DR Martin Rodger (Letters, December 27) makes several key points on climate issues, in response to a letter from Stuart Flemming (December 21), who was severely critical of BCP council offering tree planting as compensation to the air show pollution.

On Dr Rodger's key points I am then astonished that anyone taking climate issues seriously would tell us that four days’ jet fuel carbon emissions, from the air show, is "trivial".

This is not the case by any means. Depending on the plane and weight loading, carbon outputs, along with particulates, sulphur, and nitrogen, range from a quarter of a tonne pollution per hour, to over a tonne of pollution an hour.

Over four days we can safely say the air show will produce many hundreds of tonnes of carbon and sulphur pollution. And factor in here over a million visitors to the town over four days. That is then hundreds of thousands of car journeys, in turn outputting tonnes of CO2 pollution.

For the rest Dr Rodger is entirely correct to put responsibility for destroying the prospect of Navitus wind farm in 2015 on highly vociferous pressure groups, as led by leading councillors and MPs.

But nonetheless, the challenge facing all of us is to take on the enormity of climate instability escalating out of all control without, as far as we can, politicising issues. As a first step now, in BCP-declared climate emergency, BCP councillors and executive have to face up to putting an end to the air show.

It can no longer be justified. It is a horror show of mass pollution. And at the same, yes, we need millions of trees planting, and not to futilely seek to compensate for the air show, but to make real progress taking carbon out of our atmosphere.

DR JAMES ROTHERHAM, postgraduate 1997, Southampton Oceanography

Avon Road West, Christchurch