The terrifying truth: Britain’s a hothouse, but one day 40C will seem cool – This extreme heat is just the beginning. We should be scared, and channel this emotion into action
The terrifying truth: Britain’s a hothouse, but one day 40C will seem cool – This extreme heat is just the beginning. We should be scared, and channel this emotion into action
21 comments
Mate. We can’t even cope with a bit of wind, rain and 1/4 of snow. Weather we have been experiencing annually since well before we had governments.
What makes you think that our government (Not just this one, any of them to be fair) is going to be in any way arsed about warmer weather?
Build more nuclear reactors, get the cost of energy down, then ensure all houses come with AC, sorted.
I absolutely fucking hate how some people are enjoying this weather, going to beaches and having garden parties like this is some normal event to celebrate and to have a good time with.
It is a catastrophe, it should be terrifying people into making drastic changes but there are still excuses, basic simple changes everyone can make and still nothing.
The fact that a climate denier is in the final 5 to be tory leader is a grotesque indication of where we still are as a country. She should be nowhere near the seat of an MP let alone potentially leader.
Where can I find a record of the UK hottest day of the year going back 100 years?
There’s not much we can do until the 1% decide to take action. But they’ll never do that, or at least leave it too late, because they can make more money destroying the Earth with everything on it than actually trying to help.
Anyone else freaking the fuck out about the future or just me?
“Be scared, and do something with that fear. I won’t tell you what, though.”
The majority of people will do nothing to help if it’s inconvenient for them. Just look at the pandemic, far too many people just wouldn’t wear masks or keep their hands clean because it was inconvenient. The only thing that would work is changes at the industry level, and as long as politicians have business interests then nothing will happen.
The amount of commenters here saying to go and enjoy the sun. None of you have ever been out in 40 degrees heat. That much is clear.
The sad fact is, no matter how many changes we as individuals make, it won’t matter a jot as long as the powers that be don’t give a fuck and capitalism continues to ravage the planet.
I refuse to believe that me recycling cardboard and plastic at home, as well as cutting down on travel in my car is seen as vital, whilst millions of tons of shitty wasteful products are churned out to be dumped daily and rainforests are destroyed.
For example, air travel is one of the most harmful things we are doing. You really think anyone with any sort of influence is going to avoid travelling by air? No. It’ll soon be that normal people aren’t allowed to fly, while the rich and famous can jet around as they please.
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Its to late.
We have watched this for over 50 years. Knowing full well what is happening.
All the time, allowing huge corporations to place the responsibility on individuals. While they continue to ignore the issue. All in the name of protecting the economy.
As a species, it’s just a matter of time now. As we are already poisened with plastics in our blood supply. After the plastic industry with full knowledge, its doesn’t work. Convinced us all, recycling was the solution. While selling ever more plastic to corporations to package our shit.
As a species. The planet will recover. Once, we lay down and let evolution try again.
Can there actually be meaningful action on climate change while we still have a growth at all costs economy?
I really can’t see how the two are compatible
Honest question to the usual Reddit hive mind saying “dITCh CaRs”
1. What about electric vehicles?
2. Even if we drastically hurt our quality of life and freedom by doing it, what does it achieve? India, USA, China etc won’t change. So it doesn’t help us in the slightest other than feeling “virtuous”. Sad, trapped, lonely but “virtuous”. Car emissions ain’t the problem…
Giving up innovations like the car and air travel isn’t the fix. Technological innovations is. It is happening, albeit slowly. Greener cars, low emission planes etc.
The “short” term fix to this scary weather is building infrastructure to adapt. Better, cooler buildings, air-con and a power strategy to cope with it that’s as green as feasible.
Recycling away a few more yogurt pots and getting the bus ain’t gonna save us. But it may help you feel better.
We should be asking why our Government is doing next to nothing on updating building codes and policy around this. (Hint: it’s usually not corruption, it’s sheer incompetence)
* Eat less beef (mostly a rest of the world problem as British beef farming is much more environmentally sustainable than in the Americas).
* Drive smaller engine cars (mostly a rest of the world problem again, Americans could easily reduce their reliance on engines above 3.0L in displacement and do the same miles at half the fuel consumption).
* Fly less. Go on fewer holidays overseas and when you do, make them longer. (also a rest of the world problem as internal flights are a huge problem in many larger nations).
* Make less crap. Stop running factories producing non recyclable trash products that get thrown away and stick around in the oceans forever.
* Build better homes and improve the ones we have so that we are more efficient in the way we heat and cool around the world.
* Get off the out of season fruit and veg addiction, go back to accepting seasonal produce.
Some of these things we can do, for the rest, other nations need to step up, big time.
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Who the fuck is ‘we’? It’s not me doing it and there’s nothing I can do. Stop trying to make the average person feel guilty.
unfortunately people still believe that climate change is not a thing. And when you have the government excepting money from the oil industry and climate denial lobbying groups things are not going to change.
Going to put in a note of optimism.
The progress in renewable energy technology is just incredible to follow. We’re all familiar with how fast computer technology advances. Renewable energy has been going through its own quieter revolution.
https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth
Around 2015, renewables became cheaper than coal per MWh for building new power plants. And renewables can only become cheaper as the technology improves, while fossil fuels can only become more expensive as reserves dry up. That’s it – fossils are dead, they just haven’t stopped moving yet.
Left to market forces, the world will naturally shift to renewables. Fossil fuels can only keep going with more and more subsidies. Coal use has been dying in the US, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to prop it up (no pun intended). We’ll have to accelerate the process to keep the world below 2C, but we’re now swimming with the tide.
The politicians will follow along behind when the economics forces them to and pretend it was their idea all along. (I was reading recently that each country abolished slavery just when slavery became less profitable than automation in that country.)
Yes, intermittency of supply is a problem. The problem of energy production has pretty much been solved – energy storage is now the bottleneck. But that should be solvable.
I don’t mean to minimise the problem. Heat waves, droughts and crop failures are going to become more frequent and more severe. But it’s not the impossible situation that it can appear to be.
Todays 40-60 generation trying really fucking hard to make sure you kids don’t have any kind of future!
Okay so here’s what I’ve done:
* Reduce single use plastic wherever possible
* Only drive if I can’t carry the thing I’m getting and/or it’s longer than a 45 minute walk, take public transport if possible even if it costs more than driving (which it *frequently* does)
* Work fully remotely and argue at every possible opportunity to keep it that way
* Only eat meat once or twice a week (my wife is vegan so that helps), only have milk in my coffee (tried non dairy, not good imo)
* Switched all bulbs to LEDs
* Never voted for Tory’s
* Buy A rated energy efficient appliances wherever possible
* Only have heating on when absolutely necessary in winter to stop mould forming
* Take cold showers
* Replaced insulation wherever I can
* Let patches of my garden grow wild; planted native wildflowers in other places to encourage insects
* Buy secondhand tech if possible, repair before replacing if possible
* Buy clothes infrequently from as ethical companies as I can, repair if possible before replacing
Probably a bunch more stuff that I can’t remember right now but god damn I’m trying. I’d have solar panels, air source heat pump and electric car if I could afford the initial cost, but you know, Tory government, austerity, stagnant wages and further wealth disparity.
I don’t really know what else I can do… It’s not made a single fucking bit of difference. I won’t stop, but what the fuck. Little help from the government would be fucking nice.