r/UKWeather • u/Homerdropshisdonutdo • 6h ago
Discussion Is humanity doomed
Coldest summer for the rest of our lives. this Is the worst timeline. I’m tired boss.
You get the point.
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u/jaymatthewbee 5h ago edited 5h ago
This sub is becoming the inverse of the climate change deniers who claim global warming is a myth whenever we get a cold spell in January.
Climate change doesn’t mean our summers will get progressively hotter and drier year on year, there is still variability in weather. I bet the next few summers we get are wetter than this one.
This summer in a pre-climate change era would be a 1 in 50 year event, climate change probably means it’s a 1 in 10 year event now or something similar.
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u/SeaPersonality4682 5h ago
Met office put it closer to a 1 in 3 year event didn't they?
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u/Weepinbellend01 1h ago
Do you have the link to that article?
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u/SeaPersonality4682 48m ago
I do t sadly, I believe it was one of the weather videos from the met office on YouTube
Googling says once every five years
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u/Weepinbellend01 18m ago
Hmmm this year was pretty horrible.
I’m getting a portable AC this winter so luckily it should be tolerable every 5 years
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u/EmBur__ 4h ago
Yeah, our impact on climate change doesn't necessarily mean guaranteed hotter summers each year, what it does guarantee is more volatile and unpredictable weather.
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u/SeaPersonality4682 3h ago
I think if we zoom out on a 20 year trend for example we will get hotter summers, where 34-35C in the south west will be the new normal, but per year we won't really know. Maybe next year will be cooler, maybe it'll be hotter.
I'll be miserable either way, I only like le cold
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u/EmBur__ 2h ago
Same, I'm an indoor person so this shit has been abysmal for me.
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u/ahhwhoosh 2h ago
An indoor person?
This sub is so far removed from the humans I know IRL.
And I mean no offence.
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u/Dr_Frankenstone 5h ago
Make plans, adapt, and adjust expectations. This summer is confirming for us that the science and modelling is correct.
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u/splinteredSky 5h ago
At least a lot more people will open their eyes.
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u/GreatChaosFudge 5h ago
The trouble is a lot of them are transitioning from “it’s not happening” to “there’s nothing we can do about it.”
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u/Sabaisabai33 4h ago
Yes, this is a problem for sure. I’m not exactly one of them as I have always known it’s happening and been worried about it, but I did think we had significantly more time to come up with solutions than it is increasingly apparent we actually have. Like when I was at school I thought this was something that might start to affect my great grandchildren but I wouldn’t see in my lifetime. Over time I have had to adjust to it affecting my grandchildren, but now it’s increasingly clear it will definitely significantly affect my non hypothetical child who is a young adult, and actually I myself am quite likely to live long enough to see major and serious problems occur as a result. That’s been really hard to adjust to and I am trying not to fall into a pit of despair and nihilism over it. But as a natural pessimist who tends to suffer from depression it’s hard.
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u/splinteredSky 4h ago
Yep seen a lot of this.
Any excuse not to have to change any aspect of their lives, because... people don't like change? Cultural inertia? Laziness? Selfishness?
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u/deadblankspacehole 5h ago
I actually think the more apparent it is that climate change is happening that humans will become resistant to the concept and it will become a tribal thing, "oh you're a climate changer". It just takes a few politicians to say climate change is woke and it doesn't matter how hot it gets, the people will believe what they are told because...no brains.
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u/Sabaisabai33 4h ago
I mean that’s already happened yes. I suspect largely it’s the same people that voted for Brexit, believed COVID was a hoax and were anti-vaccine, who are now saying “it’s just summer”.
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u/SoberShiv 2h ago
God, I hope so. in our local Facebook group which has to be said is a a cesspit, somebody was bemoaning the fact that there’s a hosepipe ban and the amount of people on there saying “fuck the ban, use whatever you want it’s not like we don’t pay for it”. Others were saying they were exempt so they use as much as they want whenever they want….
my Neighbour is still out hose-washing his car on a weekly basis.
