Here’s one to give climate deniers a laugh, and get them triumphantly exclaiming that they knew all along it was rubbish.
Brace yourself. It’s been calculated that global warming could make Europe colder.
What did I tell you? Hilarious!
But hang on a moment … before anyone laughs themselves too silly it’s worth asking how a northern ice age could be one of the consequences of global warming?
I’ve written previously about the increasingly rapid melting of the Greenland ice cap, and how it contains enough water to raise sea levels by seven metres. However, the melt-water pouring off the island is also having another negative effect on the oceans.
For centuries northern Europe’s climate has been generally mild, thanks to warm surface waters from the tropics being carried towards us by currents like the Gulf Stream. Collectively, these currents are known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and the system is estimated to distribute an amount of heat equivalent to the energy flowing through one million power stations.
Unfortunately, the cold meltwater pouring off the Greenland ice cap is now slowing down the warm water flow: past collapses of the AMOC have been associated with ice ages in the northern hemisphere and increased warming in the south.
I take no pleasure in sharing alarming climate and environmental reports in my articles. I totally understand why some people can’t bear to think about it all: Even I have to switch off every now and again and for a precious period of time act as if it’s all going to be fine.
But burying our heads in the sand is not a constructive response to the existential threats we face. Polling shows that a majority of Britons now accept that the climate is changing due to human activity, and my hope in writing as I do is to help motivate everyone to take whatever actions they can to turn things around before it’s too late. The sooner we shift the world economy away from climate-warming fossil fuels and environmental destruction, the better our chances of building a future worth living for.
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party
