SIR - Back in February, the UK broke the all time highest winter temperature record when it was 20.3 degrees centigrade. Now a weather station in Cambridgeshire has recorded us breaking the summer record with over 100 degrees in old money.

This isn’t just a local phenomenon. France and Germany have also recently had their hottest days ever. Arctic ice levels are at their lowest ever and new data from Antarctica shows a sudden serious and unexplained drop in ice cover there.

There is, of course, a big difference between climate and weather. Yet scientists have measured the level of carbon dioxide in the air and found that it has now reached 417 ppm, a level which hasn’t been seen since the time of the dinosaurs. Scientists also know as a matter of undeniable fact that CO2 traps heat and methane traps it even better. Methane levels have also risen steadily since the era of industrialisation. So, we know as a matter of scientific fact that human action is trapping more heat and energy in the planetary system and thus contributing to the increased frequency of extreme weather.

What we don’t know is how quickly that happens or how bad it will get. We have already seen extreme flooding events at Hebden Bridge and the river washed the bridge away at Tadcaster as severe Boxing Day floods hit the Wharfe and the Aire Valley.

There never will be a single day when it becomes obvious to all that the predicated problems have started to arrive and that we need to act. Yet what should now be increasingly obvious to most reasonable people is that we cannot avoid our responsibilities. The more we do and the quicker we do it the greater the chance of limiting our problems and managing the costs.

Readers might like to note that the new UK government has just appointed an environment Minister who voted for fracking. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they understand the scale or the urgency of the challenge.

Councillor Andy Brown (Green Party)

Main Street,

Cononley