A Change in the Weather

Whenever I'm thinking about the weather, I get drawn into thinking about the climate, and how its changing, whether the change will accelerate or slow down, whether our actions can hold back a process that threatens mankind.

"A terrible signal
Too weak to even recognize"
...
"A change in the weather"

[Talking Heads, The Overload, from the 1980 album, Remain in Light]

Freak weather events - even non-threatening ones - are happening more often. My last few posts were the result of a five-day-long spell of cloudless skies over London - spiritually uplifting, gorgeous days that boosted my well-being. Since then, unsettled weather has been punctuated by frequent cloudbursts of torrential rain. Below: caught by a downpour near St Paul's.

On Tuesday afternoon, sitting outside a pub in the City, rain fell so hard and so quickly, that water rushed down the steps into the basement, flooding the floor and short-circuiting the electrics. The beer pumps and cash tills didn't work so we had to go to another pub once the rains eased. Yesterday, returning from Pitshanger Lane with our fish-and-chip supper, I was caught in a similar deluge. Rain of such ferocity that I was soaked to the skin after a ten-minute-run home despite wearing a 'waterproof' jacket. The inside of my Samsonite rucksack became damp as were the fish and chips stored within.

Hotter oceans mean more energy stored in the waters, greater evaporation of water vapour stored in clouds, heavier rainfalls. It's just that simple.

Not usual September weather for London - certainly not weather like I remember from my childhood or my youth.

Climate change is happening. It's my duty here to nudge my readers - drive less, fly less, source locally, turn down the thermostat, buy less - think about what you're doing through the prism of the earth's ecosystem.

I am all in favour of Greta Thunberg and the whole movement to take urgent action to halt climate change. I do, however, worry about the extreme end of this movement which talks of 'climate reparations' and 'climate justice' - the latter slogan a throwback to the 'class justice' of the Russian Revolution. Getting it right is all down to us - seven billion people making more educated decisions - and to our governments, which can take more decisive action at the macro level.

In a dystopian future, I can see an autarkic England in a civil war between 'green Brexiteers' and 'brown Brexiteers' - the former seizing the chance to impose a ruthless environmental agenda on a sealed-off island economy, the latter denying any climate change and wanting the right to hang on to their increasingly elderly foreign-made SUVs and to continue driving them wherever they want, however they want.

"Excuse me Sir, we're from the Department for Exiting the EU. I see you have an Audi Q8 parked on the drive outside your mansion. This is in direct contravention of Article 22 of the Foreign-Made Vehicle (Climate Protection) Act of 2029. Your car will be taken to a scrapyard for recycling, you are under arrest and will held in custody until your trial - the maximum punishment should you be found guilty will be five years in prison and a £5 million fine."

This time last year:
Zamek Topacz classic car museum

This time four years ago:
Curry comes to Jeziorki
[didn't stay long - but then not a good one]

This time five years ago:
Why we should all try to use less gas

This time six years ago:
Polish supermarket chain advertises on London buses

This time 11 years ago:
Well-shot pheasants