DAVID Ellis (HAS, April 24) provides a website – globalwarminghoax.com – which is said to show that climate change is not occurring.

I am at a loss to see why I should ignore all the authoritative reports by such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Royal Society, the Stern Report and countless other studies, and accept the statements at this site.

Much of what is on the web is of unknown provenance, such as the claims that glaciers were advancing worldwide, which was said to have been supported by the Swiss Glaciological Institute – a claim which was a complete fabrication.

This whole argument reminds me of the Sixties when the tobacco industry was trying to disprove the overwhelming evidence that smoking was injurious to health and the prime cause of lung cancer.

Then, as now, all possible tactics were used – denying the evidence, smearing the researchers and many covert operations where they provided the ammunition while keeping a low profile.

Eric Gendle, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough