Her claims about the “end of agriculture” and “unlivable climate in North West NSW” if the government doesn’t increase its carbon emissions target are not just grossly exaggerated, but simply false.

Australia emits only 1.3 per cent of total world emissions. To halve our emissions, as advocated by the Labor parliamentary Opposition, would require closing down all our fossil fuel power stations at an estimated cost to the Australian economy of $100 billion.

This would reduce our emissions to about 0.7 per cent and have no measurable effect on world emissions and no effect on agriculture or living conditions in Australia.

It is widely acknowledged by the scientific community that there have been no significant increases in global average temperatures for the past 17 years, despite ever-increasing carbon emissions.

This demonstrates that statistical modelling of temperature increases quoted by Dr Gunning have failed and there is no basis for catastrophic global warming and climate change claimed by Dr Gunning.

This is supported by the fact that there has been no recent increase in the severity or frequency of damaging storms or other climatic events that can be attributed to global warming.

Dr Ian Holford

Tamworth