Regarding Mr Izett's letters: There are many people who are well meaning and sincere, but get so enthusiastic over what they believe in that they forget to apply the simple rules; that a theory requires proof to be accepted as fact.
Many unproven theories still exist.
Crystal balls; palm readings; speaking to the dead; runes; tarot cars; astrology; ghosts; Obama is a Muslim; NASA never sent any astronauts to the moon; the Loch Ness monster; Big Foot; American Indians are the lost tribe of the Israelites; lodestones have a soul; horses can be impregnated by the wind; virgins did too – by a sky ghost; walking on water; angels; evil spirits; and thunder is the voice of a god. What's missing from all of these fanciful assumptions is ‘proof'.
If there is no Global Warming, then all the records for the last hundred years are all wrong and statistics are meaningless. The Ice Caps are not melting; rising sea levels are not flooding the Maldives; there is no flooding in Australia or the Canadian prairies; no super tornadoes; glaciers are not disappearing; there were no massive icebergs breaking off from the Antarctic and floating past the New Zealand coastline; and it's not true that cruise liners can now navigate the far north because the northern oceans are ice-free.
If we are in an unfortunate cycle of naturally occurring global warming, as some suggest, then our massive pollution of the atmosphere, oceans, lakes and rivers coupled with deforestation are certainly not helping, and will only accelerate the process.
Whatever the eventual outcome, it will be catastrophic. Species' extinction is now happening – frogs and other amphibians; plants, butterflies, birds, fish and coral reefs are all disappearing. We still hesitate to commit ourselves to positive actions, but instead waste time in debating the possible reasons?
J Guethert, Tauranga.