“The warmest February the world has ever seen” (In Focus, last week, page 34) said that last month’s jump in global temperatures represented an increase of 1.35C above pre-industrial levels. It actually takes it higher. The 1.35C figure is compared to the period 1951 to 1980, not pre-industrial times. The increase compared to pre-industrial levels is approximately 1.63C, far beyond the 1.5C optimal limit agreed at last December’s Paris climate deal.
A panel accompanying “The IDS legacy?” (News, last week, page 4) referred erroneously to “employment support allowance”. ESA is a two-part benefit – employment and support allowance. It is not designed to “support employment”.
“Is it really so bad to stay hidden – like Elena Ferrante?” (Comment, last week, page 37) referred to “the late Thomas Pynchon and JD Salinger”. Salinger died in 2010, but Thomas Pynchon is very much alive. Apologies.
“The man who proved that altruism is selfish” (New Review, 13 March, page 22) said that the American scientist and polymath George Price was the son of an opera singer. Alice Avery Price was a stage actress and businesswoman, but never an opera singer.
Write to Stephen Pritchard, Readers’ Editor, the Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, email observer.readers@observer.co.uk tel 020 3353 4656
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