An open letter to men of a certain age: do you find Greta Thunberg annoying? Good.

Some people find Greta Thunberg annoying, particularly men of a certain age who are skeptical about the climate emergency. If you are a man born before the 1980s, that’s not your fault: so was I, and here I am, trying to get to grips with the world around me. And if you’re skeptical about the climate emergency, you’re behaving like an IDIOT, but at least that’s something you can change. So listen up.

First, take the time to read up on the subject. Understand that your “position”, the one you’ve been boring your family with every year at the Christmas dinner table, contradicts the findings of 99% of the scientific community, which can’t be bothered to argue with you, because it doesn’t need to: they have data, mathematical models you would never understand, along with exhaustively checked research papers. Dude, do you really think you’re seeing something they’ve missed?

Second, Greta is a 16-year-old Swedish girl who long ago grew tired of the nonsense being peddled by her government — and the rest of the world’s governments — about the climate emergency, and instead decided to act. Her parents are supporting her, because children’s rights are taken very seriously in Sweden (which may seem like an aberration to you, but the Swedish education system is way ahead of those of most…