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    Letter in The Times Archived Message

    Posted by Ian M on February 27, 2019, 6:51 pm, in reply to "Strongest earthquake yet in Surrey 3.42 this morning"

    Source: https://jeremyleggett.net/2019/02/27/effect-of-fracking-on-climate-letter-to-the-times-from-uk-academics-and-environmentalists-responding-to-geoscientists-supporting-the-fracking-companies/

    This is what they're responding to:

    https://drillordrop.com/2019/02/04/uk-fracking-tremor-rules-absurd-and-unworkable-says-ineos-campaigners-accuse-company-of-aggressive-and-misinformed-attack/

    'Sir

    Recently Ineos and Cuadrilla, which both have significant interests in the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas, have demanded that the “traffic light” system that monitors seismicity at fracking well sites should be relaxed to allow larger earthquakes (reports, Feb 5 & 7). Following this a group of geoscientists signed a letter to The Times (Feb 9) in support of this demand.

    This month the UK Institute of Public Policy Research reported that as a result of climate change “a new, highly complex and destabilised ‘domain of risk’ is emerging, which includes the risk of the collapse of key social and economic systems, at local and potentially even global levels”.

    Climate change is already causing an increase in extreme weather events and driving accelerated melting of the polar ice sheets and Himalayan glaciers. Its primary causes are carbon dioxide emissions from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and rising methane emissions from fossil fuel extraction — particularly fracking. Meanwhile a new era of cheap, clean renewable energy and storage is arriving, with volumes doubling every two to three years. Is it not time that our leaders and scientific community withdrew their support for fracking and engaged in the challenge of transforming our society to meet this existential challenge?

    Nick Cowern, Emeritus Professor, School of Engineering, Newcastle University
    Professor Peter Strachan, Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University
    Keith Barnham, Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Physics, Imperial College, London
    Professor Andrew Blowers, The Open University
    Dr Adam Broinowski, Visiting Research Fellow, Australian National University
    Dr Matthew Cotton, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Environment and Geography, University of York
    Professor Richard Cowell, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University
    Professor Mark Diesendorf, University of New South Wales
    Dr Paul Dorfman, The Energy Institute, University College London
    Professor Geraint Ellis, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast
    Dr Ian Fairlie, Scientific consultant, UK
    Denis Hall, Emeritus Professor, Heriot Watt University
    Professor Stuart Haszeldine, FRSE, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
    Robert W Howarth, Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology, Cornell University
    Professor Mark Z Jacobson, School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University
    Dr Phil Johnstone, Research Fellow, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex
    Professor Calvin Jones, Professor of Economics, Cardiff Business School
    Dr Peter Kalmus, Associate Project Scientist, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
    Dr Dominic Kelly, Dept. of Politics and International Studies, Warwick University
    Dr Jeremy Leggett, social entrepreneur and writer, director at Solarcentury
    Dr David Lowry, Institute for Resource and Security Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Professor Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards, University College London
    Professor Majia H Nadesan, Risk Innovation Fellow, Arizona State University
    Sir Jonathon Porritt, environmentalist and writer
    William Powrie, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, Southampton University
    Andrew Simms, Research Associate, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
    David Smythe, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics, University of Glasgow
    Dr Matt Watson, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Sheffield
    Professor Andrew Watterson, Public Health and Population Health Research Group, University of Stirling'

    cheers,
    I

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