Climate Stories 26th April 2024
Climate-related stories from around the world in the last week.
In India, voters called to brave the heatwave
What exactly are the effects of intense heat? Some commentators are suggesting that turnout in the Indian elections is down by 4% due to the exceptional heat. That’s a difficult one to prove, but would you queue in 40 degrees C to cast your vote? Plenty of people just couldn’t do it.
Wildfires in Siberia are a growing global threat
Climate change is a global problem, everyone, everywhere is affected. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that wildfires in Siberia are having a bad effect on people hundreds of miles away. Borders mean nothing to smoke, heat and dust.
Mosquito-borne diseases spreading in Europe due to climate crisis, says expert
When the climate changes, it's not simply a case of the weather getting warmer. Some plants and animals cannot abide the new conditions and die off. Other plants and animals find new areas they can live in, where the conditions suit them. Sadly, mosquitos and the diseases they carry, now find they can live happily in parts of Europe.
Scientists say Oman, UAE deluge ‘most likely’ linked to climate change
Most people associate Dubai with pleasure in the sun. But last week it was underwater after an apocalyptic storm. The analysis of this astonishing event points clearly to the effects of climate change.
Recent heatwaves are a harbinger of Africa’s future
One of the sad realities of climate change is that those who did the least to cause it are often the worst affected. This is a massive injustice and the subject of intensive discussion in the various high-level forums. But whilst governments talk, ordinary people are roasting in their own homes.
An uncomfortable truth about climate targets — with people already struggling to pay bills
I don’t think this is a very impressive article, but it is typical of lots like it. The discussion is essentially this: who will pay for the changes required for us to carry on living as we are? It completely ignores the fact that living as we are has got us into the trouble we are in. Different products will not save us from the bad effects of the old products.
Climate change, the plastics crisis, the soil crisis, and the biodiversity crisis are all symptoms of our ransacking the Earth for things we can turn into money. We have to rapidly slow down our way of life, consume less, respect the Earth more and completely reassess our relationship with the Earth. We can’t recycle our way out of this.
