Much newsprint has been devoted to Climate Change this week. But as most journalists concentrate on Rishi Sunak’s love affair with Big Oil, I want to emphasise what an unprecedented situation we are currently in.
Firstly let’s look at the statistics for worldwide average temperatures. This graph has really got climate scientists worried.
Here we see how abnormal the current worldwide temperatures are- which explains why we have seen so many wildfires, flashfloods and heatwaves recently. I also wrote recently about our rising ocean temperatures back in April and since then things have got worse. Until we bring the level of CO2 in the atmosphere down, global boiling as the UN Secretary General has called it, will keep getting worse.
So what is happening to CO2 levels? Back in 1960, the level was at 315 parts per million. This has grown ever since, to the current level of 421 parts per million. These daily figures should be reported in the press like the weather forecast as they show if we are making any progress to avert climate catastrophe. (Note to the editor-please can you do this?) Currently, we are hurtling further towards disaster.
Then there are the figures looking at ice melt.
Figures for the Arctic are also concerning, with this year the second worst year since records began. Both graphs show that normal trends have been surpassed. Climate breakdown is here. It is incredibly difficult for scientists to predict accurately what comes next, as we can no longer use previous years as a guide to what will probably happen. But what scientists are clearly telling us is that it will keep getting worse until we reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
All this melting ice will cause us massive problems. George Monbiot writes in the Guardian “ Research published in the journal Nature suggested that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) could collapse around mid-century. Amoc is a vast movement of water around the Atlantic, driven by the downward flow of cold, salty water (which is denser than warmer, less salty water) in the far north of the ocean. It plays a major role in transferring heat from the tropics to the north, especially to northern Europe. Without it, the average temperature in this region would be between 3C and 8C cooler. The difference between the average temperature today and that of the Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 years ago (the point during the last ice age when the ice sheets were at their largest) is approximately 6C.” In other words, if it switches it will become extremely cold in the UK as shown in the film “The Day After Tomorrow” and will be very difficult to grow food. Unfortunately, the happy ending in the film is not so likely.
The melting ice also means we face rising sea levels. Unless politicians and corporations take heed of the warnings from scientists Doncaster will be on the coast by as soon as 2050 and Sheffield will be welcoming British internal refugees from places like Hull, Selby and Thorne whose houses will be underwater.
How many people are dying as a result of these changes to the climate? You may have heard of 5 deaths in Greece as firefighters battled the wildfires. But the media keeps us blissfully ignorant of the millions that are already starving, for instance in the Horn of Africa. According to the World Food Programme “After three years of drought, more than 23 million people across parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia face severe hunger. Mortality and malnutrition rates remain a serious cause for concern.”
The World Health Organisation say “Rising temperatures caused by climate change are making already dry regions drier and wet regions wetter. In dry regions, this means that when temperatures rise, water evaporates more quickly, and thus increases the risk of drought or prolongs periods of drought. Between 80-90% of all documented disasters from natural hazards during the past 10 years have resulted from floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, heat waves and severe storms.”
So given the dire state of the planet it is hard to understand why politicians from both main parties are trying to outdo each other in rolling back their already rather feeble climate policies. In the case of the Conservatives, it is clear they are in the hands of the big oil companies. Accessing this oil will not reduce the cost of petrol at the petrol pump, nor will it stop the rise in global oil prices. The ordinary citizen doesn’t stand to benefit from these new oil licences. However, Rishi Sunaks wife will benefit handsomely from the deal. Infosys, the firm founded by Rishi Sunak’s father-in-law, signed a billion-dollar deal with BP just months before the Prime Minister gave the go-ahead for new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
The Tories announced £20bn for deployment of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), for Harbour Energy’s Viking project in the Humber and the Acorn project in Scotland. This unproved technology may not work, and even if it does it should be paid for from the massive profits of the oil companies, not the taxpayer.
Greenpeace responded to the Tories announcement by covering Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire mansion in 200 square metres of oil-black fabric. They point out “Even though the UK public won’t benefit, taxpayers will still pay for 91% of development costs, through government subsidies.” So as taxpayers we are subsidsing massive oil companies who make billions in profits while literally making the world burn.
The Labour Party showed they were completely spineless in defending the planet when Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons said she would not revoke the new licences Sunak has just agreed for new oil and gas wells in the North Sea. Every new oil and gas well will add to the millions of lives being lost already to climate change. Such policies are in my opinion, nothing less than supporting genocide.
If I could persuade you to do one thing to help bring about the necessary change, that would be to join and get active in an organisation campaigning to end our addiction to fossil fuels. A good start could be to display these posters from Chris Packham.
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