AS Dr G. Edwards spends so much time writing to The Herald I happily assume he is not one of the cruisers, flyers, drivers, shoppers and general ‘concrete-over-ers’ of this planet; otherwise he alarms me with his negativity regarding his fellow Scots and their ability to act without instruction from Westminster.

For well over 50 years Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the U.N. and many other groups have tried in many ways to alert mankind to the destruction we are wreaking upon the world.Greed, materialism, and the desire for instant gratification without thought for others are winning hands down so far. My daughters, grand-daughters, husband and I are three generations of peaceful protesters. To what effect? The only interest shown by the small-c conservative majority is fleeting and mostly only when they are forced to take note by having their comfortable lives interrupted. Blocking rush-hour traffic, frightening the so-called “Great and Good” at dinner, making oil companies turn their minds to reality by stopping a rig in its journey, are all brave acts by courageous people. With the Doomsday Clock as close to midnight as it has ever been all mankind must learn to act in harmony prevent destruction by climate change and nuclear war.

Sandra Phelps, Glasgow

STOP Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), an eye-catching name, is quite misleading to the uninformed reader. One must ask what the term “chaos” means? Is Scotland so afflicted, or, indeed, the UK or the planet? Is there a real “climate emergency”? What climatic evidence suggests these dramatic words?

The Earth’s temperature, relatively stable for two decades or more, could easily depend mainly on solar and other variations. Theories on the role of greenhouse gases, based on computer modelling, as to CO2 as the major cause of global warming, remain unproven; there is no proof of prevention of climate changes by curtailing CO2 output.

That is demanding huge expenditure on means of power generation as well as on our finances and inevitable damage to our homes, industry and transport. SCCS justifies neither the “chaos” nor the “Climate Emergency” they proclaim, endorsed by compliant politicians.Decarbonisation, costing trillions, is therefore an uncertain gamble. Would our canny Scottish forebears have bet the house on such a speculation?

Dr Charles Wardrop, Perth.