People still in denial over climate change despite all the evidence

THE news from Hawaii this past week has been nothing short of terrible as the massive scale of utter devastation has become evident to the outside world. At the time of writing, there are 96 confirmed deaths from the wildfires that ravaged the island of Maui but, reportedly, hundreds of others are still missing.

This disaster is being called the worst in the history of Hawaii and the deadliest fire in the US in more than a century. The country is now facing its biggest ever challenge, with the extent of the destruction and personal loss beyond imagination. It is said that the wildfires were caused by a unique combination of hurricane force winds and fire sparks that swiftly spread out of control following a severe drought.

Inevitably, this horrible, heartbreaking tragedy leads people to think once again about what is happening to the weather worldwide. So it might be worth looking briefly at this issue today and, in particular, considering why many choose to ignore it or deny there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Whatever view people may take about the existence of climate change and global warming, even sceptics will surely accept that the climate around the world has been changing in recent years to the extent that there are more frequent and intense extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts, hurricanes and storms producing increased rainfall. It is claimed that rising global temperatures and changes in weather patterns are causing such an increase in these extreme weather events that can cause flooding and wildfires.

According to reports, all seven of the Earth’s continents have experienced extreme weather conditions recently. These, with new precipitation patterns, have become more common but unpredictable.

The World Meteorological Organization says that dangerous weather - intense heat and excessive rainfallhas impacted large parts of the Northern Hemisphere in this current summer of extremes, with soaring temperatures and autumn-like storms igniting wildfires and causing severe flooding in countries in Europe - too many to mention - as well as in Africa and elsewhere.

The US has experienced extreme heat this year, and China and India are suffering right now together with, last year, countries like Pakistan, one third of which was under water from flash flooding – and Somalia in the Horn of Africa where millions were pushed close to starvation as a result of a severe drought.

So, despite the deniers, the evidence is that climate change is a very serious threat and its consequences are far reaching.

The debate is about what, if anything, can be done to counter its effects and, in particular, reduce global warming by limiting the carbon dioxide emitted by human beings.

In 1988, the United Nations set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Its purpose is to provide regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change and its impacts and future risks as well as options for adaptation and mitigation.

As a brief summary of a layman’s understanding of a complex issue, the IPCC considers that, after the world has already reached an increase of 1.1 degrees above pre-industrial levels following more than a century of burning fossil fuels, there is a roughly fifty per cent chance that global temperatures will reach 1.5