I have just read the letter from Sarah Clayton in this week's Guardian (March 15).

What breathtaking arrogance that letter betrayed. She may well have lapped up and been indoctrinated by the scaremongering peddled by this Government and a few scientists, however a very large number of scientists remain unconvinced and indeed have believable evidence countering all current thinking on man's impact on the environment.

While undoubtedly we have added to the carbon in the atmosphere and continue to so, the main reason for climate change is due to many factors, including sun spots and solar winds - as mentioned in Channel 4 programme she refers to. I was aware of this before the programme was aired and indeed did not watch the programme.

To just dismiss the arguements raised and the evidence provided out of hand without entering into any debate is the behaviour of a zealot.

We need to have a balanced debate with evidence provided by both schools of thought and be allowed to make up our own minds rather than be dictated to by our Government and be forced to take sort of Draconian remedial actions they are suggesting is required when they may be entirely unnecessary.

After all this planet regularly suffers ice ages and periods of planetary warming every 10 to 20 thousand years or so and we are due one soon in this cycle. Were cars, planes and big business pumping out carbon dioxide responsible for the previous freezes?

One would have to imagine that man has been on Earth for only a heartbeat in terms of our planet's history.

Please let us not be scared to talk about this, especially if you have doubts as to the "evidence" provided by the pro-man is responsible faction. To write letters as Sarah Clayton has done dismissing arguements simply because she doesn't like them is not helpful and indeed is likely to turn many people against her own argument.

STEVE PRIOR Hillside Close Banstead