I am surprised that the ECHO published the letter from man-made climate change denier Robert Theobald (Letters, 22nd May).

His letter contains the usual irrelevant comments about natural causes of climate change.

The crucial facts are that the CO2 levels in the atmosphere over the last 300,000 years or so have varied cyclically in the range of about 200 to 275ppm (parts per million).

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution it was about 275ppm. It is now over 400ppm and rising steadily.

This rise is about what would be expected from the weight of carbon in the fossil fuels burnt in that time.

CO2 is a greenhouse gas and is causing a temperature rise which must be limited before it causes damaging changes .

Virtually all physical scientists believe that these man-made changes are occurring and must be stopped.

There are a tiny, but vocal, band of climate change deniers who are largely funded by fossil fuel companies.

This situation is essentially the same as that in the smoking and lung cancer 'controversy', where tobacco company executives were quite prepared to lie in court under oath.

The media should not give publicity to deniers in the interests of "fairness" when the facts are so clear and the consequences so important.

Ian Brittain

Wareham Road

Owermoigne