The problem with being a well-known climate sceptic is that whenever there’s a heatwave, you get buttonholed by eco-zealots who think it ‘proves’ they’re right and you’re wrong. The first person to confront me during the current sunny spell was a Guardian journalist at a right-wing conference, which the newspaper had clearly identified as a hotbed of ‘denialism’. It didn’t help that the air conditioning wasn’t working and it was approaching 40°C in the main auditorium.

‘I see you’re sweating profusely,’ he began, shoving a microphone in my face. ‘Still think climate change is a hoax?’ I had to patiently explain that few people on my side of this debate deny that climate change is real. We don’t even maintain that man-made carbon emissions aren’t a contributory factor – not many of us, anyway. The disagreement is about how much of the 1.5°C rise in average global temperatures since the 1850-1900 period is due to these emissions and how much to other factors, such as solar variability, natural ocean cycles and land-use changes.

Will Nigel Farage’s big gamble pay off?

Why Count Binface could beat Farage

Nigel Farage isn’t the one behaving badly in Clacton

Yes, we’re fond of pointing out that the 1850-1900 period may........

© The Spectator