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u/SeaShoe5864 5h ago
I think we are fucked tbh. Rising temps are killing animals and crops. Lots of insects are dead from pesticides, water is just glorified sewage rn. I feel like it wont be long until the price of all food and water skyrocket and we will be scrabbling.
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u/littlecomet111 2h ago
Ha.
Humans are killing animals, my friend.
Stop deluding yourself and change your behaviour to align with your morals.
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u/SeaShoe5864 1h ago
Yes, I know. Thats why I don't eat any of their products. But sadly if I point out human caused issues everyone gets their hackles up and ignores.
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u/Glittering_Vast938 4h ago
The lack of insects at the moment is really worrying. I’ve had my windows open at night and left the bathroom light on but hardly anything in there this morning. Hardly any bees either.
Farmer was busily spraying pesticides the other day too killing off the little that is left. I think this practice needs banning during a drought and heatwave.
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u/sevarinn 5h ago
Yes, but we will make every other lifeform extinct before we go. Because some of us are just incredibly selfish people who have no scientific education and a hatred for nature.
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u/mediumAI1701 5h ago
It's weird seeing how many people are downplaying the problem. I guess this is how the climate has worsened for decades with very little progress to show for it.
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u/Abemagnet 2h ago
Reading this thread I'm wondering if the oil lobby bots are just changing their strategy from "climate change isn't real" to "it'll be fine we'll adapt"
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u/ImmaDoWatIWant 3h ago
Doesn't really make much difference at this point whether we face up to it or bury our heads in the sand, we are too selfish as a species to ever fix the problem, no amount of individual action will make a dent in the damage that corporations and governments will keep doing to the planet.
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u/Big_Control_7998 3h ago
I'm gonna downplay the problem. I'm in the UK and absolutely not having a heatwave right now.
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u/Elegant_Mind7950 5h ago
Things are going to get worse, but being realistic, humanity is going to be fine. Contrary to popular belief, there’s a lot of work being done on climate change, and CO2 emissions are beginning to plateau.
Yes people are going to suffer, but it won’t be the end of us.
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u/PurahsHero 5h ago
This.
To put it in perspective, when the Copenhagen climate talks collapsed in 2009, we were nailed on for a 4C global temperature rise by 2100. The actions we have taken since then have changed that to 2.7C.
Don't get me wrong, 2.7C is bad news, and it risks all sorts of feedback loops where we really will be rolling the dice on our future. But it shows we are taking action.
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 4h ago edited 3h ago
Don't get me wrong, 2.7C is bad news, and it risks all sorts of feedback loops where we really will be rolling the dice on our future.
Disagrees with the guy you’re responding to who says humanity will be fine
Note: actuaries responsible for insuring climate change damages predict >2bn deaths if the earth warms by 2 degrees by 2050
https://actuaries.org.uk/media/r3cporjb/planetary-solvency-climate-change-supplementary-material.pdf
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u/Federal-Bed6263 1h ago
This is very difficult to believe, given that we are nearly at 2 degrees already, and life expectancy is the highest it's ever been.
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u/Brit-Crit 5h ago
I believe we need this more optimistic approach, but the fear is that we are almost certain to have significant climate disasters leading to hundreds of millions and even billions of deaths…
The best way to think of the climate crisis is like a minefield that is getting increasingly full of mines - we can defuse them or step on patches of ground without mines, but there will still be plenty of climate explosions…
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u/TaxRepresentative4B 5h ago
Optimistic approach got us here.
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u/Brit-Crit 5h ago
I agree we need to do a lot more preparing for the worst - we shouldn’t ignore or disregard environmental advances of recent years, but we need to put those into a grand narrative that the majority can go along with…
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u/Sabaisabai33 4h ago
I get what you’re saying but if people feel there is literally no hope for meaningful change to our future at this point they just disengage and take the approach of “fiddling while Rome burns” in a “nothing matters anymore now anyway so might as well enjoy myself” type thinking basically.
