with satellite data pointing to an 11% greening of our world. CO2 is the food of life!
According to the CIA World Factbook, 71 per cent of Brazil’s power is hydroelectric, 7 per cent from other renewable (presumably Bioethanol – solar power but not photovoltaic), 2 per cent nuclear and the remainder from hydrocarbons. Hopefully the present water issues can be overcome or rebalanced without resort to dysfunctional and absurdly expensive wind turbines. Deforestation has been an issue for some years but recent figures suggest real and sustainable improvement is under way. After all the same satellites that confirm the greening can spot the cleared areas, even if you do it in the dark.
One of the markers for improvement in female emancipation in emerging economies is the fertility rate, which is the number of births per woman. In 1980 the Brazilian value was 4.1, and today it is at European level of 1.8, with a contraceptive prevalence rate of more than 80 per cent. Given the predominantly Catholic population there is clearly a large gap between the teaching of the Church and the faithful, a breach in the family which needs healing.
Dr Michael Hughes, Newbury, Berkshire
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