Irish Examiner view: Our planet has already run out of road

Generations of people have been crying ‘stop’ but now we could get to the point where the planet may say ‘stop’ on our behalf instead

Hurricane Melissa bearing down on Jamaica on October 28 — the latest in a long line of devastating weather events caused or exacerbated by climate change. Picture: Matias Delacroix/AP 

The difference between millions and billions is sometimes difficult for the mind to comprehend. A million seconds is 11.6 days. A billion seconds is 31.7 years. That would put us back in 1993, when the European single market was created and Bill Clinton was inaugurated as US president. It seems like a lifetime ago, and in effect, it’s an entire generation.

A generation ago, we were warned about climate change and holes in the ozone layer, though back then — possibly in more innocent times — it was thought of as something that would happen in the long run.