Newark Advertiser reader’s letter: Backing up climate views

Mr C. Southgate, referring to my letter of January 24 (Climate Action Must be Taken), says I “drag out the same old alarmist views”.

He writes in support of M. Patchett’s letter “Trillions Wasted on Climate Emergency” (December 28). Oh dear!

The most eminent body of scientists in the UK is the Royal Society. In March 2020 it published Climate Change: Evidence and Causes (https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/climate-change-evidence-causes/)

The following quotations convey its powerful message.

“Greenhouse gases affect Earth’s energy balance and climate … Human activities have added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere … Climate records show a warming trend … Many complex processes shape our climate … Human activities are changing the climate. … How will climate change in the future?”

The paper answers that question: “all model projections indicate that Earth will continue to warm considerably more over the next few decades to centuries.”

It predicts “if there were no technological or policy changes to reduce emission trends from their current trajectory, then further globally-averaged warming of 2.6 to 4.8C … would be expected during the 21st Century.”

A subsequent series of papers from the Royal Society, Climate Change: Science and Solutions: (May 2021) (drawing on the expertise of over 120 scientists from more than 20 countries) aim to “help countries of the world tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and achieve ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050”.

And a further paper in November 2022 said: “Climate change is a major global challenge of our time, and rapid action is required to limits its impact”.

It is the lives of our grandchildren, and theirs that I fear for. — M. Bassey, Coddington.