On October 29 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the Atlantic puffin to its Red List of species at risk of extinction.

Yes – the same puffin which annually colonises Pembrokeshire’s offshore islands, particularly Skomer and Skokholm. These birds which, even if people don’t personally find them beautiful, fascinating, and endearing creatures, contribute massively to the county’s tourism and visitor economy.

The RSPB responded by saying puffins face a “long list of threats”. Decline in their prey as a result of overfishing is amongst the usual suspects on the list. But the first line in the IUCN’s assessment of threats is the puffin’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, such as sea temperature rise, extreme weather and shifts in prey distribution and abundance.

At present, the main concern is about declining breeding numbers in the North Sea, but it would be utter folly for anyone to assume that “our”

puffins might not be threatened in future. If ever there was a wake-up call to the people of West Wales, warning them just how bad things might get if all the world’s countries don’t take drastic steps to reduce carbon emissions, then surely this knock on our own front door is it.

Anticipating the usual backlash from the climate change “deniers” who usually write to this newspaper, some even saying that we humans should do nothing to reduce fossil fuel consumption or, indeed, try to reduce our impact on the natural world in any way – in the light of so much scientific evidence, this listing by IUCN is underpinned by swathes of solid data, and considering what is at stake not just for local wildlife but globally, do they really deserve space in this letters column when they can never back up their rejection of scientific evidence with hard facts and figures of their own?

Blaise Bullimore

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