Pointless Patio Heaters

One of the worst ways to waste energy and add to the problem of global warming is to heat the air outside using patio heaters. If we’re going to get serious about global warming, then we have to stop this infernal practice. That’s why the Camden Sustainability Task Force has recommended that the Council do everything in its power to persuade pubs, restaurants and residents not to use patio heaters.

We probably have maximum ten years to stabilise our carbon emissions and keep global warming to under 2ºC. If we don’t, then the sort of weather extremes we have all noticed (the hottest April on record, the wettest June on record, the worst flooding in July on record etc) will get worse and worse. Drought combined with savage storms will mean crops will fail in many parts of the world and our supermarkets will struggle to supply us with fresh food. Worse, those in affected areas will start migrating in their millions. We may think that a slightly sunnier UK would be a good thing, but for those displaced from Africa, southern Europe and beyond the UK will seem like an oasis. And make no mistake – they will try to come here.

It’s not a dream, it’s not a Great Climate Change Swindle – it’s happening. Look at the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf . Not one serious climate change scientist anywhere in the world disagrees – the planet is heating up faster than ever before and we’re the problem. If we don’t stop the warming at 2ºC, then the Earth will start throwing in its own punishments which we will be unable to stop. The Amazon rainforest - the world’s largest absorber of greenhouse gases - will burn up. The Siberian tundra will melt releasing vast quantities of the greenhouse gas methane. The highly toxic gas hydrogen sulphide will rise from the bottom of our seas because of warming waters and kill coastal communities in their sleep. The North Pole is probably already doomed but Antarctica could melt as well provoking sea level rises that would turn Oxford into a seaside town.

We are part of the problem but we can be part of the solution too. We have to change as individuals, as communities, as institutions, as businesses, as countries and as a planet. We can do it and must do it. For our children and our children’s children. Patio heaters are not part of the solution.