Face up to realities of changing climate

IN his recent letter, Gareth Jones argues we should not be worried by the Met Office issuing its first ever red warning for extreme heat in England because the system of such warnings was only instigated in June 2021. Bizarrely, he dismisses the issuing of this warning as ‘another bit of propaganda by those promoting man-made global warming’.

Is Mr Jones not aware that the Met Office has had a network of stations making detailed observations of weather and climate for over 100 years, and that the Central England Temperature record, covering the temperature from the south Midlands to Lancashire, is the longest-running record in the world, dating back to 1659?

Tuesday 19th July was the first ever occasion that temperatures in excess of 40C have been recorded in England, and record high temperatures were also recorded for Scotland and for Wales. Furthermore, the highest ever recorded night-time temperatures occurred overnight on Monday/ Tuesday of this week.

The Met Office is responsible for issuing warnings concerning extreme weather that poses a danger to human health and activities: be that heavy rain, strong winds, severe snow and ice, or extreme heat. The need recently to introduce warnings for the latter reflects the increasing temperatures that the country faces as a consequence of anthropogenic global warming.

The strong likelihood is that temperatures exceeding 40C will become a much more frequent occurrence in future years so that Mr Jones should get used to seeing Met Office warnings of extreme heat and face up to the realities of our changing climate.

Professor Bruce Webb

Exeter, Devon