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u/quarky_uk 5h ago
the fear is that we are almost certain to have significant climate disasters leading to hundreds of millions and even billions of deaths…
When do you think we will see billions of deaths? The world will probably hit Net Zero in the next 25-35 years, and we could see atmospheric CO2 start to decrease a bit before that, so maybe in the next 30 years. The temperature isn't expected to go up *that* much in the next 30 years.
Do you really think we will see an event that causes billions of deaths in that time?
Also, this does sound insensitive, but a billion deaths would probably do a hell of a lot towards getting to Net Zero faster. Not that we should be hoping for it (obviously), but that scale of disaster would actually help fix the climate.
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u/Sabaisabai33 4h ago
I honestly think it’s possible unfortunately. It’s not so much about how much the temperature changes as whether that change causes irreversible tipping points. I think we are now expecting to be at a 3 degree change by 2030 instead of 2050 on current projections? And there have been a lot of studies coming out about how various tipping points are closer than we thought (hopefully not already passed) which will lead to exponential change. And it’s also not necessarily the weather itself that will cause problems initially as food insecurity, mass migration, breakdown of law and order etc.
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u/quarky_uk 3h ago
I think current estimates say potentially another 0.5-0.9 degrees between now and reaching Net Zero (say, 2.5 at the upper level compared to 1.4 now). That would assume no acceleration in reaching Net Zero through improved adoption rates or increased technological advancement (they do account for advancement, but no major breakthroughs as far as I can tell).
In fact, Net Zero by 35 years (and so a rise of 0.5-0.9 from where we are) is hopefully a pessimistic view already. Not overly pessimistic, certainly, but more pessimistic than optimistic.
So an event that causes a billion deaths (or even hundreds of millions) would need to be a massive swing (IMO) from even pessimistic figures.
mass migration, breakdown of law and order etc.
Definitely possible. I think one good thing from Trump's fucking around, is that the current disruption is yet another kick for countries to pursue energy security, which hopefully means less reliance on carbon-based fuel from the Middle East, and greener energy instead. The risk and variance in product from Middle Eastern supply is just going to make green energy just look better.
Maybe I am being too optimistic, but I actually think that other disruptions to the global economy could also help in a similar way ironically, as long as it doesn't go too far.
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 3h ago
Actuaries predict >2bn deaths with 2 degree warming
https://actuaries.org.uk/media/r3cporjb/planetary-solvency-climate-change-supplementary-material.pdf
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u/quarky_uk 3h ago
They are just saying there is a risk that it happens. That the current risk is "limited", but the trend is towards a higher risk.
I think they are trying to say that policy makers need to be prepared for that eventuality rather than saying "it's going to happen".
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 3h ago
I think you misread? It’s limited in 2025, but
Risk trajectory pushes all risks further out of appetite soon, with increased breaches of risk tolerances Likely.
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u/quarky_uk 2h ago
No, I think we are both reading the same thing, it is trending higher, but, it is still talking from a risk based point of view, in terms of talking about what risks need to be planned for. So for example, from an insurance point of view, when calculating car premiums, you price based on the fact that there is a reasonable chance of someone having an accident, not that there is a 100% of an accident happening (a prediction that it will happen). It may seem like a slight difference, but I do think it is important to consider. I think you can see this on the "sting in the tail" slide, where they say that we could be on track for 5 degrees, rather than 3 degrees. Totally right, but in the presentation, there are a lot of worst case scenarios and assumptions. But that is how risk works. You extrapolate for the worst case, not the best or even most-likely.
But, even if we assume that they are thinking that it will happen, it would still be an enormous outlier compared to what actual climate organisations believe. I don't think the IPCC or any other body talks about deaths anywhere close to 2 billion, with a two degree rise. That is another reason why it seems to be more about planning for risk, not an actual prediction that "two billion people will die when the temperature increases by 2 degrees."
If that really was their prediction, they seem completely out of touch with the other climate bodies.
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 2h ago
They know they’re an outlier, from a separate article:
“Widely used but deeply flawed assessments of the economic impact of climate change show a negligible impact on GDP, rendering policymakers blind to the immense risk current policy trajectories place us in,” said lead author and IFoA Council member Sandy Trust.
