Sir – Mr Tyce’s letter (Letters, August 28) attempts to relate everyday weather to climate, they are not the same thing.

Weather is by definition changeable, climate provides a broader more stable picture. He is committing the error of trying to argue from specific instances while ignoring general conditions over a longer period of time. He is seeing a tree, but not the wood.

The complexities of climate change are considerable, but there are many closely reasoned books by scientists that have been written for the general reader, and they make sobering reading. The many mistaken impressions engendered by the national press are soon demolished.

It is not possible to convey such detail in a letter, but it is based on hard fact, rather than Mr Tyce’s whimsical reliance on literary references. Scientists are naturally conservative as to what they regard as proof, and the scientific method requires rigorous testing and peer review before something is accepted as fact.

They don’t just pick a few observations, no doubt interesting in themselves, and base their conclusion on them. This makes their message even more impressive, and worrying. We need to listen to them and take them seriously. In an age when convenience means a lot to us we should remember that most of the things that make our life easier are there because of science. Somehow we find it easy to believe in these things, and mostly be grateful for them, yet not so easy to heed inconvenient warnings, but we should.

Paul Surman, Horspath