Sir, – The article "Could Ireland be a winner from climate change?" (Unthinkable, October 7th) outlines the idea from various academics that we should be more nuanced in how we talk about climate change, and that in some cases, certain places and sectors may benefit.
If we ignore the fact that climate change does not simply mean a smooth rise in temperature, but also entails much greater variability, then it seems reasonable that milder weather in Cork may encourage tourists. But any such localised benefits will be happening in a world where large areas are becoming less habitable, the effects of which will be profound and very hard to predict.
So while nuance is usually a good thing, no amount of philosophising is going to remove the urgent need for wealthy, high-emitting countries like ours to quickly start taking the problem seriously. – Yours, etc,
DAVE MATHIESON,
Salthill,
Galway.