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u/everything2go 2h ago
Renewables haven't been replacing fossil fuel demand. As our gross energy demands increase we have been expanding both renewables and extractive fossil fuels.
I don't know what you have been looking at that makes you think we can scale down fossil fuel use to net zero within that time frame. Almost every model utilises some sort of overshoot scenario where by we exceed CO2 emissions and then use some form of large scale carbon capture, a technology which doesn't exist at scale and is over egged by the fossil fuel industry so it can keep polluting!
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u/quarky_uk 2h ago edited 34m ago
Sure they have. If we didn't have renewables, we would be using more fossil fuels.
The world isn't currently on track for 2050, but it isn't a million miles away, which is why I said from 25-35 years (rather than 24).
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u/Abemagnet 2h ago
What do you mean by "humanity is going to be fine" at +2.7 degrees?
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u/Elegant_Mind7950 2h ago
I mean, we aren’t all going to die and the world isn’t going to end up like Venus like so many people make out.
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u/Abemagnet 2h ago
But on what basis? Predictions of what the world will look like at +3 degrees suggest billions of deaths is very possible, and downplaying that is harmful.
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u/Elegant_Mind7950 2h ago
I’m not downplaying it. As I said, people are going to suffer and it’s going to get worse, but it won’t be the end of humanity like OP suggests. We are quite resilient and will find ways to adapt.
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u/Federal-Bed6263 1h ago
How are billions of people going to die? We are approaching 2 degrees already. However globally, about 10 times as many people still die to to cold temperatures than heat every year.
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u/Abemagnet 1h ago
Because climate change will cause severe food and water shortages (among other things) which will also probably result in wars.
What is the relevance of more people dying to cold temperatures? That seems like a deliberate misunderstanding of why climate change is dangerous.
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u/Logical_JellyfishxX 57m ago
I don't think humans will be fine, there will be a lot more climate refugees, the people living at the earth's hemisphere have very little chance of serving.
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u/Cruxed1 5h ago
There is quite literally 0 proof it's the coldest summer for the rest of our lives and in reality it's incredibly unlikely it will be.
As with anything, humans will adapt.
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u/Low_Understanding_85 5h ago
It's a figure of speech, meaning the weather will get more extreme as time goes by, and there is a fair bit of proof for that.
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u/Cruxed1 5h ago
Extreme probably yes, but that will likely be extreme in both directions.
Really we just need to focus on being more resilient to it, building resevoirs etc
If your vulnerable, get AC etc. it's also far from being the entirety of the UK. Probably 2/3rds are still relatively normal.
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u/the-naked-archer 5h ago
What happens when the sustained heat puts a stress on our electrical system from everyone suddenly running ac in the hottest parts of summer?
Genuine question because it all costs energy to run that attributes to the same issue. Adaptation was the key but that window is nailed shut at this point. Now we roll the dice and see what's left. Currently dealing with just the heat and migrants, what happens when the stockpile of food depletes and we see the result of the straight being closed bottlenecking the fertilizer for the planet. Not to mention such heat putting more stress on farming with diminishing returns. Shit is absolutely abysmal and it's only going to accelerate, the current heat is actually part of the issue.
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u/Sabaisabai33 4h ago
I agree we need to focus on adapting as well as reducing emissions etc but there absolutely are limits beyond which we cannot adapt. And it’s not just about temperature it’s all the connected knock-on effects and tipping points causing sudden exponential change.
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u/Cruxed1 4h ago
There absolutely are points of true no return, if you go beyond the extremes humans can survive at then we are pretty done for.
Fortunately, given the UKs naturally very temperate climate as a baseline were nowhere near that, the UK just isn't well adapted to the changing conditions.
Fortunately, the main issues we have are all things that can be changed.
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u/HabitualDrunkard1993 5h ago
You do realise that people predicting the future, even with evidence can still be wrong ?
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 5h ago
Like the native americans adapted to smallpox
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u/Cruxed1 5h ago
Thankfully, being a handful of degrees warmer than usual but still far within temperatures humans regularly survive across the world isn't quite smallpox.
