To feel really worried about climate change in this heatwave

[Fulbe]

This heatwave has been caused by climate change but there seems to be hardly any discussion about this at all. It seems that people are focused so much on getting air con or massive paddling/ swimming pools without thinking how that might be actually contributing to the problem. People outside the school gates idling their engines to keep their air con turned on whilst creating more pollution.

I think I remember reading somewhere that we've released 6 million years' worth of CO2 in the past 150 years. Something needs to stop but consumption and car use seem to be increasing.

Am I the only one to be concerned about this and that we're just slipping into a future of more dangerous heatwaves?

I eat other animals

Of course you do!!! If everyone gave up
meat overnight, what would we do with the billions of domesticated farm animals?

I don't see how that is relevant.

The lecturer was speaking more about the protection of ecosystems at that time.

However, with humans suddenly gone, the return of billions of square miles of green vegetation alone covering the worlds human altered lands would have a dramatic effect on removing CO2 from the atmosphere and the immediate physical cooling effect of vegetative cover would be significant.
The immediate stopping of burning fuel in production industry and power generation will straight away mean less heat is being created at ground level, less air pollution will mean clearer air (particulates in the air trap heat - eg see air quality in industrial China in absolutely dire)

A few things would definitely happen if humans cease to exist:

The rainforests and woodlands would grow back to their full potential and start being more effective at removing CO2 from the atmosphere. All human altered land would quickly become recovered with vegetation, roads and buildings would crumble and crack within a few years.

The oceans would replenish with life once the constant dredging stops. Coral reefs may well recover if the atmosphere begins to cool and the oceans will once again become a huge carbon sink due to the increase in mass of life it is supporting.

Rivers would quickly become unpolluted and full of life again.

Land irrigation and seashore defences would falter letting water encroach that lad again creating vast wetlands.

All fauna would have an abundance of new habitat. Therefore insect life, bird and animal life would thrive again. Without humans large predators would begin to roam freely again and ecosystems would return to their usual equilibrium.

We do indeed have ... Our brain, intellect and ability to shape our environment to suit our needs.

And we have the intellect to know when our actions have gone too far and endangered our environment. And we are using that knowledge to begin to make reparations. We are the only species that is able to recognise this and take steps that are not totally dictated by self-interest.

But making any inroads into a solution is held back by those not using their superior intellect to deal with this but carrying blindly on as thought they are a lesser species that does not have the same intellect nor ability to understand selfless choices for the greater good.

I think the poster is just trying to get a reaction!!! If humans did become extinct domesticated animals would suffer but wildlife would thrive.

edited to add: I misread - I thought the query was about the demise of farm animals

They are pretty much all on death row anyway so once we remove the bulls, tups and cockerels there will be no more babies.

I don't see why people couldn't rear farm animals as pets though, I have a vegetarian friend who breeds beautiful sheep just because she loves the breed.

It's the extreme of everything that is the problem isn't it?
I could probably manage to just eat 3 or 4 chickens a year if I rationed myself properly - but some people expect to eat chicken every single day, like a whole chicken every week.

It's just not sustainable. It's mad if you think about it.

AC is fine if you use renewable electricity.

And I know technically you aren't (necessarily) using renewable electricity but if you have a tariff that returns renewable electricity to the Grid, that's ok.

Yes we could certainly do without 90% of the Halloween and Christmas plastic tat.

The craziest are plastic plant hanging baskets outside people's houses

I get people want a pretty door, well I don't not really but I try to understand, but why make plastic try to look real, I mean it doesn't why not go cards in and have blue or orange plastic things stuck in hanging baskets.

It feels like the natural world is too "icky" for some, or they are so far removed from well anything growing. It borders on dystopian.

Me but heat pumps were too expensive. If I were replacing it now I might make a different decision but the cost and upheaval of retrofitting all the radiators was too much.

However, taking everything into consideration, overall I suspect my carbon footprint is ok, although only by UK standards. Compare anyone in the UK with someone in rural Africa and we'll use their annual carbon footprint in a week.

@ticktickticktickBOOM “It's just not sustainable. It's mad if you think about it.”

So true, but we won’t change unless we are forced too. Consumerism has spiralled out of control!!!

Well the poor chickens on these industrial scale farms in France have perished in the heat.

So the French may be forced to eat less chicken, for a few weeks anyway.

Any news from UK farmers on how their animals are faring?

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/news/2026/06/french-heatwave-kills-hundreds-of-thousands-of-poultry

When recorded history started human life expectancy was only 20-30 years.

We can live to 100 today because we finally harnessed that industrial energy and wealth to permanently alter the human environment, transforming what used to be fatal childhood illnesses and mid-life wear-and-tear into manageable conditions.

It feels like the natural world is too "icky" for some, or they are so far removed from well anything growing. It borders on dystopian.

I agree.

I had several fruit trees/plants at my previous house. I'll never forget my then brother in law getting panicky when I allowed his children to pick and eat stuff when mine did. He wanted to know if it was safe for them to do so.

Travelled half way across the world and covered in chemicals in a plastic bag from Sainsbury's, though, absolutely fine...

This is the most damaging issue. No-one will do anything because 'my small changes are insignificant'. If that were the case, no-one would vote, no-one would bother putting rubbish in the bin, no-one would ever behave with a social conscience.

It is a collective effort. Of course we need to stop wars and using fossil fuels, but we can also achieve influence by adapting our lifestyles, changing consumer habits, joining environmental movements.

Yes and now we need to harness our intellectual energy to prevent us from permanently damaging the natural systems which sustain our life on earth.

So awful. The conditions the chickens were living in are terrible!!!

Also, you are wrong. 'Average' life expectancy was 20-30 years.

There was high infant mortality, but those that survived childhood could live for many years well into their 60's and 70's.

It was the high infant mortality that brought the mean average lifespan statistic down.

I'm going to out and have a chicken biryani today for dinner.

Yesterday and the day for before that I had chicken rice bowls for lunch. Very delicious.

Well done you.

@ticktickticktickBOOM I haven’t heard anything from UK farmers.

Is infant mortality higher or lower than in ancient times? It's dramatically lower now isn't it? I wonder why.

We can keep all that without persisting in taking actions that cause climate change and create unsustainability of the planet. We have the knowledge and the intellect to do this ... we just need the will.

This heatwave has been caused by climate change but there seems to be hardly any discussion about this at all.

Yes indeed, I don't think I've ever heard or read any mention of this "climate change" business. I just had to google it to find out what it was.