Editorial: The climate must change

Thousands of London school students gather in Parliament square having walked out of school in protest at government inaction over climate change.

Yes, we have gone big today on climate change.

Ugh, some readers will say.

Out come the tin foil hats and the pseudo-science.

So I'll type this slowly, because clearly some people are having trouble understanding this:

Climate change is real.

Humankind faces a real and imminent threat to not only our cushy way of life, but perhaps to our survival.

Two degrees of warming will be catastrophic, warns the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We're on target for four-plus.

We have pumped more carbon into the atmosphere in 30 years than in our entire existence.

Within 10 years it could be too hot and humid to survive in some of the world's largest cities.

Sea levels are rising, millions of people will be displaced, hurricanes and heatwaves grow more intense and frequent ... do we lose the ability to grow crops before we take this seriously?

It may not be possible to reverse the damage already done. Experts say even a World War scale mobilisation, starting now, planting forests and deploying CO2 scrubbers, has little hope of containing warming to two degrees by 2040.

The science, frankly, is bleak. But there is still hope.

Fortunately the climate deniers are at last dwindling in numbers, consigned to the dunce's corner along with flat-earthers and moon landing conspirators. More of us are waking up to the danger we face.

Which is why it is so exasperating that our leaders - Government, councils, continue to dilly dally.
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Across the world as well as here in our community students march against climate inaction. In the US lawsuits are emerging against lawmakers and fossil fuel companies much like they did when big tobacco was held to account.

As individuals the best thing we can do isn't eating less meat, or avoiding plastic bags. It's voting for green policies and holding our leaders to account.

Our editor passed on a cartoon as he vacated his chair this week: It depicted a climate summit amidst demands for clean energy, preservation of rainforests, clean water and air … and the denier amongst the delegates remarks… "what if it's a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?"

Ugh.