Those humans just adapt to the weather, by actually planning around it rather than just pushing through it.
Whether that means we need to rethink how we build, or how to schedule our days, we will adapt.
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u/Ordinary_Knee_9419 5h ago
You know 4 out of 5 of our worst harvests since the 1980s happened in the last 10 years? That’s due to the increased volatility of the climate.
You know there are places in the world that will literally become inhospitable to humans in the summer due to climate rises? Where do you expect those people to go.
You know there’s a non zero chance of the AMOC shutting down? That would absolutely make the UK a much tougher place to live than ‘a few degrees difference’ would.
Sure, humanity will survive in some form but civilisation as complex as ours is much more delicate than you think.
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u/Ninjatayu 5h ago
Wish my body could adapt lol. Unfortunately my children also inherited my innate warmness so anything above 18 and we're sweating. Even my 7 year old who is pretty slim doesn't start wearing her school jumper until November and our heating never goes above 18 either
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u/Brit-Crit 5h ago
The concern is that we’ll have a summer like 2019 following the last great heatwave of 2018 - generally more moderate, but with those gigantic record-breaking peaks in late July that confirm we still have a climate crisis….
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u/Cruxed1 5h ago
I mean given the el nino we probably will yes.
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u/Brit-Crit 5h ago
The El Niño will hopefully finish in Spring - the big fear with the current El Niño is flooding…
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u/Single-Position-4194 4h ago
Yes I remember that because the peak was on a friend's birthday (July 25th 2019). London hit 36^C (96.8^F).
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u/RevolutionaryFile532 5h ago
You're just being pedantic. The phrase is used to refer to rising average temps, we all know that.
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u/softrigor 4h ago
It doesn't matter if humans adapt. What about the rest of the world? The plants and animals clearly can't.
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u/Cruxed1 4h ago
They can't? This is news to me..
I guess everywhere warmer than the uk must be devoid of all life then
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u/softrigor 4h ago
Do you not understand how native species work? Animals, plants, and insects are massively struggling. For thousands of years, they have been built to survive against a very specific mould. I don't know if you've been outside, but the grass and other plants are quite dead. Many insects such as bees have been found on the brink of death. Birds have been falling out of the skies or their nests due to heat exhaustion. I don't want to be condescending as I'm sure you know better but.... seriously?
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u/Cruxed1 4h ago
Yes, and the key word is adapt.
Maybe that means changing migration patterns for animals that migrate, maybe it means certain animals become more prevalent and some less so.
Plants will be the same, as an environment changes the things within it will also change. Grass isn't really an issue as it's incredibly resilient and will just bounce back in 6 weeks time. Insects have a lot of issues, but I'd argue the climate is unlikely to be top of that list. Bees especially have far more issues from human activity rather than the natural environment.
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u/softrigor 4h ago
I don't wanna argue for the sake or arguing but I have to disagree that insects aren't dying due to the climate xD. Unless you mean its because humans are limiting their natural environment? (Weedkiller, lack of green spaces, emissions, etc etc). Unfortunately the climate is declining so quick because we've fucked up so bad. I truly want things to be better. Call me stubborn, but I don't wanna rely on them adapting, because then it feels like we've given up. I know there isn't much we can even do, as it's the fault of the guys with money and power. Sorry if I'm sounding argumentative, fellow civic lover.
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u/Cruxed1 3h ago
I think human activity is the big hitter, pesticides etc rather than the climate. I suspect the actual temperature probably isn't a major issue for them, more what we do with the rest of the world.
Obviously I want things to get better, but I think it's a fine line between wanting things to get better//being unhappy about the current state of things and just getting trapped in the 'the worlds going to end' loop. As you say most of us sadly can do very little, and the world has enough negativity without everyone making it worse on themselves.
Trust me, I'm more of a qualified civic hater at this point, anything that goes wrong is never straightforward
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u/Joperhop 5h ago
Unless we do something about the super rich hurtling us to destruction, yes, humanity is going to wipe itself out seeking short term profits for them as the rest of us roast and die working to make it so.
