BURNING QUESTIONS
Why is the 40C barrier so dangerous, will we see more heatwaves, what should politicians do... and is it all too late to save the planet?
SO what does the heatwave mean for climate change? And can we reverse it?
Chris Brierley, Professor in Climate Science at University College London, answers our burning questions...
Is it a bad sign to break the 40C limit?
YES - because it’s so much more than the previous record.
Five degrees may not sound a lot but it’s the difference between a typical August and October.
Each degree warmer makes it harder to lose any excess heat you generate through movement.
Body temperature is roughly 37 degrees and when you have a fever it rises to 39 or 40 degrees.
What does this heatwave tell us about climate change?
IT’S worrying as today is predicted to really blow the record out the water.
This is a very rare occurrence, yet here it is. That’s what scares me.
How has the British climate changed over the decades?
OVER 40 years, on an annual mean we’ve warmed by one degree.
We’ve seen warming but this is still an exceptional event.
What exactly is climate change and what causes it?
THE main problem is greenhouse gasses. Carbon dioxide is the biggest.
The more we put up, the more that gathers there.
Will we see more heatwaves like this here?
THE Met Office believes that an extreme heatwave like this will be more a one in 15 years event, by the end of the century. I don’t think we’ll see one every year though, this was a perfect storm of different weather patterns.
If we reach this record figure, is it a point of no return?
WE can’t really reverse
what we’ve done as the carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere. Just stopping putting any more stuff up there will not magically take it out. I don’t see it being reversed.
What is Government doing?
IT has made some great strides in the past 20 years but it’s not putting enough money behind it.
That’s important in the Tories’ leadership debate.
With them saying it’s expensive – well it’s not.
With the gas and oil prices so high, the same independent body says going net zero would save us money and would pay for itself in fuel prices.
What can we do?
BUILD houses that are adapted to deal with warmer climate is a start whether that’s putting shades over the top of windows to stop the brightest sunlight coming in or having white grooves like France.
How long have we got?
IT doesn’t work like that.
There isn’t a final deadline - the more action we take, the better it will be in the future.
It’ll never be too late to stop it getting even worse.
How about the climate change deniers?
I RECKON they cost us 10 years.
They’re not looking at the overwhelming evidence. There is no basis for climate change denial.