In brief reply to Eric Alexander (Letters, July 4), physical fact isn’t established by popular opinion. I bet none of the dignitaries he quotes has ever devised a rational thermodynamic model of the earth’s heating by the sun, let alone attempt to use it with empirically-backed data to calculate the greenhouse effects of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the atmosphere, as I have done.

I’ve tried the first three individuals he mentions, as well as the Scottish Astronomer Royal and some of the fourth group, to interest them in my findings, but none of them wishes to have his delusions disturbed. One notable exception, however, is the late Sir Patrick Moore, FRS, FRAS, who took the trouble to read my paper on the subject and came to the same conclusion as I did. In his inimitable style, he remarked to me “it’s purely the Sun ... purely the Sun”, which – with a tiny contribution by mankind – is just about it. — Roderick Taylor, Bourne End