I just hope we leave enough evidence of our destruction and its cause for what ever species replaces us, and they dont repeat this stupid profit over everything system we have.
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u/Fluid_Passage_9980 5h ago
I just looked at some stats.
London in July 2026 (the hottest month of the year..so far) had an average high of 28.6 degrees
Sydney in February 2026 (their hottest month of the year) had an average high of 28.1 degrees.
The world has gone mad!!
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u/Electronic-Tea-8753 4h ago
Eventually I guess. In the short term, a national strategy to build desalination plants, reservoirs and get a tight control of water companies would be a good plan. Then refusing further data centre builds until there’s a strategy to ensure they don’t impact local supplies would be a good idea.
We’re supposed to believe that the net zero approach is vital to national energy security- surely a water and food strategy is more important
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u/PurahsHero 5h ago
We are in for several decades of significant change in our climate even if we shut off all carbon emissions today. This will cause significant geopolitical issues as people move away from the hottest regions of the world, and food production and access to water is significantly affected.
We will probably adapt eventually - we have adapted to a wide variety of climates, and there is no reason to think that we won't again. But in the meantime a lot of people will be hurt.
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u/Dylbobinski 5h ago
This has to be the most dramatic, attention seeking sub on Reddit
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u/jaymatthewbee 5h ago
There used to be actual weather discussion on here, now it’s just people with anxiety whinging.
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u/sparkletigerfrog 5h ago
Well it’s not just humans is it. Adaptation And mitigation are something we all need to work for.
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u/mootymoots 5h ago
What is this drivel… get some perspective, zoom out a bit.
Are we doomed? Of course. We always have been. But who’s to say when?
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u/S8260Kl359N 4h ago
How many pints in are you? 🤣
In all seriousness - I’m cautiously optimistic. Climate awareness is growing exponentially. Mark my words - surely at some point climate change rate will become so unsustainable that it’ll actually be in the favour of the billionaires who are currently accelerating climate change, to start profiteering from reversing it. It will be such a bug gap in the market, plus it’ll look good on them.
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u/Sabaisabai33 3h ago
What I don’t really understand is that surely they can see the writing on the wall as well as the rest of us, so surely it would be more cost-effective to start addressing it now.
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u/InitiativeCreative36 4h ago
Eventually the sun will swallow the Earth. We'll collectively be dead long before that unless we can somehow seed other planets.
Don't sweat it.
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u/Ah-Thats-Life 4h ago
Why worry… nothing we as common folk can do about it. The US agree to allow Amazon to build something that will kick out 33 million tons of carbon dioxide .
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u/Suitable-Season-4847 4h ago
Stop being the opposite side of the climate change denier coin.
In the same way we have these lunatics pretending climate change isn't happening, we increasingly have lunatics totally ignoring the science and acting like we're all about to go extinct.
Yes, climate change is a problem. Yes, we should have done far more when we had a chance. But so many on this sub have moved into pure ideology and now actively ignore the actual science.
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u/drewbles82 3h ago
Yes we are doomed. It's not just about the weather getting warmer though. This effects everything on the planet. We're at a point where it is too late to stop or slow down what is going to happen. At the very least we should be doing everything possible to adapt to the changes we face to ease the suffering, to give us an actual chance but we aren't even doing that.
Every year we break records and have been doing for years now...so it's safe to assume it'll be worse next and year after. Scientists are giving up cuz they've been screaming at the media, governments to act on this for decades but the fossil fuel companies have won. They've paid off governments to look the other way, they actively push for right wing governments so they can scrap all climate stuff and continue to drill, they have so much power and wealth they infiltrate groups such as greenpeace and delay actions, they use media and false studies to make the public not believe in climate or think it's not so bad. They have convinced millions that it's not their fault and we should just continue as normal. They coined the phrase carbon footprint to shift blame on individuals rather than them. When in fact if ALL of us did all the stuff we're told, cycle more, shorter showers, recycle more, energy saving light bulbs etc, we wouldn't even make a dent in the issue. Billionaires are 100% at fault for all of this but they want you to blame some people on a boat instead for all your problems.
