‘The heatwave was a wake up call’: readers on a year of climate change anxiety

Extract from The Guardian

Climate change

As we look back on a disastrous year readers describe the moments climate change hit home for them – and the action they are taking

• Visual guide: the human cost of 2018’s climate disasters

Guardian readers

Fri 21 Dec 2018 17.45 AEDT Last modified on Fri 21 Dec 2018 21.25 AEDT

Devastating California wildfires that killed at least 89 people and destroyed 19,000 homes and businesses prompted some readers to act. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

‘The extent and ferocity of the wildfires in California truly scared me’

This summer’s heatwave was a real wake-up call. I felt we were up against it and it was becoming real. Seeing British lawns the colour of dry hay for weeks, getting a heatstroke when vising Kew Gardens, and lastly the extent and ferocity of the wildfires in California truly scared me. I’ve joined Greenpeace. Catherine Laz, 56, London

‘I was shocked by the IPCC report saying we have 12 years’

The moment that did it for me was reading the IPCC report that said we have 12 years to reduce carbon emissions to keep global warming to a limit of 1.5 degrees, and that 2 degrees is the tipping point. Knowing that we are warming at an average of 0.2 degrees per decade is scary, and the projections of reaching 4 degrees by 2050 if business as usual is continued shocked me. I’ve been reading more about climate change and the hot summer of 2018 has definitely been an eye opener in demonstrating its huge impact. We have been fed the lies by governments and businesses that we can significantly reduce climate change by taking personal responsibility – such as recycling more and turning off lights – when really we need to be demanding government to tax carbon, divest from fossil fuel and invest in renewables. Amina Jahan Ali, 26, London

‘I had an uneasy feeling about the heatwave’

I’ve always thought I was reasonably aware of climate change so this summer I had a fairly uneasy feeling about the heatwave we were experiencing. In August I read the hot house earth article in the Guardian and had what can only be described as a mental breakdown. I had a week where I barely ate, drank or slept. It was like I was suddenly thrust into a different world. The thought of having brought children into a dying world was hugely distressing. I hid from the news for a week or two but then decided that this was making things worse so plunged into articles on the true state of the planet, and am doing what I can including going vegan and becoming a member of the Extinction Rebellion. Jennie Gibson, 34, Manchester

Temperatures hit record levels in India this summer. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA

‘Extreme heatwaves harm the poorest people’

What really made me take notice was the UN report this year and an article in the New York magazine, which said we basically now have the permission to freak out. I don’t think people realize how climate change is going to affect us – we’ve seen it in 2018 with extreme heatwaves in countries such as India. It makes me so mad to know that the really rich people in the world will probably escape death from this and the ordinary people are the ones who will suffer. It’s very frightening and unjust. I heard children in Australia were striking in schools for more action to be taken and hope this tactic is adopted by more people to demand appropriate action if it’s not being done. Margaret Lynch, 31, Ireland

‘The launch of Extinction Rebellion really brought it home’

Climate change has made me fearful before, but in 2018 I am thinking about it every day, and I am terrified that the lives my children might be living in a few years will be ones of desolation and suffering.

It was really brought home by the launch of Extinction Rebellion, which I discovered via George Monbiot. I still feel unsure about what I can actually do, beyond the micro-scale – avoiding plastic, driving and flying as little as possible, etc. In this country I’m not prepared to get myself arrested – but what, other than civil disobedience, will change the minds of the policymakers? Shari Daya, 40, Cape Town

‘This statistic walloped me, shocked me, and in fact frightened me beyond belief’

Fires in Northern California, where I live, were one of the main factors for me. Two years in a row, in addition to many lives lost and homes destroyed, we have had several days of choking, toxic smoke affecting millions and millions of people, including me and my loved ones. Last year the smoke lasted about 5 days; this year it was 12. Next year, will the smoke last for 20 days? A month? How much clean air will we have in Northern CA as the years go on? When my daughter becomes an adult, will she say “well, in my day at least we still did outside sports.”
Of course I had heard about climate change before, but I think I really thought it was mostly about sea-level rise, and I thought, “well, as long as I live more than a few feet above sea level, I’ll be okay.” But in this piece, a professor says “the odds of human civilization reaching the 22nd century are often estimated at no better than 50/50.” This statistic walloped me, shocked me, and in fact frightened me beyond belief. Among other things I have joined 350.org and attended the Climate March in San Francisco in 2018. Isobel White, 50, San Francisco Bay

Weather fronts dubbed Storm Emma and The Beast From The East combined to create freezing conditions that brought much of the UK to a standstill in March. Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Getty Images

‘The “Beast from the East” gave the message more relevance’

Having endured ex Hurricane Ophelia last year and the Beast from the East this year, the message did become more relevant than ever. My concern is that some remedies put forward raise legitimate concerns too. For example, the French riots show us that there is little democratic appetite in developed countries to implement the IPCC’s solution, which is to rapidly decarbonise our economies using carbon taxes as tools to ration fossil fuel consumption, while the coverage of the activities of Extinction Rebellion in the UK towards the end of the year shows that extreme measures are currently only being undertaken by relatively few. David, 50, Ireland

‘This year it really seemed to hit home in the developed countries’

I think I’d recognised it before and seen the effects, but this year it really seemed to hit home in the developed countries. People, the media and politics are starting to take notice – now we need to act. Aid agencies have been complicit in past downplaying of the threat – choosing not to emphasise climate as a clear diver and direct cause of emergencies for fear of alienating donors and supporters. This must change: we have to galvanise all elements of society and international politics and ensure we act. Much of the work I do as an aid worker is in response to climate change or the effects of climate change on politics and people – this isn’t just serious, it’s an existential threat that drives crises across the globe. People in the worst affected regions won’t stay where they are and we are woefully underprepared to deal with the consequences. David Wightwick

‘The changing political landscape prompted me’

I have been concerned about climate change for some time, but was prompted to be more actively involved this year due to the changing political landscape. No longer can we count on our governments alone to address the threat in a meaningful and comprehensive way. Democracy and societal good needs loud citizen voices now. Aside from supporting political parties that have policies to address climate change I have joined a local group working for a more locally sustainable society. Patricia Sutherland, Brockville, Canada