Club contact: Andrew Grant
andygrantrwg@yahoo.co.uk
May 2026 – update
A well attended meeting and a talk by Phil Trimby
“Climate Change Fact or Fiction”
The question whether Climate Change is fact or fiction has now been widely discussed and 80 Academies of Science have agreed that it is true but there still remains at least 1 opponent “Donald Trump”. The main contributor is known to be CO2 and the statistics for its production by Coal and other fossil fuels are: 2023 – 32 billion tonnes : 2024 – 37 billion tonnes 2025 – 38 billion tonnes even though there have been major efforts to restrict emissions.
Before the industrial revolution the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 280ppm but now in November 2025 is 425ppm which is the highest it has been for 20/30 million years. CO2 is a Greenhouse gas along with Water Vapour, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Ozone and Fluorinated Gases and these act by preventing heat escaping from the earth to outer space hence allowing the sun to continually warm our planet. Whilst we find the weather to change quickly the climate change is a very slow process, Further evidence of the warming : Multiple data sets, Heatwaves becoming more common, Ocean warming and acidification and Glaciers retreating. Further the increase in Greenhouse gases and the Albedo effect where black surfaces are absorbing more heat, Permafrost thawing producing increased water vapour and forest deforestation. The impacts of this warming are: sea level rises more than twice previous rates during the last 30 years, more forest fires, Bleaching of coral reefs, reduction in crop yields, more powerful hurricanes and biodiversity loss.
The first documented identification of warming was in 1896 by the Swede Heronimus Schmidt, in 1955 CO2 and effect on the climate was shown by Scientific America but in the early 70s confused with smoking and cancer. The “Merchants of Doubt” have been: corporate greed, confusing facts, noting that climate has always been changing, early thoughts that we were going into an Ice Age and not a warming, CO2 is only 0.04% of the atmosphere and famous critics like Al Gore. An increasing human population does not help with an individual generating 1Kg or about 500litres of CO2 daily. Some modern attempts have been made to reduce CO2 using wind turbines and solar panels but they themselves cannot be recycled and the turbines can kill birds assessed as being about 234,000 annually, also lithium mining causes environmental damage.
The COP meetings started in 2015 with 150 countries involved but in 2025 Donald Trump withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement. So what should we do? Change how we travel, change our food sources, end deforestation, renew peatlands, better land and food management, improve homes and buildings and reduce waste.
As good planets are hard to find we should look after this one better.
Quote from Obama “We are the first generation to feel the effects but the last to be able to do something about it”.
Please contact me for any further information at the e-mail address above or on 02920252422.
Although our membership is growing, we still have room for new people and I would be glad to hear from any interested parties. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at the Llanishen Golf Club in Cardiff at 10am for coffee before starting the meeting proper at 10.30am. Lunch is available at the club and the great majority of the members stay for this excellent value meal.
Please note the e-mail address above is not hyperlinked so please enter my address manually.
Andrew Grant (Secretary)