From Jonathan Wallace, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Passing 1.5°C of warming will be politically significant, but, as you indicate, it isn’t a magic threshold below which everything is fine and beyond which we are doomed (10 June, p 32).
I do worry, though, about the lack of urgency in the UK government strategy for reaching net zero by 2050, which is rear-loaded, depending heavily on future technological advances to create a carbon-free system.
Even if these advances occur as hoped, during the time it takes for this to happen, we will keep on pushing up atmospheric carbon levels and contributing to more warming. We need governments of the UK and other big economies to implement policies that can have an immediate impact, such as improved home insulation and facilitating low-carbon travel.
