This is it - climate change is really beginning to bite

In 1976 UK
highest temperature 35.9

And of course we all remember the ‘long, hot summers’ of our childhoods, but a) nostalgia means our memories aren’t always accurate and b) those summers we remember were 25 degrees, not 35.

I’m in my early 40s and the only remotely equivalent summer I can remember is 1990. It’s simply not correct that we regularly had days on end of 30-plus degree temperatures in the 80s and 90s. Yes, of course there were odd days here and there but the point is that it’s now frequent and sustained. I don’t understand why there’s this desperate need to deny that the climate is changing when it’s so clear that it is.

I love the hinting that reasonable women, reasonably concerned about global heating, must be Gen Zee youngsters with no common sense 😂

And the social proof provided by these lovely memories of the 60s and 70s... which makes anecdotes feel more true than what the out-of-touch boffins are saying...

Well, when I were a lass, long ago in the 80s, summers were all cool and drizzly.

When I look at photos we're all wearing shorts, but with jerseys and wellingtons.

One year there were only six dry, hot days - I remember my mum complaining about it because she couldn't do the garden work she needed to do.

The fact that you, personally, have only had one good week this year or last year in your part of the UK doesn't mean that global heating isn't happening.

Our own personal experience helps ground us - of course it does. It's a really important source of wisdom, and it's why we become so valuable as a source of advice and family support as we get older.

But we can't generalise from our own personal experience to what is going on for the world as a whole.

My own mild dose of Covid doesn't mean that over 7 million haven't died of Covid. Your own enjoyment of a lovely summer's day doesn't mean that accelerating climate change isn't a problem!

Worth reading if this thread has made you worry about AMOC: https://debunkingdoomsday.quora.com/Gulf-stream-is-blown-by-winds-and-cant-stop-a-deeper-ocean-current-the-AMOC-can-slow-down-not-likely-to-stop-in-f

I brought in my own fan to class, not rocket science

@IShouldNotCoco Any regional cooling won't happen until AMOC (the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, of which our wonderful Gulf Stream is an adjacent system) collapses, which will come as a result of further predicted heating and irreversible tipping points being triggered.

The collapse of AMOC will have devastating consequences on agriculture and food production in our part of the northern hemisphere, as well as the logistics of transportation and keeping populations warm; not simply wetter, colder summers. AMOC collapsing is what we really need to factor in to all future contingency planning as a nation and region.

It was hotter than this and for 6 weeks at a stretch in the 70s. We all enjoyed a long hot summer. It’s the summer. Stop being over dramatic. I’m old so I remember lots of summers and they were always long and hot.
In school summer holidays it never ever rained. Also being old no I don’t need admitting to hospital, need a carer, get dehydrated or can’t function just because the suns out - it’s Summer!!

I started planting drought coping shrubs and trees in my garden, last year. Both for their flowers and shade from the white heat sun.

Exactly this. It’s was memorable because it was so rare. Obviously.

What’s so funny?

But it’s not every year, is it? Last summer, we had one isolated heatwave for one week at the end of July. I remember because my daughter was at pony camp.

I do believe in climate change, totally but who knows whether this is specifically indicative of anything because last year I was hearing everywhere that climate change was going to look like colder temperatures for us in the UK, hence the summers getting rainy and cold. This year it has switched up.

The scary thing is that it's changing quickly, tangibly, and this is just the very beginning of a huge irreversible change that will gain momentum. Lots of people are being unreasonable, but that's just human nature. We're mostly morons with this stuff. Easier to be in denial.
Ultimately we are all going to die some day, and most of us live in denial about that too.

2022 broke numerous records. The hottest recorded temperature that year was five degrees hotter than the hottest temperature in 1976 that all of the Boomers are blathering on about in this thread ("we've always had hot days..."). No day in 1976 even makes the top ten hottest days, five of which happened within the last decade.

This is forming part of a worrying pattern. Heatwaves are happening far more frequently than they did before. So are other extreme weather events - Atlantic hurricanes are becoming much more frequent for example. An increasing number of areas in the US are now uninsurable.

You're claiming that the previous poster is wrong when you have no idea where in the UK they live. Sure, you may live somewhere down south where grapes have always grown, but that doesn't mean that they live where you do.

On that front we are definitely comparing ourselves to dry places and not humid places. I think people are thinking holiday in the med not Malaysia. My understanding is the UK is moderately humid and it varies a lot from day to day.

I actually think this particular heatwaves is pretty dry

The thing is yes the weather here is changing and getting warmer than we are used to, but and I'm afraid it is a big but! Saying highest/ longest etc for heat/rain etc since records began is not really a good indicator. Records/ data collection of temperature etc have only been going for possibly 300 years? Maybe a bit longer? We have no idea what the temperatures were like in the for instance the 1700s and as others have pointed out these things change over a long period of time. We are still coming out of an ice age and that took 1000s of years from start to finish so we really should expect climate to change within the natural cycle of our planet. We could individually change all our living conditions to try and make an impact but it is highly unlikely to have any difference. We are all aware that humans are destroying the planet for ourselves but as far as the nature of the climate cycle I can't see how we can have any major impact. What our useless government should be doing is preparing for a shift in the weather. As in building more reservoirs, sorting housing for different conditions, putting effort into our transport systems, building out health services and helping people to understand how to cope not scaring the crap out of them via the media when it's either hot/cold/windy or wet.

No it will manage the planet. Even if that means wiping out humanity.

I keep reading about how humid the UK is, so the other day I researched it compared to where I live, and was surprised to find it is actually slightly more humid here. MNers seem to think the UK is the most humid place on earth, it really isn't.

Yes. It was very hot.

This june was hotter on average and in a bigger geographical area.

That June was an anomaly during a generally cooler decade. That's why people bang on about it.

This sort of weather is happening more often now.

And your point is ... what exactly?
That it doesn't matter what we do because the earth (Gaia) will cope?

London. This week 2025.
Hottest day 34.7

Southampton. 1976
Hottest day 35.9

50 years ago and we're all still here.

It might be more of a British thing that people are unconcerned.

Yes, to be fair it was a eurocentric response. But you were saying it only happens in Britain that people are concerned. . Now im a typical British fir saying it happens in Europe too and they are concerned.

here are reports of people dying in the heat at the Hajj and how that's an increasing concern. And lots of news reports about heatwaves in India and its a growing concern because they think they are underestimating the numbers dying.

I have absolutely no doubt the vast majority of people worldwide are fine and getting on with it, including the moany old brits. I just don't think dying of heat is a special British thing that only exists here.

I’m not an expert on climate change, but I do know that maternity wards will be pretty quiet in 9 months time