Professional Engineering

In his letter “Time’s running out”, Mr. Baglin expresses surprise that engineers do not think that geo-engineering is likely to form a defence against climate change. Perhaps they are more realistic than he.

To simply say that the climate is warming therefore we must do this, or that, is typical of many arguments for and against most climate-related activities. Polar bears are starving so we must: burn less coal, install more wind power, install more nuclear plants, make fewer aircraft flights, drive electric cars, subsidise solar panels on our roofs, ride our bikes.

But to what extent do we need to do these things to make a change that is actually worth making? Rarely, verging on never, do the arguments in favour of climate-friendly actions include a quantified reason to support the significance of the proposal. Yes, we might be told how many tonnes of carbon emission such and such a change will save, but that tells most people almost nothing about whether the proposed action will have any real impact on climate change.

Stephen David, Hassocks, West Sussex

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