Sir, – The successful launch of the Webb telescope adds another significant achievement to the long list of technological milestones in humanity's recent evolution ("New Nasa telescope launched on journey 'back to the birth of the universe'", Online, December 25th).
As we witness the deployment as further evidence of human progress, the irony cannot be lost that while this drama plays out in deep space, closer to home we struggle to come to grips with the existential threat to human civilisation as we know it. Despite the hugely anticipated Cop-26 meeting in October, global emissions continue to rise and needless destruction of the natural world is relentless. The pursuit of growth as some ideological sacred cow is blinding us to the impending catastrophe. We continue to lack the political will to acknowledge that consumer capitalism is leading us to the edge of a climate and biodiversity abyss. The Webb telescope may give us the ability to look back in time to try and understand our place in the universe, but we don’t need technology to know what faces us if a radical pivot is not made. All of our marvellous technological progress is worth nought if we haven’t the honesty to face up to this. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.