It is maddening, we seem to be stuck watching this happen in slow (well faster now) motion. I think a lot of people don't know exactly what to do, and while we try and make personal changes really we need government to regulate, cut subsidises etc.
Yeah it's the same headline almost every month, every year. The heat we currently have in a humid climate and without air con isn't very fun. I'm assuming everyone will be fitting air con in the next few years.
If your windows are compatible, it could be a good idea to pre-emptively buy a window ac. They are pretty efficient and it's not a crazy amount of energy to just cool one room (bedroom probably). The trick is to only use it when necessary and set the temp to 26-28C.
I had an argument with some pillock on facebook who was saying ‘it was hot once in 76’, I had to tell him his memory if obviously fucked because 1. data says so and 2. the changes since I was a kid in the 80’s are massive and noticeable to anybody.
When I was a kid, you were lucky if you got a few days over 20 degrees over summer, if you had a week over 20 it was considered a heatwave of costa del sol proportions. For the last decade or so I’ve noticed spring starts a lot earlier now and summers go on a lot longer, even in winter I’ve seen cold like I’ve never seen on a few occasions (last few have been weirdly warm though).
Last year it was 38 degrees where I live in fuckin Newcastle for over a week, opening the door was like stepping off the plane in Florida. How fucking stupid do you have to be to be my age or older and not accept this reality staring us all in the fucking face?
Couldn't agree more, and the data just backs it all up. I'm guessing well get another 40 degree summer this year. As for the people, I'm assuming it's extreme denial from people who feel like they can't do anything/feel powerless.
I’m old enough to remember the summer of ‘76 as I recall it was long and hot, but it was prolonged drought that was the issue. Many reservoirs were almost out and in quite a few towns domestic water supplies were restricted. That meant people in the streets queuing to fill buckets from standpipes. There was a plan to lay a pipe in the outside lane of the M4 to bring water from Wales to London.
So yes, it stands out in people’s memory as extraordinary and sparked a substantial investment in new reservoir capacity.
What people forget is the slow but inexorable rise in temperatures since then.
An updated analysis of the annual UK temperature records from the Met Office shows that since 1884 all of the UK’s ten warmest years have occurred since 2002; whereas none of the ten coldest years have occurred since 1963.
Indeed. Being a pasty ginger who burns under a full Moon I had to really up my sun game. It wasn’t too hot (looking forward to that) but the sun was intense.
I suppose the worry is that it being so dry, so relatively early, any drought will quick in faster and last longer.
Indeed - it’ll be falling and flowing away in sheets of water. If we were any good at planning ahead, we’d ensure the river systems could cope but they won’t and it’ll get messy.
We live very close to a river and according to some of the projected climate chnage flooding maps a lot of the riverside areas and lower land areas near the mouth will just be gone. Dont think it's quite sunk in for people the potential impact climate chnage it going to have
I live about a metre above sea level. Fortunately the sea defences are solid but the sea level rise maps still aren’t a comfort. I’d need a boat to visit my brother who lives 15 minutes away.
Oh it’s definitely speeding up. Atlantic sea temperature has been flying up this year. The Antarctic sea ice is freezing at an incredibly slow rate, like it’s 2 million km^2^ less than where it should be right now.
It feels like we’re at the start of a Hollywood disaster film, the scientists running around with printouts of data, but they’re not, because they’ve been warning us for decades and now it’s happening.
Yep, I just imagine really depressed climatologists just pointing to things saying 'see, see!'. Everything does seem to be ramping up this year, but then it's been every year basically. We all need to work out how to make a meaningful change before it's too late
It’s only going to get worse. We’ll get a new record every year. I hate humid heat and our houses are built to retain heat. It’s appalling how we’ve let greedy sods drive us down this path of no return.
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