Urbis always was a waste of money. Why not rent it out as office space instead of letting every oddball group put on silly shows, exhibitions and stunts there?

What a load of rubbish, and the greens know it is too. It's all about controlling our lives!

Fairytales. Why take any notice of these idiots? Does anyone seriously think that any part of the of the UK will ever be under water?

Anybody want to buy some swimming gear?

Climate change is a natural phenomenon, we can't stop it. The government are using it as a tool, to scare us in to doing what they want us to do i.e. reduce our dependency on oil and cut down conjestion for better economic prosperity, that I think is a good thing...but I'm sick of being conned. Why not just take uninsured drivers of the road and crush their vehicle the same day (2 million of them could make a slight difference), sort out the school run and improve public transport i.e. make it safe to travel.

Bingo.

These terrified nitwits will have us all riding bicycles and using candles. My guess is there's not a capitalist amongst them. Those worst affected by this type of scaremongering are the struggling, developing poor nations that are going to be restricted by these proposed rules.

MP Tony Lloyd said "Friends of the Earth are doing a fantastic job"

They are kindred spirits, Manchester being 190 feet above sea level has as much chance of flooding as they both have of knowing the truth.

Greenhouse gases cause global warming, the ice caps melt, the Gulf Stream is destroyed, with all the cold water that is released,an ice age then takes overthe earth, so far so good.
Now will somebody tell me who gets the blame for all the previous ice ages the earth has gone through.
Mother Nature knows best, so don't mess with Her.

The sheep won't take any notice until they're underwater, they can't say they weren't warned!
I think the argument is that human behavior is speeding up the effects of global warming. It's quite funny to hear normal people making out they know better than neutral scientists.

the biggest danger to us are these eviromental fundamentalists!! why are they so arrogant as to believe mankind can influence nature...its being looking after itself since the dawn of time. When the last iceage ended there ween't many 4x4's around then to blame. They have nothing else to worry about since the cold war ended , so this is an ideal peg to hang their concerns on. and if it is getting warmer so what , we will then as a result use less carbon fuels so the system is self regulating. Didn't I read that the Roman's had vinyards here as far north as Oxford...seems to me then that the legions must have flown here then.!! its just another taxation stream.

It's the oldest trick in the book. First create a panic and then claim you have a solution if only people would take notice.
Push the issue until people start to believe your solution is necessary so that when, eventually, nothing happens you can claim it was your efforts to get people to take action which solved the problem.
Remember the fuss over the Millennium Bug and the end of civilisation as we know it. How many people made a small fortune out of that particular piece of scare-mongering? And what happened to those who ignored the panic? Nothing, absolutely nothing but if everybody had taken the recommended actions, at great cost, those creating the panic would have claimed they had "saved civilisation from disaster".
The same Harbingers of Doom were at it in Biblical Times and the world didn’t end then either. I wonder if any of the comedians are building an Ark yet?

Blah,blah,blah,boooorrrriiiinnnnggggg. Envirofascism has replaced the cold war/nuclear weapons as the paranoia of choice with which to control thought. There is something in it for everyone : Politicians can use it as an excuse to put up taxes, Capitalist big business see it as an opportunity to sell pepole supposedly "environmentally friendly" products which they don't need. Will some one please shut these bores up?

How many eco-fascists does it take to change a low-energy lightbulb?

Manchester underwater due to rising sea levels from Man Made Climate Change...

hahaha!

Manchesters lies over 100ft above sea level, (over 35m)
As most of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets lie above the snowline and/or base of the permafrost zone, they cannot melt in a timeframe much less than several millennia; therefore it is likely that they will not, through melting, contribute significantly to sea level rise in the coming century.

To all you ignorant buffoons... like it or not, climate change is occurring at a faster rate (especially carbon dioxide) than at any time in the earths history. Yes, climate change is indeed a natural phenonema; however, not at this rate. We are causing it. I appreciate that people may be comfortable in their high consumption lifestyle, but like it or not, we will have to change.

I find it odd that friends of the earth's 'solutions' to this so called crisis are rooted in anti capitalist rhetoric. Unilateralism was laid to rest in 80's let it lie there.

Someone spoke of 'neutral' scientists....if you are talking of the IPCC (a few hundred scientists in the UN's pocket padded out with thousands of 'researchers' & 'advisors') then you are surely having a laugh!

Show me the evidence that a future sea-level rise will be well over 150ft (last IPCC reports spoke of around a metre or so at most over the next century) and we may believe you on this one....unlikely then!

Paul Gorman, Sale wrote:
"To all you ignorant buffoons... like it or not, climate change is occurring"

Wont be the first time!!!!

