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		Long term outlook Sunday Telegraph - Sunday, 30th December 2007 Dear Sir I was sorry to see you recycling some well-worn climate myths in your piece "Nature's doom is tourist boom" (Dec 23rd). You mention the melting of the Muller and Larsen ice shelves in Antarctica without mentioning that the southern ice-cap is increasing elsewhere, and that total ice mass both in Antarctica, and globally, is static or increasing. You speak of the threat to polar bears without mentioning recent research showing that the polar bear is doing just fine, with populations increasing -- or that the species survived the last interglacial (120,000 years BP) perfectly well, when temperatures were higher than they are today. Perhaps because global ice mass is constant, there is no evidence that sea level is rising any faster than it has for thousands of years, at around six to eight inches a century. The suggestion that sea level is rising by 3.5 inches a year is fanciful. Rapidly rising sea levels are predicted by climate alarmists, but no such effect is observed. The changes in snow cover on Mount Kilimanjaro result from changes in precipitation, probably caused by local agricultural practices. Evidence from local weather stations suggests that no significant warming has occurred in the area. Climate alarmism is based on predictions and computer models that have little or no empirical support. Yours faithfully, Roger Helmer MEP Hon. Chairman, The Freedom Association www.tfa.net