It's time to take catastrophic risks seriously

July 5, 2026

Julian Cribb cites the UN’s Scientific Advisory body that warns of accelerating loss of polar ice, pushing oceans up by metres over decades to come; global loss of coral reefs and the communities that depend on them; conversion of Amazonian rainforest to dryland savannah; and collapse of deep-water ocean currents, with vast impacts on climate, weather and global temperatures.

I thought of the latter (collapse of Gulf Stream/AMOC) last week as Europe sweltered in an unprecedented heatwave. Should these ‘overturning currents’ collapse, Europe will be plunged into another extreme, but a freezing one this time. Like the other crises, it will create millions of refugees.

And yet no-one seems to care. On the contrary, it’s all bread and circuses at the moment. Look at the fervour surrounding the World Cup. I am as much a sports fan as anyone, but preoccupation with sport, at a time when we face so many existential crises, is bewildering. Don’t people know? Why is our media not more focused on the coming catastrophe? How can people react appropriately if they don’t know? The exception are TV weathermen who do educate the public about climate change and Super El Nino. My thanks go to them.