The British Government recently sent out its “Emergency Alert” to the nation’s phones. The intense, high-pitched squeal we could expect to hear alongside the text: “Moscow has launched” or “Meteor has entered the atmosphere” was instead used to tell us not to use disposable barbecues or fireworks, lest another wildfire start. The modern dystopia of the United Kingdom has various shades, some grotesque, others more akin to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. The emergency alert override warning you not to have a barbecue is firmly in the Brazil category.
Climate Change is a subject that I’m boringly centrist or neutral on. My personal view is that winters are less harsh and summers far hotter than I remember when I was young. Though I’m also acutely aware of my nostalgic tendencies. My natural disposition would always lead me to reminisce about gentle golden nights of inviting summer comfort, contrasted with pristine rolling fields of thick snow like goose feathers. I don't remember it ever being uncomfortably hot for a solid week, but then again, we tend to forget that, most of the time, the pristine snow was dirty slush peppered with dog turds.
Either way, England is in a drought right now. But don’t worry, the mainstream right’s media is on hand to remind us that the 2026 drought is not as severe as the 1976 one.
Here we arrive at the farcical aspect of climate change as a subject. It is absurdly political, with both camps dug in on what seems like an intractable war of narratives.
The establishment is, of course, on the “it’s happening, and it’s manmade” side, and the more populist position is one of flat-out denial that anything is amiss.
Neither help themselves either. The first rays of sunshine do not warrant a heatmap that makes Sussex look like a Venusian volcano. Alternatively, is it really just part of the summer fun that the Cairngorms go up in flames or that parts of southern England went for 52 days without a drop of rain?
The right-wing skepticism usually amounts to arguing that nothing is happening, or that it is happening and that’s a good thing. Polar bears are still alive, and islands in the Pacific Ocean are not yet submerged, after all.
Alternatively, the elite/leftist opinion always comes with a technocratic surveillance grid pocking its laser eyes, peering over their shoulders, getting ready to track your carbon footprint and stuff a Frankenburger in your mouth.
An article in the New Scientist illustrates the frustrating nature of the climate discussion, mixing expertise with a touch of nudge.
It is a sign of the impact of climate change, which is expected to bring drier, hotter summers to the UK. This year shows that even a wet winter isn’t enough to carry the UK through an extremely hot, dry summer. “Currently the situation is that we’re just simply using too much water,” says Kevin Grecksch at the University of Oxford. “We’re not replenishing at the same speed as we’re using water.”
And then.
You may have noticed the crunch of dry leaves underfoot in recent weeks. That’s a sign stressed trees are going through a “false autumn”, where they shed their leaves and even branches in an effort to keep their main stem alive
I hadn’t noticed that, and I’m somebody who wanders among and pays attention to trees often. I have, however, noticed that in the confines of my small and cheap greenhouse, tomatoes are wilting and dying, and I cannot ventilate the structure enough to prevent it. The few plants outside are faring much better, though.
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