Readers’ letters: Look at history – climate catastrophes are nothing new

During the approxomate 4,000-year time span that encompassed these empires there were continuous changes in the climate driven by a combination of volcanic activity and also shifts to oscillatory systems which caused alternating rainfall, drought and temperature anomalies.

These changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, El Nino and La Nina atmospheric circulation patterns recurred primarily due to variations in solar activity, a key external forcing factor not dissimilar to those occurring during the current Modern Warm Period.These changes in sea surface temperature and ocean currents acted as major “conflict amplifiers” resulting in a devastating chain reaction of crop failures, famine and sociopolitical upheaval.

Although human emissions have had a marginal warming influence, these complex and chaotic powerful natural forces over which we have absolutely no control are clearly the major factors than continue to influence the climate.

It is worth noting that there have been a handful of civilisations which managed to survive climatic disruption through adaptation and mitigation. Such an approach offers a far more pragmatic and benificial approach to current conditions and would provide grounds for optimism rather than despair and would avoid wasting vast sums of money in the blind ideological pursuit of net zero which will have no meaningful impact on our ever changing climate.

Neil J Bryce, Kelso, Scottish Borders

Good news

With the excellent news that the UK is rejoining the Erasmus study programme benefitting students here and in Europe, the increasingly ridiculous and irrelevant Tories can only come up with the ludicrous accusation that the government has ‘caved in to the EU.’

If ever proof was needed that dinosaurs still roam the Earth…

D Mitchell. Doune, Perthshire

On the other hand

I fail to see why, given all the other crises and priorities the government has – not least defence and housing – £570m, enough to build 5,000 council houses, is being spent on Erasmus to enable mostly middle-class students to study a subject that is probably, in terms of employability and value to our shrinking, skills-lite economy, available in one of the many “universities” that have sprung up or been upwardly classified in the last 35 years, very possibly within a bus ride of their home.

Allan Sutherland. Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Red light zone

With the excitement of childhood I headed down to Edinburgh city centre to see the Christmas lights. My heart was full of the mystery of the Nativity and the anticipation of the joy and happiness of Christmas Day.

In the darkness of a cold and wintry night there was the expectation of stars and angels. But nightmare on George Streer! I was greeted by a devilish glow from satanic trees. Surely I had wandered into Edinburgh’s red light district?

I scurried back to Princes Street in search of lovely green trees, a bright star and the wonder of Christmas.

Jean Leitch. Edinburgh

Waste of money

So His Majesty’s Government is to spend £120 miliion to rescue Grangemouth’s Ineos plant (Scotsman, 17 December) That’s £240,000 for every job directly saved!

This is abuse of taxpayers’ money at its worst. Who knows what jobs would have been created elsewhere in the economy, had people had that money to spend themselves. The opportunity cost of such socialist interference in markets is invariably ignored because it’s invisible and thus not newsworthy.

George Morton, Rosyth, Fife

Iran’s influence

Douglas Alexander, Scottish Secretary, has called for an investigation into foreign interference in British politics to scrutinise claims that Iranian propaganda outlets are targeting Scots with pro-separatist material (your report, 18 December). Certainly, visitors to X are bombarded routinely with SNP propaganda disparaging the UK and casting Scotland as a heroic but downtrodden victim. Investigation showed that some X accounts suddenly went silent in June 2025 when US bombers attacked Tehran, returning to operation a few days later, strongly suggesting that their disruption resulted from their being based in Iran. X’s new transparency tool has confirmed that.

The materials from Iranian sources used on X are much the same as routine SNP propaganda. Where a name is used for an account, it is an archetypal Scottish one, like ‘Ewen McGregor’, to give the impression the account is that of a genuine Scot.

No-one is suggesting that the SNP is in any way involved in this scam. Nevertheless, the SNP needs to be aware of the saying “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”. After Germany invaded the USSR in July 1941, Finland became in effect Germany’s ally, a reaction against the invasion of Finland by the USSR in 1939-40. This was not because the Finns were Germany’s friends, but because they had a common enemy.

Both Iran and the SNP are hostile to the UK and regard its break-up as being in their interests. Beyond that, Iran has no interest in Scottish separatism.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won’t print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid ‘Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters’ or similar in your subject line – be specific. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.