Forget the classic image of a typical British town that is always cold, dull and rainy even in the summer months. The future of the United Kingdom could be a hot summer with temperatures rising to forty degrees Celsius. A temporary joy for many UK residents, so unaccustomed to the sun, bad…bad for our planet and for all of us. What surrounds us is the ultimate sign of climate change, the massive damage that pollution and human action cause to the environment.
the background
Opening the debate, or rather reopening it, last July 19 was the first press release, “the first ever” they are keen to identify, issued by office met – UK Weather Service – Severe heat warning, temperatures reaching 32.2°C. The manifesto, which is very common for us “southern Europeans”, was careful to recommend attention and precautions regarding the high temperatures. It’s not much different from what we hear on our TVs every day. Certainly not a norm for the UK, where certain temperatures are, as we read in the note, “unusually high”.
Expert opinion
To warn of the seriousness of the situation was experts. The Chief Executive of the Royal Metrology Society, Professor Liz Bentley, advised:
We will likely see temperatures reaching 40°C in the UK, even if you haven’t been there before. With 1.5°C of global warming, it will become something we see regularly.”
“More by the sea and just for everyone?”. of course not. Rather a sign of a planet in constant suffering and steadily increasing global warming from industrialization onwards.
Mike Kendon, a Met Office scientist is pessimistic, describing global warming and climate change in the UK as “alarming” in an interview with Sky.
“Climate change is happening now, it’s not just something that will happen in the future. What we are seeing is a trend where there are not only higher temperatures, but more rain as well. As a scientist, I am concerned”
We are with him. Climate change in the UK is just one of many warnings. Complaints increase, every now and then some battles are won, but they are very few, and very few are those who actually provide solutions to a problem too big for few to be defeated, and are still far from defeated by all.
Beatrice Canzida
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