Bill McGuire makes a simple but powerful and totally convincing point (Why we should forget about the 1.5C global heating target, 12 September). Unfortunately, it comes at a point, in the UK at least, when political understanding of the dynamics of climate change is at a nadir. During Covid we had Sage – the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – and, with some well-known exceptions, its advice guided the actions of the government and saved lives.
We currently face the mother of all emergencies due to the climate, and more deaths, but forget the idea of the government listening to informed, objective advice. Now the recidivists who railed against lockdowns have been given free rein. They reject scientific advice and thrive, as they always have, on ideology fatally mixed with nostalgia. They never accepted the 1.5C target, so will have no difficulty in forgetting it – but, tragically, not in the way Prof McGuire hopes for.
Neil Blackshaw
Whittingham, Northumberland
• The message from Prof McGuire’s article – that we cannot rely on a 1.5C increase in global temperatures as being “safe” and that we must fight to prevent every 0.1C rise – is in many ways a sobering one. Yet it also has the potential to empower individuals to take action.
As an individual, the global 1.5C target feels like something that one is powerless to affect. However, when one considers that every tonne of CO2 not emitted is a small temperature rise avoided, individual efforts can be seen to make a difference: every flight not taken, every unnecessary car journey avoided, every kilowatt hour of gas or electricity not consumed. And if lots of people do the same, it will have an impact.
Aaron Turpin
Eastbourne, East Sussex
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