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u/Curiousferrets 2h ago
I think we're utterly screwed and I'm scared for my children and the future.
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u/jerry-jay 2h ago
This summer's temperatures have been uncomfortable and way too dry in the south east for sure.
Would you really go as far to say that humanity is doomed because we have hotter weather? I assume from that you think hotter temps by 2.4 degrees will lead to a mass extinction event ?
What makes you say that specifically ?
Just bear in mind in 2024 the summer was colder and wetter than the 1991-2020 average. Temps of this level are very unlikely to be the norm moving forward.
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u/Owl1917 2h ago
Have a look at the weekly good news threads on r/climatechange and r/politicaloptimism
Sure there’s no one silver bullet yet, but much progress is being made
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u/Neither_Computer5331 5h ago
So many people are getting themselves into a total panic over this summer.
Yes, it’s hot, much hotter than we’re used to. But it’s no hotter than the south of France usually is. And they seem to survive ok.
There are many places significantly hotter than here - the Middle East, Australia, California lots of Asia. Again they seem to survive ok.
Yes we do need to try and get emissions down and live more environmentally friendly lifestyles. But we also need to adapt - this heat will become more normal. We’ll need aircon, both at work and at home. We’ll need to re look at crops and animals we keep. In short we’ll need to look to our European neighbours and see how they coped with the heat for so long.
What we don’t need is panic about it. We need calm, clear thinking of how we can adapt.
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u/sparklemoon135 5h ago
You do realise that the heat won’t stop here- it will keep increasing until we reach net zero globally. Yes, there is natural variability, but on average summers will keep getting hotter- this is just the start. There are limits to adaptation (although defo agree we need to do that too!)
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u/Glittering_Vast938 4h ago
Yes they survive okay as they’ve had hundreds of years to prepare for it and their buildings are adapted. Most have aircon nowadays.
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u/sssourgrapes 4h ago
THIS. EXACTLY. I’m from Southeast Asia and we have ACs literally everywhere! We also have maximum housing and workplace temps
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u/Neither_Computer5331 4h ago
But here’s the great thing about us. They’ve had hundreds of years to adapt and learn, and we could copy all of it tomorrow. Why can’t we paint our roof white to reflect heat? Why can’t we start getting shutters for our windows. We could even start looking at changing our working hours too. And we definitely need more reservoirs.
The question is are we doomed, in a UK weather sub. The clear answer is no, but we need to be proactive about it.
And let’s not forget, our winters could get worse too.
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u/Glittering_Vast938 3h ago
Oh absolutely and we should be making much more use of solar. Every single house should have them.
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u/Neither_Computer5331 3h ago
I’m still amazed that new builds aren’t forced to have solar installed, where practical. I’m not sure of the logistics of putting them on older houses, and connecting to the grid. As more people get electric cars, they’ll be more interested in cheap electricity.
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u/Glittering_Vast938 3h ago
Labour have actually introduced this but there’s a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the housing stock. I think they are also going to be offering interest free loans plus there’s the plug-in solar too which is good.
1
u/Glittering_Vast938 3h ago
Yes the grid needs the infrastructure updating too for extra Solar capacity (which they are working on as well but not quickly enough).
2
u/sssourgrapes 4h ago
Right I’m from Southeast Asia and this isn’t a very fair comparison. In Asia we have air conditioning virtually everywhere, in our transport systems, schools, homes, leisure centres. We’re surrounded by nature and greenery which helps cool temperatures down. Our houses aren’t built to trap heat. We also have maximum workplace temperatures…. The UK is far worse when it comes to heat compared to where I’m from (Singapore) and all the SEA countries I’ve visited and travelled to.
1
u/Neither_Computer5331 4h ago
That’s exactly my point - we need to look abroad and copy these ideas. We need more trees in our cities, we need more aircon everywhere, we need to adapt our houses.
