10,000 people a year could die as a result of heatwaves, MPs warn
According to a report from the Environmental Audit Committee, the increased frequency of extreme heat events could also cost the economy £60bn a year.
The committee's Conservative chair, Philip Dunne MP, urged the government to act, because "there is a lot of work that needs to be done"...
"We need a plan now.
"The longer we delay it, the more at risk we're going to be."
"We need a plan now," says Mr Dunne. No we don't. Any plan, even one backed by the most brainy MPs in the House of Commons is guaranteed to be well over 100% useless. Well over 100% useless because it will do more harm that good.
Delete the entire UK tomorrow and there will be no causal change to global temperatures. None, zero, nothing, not the smallest fraction of a degree.
They know that, we know that.
That's one way to send people rushing off to the coast.
They know that, we know that.
The report recommends the Met Office should name heatwaves in the same way as storms to help raise awareness of the threats.
8 comments:
We probably do need a plan. If 10k are going to die in the summer, then hospitals and undertakers need to prepare for that. The numbers of deaths will be down overall, though, as we will not lose as many elderly people to the cold in winter. We ought to plan a big party to celebrate that.
"According to a report from the Environmental Audit Committee, the increased frequency of extreme heat events could also cost the economy £60bn a year."
Plus this is also another instance of turning a useful concept into an object to be manipulated (and which is not susceptible to manipulation).
Just like Margaret Thatcher's insight that there is no such thing as 'Society' but just the activities of many individuals, you can also argue that the is no such thing as the 'Economy'.
There can be no 'cost to the economy', only changes in peoples' financial activity reflected by changes in financial statistics. You cannot stimulate the economy, only stimulate peoples' financial activities - and that distinction allows you to make clearer decisions.
The map is not the terrain - you can scrawl whatever you like on the map but the terrain will be unaffected.
Yes, we need a plan - one which starts with voting in politicians who are not liblabcongreen. Some who have provable business and people management skills would make a nice change, too. They can then get busy sorting out the wasters who inhabit the likes of the "civil" service and the "management" of the notional health service
I expect that being covered in blubber isn't particularly helpful in hot weather. It's about time more people took responsibility for their own health.
Sam - good point. "Climate change cuts winter deaths" ought to be a headline to celebrate.
DJ - yes, "cost the economy £60bn a year" is one of those claims which means nothing. Nobody will ever try to make it mean something by locating it on the terrain as well as the map. It will always be on the map, never the terrain. They may as well talk about the economy of Narnia.
Jannie - I agree, we need to vote for politicians who want to be much more than a politician, who want to prune the public sector and know how and where to do it.
Vatsmith - I agree and it isn't hard. The information is out there in abundance and the basics aren't at all difficult.
Change 'heatwaves' for 'cold snaps' and it means just the same thing. Some vulnerable people will die, the MPs will seek relevance
I wonder what the optimum temperature is for human survival? Given England or Greece, I know which one I'd pick
Bucko - yes, I think the optimum temperature is above what we experience. When winter comes I sometimes wonder how people originally survived here. Fire I suppose.
And animal skins probably, but it can't have been easy. England has no climate for living in during the winter
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