Heatwaves show that the climate crisis is not a distant threat - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Nicholas Knox, Langley Park, Durham.

This year’s five heatwaves have made one thing clear: the climate crisis isn’t a distant threat - it is baking our homes, our gardens and farmers' fields and threatening our health right now.

Many people in England have suffered sweltering temperatures and we will be impacted through higher food prices. Farmers have warned that we could face shortages of certain foodstuffs, for example, as our farms face drought conditions for the third year in the last five. To make matters even harder for farmers, in one of the other two years they faced damaging floods, all attributable to climate change brought about by the burning of fossil fuels.

While millions sweat through unliveable conditions, Shell reported a second-quarter profit of £7.34bn last week. That works out to £56,013 per minute. Shell makes more money in one minute than most people make in an entire year - all while continuing to expand oil and gas projects. BP has also just announced profits which have surged to a 4 year high of £4.26bn between April and June, which is more than double the same period last year

We have seen wild fires burning out of control - not just in France and Spain, but even in Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, on Arthur's Seat in central Edinburgh and in the Cairngorms. People have had to be evacuated from their homes and wildlife has been killed. It is anticipated that it will take decades for some places to recover.

We have a real opportunity to choose a different path. With a new Prime Minister in office, now is the time for the Government to back the clean, renewable energy that will cut emissions, lower bills, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

I call on all MPs who care about our future to support policies that accelerate the UK's transition to renewable energy rather than allowing continued expansion of oil and gas.

The decisions made today will shape the future our communities live with for decades. I hope our Government chooses to invest in the solutions we know work. I hope that our Government chooses to invest in the solutions we know work.