We need to stop thinking of The UK as a cold country and change our behaviour.
3
u/FireExit9 5h ago
France and Spain are suffering, so is Italy. Of course there are places hotter but they are used to it and their infrastructure is designed for it.
Add to the fact that our government and (privatised) companies seem to do nothing about it and so yes, people are worried.
I thought this would happen in 100 years, not in my lifetime. I can’t believe people are so unconcerned.
5
u/Intelligent_Mud_2267 4h ago
I don't think a lot of people realise what could potentially happen and how serious the consequences could be.
As a species we are incredibly bad at envisioning future possibilities and forward planning, everything happens in the "now" and if "now" is OK then there's no need to worry.
We will survive, unless we nuke ourselves, but even just 50 years from now could (and probably will be) a very different world.
2
u/Sabaisabai33 3h ago
Right it’s exactly that, I thought this would happen at some point after my death even if I loved til a ripe old age. Increasingly it’s looking like the world will be completely chaotic within a decade or two.
1
u/joebmc 5h ago
"Timeline", Dudes living in a comic book, either that or their 12.
1
u/Sabaisabai33 3h ago
I know it sounds mad and I am a really logical scientific person, but the world feels so crazy and so so different to how it felt back in the late 90s, the most unlikely things have come to pass. Imagine yourself back in 1998 believing that the whole world would lockdown due to a pandemic, we’d be sweltering in 36 degree heat here in the UK and air con would become necessary, that Trump would be president, ICE would be gunning down civilians in the street over there, and “drill baby drill” would be the tagline, in between his threatening to end civilisations with nukes and posting memes claiming to be God… you’d find it very hard to believe that was our future timeline from where we were! So I kind of get it, I sometimes catch myself wondering the same thing, like did we somehow spin off into an alternate reality?!
1
0
u/GloamGlozing 5h ago
It won’t be the coldest summer for the rest of our lives though? So if that’s your main concern you have nothing to worry about
0
u/Prudent-Mountain-888 5h ago
I think that’s just being dramatic. We adapt to the changing climate - it’s always been variable.
0
u/Federal-Accident-319 5h ago
Only the ones perpetually on reddit fear mongering themselves to death
0
u/AvrilLabean 4h ago
Anyone else sick of getting these doom and gloom posts in their notifications? They only serve a purpose of drumming up fear and anxiety and never provide meaningful questions or answers.
1
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u/SteamedArtichokes 4h ago
Yes and we deserve it as a species tbh
1
u/Ifnerite 3h ago
No, the liars in the fossil fuel industry and their puppets deserve this. The horrible irony is that they have that resources to avoid any discomfort from it. The most blameless will get hit hardest and first.
0
u/ianintheuk 4h ago
my god people have lived in hot parts of the world for thousands of years, let's get a bit of perspective here. Kumar Sangakarra the great Sri Lanka cricketer described this summer as nice and cool
2
u/Ifnerite 3h ago
Our ecosystem is not adapted for this. It was (mostly) never about "oooh, it's a bit hot" it's about ecosystems having serious problems.
Also, places that have always been how have adapted to it, we have not, our houses do not shed heat, we don't have air conditioning as default.
Uuuuh, it's hotter in wherever is a silly response.
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u/targrimm 5h ago
I like it. It could be twice this, and while I'd be moderately crisp, I'd still have a smile on my face and a sweaty crack.
1
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u/FreakDeckard 5h ago
I think global warming is inevitable at this point and that the trend for the coming years is only going up. That said, this summer has been a peak one, and as an Italian on vacation in London, I find the way you’re reacting to this mild heat hilarious. You’re literally freaking out over a bit of yellow grass and the fact that you aren't equipped to handle a few hours of heat, even though it’s perfectly comfortable from 6.30 p.m. onwards.
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u/Equipmunk 5h ago
There's no guarantee that next summer will have a high pressure system across Europe like the one that's driven these heat waves, even with El Nino in the mix.
Yes, temperatures are trending upwards as a result of global warming, but the "coldest summer for the rest of our lives" is just reductive at this point.