Global heat waves should be a climate change warning - The Washington Post
Washington PostJul 16, 2022
The Facts
On Thursday, the Met Office said that last year was the UK's hottest on record, with the average annual temperature passing the 10°C mark for the first time.
According to the UK's national weather service, the provisional annual average temperature in 2022 was 10.03°C, the highest since records began in 1884. Last year's average was 0.89°C above the 1991-2020 average and 0.15°C above the previous record of 9.88°C, set in 2014.
The Spin
Narrative A
The UK is not alone. Fossil fuel emissions have created warmer conditions across much of the world. Autumn drought, bitter snowstorms, wildfire outbreaks, and rising sea levels are just a few of the consequences of human-caused climate change that can have disastrous, far-reaching effects. Transitioning to a greener economy requires investment, infrastructure, and political courage, but if we fail to limit global temperature increase, climate disasters will become the new normal.
Narrative B
Climate change must be put in perspective. It's unfair to only blame human activities and greenhouse gas emissions for rising temperatures in the UK or elsewhere. The alarmist framing of anthropogenic global warming is also self-defeating because it alienates and polarizes developing countries. It's essential to reconsider the problem and contemplate other solutions rather than put pressure on people heavily dependent on energy resources that scientists claim will have apocalyptic effects.
Nerd narrative
There's a 10% chance that a global catastrophe will reduce the human population by 95% or more by 2100, according to the Metaculus prediction community.