Dry stats betray the truth about our climate

IN the article Running Dry (M.E.N., June 25) reporter Helen Clark notes that ‘last month was the driest on record in England... since records began 91 years ago.’ Meanwhile in Siberia, which until now we have been able to use as a synonym for extreme cold, temperatures of 45 degrees celsius are being recorded. Let that sink in for a moment - 45 degrees, in Siberia.

The underlying cause is the amount of fossil fuels – oil, coal and gas – that we burn. When we burn those, we release carbon dioxide. That carbon dioxide acts as a blanket, trapping more heat from the sun than in previous times. Ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising. Wild fires are raging. In Australia at the beginning of the year, half a billion animals were incinerated. Humans will not be immune from the consequences of their burning of fossil fuels. The poor will suffer soonest – are suffering already – but the impacts will reach everyone.

We have known about this problem for decades. Here in Manchester the council has indulged in an endless cycle of promises made and then left unkept. The latest such promises are being made now, in the run-up to the one-year anniversary of the Climate Emergency declaration (and virtually none of those were kept).

It breaks my heart to think of what those currently in school will have to endure in 30 years, because of the relentless and remorseless failures of politicians around the world, who throw around fine words and carefully curated statistics, while doing nothing to stop climate change.

Remember, it was 45 degrees in Siberia last week.

Marc Hudson, Moss Side