Came across this clipping from the satirical Viz magazine that made me chuckle, but it isn’t a million miles from some of the nonsense I’ve seen printed in the supposedly serious media over the last few decades. My own esteemed engineering institute’s journal printed a letter about a decade ago postulating that climate change was actually being caused by wind turbines slowing air movements around the world. Of course the letter cited no actual evidence, it was purely opinion.

What gets me about all this anti-green stuff, whether from those who hate cyclists or full on climate change deniers, is the assumption that ‘experts’ are idiots and can’t see what’s in front of their nose (Viz nailed that in the ‘letter’). Boris Johnson’s “I can see snow in the garden, therefore the world can’t be warming” is one of the most unintentionally funny examples.

I never take anything on blind faith, but if I want to know about my health I’ll talk to a doctor, about my car or bicycle, I’ll talk to a mechanic and on climate I’ll listen to a climatologist. If I’m not convinced about what they tell me, I’ll dive deeper. But I never listen to armchair philosophers with extraordinarily high confidence in their own opinion.