I SYMPATHISE with Dave Bevan (Letters, November 26), trying to convince us with a scattering of irrelevancies that “global warming is on hold”, despite the overwhelming consensus (qv recent sea temperature analysis reported in New Scientist).

I don’t like the prospect facing our species any more than he does: a global average temperature rise of over 2 degrees C, which threatens to wipe out many animal and plant species, and render swathes of the planet barren and uninhabitable.

Unlike Mr Bevan, my reaction isn’t to behave like a toddler, who thinks that if they close their eyes, everything around them goes away.

Consistently my letters to this paper have urged the people of west Wales to contemplate how bad the future for their children and grandchildren could be, if our society continues “steady as she goes” towards unstoppable climate change; I have also pointed out that by changing our ways – investing in efficient technologies to reduce our consumption, and adopting sustainable methods of producing heat and power – we can reap long-lasting economic rewards.

But time is not on our side; and in the world economy, with its chronic addiction to fossil fuels, we have a huge ship to turn.

We must ignore the likes of Dave Bevan, who would have us ease back a while: that helm which could steer us away from climate catastrophe needs forcing over ever harder – no matter how bad the pain when, to borrow from Masefield, we feel the wheel’s kick.

CHRISTOPHER JESSOP

Independent Energy Consultant

Marloes