Bill McGuire on our near futures

An important and powerful piece was published in yesterday's 'The Guardian' newspaper.

It was written by Bill McGuire, who is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL and a climate activist.

It was written ahead of today's record temperature being reached, with over 40 degrees C at Heathrow Airport by midday.

There are many impacts outlined here which we have been teaching about in geography for many years.

Progressive climate breakdown will affect everyone and insinuate itself into every aspect of our lives. Transport and energy infrastructure will succumb repeatedly to the onslaught of extreme weather, making otherwise straightforward journeys increasingly problematical, and power outages a normal part of daily life.

I am all too aware of this particular impact, as travel issues meant that I was unable to get to Paris for IGU this week, with Eurostar sold out or too expensive. The train I was due to catch took 6 hours eventually to make a two hour journey...