Much of what Bill McGuire and Roger Hallam say is true (Scientists value neutrality – that is no longer enough. In 2025, they must fully support the climate movement, January 9). Scientists need to think about how they use their position to inform the public and influence the public policy response to climate change. Many of us are already doing this, working with government and, where necessary, supporting prosecutions of polluters and demonstrating political intransigence.
However, we cannot abandon the principles of a rigorous evidence-based approach; without this, our votes are worthless. The main reason why scientists are not more actively supporting the climate activist movement is that the leaders of this movement have a habit of saying misleading and false things about climate science: being associated with them is is losing credibility.
Roger Hallam, for example, said that climate change kill 6 billion people by 2100. This is not supported by the evidence. My own experience attending events organized by climate activists is that they systematically exaggerate climate science claims and even frequently suggest that reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change deliberately downplay the real scale of the problem.
There is no need to exaggerate the case. The evidence is before our eyes; from extreme flooding in Pakistan to severe droughts in Botswana to the current fires in California. If the climate movement wants engagement from scientists, it must stop forcing us to choose between credibility and activism.
Dr Ol Perkins
Research associated with global fire modeling, King’s College London
It is not simply scientists’ commitment to neutrality that is holding back academic efforts to take needed action on climate change; it is also a lack of urgency on the part of universities. These institutions must place climate breakdown and the fundamental changes in society needed to minimize its consequences at the forefront of all courses, regardless of discipline. Such a change could be centrally funded by offsetting the tuition costs of all graduates who then enter professions focused on reducing greenhouse gases.
Furthermore, in addition to the 9 million scientists mentioned by Bill McGuire and Roger Hallam, there are approximately 25,000 universities And 254 million students enrolledwhich together could form an important task force to combat rising global temperatures. To achieve this, they must all work together and put saving the planet ahead of any short-term gains that persist in maintaining the current status quo.
Michael Symonds
Professor Emeritus, medical school, University of Nottingham