Politicians must lead on the climate emergency – not wilt in the face of ‘hostile’ public opinion

Editorial: The UK made a good start but, as the government’s advisers, the Climate Change Committee, warned last month, it is now in danger of going backwards

(Dave Brown)

To complement the now daily reports on our television screens about wildfires in Europe, this week has brought further scientific evidence about the impact of climate change.

The World Meteorological Organisation warned on Thursday that July is likely to be the hottest month on record – in 120,000 years. It said extreme weather events ranging from droughts to large-scale flooding are on the rise in Asia, the world’s most impacted region – and bound to affect food security and ecosystems. Some 81 weather, climate and water-related disasters were recorded throughout the continent last year, affecting more than 50 million people and costing more than 5,000 lives.

While the UK might have escaped the fires raging on the continent this summer, its luck might not last. In a separate report, the UK’s Meteorological Office warned that last year’s record temperatures, which saw a 40C heatwave, were “a sign of things to come”. By the end of the century, 40C heatwaves would be likely to occur every 15 years or, in a worst-case scenario, every three years.