"Britain set for scorching weekend"

Source: BBC news, Fri 17 June 05

"Forecasters are predicting the hottest weekend of the year so far, with temperatures expected to hit 32C (86F).

During the heatwave of 2003 temperatures hit a high of 38.5C in Brogdale, Kent, in August... Some 27,000 people across Europe died directly because of the heat that year. In the UK there were 2,000 deaths caused by the heat - 85% of which were people aged 75 and over."

And in another related article:

"A range of opinions on what 2005 holds, then, but there is one thing most meteorologists are agreed on. Global warming means the UK summers are very slowly getting hotter."

Increasing temperatures worldwide is a global trend which "has seen previous records shattered with increasing regularity". The 1990s were the warmest decade for 1000 years, and the world is getter warmer still. The burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil etc) is the biggest single cause of global warming, in simple terms, by adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere.

The UK is on track to meet its targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol, but what difference can it make? The US and Australia have not signed the treaty, believing it to be flawed and potentially disastrous. It's true to a certain extent - the cost of implementing policies outlined in the Protocol will most definitely outweigh its benefits, if the beneficial effects are measurable at all. Even though the majority of the scientific world backs this treaty, many believe that technological innovation is the way to go, and funds should be directed towards dealing with future challenges rather than attempting to change current practices which may be detrimental to a nation's economy.

Hmm I'm in the essayist mode right now... if only the Resource Management paper came first...

posted by Husky @ 6/17/2005 03:43:00 PM  |