leicsmac

It's almost as if these events aren't "just weather" and are part of an overall trend that is more and more rapidly becoming normalised, isn't it? I'm glad at least 70% of pollsters here at least are on board with that and roughly another 20% are at least on board with the fact that there is a problem even if they're not necessarily cogent of the cause and solution.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k1103vljqo A second spell of temperatures well over 30C before we've even got to the end of June - how unusual is this and how much is climate change to blame? Temperatures of 34C are possible on Monday or Tuesday in south-east England. They've been triggered by an area of high pressure getting "stuck" over Europe, known as a heat dome. But climate scientists are clear that the heat will have inevitably been boosted by our warming climate. Some people might feel these temperatures are "just like summer" – and it's true they are a lot cooler than the record 40C and more the UK hit in July 2022. But it's important to be aware just how unusual mid-thirties temperatures are for the UK. In the second half of the 20th Century, one in ten years saw highs of 35C or more, BBC analysis of Met Office data shows. But this heat is becoming more common. Between 2015 and 2024, half of the years saw 35C or above. A good plain-language explanation of what's going on right now. I would hope that garden-variety ignorance is becoming less of an excuse on this matter, which leaves only the wilful and rather more damaging kind.

All the current (or former) England contingent scoring massive there.

Hopefully GB will have at least some representatives still in the second week.

18.3 degrees Celsius, apparently. Which, I should add, has been surpassed by three out of the last seven July's. Unfortunately, direct heat and cold are not the only factors that present a danger to life and society here. Added heat also brings additional direct stress through flooding when rain comes torrentially, and indirect when crop yields are much lower because of that same heat and flooding, to name but two other issues. NB. I would also posit that it's more difficult in general to defend against direct heat, rather than direct cold.

It is rather odd that quite a few talking heads (both media-prevalent and otherwise) appear to be more outraged about one than the other though. I mean, when was the last time 'almost 60000 people killed in ongoing war' made the same sensationalist headlines in certain media outlets as this rather unsavoury incident is doing today?

I think it's an accurate metaphor for the way the situation began, and the way it continues. The provenance in that way isn't relevant.

"A man once jumped from the top floor of a burning house in which many members of his family had already perished. He managed to save his life; but as he was falling he hit a person standing down below and broke that person’s legs and arms. The jumping man had no choice; yet to the man with the broken limbs he was the cause of his misfortune. If both behaved rationally, they would not become enemies. The man who escaped from the blazing house, having recovered, would have tried to help and console the other sufferer; and the latter might have realized that he was the victim of circumstances over which neither of them had control. But look what happens when these people behave irrationally. The injured man blames the other for his misery and swears to make him pay for it. The other, afraid of the crippled man’s revenge, insults him, kicks him, and beats him up whenever they meet. The kicked man again swears revenge and is again punched and punished. The bitter enmity, so fortuitous at first, hardens and comes to overshadow the whole existence of both men and to poison their minds." — Isaac Deutscher

Record in one place and time? 1976, 35.6 degrees C. Record for average across the month, which tends to have a greater impact? 2023, nearly a full degree Celsius hotter than 1976 - or almost all other years, come to that. https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/czxwkgg41gno goes into more detail. So yes, though it isn't hitting us in the UK that hard (yet), the change is being felt. Edit: for graphical representation...

Wasn't meant to be, just stating fact about the future.

Stick around for a while, and you might find the UK climate entirely agreeable to you. Whether that will actually be good for the future as a whole is clearly up to the beholder.

The whole thing is rather more complex than some of those on all sides would like to reduce it to. And that's a big part of the problem in of itself.

I think it's played havoc with all age groups in its own way.

The hypocrisy would be hilarious were it not so dangerous for the future of... well, everything.

And record levels of wildfires so far in the UK this year too. Fun times.

It's especially complicated when for optimal effect some issues require a liberal democratic approach, and others rather more from-the-top - one government size doesn't fit all. And getting that optimal approach right is critical in some of those cases.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2l77w5pl7o Temperatures are predicted to hit 30C for the second day in London today as a heatwave continues. The east of England and the Midlands are both forecast to see highs of 28C, according to the Met Office. An amber heat health alert was issued for some areas on Friday by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) until 18:00 BST Tuesday, with temperatures set to peak on Monday. This is the second amber alert in two weeks and means weather impacts are "likely to be felt across the whole health service". The head of extreme events and health protection at UKHSA has urged people to check on those who are more vulnerable and take "sensible precautions while enjoying the sun". Ah shit, here we go again. And the summer has barely started.

International relations summed up in a comic strip:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09085-w We estimate that global production declines 5.5 × 1014 kcal annually per 1 °C global mean surface temperature (GMST) rise (120 kcal per person per day or 4.4% of recommended consumption per 1 °C; P < 0.001). We project that adaptation and income growth alleviate 23% of global losses in 2050 and 34% at the end of the century (6% and 12%, respectively; moderate-emissions scenario), but substantial residual losses remain for all staples except rice. In contrast to analyses of other outcomes that project the greatest damages to the global poor10,11, we find that global impacts are dominated by losses to modern-day breadbaskets with favourable climates and limited present adaptation, although losses in low-income regions losses are also substantial. These results indicate a scale of innovation, cropland expansion or further adaptation that might be necessary to ensure food security in a changing climate. Take away a vital part of Maslows Hierarchy and see how people like warmer weather then.

People say, "Don't you miss it, Gal?" I say, "What, England? Nah. Fvcking place. It's a dump. Don't make me laugh. Grey, grimy, sooty. What a shit hole. What a toilet. Every cvnt with a long face shuffling about, moaning, all worried. No thanks, not for me." They say, "What's it like, then, Spain?" And I'll say, "It's hot. Hot. Oh, it's fvcking hot. Too hot? Not for me, I love it." - Gal, Sexy Beast.

Erudite. The only thing I'll add wrt the last paragraph is that though the way you describe human activity there is accurate, the cold comfort is that such a way of acting is inimical to the survival of civilisation and our species, and those who do it will "get theirs" in the end, just as a matter of evolutionary history. it's just unfortunate that a lot of our and other species will be along for the ride too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y74nv1zqpo Health and fire warnings have been issued in countries across southern Europe, with temperatures expected to exceed 40C in some places over the weekend. Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Portugal are among the countries affected - with the Spanish city of Seville forecast to hit 42C. Hot air from North Africa, which is spreading across the Balkans to holiday destinations such as Croatia, is contributing to the soaring temperatures. BBC Weather says the heatwave is "very intense" for this time of the year -with the continent normally experiencing such high temperatures in July and early August. In Spain, emergency staff have been placed on standby to deal with a surge in heatstroke cases especially among the vulnerable including children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. Ugh.

Bloody awful draw for GB players all round tbh.

Agreed. That, however, doesn't discount the possibility. A coin landing on its edge is possible, though there are precious few examples of it. It is indeed impossible to inhabit a land with those basic resources, and I view that as more of a concern that what humans do to each other not because it's more threatening right now, but because the threat it represents is both absolute (in a way humans are not at the moment) and, given incorrect action by our species, inevitable. I don't disagree about the way humans have changed the world around them - both for good and for bad. However, I do still think that the consequences of nature are far more powerful than we are and we really only have existed as a civilisation in a (relative) blink of an eye in the Earth's timeline. I think it would be very easy to think we're all that, and then for that conceit to come crashing down around our heads fatally.

I will add at this point that it's a fascinating topic for discussion.