Strangely Warmed

A few days ago, when the canal system failed (a 'once in 50 years' occurrence, according to Government spokespeople), the first thing I thought of was the 'global warming' phenomenon. It's instructive to take a careful look at the long view.

Yes, it's been getting warmer and more watery of late. Should you be concerned?

The answer is clearly 'yes'. But can we do anything about it?

The answer is clearly 'yes' — but here, we don't actually know what can be done in practice, and what the ultimate effect will be. It's probably the greatest game-changer of all, as far as human life for the next few decades or centuries is concerned. The problem is that the problem is too complicated for simple explication. We can't teach it in schools with any degree of the required nuance. We can only use extreme positions. It's all very unsatisfactory.

It is a strange new world we live in, that has such people in it. Misquoting the Bard helps, I suppose.