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 have now done this too.

Was listening to radio4 and an expert pointed out

this is as cool as it gets now

A man was walking along a beach at dawn and noticed a young person picking up starfish that had washed ashore and tossing them back into the ocean. The man approached and asked what they were doing, pointing out the countless miles of beach and the thousands of stranded starfish. He argued that it was impossible to save them all, so their efforts wouldn’t make a difference.

The young person paused, looked at the man, bent down to pick up another starfish, and threw it safely into the surf. They smiled and replied, "It made a difference for that one."

adapted from the work of Loren Eiseley, originally published in his 1969 book

Change of any sort is seen as threatening / frightening by some, and how we eat, travel, and consume resources WILL need to change - if we are to avoid the worst effects.

But my experience of getting behind this kind of change has been largely positive. My business is saving £1.5K per month on electricity - and costs are much more stable. Less reliance on foreign inputs from politically unstable regions is good business sense.

The long term stability pro's of this kind of investment could prove invaluable.

So good to hear a real 'it's working well for us' story. It would be great if loads more businesses follow suit.

As did the time when aircraft was banned due to sand from the sahara blowing over. Yes, and cocid lovely settled weather.
However I read a source some time ago by theONS that 48% of (pollution %fuel emissions) was caused by 1% of the world's population.
So private jets could be the first to go?
Like hell that would ever happen.

And the irony is that climate change is likely to be one factor increasing migration pressures over coming decades…

Here lies the problem!!! So many more people (especially since Covid) want to travel abroad. It’s important to them and gives meaning and pleasure to their lives. They don’t want to give it up, so by saying “until private jets go,” it means most people will just carry on with overseas travel.

Hardly anyone wants a poorer existence to improve climate change. It’s the “other”people who need to give up things first before I will think about doing it…. I don’t know how we can stop this global overconsumption, demand is so high!!!

@twinklystar23 I meant to add, I agree with you about private jets. They’re so much worse than commercial airlines. Cruise ships are even worse than flying for the environment.

You are not alone OP.

Cheap and plentiful green energy would be a great thing, that's the transition we need to make.

It's not a binary option between going full pelt and overusing resources, and not doing anything. It's about finding a sustainable pathway for using resources and reducing carbon emissions. If we do nothing, we won't get the foreign holidays and consumption of goods at all as everything will have broken down.

RIGHT NOW we are overusing resources as the demand for air conditioning has risen exponentially during this heatwave. It makes people’s lives more comfortable so why shouldn’t they have it? I don’t have it, but I went to a supermarket yesterday that did, and it made my shopping experience pleasanter.

Here's what Severn Trent Water say -

Small changes that make a big difference

It's been a hot summer so far, and we all use more water when the temperature rises - gardens, longer showers, washing the car. That's completely understandable.

Demand during the heat wave is significantly higher than normal, and we've been producing an extra 400 million litres every day to keep up. We're fixing more leaks than ever and have exceeded our targets this year - but we know there's more to do, and it remains a priority. It's an ongoing challenge across the whole industry, and one we're committed to staying on top of.

And it's why smaller changes from customers genuinely matter - not because the burden is on you, but because when everyone chips in a little, it makes a real difference to how far the water goes.

A few simple ideas to try:

Use a watering can instead of a hosepipe in the garden
Full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine
A slightly shorter shower, 4 minutes or less if you can ...

What they are talking about is "The Navy Shower"

A Navy shower (also called a military or combat shower) is a highly efficient, water-saving method of showering. By turning the water off while lathering, it cuts a standard shower down to under two minutes, significantly reducing both water consumption and the energy required to heat it.

How to Take a Navy Shower

The technique relies on a simple, 3-step cycle:

1. Get Wet: Step into the shower and run the water for about 30 seconds to get your entire body wet.
2. Lather Up: Turn the water completely off. Apply your soap, body wash, and shampoo, and scrub thoroughly.
3. Rinse: Turn the water back on for about 1 to 2 minutes to quickly wash away all the soap and suds.

Why It’s Done Like This

1. Water Scarcity: The method originated on naval vessels and submarines where freshwater supplies were heavily restricted.
2. Conservation & Cost: Traditional showers use 10 to 15 liters of water per minute. Cutting the water off during lathering can save thousands of liters of water each month, drastically reducing your water bills and your carbon footprint.

Or ... you could take a family shower. DW, DCs, DH even.

Have fun.

One of the things we need to do is use passive cooling measures first, then air conditioning if that isn't enough. So shading windows so the sun doesn't hit them makes a huge difference (in continental Europe they've used awnings and shutters), things like opening windows and blinds/curtains when it's cool and closing when it's warmer/sun will hit them. The upstairs of our house was 4 degrees cooler than a friends from doing this. It makes sense as well as power grids are more likely to fail in high temperatures so only relying on air conditioning isn't going to give us the resilience we are going to need in high temperatures. They had power cuts in France this week due to the high temperatures. I also enjoyed going to the supermarket this week as it was cooler.

I'm worried too but given the numver of greedy billionaires, people that don't give a shit or xan't be arsed to make changes....we are cooked. Literally.

And now a marine heatwave has been confirmed - the climate is changing too quickly for species to adapt

But OUR environment would be much nicer. We'd have much less pollution.

And hopefully people would watch their water consumption and we'd have responsible water companies which fixed leaks and didn't pollute rivers.

I lived in France for ages. I remember the windowsil is OUTSIDE rather than inside. And The windows also open inswards not outwards.

This allows windows to be open when shutters are closed.

Also protects your windowboxes of flowers from the worst :-)

I just put white bedsheets up on the outside of the windows and it felt instantly cooler. Why didnt i do that last month!

Thats frightening.

Does anybody remember recycling bottle tops and so on, worrying about plastic straws? It's crazy.
Everybody round here is driving basically a tank.

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

We are managing to make changes on global level - china doing well with solar bringing costs down.

The problem is it too slow and there a certain amount of built in climate change even if we stopped emission tommorow unless we start taking CO2 out of atmospehere ie geo-engineering. Change need to happen at all levels instead it's most berating indiduals about recyling and hoildays - often by people who don't realsie their own contributions.

So we still need to adapt and faster - and yes passive heat reducing measures should be first. We have awning up at back of hosue - use curtains and blinds and have a light ceiling fan. I'd love shutters but out of price range.

We stopped in a geogorian end of terrance house part of last heatwave - it was bliss - shash windows cross bezed high ceiling and basement level. It's harder in our 50s ex council house - but last few years in winter when fuel prices have been high and this we've tried to keep heating off we were greatful to the heat holding properties of our house.

Plastic straws and bottle caps aren’t a worry because of climate change though. Straws take 200 years to break down and as they do they release microplastics into our water ect…. They also kill marine and other wildlife.

plastic bottle tops are one of the most frequently littered items so attaching them to the bottle helps get them into the recycling system.

So you are talking about different issues here.

why would you worry more about climate change during the heatwave than before it or after it?

Quite obviously because when the consequences of a thing are actually slapping you in the face you're more aware of the reality of it?