On the call for less doom in climate messaging (1)
While I accept your positive idea of easing up on doom-mongering in messages about climate change, I fear your article doesn’t address one of the great climate unknowns (Leader, 19 August).
You state that “climate change is happening, and we can stop it if we choose to”. But we really don’t know how much further the warming inertia of past emissions, coupled with feedback loops such as permafrost methane release, will take temperatures once emissions cease in a carbon-neutral world.
In particular, the oceans have been credited with ameliorating atmospheric warming by absorbing much of the heat energy of the greenhouse effect. Once carbon dioxide levels stabilise and reduce, that store of marine energy will be released. Whether that release will keep temperatures on the rise or “merely” hold them high for longer is an open question.
On the call for less doom in climate messaging (2)
I am pleased you are encouraging a less catastrophist approach to the messaging on climate change.
I despair to see young people frightened to the point of feeling hopeless about the future. Our message to them should be one of optimism. We will have technologies in place to reduce our influence on the rise in temperature. In the meantime, we can adapt if required. There is no need for panic, and your point on this was wise and welcome.
Global warming may spark fashion meltdown
One less-discussed effect of human adaptation to rising temperatures could be a change in clothing fashions in some parts of the world, which may have wider repercussions. If we have more very hot and sunny days, will Western fashion begin to lose its appeal? Some may opt for longer, cooler dresses with arms covered, causing a change in the amount and types of fabrics produced and perhaps leading to a decline in the tattoo industry. Some parts of Western formal attire, like the suit and tie, may decline even faster, too. One benefit could be lower demand for air conditioning (19 August, p 30).
Nuclear must be at heart of the carbon-free push
Your latest special issue on climate change was generally fair and objective, but other than a brief parenthetical reference to China’s nuclear power programme, there was no recognition of nuclear power as a major and near-term contributor to reducing our carbon emissions. No “green” movement can be taken seriously without a full-throated endorsement of this (19 August, p 12).
If you win $50 billion, please use it wisely
In “Unnatural disasters” by Friederike Otto, we learn that Multnomah county in Oregon is suing fossil fuel companies for $50 billion in damages caused by a 2021 heatwave. Thanks to Google Street View, I was able to see the nature of the place. Everywhere I looked, I saw nice houses, many with visible air conditioning and a decent car in the drive (19 August, p 21).
Those residents have obviously embraced the benefits of the industrial revolution and used their fair share of fossil fuels. If they win anything, I suggest they donate it to communities around the world who will suffer on a much larger scale from more extreme climatic changes.
Upsides of the great personal data grab
I agree that we need to be cautious about how we use the internet and phones because of firms trying to get our data. But I don’t agree that this is “a game you can only lose”, as one contributor put it. If you exercise, then your data should help you with your health insurance 鈥� and so on (26 August, p 32).
I also don’t agree that the instances of “bad” use are always bad. They might expose hypocrisy or secret crimes, or provide information on dangerous people, such as those responsible for deaths and war crimes.
Still searching for the real cause of obesity epidemic
The fundamental problem with obesity isn’t that the real cause of it has yet to be confronted, but that the real cause isn’t known. If it is only that ultra-processed foods support over-consumption, as Pauline Keyne suggests, why is it that at roughly 2200 kilocalories per day from 1999 to 2017, while obesity rates soared from about 30 per cent to 42 per cent of the population?
It is worth noting that a 2 per cent excess of energy intake above expenditure over 10 years 鈥� too small to detect 鈥� leads to about 20 kilograms of weight gain. This is enough to take a person from the typical weight category through overweight to obese (Letters, 19 August).
Research suggests that body weight and composition are programmed not just by genetics, but also by early life experience, partly before birth. It is time to think more deeply.
British nuclear war movie still chills me
It has been more than 35 years since I saw it, but seeing Simon Ings recommend the film Threads brought up memories of how horrific this fictional account of nuclear war is. It should be required viewing for all politicians in a country with a nuclear arsenal (12 August, p 30).
Sometimes, gestures can be misleading
I read your piece on the power of gestures accompanying speech with interest. However, the conclusion, and especially the assertion that other people’s gestures “offer a window into the thoughts that speakers have but don’t express in their words”, seems at odds with previous research demonstrating that people are better at detecting if others are lying if they only hear and don’t see the other person (19 August, p 34).
Shedding light on a burning issue
The flame you used to illustrate geologic hydrogen is incandescent. It looks more like methane to me (5 August, p 12).