Our Planet is Warming

According to the New York Times Monday 22^nd July 2024 saw the highest global temperature ever recorded with an average of 17.16 degrees Celsius. The Earth has just experienced its warmest days in recent history. These unprecedented temperatures are attributed to ongoing global warming driven by human activities – burning fossil fuel, agricultural practices,  and deforestation. Our planet Earth is entering a new phase of extreme warming, and this warming is human induced.

The week before António Guterres, secretary general of the U.N., gave a speech addressing the impact of extreme temperatures on populations in warmer regions of the world. Recent heat-related deaths have been reported in regions as diverse as Arizona, India and Saudi Arabia where 1300 people died during the annual hajj.

 Guterres said,

“Today, our focus is on the impact of extreme heat. But let’s not forget that there are many other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis: Ever-more fierce hurricanes. Floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Rising sea levels. The list goes on. To tackle all these symptoms, we need to fight the disease. And the disease is the madness of incinerating our only home. The disease is the addiction to fossil fuels. The disease is climate inaction.”

These days most thinking people realise that climate change is human induced and that it is already having an impact on millions of people in terms of high temperatures and extreme weather events.So rather than highlight the costs of doing nothing this blog will focus on the fact that countries are beginning to tackle the problem, (despite the massive lobbying from the oil and gas industry!)

As for me, I’ve spent most of my working life as a petroleum geologist. So in a small way I’m responsible for the mess we are in. Nevertheless I would like coming generations to grow up in a world that is free from the impact of extreme heat, violent storms, sea level rise and famines. Hence this blog.