Everyone needs to take them seriously. The UK heatwave in summer 2018 resulted in the deaths of some 2,500 people and the next few days could see unprecedented temperatures with a record-breaking 40C forecast for southern England.
The Met Office’s red warning of extreme heat, which covers much of England for Monday and Tuesday, stresses even those not considered “most vulnerable” to hot weather could die. Power cuts, water supply outages, transport cancellations, and the loss of mobile phone services are other possible knock-on effects.
Southern Scotland has been issued with an amber warning for extreme heat, with the temperatures expected to rise from tomorrow and peak early next week. Scottish Water has issued an urgent plea to save water with water tankers sent to Arran, among various places, amid the early signs of drought.
Wildfires, heatwaves and drought: all consequences predicted by climate scientists as a result of global warming, but then it really doesn’t take years of study to understand that simple process of cause and effect.
As humans continue to pump increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and temperatures continue to rise, all of these effects and more are going to get worse. Without action, a number of tipping points will be crossed, triggering natural processes that could lead to ‘runaway’ warming and, essentially, Armageddon.
However, succumbing to ‘doomism’ is as useful as head-in-the-sand denial. Humanity will, eventually, come to its senses, probably after some particularly appalling catastrophe creates global panic. The sooner we do so, the better, both in terms of the climate and the economic impact.
In the meantime, everyone should do everything we can to make a difference: thinking about how we spend our money, how we travel and, most of all, how we vote.
Depressingly, none of the Conservative party candidates vying to become the next Prime Minister has a good track record on climate change, despite warm words from some.
If we care about our children’s futures, we need to elect politicians who recognise the threat and are genuinely prepared to deal with it.
They know enough of the voters want people who will prevent any real action inconveniencing them, by talking loudly about their ambitions and drowning out the voices of people who know what they’re talking about and actually care.
The voters, the politicians, and the corporations are happily blaming each other, and solemnly vowing that they care but it’s really the responsibility of someone else to act before they can.
Corporate buck passing, because a corporation is made up of ordinary people who think they are immune from the real world in their corporate game.
The same party with the “let the bodies pile high” leadership!
Whether it’s a pandemic or climate change it will be business as usual for self-serving money grabbing opportunists.
Last night’s leadership debate shows the UK government left adrift in the political wilderness by the “get it done” con man.
Every candidate delivered up meaningless sound bites – Levelling up, getting on, what people want…to fix a crisis that developed on their watch.
Every one had a big BUT on net zero….as long as they can continue the same brand of …self-serving money grabbing opportunism.
Trouble is who Cost of liv
Not one had a solution for the devastating state of affairs they’ve presided over failed to deliver a
Not one of them is listening to what people want.
Far more people die from extreme cold than heat.
The numbers from both are lower than they were previously.
Pretending every little event is harbinger of the apocalypse is kind of behaviour that should be reserved for religious fundamentalists.
Unless all of the world wakes up and acts there is zero the UK can do alone.
It will not happen though. World leadership can not even decide of their laces should be under over or over under
I’m still amazed that so many people and the press seem to think our Government can do anything about climate change. I really do believe it has been left too late, we are doomed. It will take years to change anything. Governments around the world keep failing on their pledges. Over this next few years crop yields are going to fall drastically across the world, leading to food shortages globally.
And yet people continue to have more children. This year the world population has risen by over 43 million
It should it won’t they don’t care unless it actually affects them or their cash flow
Yeah It’ll remind them to get AC in all of their houses.
8 comments
Everyone needs to take them seriously. The UK heatwave in summer 2018 resulted in the deaths of some 2,500 people and the next few days could see unprecedented temperatures with a record-breaking 40C forecast for southern England.
The Met Office’s red warning of extreme heat, which covers much of England for Monday and Tuesday, stresses even those not considered “most vulnerable” to hot weather could die. Power cuts, water supply outages, transport cancellations, and the loss of mobile phone services are other possible knock-on effects.
Southern Scotland has been issued with an amber warning for extreme heat, with the temperatures expected to rise from tomorrow and peak early next week. Scottish Water has issued an urgent plea to save water with water tankers sent to Arran, among various places, amid the early signs of drought.
Wildfires, heatwaves and drought: all consequences predicted by climate scientists as a result of global warming, but then it really doesn’t take years of study to understand that simple process of cause and effect.
As humans continue to pump increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and temperatures continue to rise, all of these effects and more are going to get worse. Without action, a number of tipping points will be crossed, triggering natural processes that could lead to ‘runaway’ warming and, essentially, Armageddon.
However, succumbing to ‘doomism’ is as useful as head-in-the-sand denial. Humanity will, eventually, come to its senses, probably after some particularly appalling catastrophe creates global panic. The sooner we do so, the better, both in terms of the climate and the economic impact.
In the meantime, everyone should do everything we can to make a difference: thinking about how we spend our money, how we travel and, most of all, how we vote.
Depressingly, none of the Conservative party candidates vying to become the next Prime Minister has a good track record on climate change, despite warm words from some.
If we care about our children’s futures, we need to elect politicians who recognise the threat and are genuinely prepared to deal with it.
They know enough of the voters want people who will prevent any real action inconveniencing them, by talking loudly about their ambitions and drowning out the voices of people who know what they’re talking about and actually care.
The voters, the politicians, and the corporations are happily blaming each other, and solemnly vowing that they care but it’s really the responsibility of someone else to act before they can.
Corporate buck passing, because a corporation is made up of ordinary people who think they are immune from the real world in their corporate game.
The same party with the “let the bodies pile high” leadership!
Whether it’s a pandemic or climate change it will be business as usual for self-serving money grabbing opportunists.
Last night’s leadership debate shows the UK government left adrift in the political wilderness by the “get it done” con man.
Every candidate delivered up meaningless sound bites – Levelling up, getting on, what people want…to fix a crisis that developed on their watch.
Every one had a big BUT on net zero….as long as they can continue the same brand of …self-serving money grabbing opportunism.
Trouble is who Cost of liv
Not one had a solution for the devastating state of affairs they’ve presided over failed to deliver a
Not one of them is listening to what people want.
Far more people die from extreme cold than heat.
The numbers from both are lower than they were previously.
Pretending every little event is harbinger of the apocalypse is kind of behaviour that should be reserved for religious fundamentalists.
Unless all of the world wakes up and acts there is zero the UK can do alone.
It will not happen though. World leadership can not even decide of their laces should be under over or over under
I’m still amazed that so many people and the press seem to think our Government can do anything about climate change. I really do believe it has been left too late, we are doomed. It will take years to change anything. Governments around the world keep failing on their pledges. Over this next few years crop yields are going to fall drastically across the world, leading to food shortages globally.
And yet people continue to have more children. This year the world population has risen by over 43 million
It should it won’t they don’t care unless it actually affects them or their cash flow
Yeah It’ll remind them to get AC in all of their houses.