After years of complaining about cold rainy summer days, it seems that 2006 has finally given the British something new to moan about—the heat.
Last year temperatures in the UK rose to their highest since 1659. It was when this became apparent that the issue of climate change finally stopped being a matter for public scepticism.
Starting from the Gleneagles summit at the end of 2005, the issue has risen steadily to top the political agenda throughout 2006. Britain's green revolution went from the preposterous posturing of politicians in the Spring, to the dire auguries of the Stern Review in Autumn.
The review warned that we have just ten years before we reach the 'tipping point'—where we are no longer able to avert an ecological apocalypse. Blair warned that disaster was "not set to happen in some science-fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime" adding that there was "nothing more serious, more urgent".
Stern warned that temperatures were set to rise 5°C by the end of the century, triggering a global cataclysm that could displace some 200 million people. The report put paid to the economic argument that dealing with climate change would be too costly; warning that the losses in the long term would outweigh short-term advantages.
Despite this, Chancellor Gordon Brown drew criticism for his subsequent pre-budget report, which was shy of imposing appropriate tax on fuel and aviation. The response from the public stood in telling contrast to the protests against fuel duty in 2000.
The change in attitudes may be attributed in part to the actions of high-profile figures, not least of all those of fresh-faced new Conservative leader David Cameron. In 2006 Cameron rode a dog-sleigh to visit melting glaciers in the North Pole, applied to install a wind turbine on the roof of his home, and test-drove a G-Wiz electric car.
He was also photographed cycling to work, but it was later revealed that his shoes and briefcase accompanied him in a chauffeur driven car. Despite this, Cameron can be grudgingly credited with forging the kind of organic food, Notting Hill lifestyle that everyone derides but secretly aspires to.
According to a recent survey, Britons are trying harder than ever to reduce their carbon footprint with 53 per cent making a conscious effort to turn off lights, and 55 per cent claiming to recycle house-hold waste.
Despite Blair's oblique warning over climate change, the government have been blasted for clocking up 6.5 million air miles in 2005-2006, producing nearly 1,000 tonnes of CO2. Put simply, this works out roughly the same as flying to the moon and back 14 times.
Moreover Gordon Brown failed to live up to his promise to swap his Vauxhall Omega, with one of the greenest cars on the market, the hybrid Toyota Prius.
Likewise the You Gov survey found that only one in ten Britons had cut down on car use to reduce emissions. Dismally, just two per cent of respondents said that they had reduced flying because it is damaging to the environment.
At present, the outlook is bleak. The level of carbon dioxide in the air, together with its equivalent, is now at 430 ppm (parts per million). Therefore we are already on dangerous ground, having passed the safety threshold of 400ppm; if levels reach 550ppm, we can expect the world to be a less hospitable place.
Unfortunately, aviation is perhaps the single greatest contributor to global warming, and sadly until attitudes shift toward low cost travel we are unlikely to see change in government policy.
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