With the COP summit drawing to its close there will be a frantic effort to frame a final bulletin that suggests at least a prospect of international co-operation.
More hope than expectation with so much uncertainty and lack of support, especially from some major nations.
So can that the magic 1.5% be achieved?
I have my doubts. We have been struggling to contain many kinds of pollution for centuries with coal the major culprit.
King Edward of England in 1272 banned the burning of sea coal but evidently without success as it plagued the the country ever since, becoming steadily worse since the industrial revolution.
Mines and factories relentlessly and and disastrously belched toxic fumes into the air.
For me, the most vivid example was when I was a toddler living in east London. In those days we were not so obsessed with weather forecasts as we are today. There was just one a day on the fledgeling radio.
But the weather in London and all the big cities was crucial. It could be a mass killer.
I will never forget those London fogs - ‘pea soupers’, ‘killer fogs’ when day turned to night, the toxic yellow fumes swirling the streets, invading our houses, stopping traffic.
The worst year was 1952 when 4,000 Londoners choked to death with the overall total reaching 12,000.
The first improvement came with the a clean Air Act of 1956, followed by further Acts in 1968 and 1993.
But far worse was to come, new fuels, petrol, diesel, and a new range of deadly substances to power movement, industry and our personal lives.
Now comes the reckoning.
Judging by progress so far from encouraging with future generations at great risk.
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