Climate change has always been an issue, but apparently it’s under the radar as long as it does not cause too much destruction.
I live in the UK and like most I have been following the coverage on hurricane Desmond – his lasted attack was in Cumbria. Now, I live roughly 4 hours away from Cumbria, and to think that I am safe and unaffected by this would be incredibly ignorant, as would it be for anyone else.
When I was younger I remember watching news reports about hurricanes in America, and shamefully being thankful thinking that the UK does not suffer from such catastrophes. Now, the fact that we’re already on hurricane Desmond is extremely alarming – but we should have addressed this a long time ago.
What can we do? My issue is that I feel as though we are being warned about rising temperatures and flooding rivers but are not being equipped with the right information as to how we, as a nation, can help prevent the consequences. Do not get me wrong, the information is there, just not on a large enough scale as to advocate changes in peoples’ lifestyle.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes tragedies to happen close to home for people to take action. I wish this weren’t true as the UK watches Cumbria evacuating homes; businesses going under; lives that families built being washed away.
My thought of the day:
during the weather programme after the news, the presenter notifies the ways in which the public can do little things to contribute to the prevention of climate change. This can be simple and accessible tasks such as turning off lights in rooms, sourcing food locally, or taking shorter showers. Now, I appreciate that ‘we already know this’, but are we actually doing anything? My thought here is that by consistently reinforcing this information, change and progress will be made.
c.dukes 