This is it - climate change is really beginning to bite

[Wowwee1234]

We know the climate is changing and it is us. This particular heat wave feels like the next step up after a winter of devastating storms.

YABU - It's just too hot
YANBU - This is the taste of things to come.

Someone has to keep casinos in business.

Colin from Portsmouth is always right.

Love to the family

With respect, no, I disagree - the 'climate change' seems to be pretty much just because it is now recorded more accurately now, we don't have many ancient records. eg one volcanic eruption 1000s of years ago resulted in much change. Ice age etc. We cannot control it - although todays industrial output probably adds to it, in the end the Earth itself is stronger than any human 'input'/'output' -if that's the right words? Who knows. Precession - earth moving around on its axis may be the thing to look at??? And nothing we humans can do about it.

That’s the most ridiculous post I have ever seen!

There are precise ways of understanding historic global temperatures (before we had weather stations) such as looking at ice core data!

Ice core data provides insights into past climate conditions, particularly by revealing past temperatures and atmospheric gas concentrations, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. By analyzing the composition of air bubbles trapped within the ice layers, scientists can reconstruct past atmospheric conditions and track changes in temperature over thousands of years. This allows for a comparison between pre-industrial atmospheric composition and current levels, highlighting the impact of human activities on the climate.

BTW - volcanic activity usually results in global dimming and cooling in the short term, and compared to human created emissions have limited impacts on climate change.

By its nature human induced climate change is controlled by humans, as is habitat destruction (which makes it harder to regulate CO2 emissions as Carson sinks such are forests are removed) and human patterns of consumption result in additional methane releases (farming).

I think that perhaps people like yourself want to suggest that it’s out of your control so that you don’t feel guilty for your own contribution to climate change and the dire consequences it will have on humanity and other species we share our planet with!

Human activities are driving a potential sixth mass extinction event, characterized by accelerated species loss and habitat destruction, primarily through unsustainable land, water, and energy use, and climate change. This crisis is marked by a sharp increase in extinction rates compared to natural background levels, with projections indicating potentially significant losses of biodiversity within a relatively short timeframe.

Key Factors Contributing to Human-Induced Extinction:
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation:
Conversion of natural habitats for agriculture, urbanization, and infrastructure development reduces available space for species and disrupts ecological processes.

Overexploitation of Resources:
Unsustainable hunting, fishing, and logging deplete populations and ecosystems, pushing many species towards extinction.

Pollution:
Chemical pollutants, plastic waste, and other forms of pollution contaminate ecosystems, harming species and disrupting their habitats.

Climate Change:
Rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and ocean acidification are altering habitats and creating conditions that many species cannot adapt to.

Introduction of Invasive Species:
Non-native species can outcompete native species for resources, spread diseases, and disrupt ecosystems.

Evidence of a Sixth Mass Extinction:
Elevated Extinction Rates:
Current extinction rates are far higher than the natural background rate, with some studies estimating rates 100 to 1,000 times greater than normal.

Loss of Biodiversity:
Significant declines in populations and the disappearance of species across various taxa, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates, are being observed.

Threatened and Endangered Species:
A large number of species are currently listed as threatened or endangered, indicating a high risk of future extinction.

Impact on Ecosystems:
The loss of species can disrupt ecosystems, leading to cascading effects on other species and ecosystem functions.

Precession is one of the three factors that contribute towards Milankovitch Cycles, together with obliquity and eccentricity. There's an interesting NASA article that explains why they are not responsible for recent warming. I have copied-and-pasted the most important paragraphs below.

"First, Milankovitch cycles operate on long time scales, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. In contrast, Earth’s current warming has taken place over time scales of decades to centuries. Over the last 150 years, Milankovitch cycles have not changed the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth very much. In fact, NASA satellite observations show that over the last 40 years, solar radiation has actually decreased somewhat."

"Scientists know of no natural changes to the equilibrium between the amount of solar radiation absorbed by Earth and the amount of energy radiated back to space that can account for such a rapid period of global warming. The amount of incoming solar radiation has increased only slightly over the past century and is therefore not a driver of Earth’s current climate warming.''

"Finally, Earth is currently in an interglacial period (a period of milder climate between Ice Ages). If there were no human influences on climate, scientists say Earth’s current orbital positions within the Milankovitch cycles predict our planet should be cooling, not warming, continuing a long-term cooling trend that began 6,000 years ago."

Recent warming is because of CO2 and methane emissions and we can do something about it. What's more, we should do something about it before feedback mechanisms start to accelerate. When permafrost melts it releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere which produces even more warming which melts even more permafrost. That makes it difficult to predict how much warming there will be, it could be a lot more than a few degrees. We can't afford to get this wrong.

Why Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles Can't Explain Earth's Current Warming - NASA Science

This was really interesting when I saw it earlier! It helps explain why it's wrong to rely on intuition and common sense:

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jul/24/boiling-frog-effect-makes-people-oblivious-to-threat-of-climate-crisis-shows-study

This was really interesting when I saw it earlier! It helps explain why it's wrong to rely on intuition and common sense:

The problem is we - culturally ? - don't like evidence based policy.

I'm not sure that anyone really likes having to make changes that feel a burden, even when it's in our own interest.

It's how human beings work! And we all like to cherry-pick the evidence that suits us most - nobody likes to be preached at or lectured at. I'm not sure that's just a British thing.

I guess it's up to all of us to make better choices feel doable, the right thing to do, and the rewarding thing to do.

I don't have to make changes that feel like a burden, but then I'm from the poorer half of the UK population. I don't own a car and I don't fly. I'm happy for wind turbines to take over from fossil fuelled power stations. The electricity is cheap, it makes us less reliant on other countries and the air is cleaner.

I get the feeling that it's the more affluent people who are the problem. They own cars and fly, and they know they can afford air conditioning if they need it.

Nobody likes to be preached at or lectured at? There's a difference between scientists telling us what dangers the futures hold for us and some journalist or radio presenter preaching and lecturing.

For example, Julie Hartley-Brewer on Talk radio explaining how she can't believe that global warming could be a problem because if she believed that then she would have to believe that the Industrial Revolution was a mistake. And she can't do that because the Industrial Revolution lifted humanity out of poverty.

So she doesn't understand that something can have short-term benefits and long-term harms, or that we can do something about the harms. She also opined that scientists can't make up their minds whether global warming will cause floods or droughts. She can't understand that you can have flooding in western Europe and droughts in eastern Europe.

I think I heard a Conservative politician saying that a wind turbine isn't going to stop global warming. I think it's got to the stage where they don't really believe what they are saying. They've taken against wind turbines and people will believe them especially the poorly educated.

Nature doesn't care what you think.

And if you can't be bothered to act - for whatever reasons - then rest assured nature will.

All else is mere bird chatter.

@ElonGates666 I think some of them have taken against wind turbines because they find them ugly and a blight on what they see as a beautiful natural landscape. Or because they would prefer nuclear as the clean energy solution. Others may be climate denialists from having 'done their own research'. Others still position against them for instrumental reasons, because they think it will help electorally. And a portion of all of the above will have had their attitudes and interests shaped by oil money.

I agree the wealthy have a lot to lose and the discourse in some of the posher right-wing newspapers frightens me. But many poor people do depend on their car to get to work, or have homes they can't simply insulate. Expensive fuel feels immediately threatening if you have no budget left with any flex. If you've already moved to the cheapest food options, where do you go?