Space tourism is so self-indulgent
IT’S alarming that billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue origin project is about to make space tourism a reality (Mail). after an online auction for one seat aboard the new Shepard rocket, the highest bidder will be taken to the edge of space on July 20. at an altitude of 62 miles, they will spend at least ten minutes in orbit, experiencing weightlessness due to zero gravity. They will be able to see the curvature of the Earth with the darkness of space as the backdrop. at a time when we are increasingly seeing the effects of global warming, it is deplorable that people are willing to indulge their need for new experiences regardless of the effects on the planet. The out-of-this-world tourist may say they will offset the carbon footprint of the space flight by planting trees, but surely the unnecessary use of energy should be seen as self-indulgent waste? By all means plant trees to help save the planet, but keep your feet on the ground. With a world population of nearly eight billion, it is only when attitudes about the needless use of energy change that we will have any chance of preventing further harm to the environment. There are calls for governments to take action to prevent global warming, but unless we personally change and stop our frivolous waste of resources, the world we bequeath to our grandchildren will be in a sorry state.
R. A. LAMONT, WILMSLOW, CHESHIRE.
MANY of my generation are concerned about climate change and how slowly we are trying to get it under control. When will we truly accept that it’s people and their needs who are causing global warming? It took hundreds of thousands of years for the Earth’s population to reach one billion in 1804. The three billion milestone came in 1960. Today, it has more than doubled to nearly eight billion. In 50 years’ time, how many people will there be? It could double again, but at the same time the world’s natural resources are being used up rapidly. Stopping or even reversing population growth is the only way that we can save the planet.
KEITH SIMPSON, OSWALDTWISTLE, LANCS.