I am waiting for an explaination of what happened for the Poles to freeze up - Any ideas?

Global warming millions of years ago was of such it left the Arctic region warm enough to become overgrown with vegetation (The Russian want the oil).
Studies of sediment cores from the sea bottom reveal that long before the North Pole froze it was covered with floating ferns. Six million years earlier the water on the surface of the Arctic Ocean was a balmy 23C (73F) or higher. And not a 4X4 in view!

Manchester is 70m above sea level, friends of the earth are a crank organisation and stunts like this don’t help their cause.
Here is another gullible MP took in by the climate change brigade, it’s time these clowns learned that climate change is happening and it is not man who is causing it, anyone can go to the NASA site and see photos of Mars taken in 1995 with ice caps and 2005 no ice caps. It is the sun that is causing climate change, and there ain’t nothing man can do about that. We have had climate change before, in the 11th century we could grow grapes outdoors and winters were a lot warmer we had Mediterranean conditions it’s all there to be read and researched.
Governments should come straight out with it that it is just a tax excuse instead of all this baloney that they are try to save the world.

A couple of weeks ago I read an article that Manchester had been lifted 10cm higher through the city’s earthquakes so even less flooding than first thought.

In the course of my job I have reason to review an awful lot of scientific evidence both in support and against the suggestion that climate change is happening and that it might or might not be influenced/caused/worsened by human activity. The impacts of climate change are, according to some, already being witnessed.

There is evidence that strongly demonstrates certain human activities which, unless they are moderated/changed/ceased, will continue to influence/cause/worsen climate change. There is, likewise, evidence to disprove that same point. Such changing, cessation, or moderation of certain human activities may have significant costs – both in financially and in terms of loss of “personal liberties”. There may, however, be some beneficial side effects to some of the necessary changes – for example, substantial investment in public transport to provide a viable alternative to private car use would be of great benefit to people within the most deprived sectors of society who often cannot afford the cost of private car ownership. There is also some evidence to show that making such changes may also be beneficial to the economy in the long term (i.e. the Stern Report, 2006 - http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/226/226801_climate_change_delay_will_lead_to_danger.html)

Similarly, there are measures that need to be taken to enable human society to adapt and survive the effects of climate change (whether it is human influenced or not) - for example, building new developments to incorporate sustainable drainage systems which reduce run-off and therefore reduce the likelihood of flooding (the flooding in Sheffield over the summer was, in part, a result of an extreme amount of rain falling in a short period of time and not being absorbed into the earth due to it being covered with non-permeable hard surfaces like tarmac). Recent predictions show that the worst effects of climate change in the UK are likely to be an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events like those witnessed over the summer.

We therefore have a choice: Option a) Make the necessary changes and put up with the costs, or Option b) Do nothing.

So, what if climate change isn’t happening and it’s just a temporary blip in the weather? If we’ve gone down the route of Option A) then we’ll have spent a lot of money and possibly lost some “personal liberties” for no real reason (ignoring the possible other benefits mentioned above). If we’ve followed Option B) then we’ve lost nothing and gained nothing.

But, what if climate change is happening (and is influenced/caused/worsened by human activity)? If we’ve followed Option A) then we’ll be in a good position to cope with it. If we’ve followed Option B) then we’re up the creak without the proverbial paddle – and it’ll be too late to do anything about it.

It’s a difficult choice to make – but, in my opinion, and in the absence of any scientific evidence that can absolutely categorically state whether climate change is happening and whether or not it is human influenced/caused/worsened, we have no choice but to take Option A). To follow Option B) is to gamble with not only our own lives but those of generations to come.

The press call on Saturday morning was to draw attention to the threats of climate change.

10% of the world's population live in areas which will be flooded with just a 1 metre rise in sea levels.

Manchester is about 30 metres above sea level, so we aren't going to face the same massive destruction that other low lying countries (Bangladesh, Vietnam etc) will suffer.
Unfortunately the MEN article took the point a bit too far...!

The whole point is to make the public think... if this was my backyard instead of the other side of the world, would I be doing more to help?

Rick. Excellent letter,you seem to know your stuff and many people would not dis agree with you.At least you are not freaky like many other pundits. But, what I would like to know is how taxing everyone to death ,solves the problem. Where does all the extra tax go to in order to save the planet? Hydro generation across Morecambe Bay,free loft insulation for all,uninvention of the internal combustion engine ? No it does not; it goes toward other crazy projects!

Bringing in more 20mph zones will only add to the so called greenhouse effect by having cars in one area longer and the engines not running at maximum efficiency, catch 22.