Australia worse polluter than China

I AM a science teacher and extremely concerned that unaddressed global warming will mean my granddaughter will not enjoy the safe climate, prosperous economy and relatively stable world that I did.

Colin Baker is apparently less worried but he is wrong to play down the amount of carbon pollution Australia contributes relative to other nations (TB 27/8). We might be “only” number 16 on the list of current major emitters but, as we are number 55 for population size, this is really too high. Also, while China is top of the emitters’ list today, if we look at the historical total it is a very different story.

China, a country with a population 55 times ours, has contributed 12.7 per cent of the globe’s total emissions. Tiny little Australia has contributed a relatively large 1.1 per cent.

We definitely need China to take stronger action to rapidly cut emissions but we should accept that this global problem requires us all to be part of the solution, not point fingers.

LESLEY WALKER, Northcote, Victoria.