Séamas O'Reilly: Climate change denial continues - among those in a position to help offset it

A firefighter leaves as the flames approaching him during a wildfire in Vati village, on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes, southeastern Greece, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Pic: Petros Giannakouris

I posed some questions about climate change, and our response to it, back in October, but I’m saved the horror of repeating myself since there is always an ever-replenishing stock of brand-new developments in the “oh shit, what now?” world of climate science. 

This week, researchers announced that the Antarctic Sea is undergoing a once-in-every-7.5m-years reduction in ice volume, a situation which could land the surrounding planet, quite literally, in hot water. 

Further north, it was announced that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may be at risk of collapse, which would heat things even further.

Global headlines have shown floods and fires across Europe and the Mediterranean. 

Temperature records have been smashed in Rome, Catalonia, Beijing, Miami, and Death Valley, while America’s hottest city, Phoenix, has set a half-century record by logging 19 consecutive days of 110F (43C) temperatures.

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Most prominent have been events in Rhodes, and distressing scenes of raging infernos and desperate evacuations. 

A popular holiday spot for British and Irish tourists, there was no shortage of accounts from English speakers caught up in the horror, stranded tourists on smoke-strewn streets, or dejected
holidaymakers traipsing through packed airports. 

The Guardian reported on a couple doing their best to carry on with their destination wedding. 

I don’t wish to dwell on the happy pair, who were speaking from their own, very difficult, experience, but their panic at their big day being ruined stood in stark contrast to the scenes of local residents being burned out of their homes; their lives, livelihoods, and families in ruin, as firefighters and rescue workers raced to save them. 

The bride and groom wondered aloud if they should have cancelled but, in the end, they went ahead with their plans, fretting about the money they’d lose, and taking assurances from the venue and travel companies who said it would be fine.

The question of what they should have done is a microcosm of the broader existential issue facing us all: What do we do? 

As always, my own answer is that I don’t know, but I reckon it’s going to be based on what experts tell us, no matter how drastic, inconvenient, or costly that is.

In Ireland, a raft of initiatives has been proposed at all levels, from personal-use plastics to corporate regulation, infrastructure planning, and agricultural standards. 

It was this week in this latter sector, that much hay was made (pun very much intended) when Pádraic Fogarty wrote on the Irish Wildlife Trust blog that Irish farming organisations were “on the wrong side of every argument” when it came to climate measures. 

Fogarty stepped down amid uproar over his claim that said organisations were “increasingly lurching to the far-right, happy to spread conspiracy theories, undermine scientists … and convince their members that their way of life is under attack by an urban elite that cares little for them or their values”.

I don’t wish to relitigate the “far-right” portion of his statement, since it’s been covered elsewhere and has, unfortunately, allowed everyone to focus on a provocative, two-word political designation, rather than the crux of his argument: in the face of dire and terrifying warnings about our future, many of those in a position to offset the dangers posed by climate change are still denying that it’s necessary or possible. 

Given the prevalence of these tactics among the right in the UK, I think a glance toward our nearest neighbours might show that we cannot remove politics from this equation.

Flames rise during a forest fire on the island of Rhodes, Greece, Saturday, July 22, 2023. A large wildfire burning on the Greek island of Rhodes for a fifth day has forced authorities to order an evacuation of four locations, including two seaside resorts. Pic: Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi via AP.

Back in October, I led with the story of the disappearance of 12bn Alaskan snow crabs — still no sign, if you’re interested — which coincided with a banner period for climate protest groups like Just Stop Oil. 

They had just made the news that week throwing soup at Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’, but since then they’ve staged protests at the British Grand Prix, Wimbledon, the Ashes, and the World Snooker Championships — stunts which have certainly raised awareness of their cause, not least their incredible skill at getting tickets to major sporting events.

But pushback has been severe. 

Numerous protesters have been assaulted, and their actions decried in every cabinet office, tabloid paper, and right-wing news organ, even as every scintilla of evidence backs up the urgency of their cause. 

The UK government dropped its £11.6bn climate pledge three weeks ago and Tory peer Mr Frost — who, appropriately enough, sounds like he should be a Captain Planet villain — even announced that climate change “could be good” for Britain in the House of Lords.

GB News presenter Neil Oliver openly described “the alleged climate crisis” as “the most expensive and devastating lie of all time”, and London mayor Sadiq Khan was berated from all corners for his plans to expand the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone which, despite having halfed harmful emissions in the nation’s capital, has become the latest preventative measure to come under attack from even the more sensible pockets of the right-wing sphere.

All of which led to the Monday’s The Times, and a front page which sums up the cognitive dissonance better than I ever could. 

‘Tory retreat from green policies to woo voters’ it blared, alongside a horrifying cover image, depicting scenes of orange-and-black skies, set above raging hillside fires in Greece, with masked people fleeing below. 

This was, alarmingly, the second straight day of such juxtapositions. ‘Thousands flee as Rhodes burns’ cried the text above a similar image on Sunday’s front page, cheek-to-jowl with that day’s main headline, ‘Khan to rethink Ulez after call from Starmer’.

It’s tempting to say these front pages will be studied for decades by our descendants, dumbstruck students flinching at how we reacted to the question of “what should we do?” by putting our heads in the sand.

But this would, of course, be presumptuous. Unless we commit to asking serious questions of those who want us to stop asking serious questions, we’ll do none of the things necessary to make sure future generations ever draw breath, so their schooling is entirely hypothetical.