science

Warming oceans affecting currents and the reflective ice sheets disappearing leading to probable runaway temperatures after we hit a certain threshold have been being discussed for decades. In a couple years you're going to hear a lot of politicians and oil funded think-tanks saying "no one knew this could happen!!"

Flip a switch to twenty years ago and it's radically different.

just wait until the amoc collapses!

I went through a box of old family photos taken by my grandparents in the 60s and 70s. One of the most jarring things about them is how many outdoor pics have snow on the ground. I just assumed most of them were taken around December/Christmas, but then I see months like October or even April hand written on them.

I live in the same town those pictures were taken in and it hardly ever snows here anymore, save for a couple days January. It snowed literally once this past winter, and it wasn't even enough to justify bringing my snow blower out to clear the walks because it melted within hours.

Yup. Growing up a white Christmas was a given to the extent that the song "dreaming of a white Christmas" made 0 sense to my child brain since of course there would be snow on Christmas! It wasn't unusual to have snow on or before Halloween and it would stay frozen till at least March, sometimes even later! I remember joking that it was really May showers that bring June flowers since it was still snowy in April!

The last few years it's been well into December before the first snow, and it's been a disgusting slushy mess that constantly melts and refreezes making everything a sheet of ice. Walking is dangerous, driving doubly so. We've had rain in January for Christ sake!

Not to mention the apocalyptic wildfires that blanket the entire region with pea soup smoke for days and weeks at a time making even going outside a struggle, let alone working in it

Yeah, I'm the Northern areas of the globe and weather has become so unpredictable. Flooding like we have never seen before, stronger storms, droughts. Heat and also more extreme cold when it gets cold. I heard thunder in Febryary this year at night, this is not something that has ever happened before on this latitude, it doesn't thunder in winter and yet it did this year.

The people better off have already bough their way out of the heat part by buying heat pumps. I have noticed how the middle class climate discourse has died down a lot after they got this solution. Meanwhile those of us in social or average rental housing are feeling it, in this country nothing is built for cooling. In the last few years I have become sort of scared of summer because getting older, post-covid and this weather don't mix. I am increasingly worried I can't deal with my work or sleep in the weather we can't escape from anymore. And still newspapers are running the happy beach picture heatwave stories.

The last 3 British Summers have been all over the place. We had the hottest on record last year. It's been nothing but rain and wind this time, other than a sunny week at the start.