In response to that unusual letter from your correspondent Rev Peter Simpson (BFP May 23).

WJ Brock’s theories were debunked some time back by the fossil record, and I refer your writer to the Natural History Museum papers on Feathered Dinosaurs from Liaoning Province China, the proof is there.

Now Darwin’s Finches, I must again refer your writer to the work of Percy Lowe 1936 and the later writings of David Lack 1947, how anyone with an ounce of understanding can continue to expound “the variation of Species” theories is beyond me.

And now climate change; we, that is mankind, have manipulated our environment for better or for worse over the millennia from the time we first discovered fire up until now, when we can, should we be so minded destroy the whole planet at the press of a button.

God, and I say this as a rather poor practicing Christian, does not control the world for our benefit, far from it, we have custodianship over a rather wonderful creation.

We may choose to disregard its fruitfulness’ and ability, to a limited extent, to self-heal. But it is us, with our intellect, who have the power to wreak havoc or do good. Sadly for the most we seem bent on self-destruction by closing our eyes to proven facts (climate change) and continue in a selfish manner, much as a child, in saying “it is not my fault”, or being rather selfish and saying “it is not fair”.

We are adding to the problems of climate change by our chosen way of life, the problem is most of the damage has now been done by past generations, but we can help make things better.

I have stood on the Icelandic glacial shelf and seen the soot that darkens the ice face, the markers indicating the five, and ten-year glacial melt back, walked in the Himalayas and seen the shrinking snow fields and so on. Global warming is happening and we are one of the primary causes. As thinking human beings we should be using our intellect to make things better not worse, which we seem to continue to do. We should not, as the Luddites, hark after a nicer or presumed safer past that in reality did not exist but open our minds to a better future and change before it is too late. — Anthony Mealing Dip Arch RIBA AABC, Consultant Conservation Architect