ABOUT THE WORST’
Climate scientists have been warning for decades that human activity is causing global warming but some still don’t believe the science.
Prof Burton insisted: “From the scientific point of view there is absolutely no doubt the temperatures are changing we see it all over the world.”
“It’s quite clear that it’s the last three or four decades where the impact is significant. Where the debate comes in is what’s causing it.
“The real trouble is what we have to do to counter this incredibly challenging situation.
Stop
“We have to essentially stop the production of these greenhouse gases or slow it down.
“You can see that people don’t want to accept this is the case.”
But he says everyone has to play their part: “What’s specific to us in this part of the world is peat burning.
“It’s an intense contributor to greenhouse gases.
“By burning it we are releasing back the accumulated emissions over millions of years and we’re putting that back into the atmosphere and that’s the cause of the warming.”
FRUIT and vegetables are perishing in fields and growers fear the drought and further extreme temperatures could wipe out harvests.
Suppliers are counting their losses after record temperatures last month caused crops to fail, while the hot dry weather has also led to the earliest harvests since 1976 for many farmers.
There are now fears that future heatwaves could affect food security.
Expert Vernon Mascarenhas said: “It’s not just fruit, we lost entire plantings of peas, entire sowings of broad beans, baby spinach was lost, salad heads were lost.”
Last month’s record heat caused “major difficulties” for the berry harvest.
Mr Mascarenhas, of wholesaler Nature’s Choice at New Covent Garden Market in London, the largest fruit, veg and flower market in the UK, said: “The fruit is now coming back, but if there is more intense heat forecast, that would be a worry.
“At flowering season we didn’t have any frosts so were very excited, thinking we were going to have our best year ever, but the heat has killed some of it off.
Trouble
“If we are going to get another impact of hot weather we could be in real trouble.”
The hotter, drier summer has led to early harvests of some crops.
Tom Bradshaw, who farms wheat, barley and oats, said: “On our farm, we finished wheat last Thursday.
“We don’t normally start wheat until the last day of July, so it’s incredibly early and certainly unprecedented in many situations.”
This month’s oilseed rape planting may be delayed if the soil remains too dry, leading to a shortage of cooking oil.