By Jeremy Miles
I’ve been experiencing a real sense of déjà vu during this endless spell of sweltering weather. Fifty years ago I was a young newspaper reporter discovering the challenges of working during what was then the hottest heatwave of the last century. It was both strange and memorable.In retrospect it was also rather shameful.
Day after day we’d run stories about soaring temperatures, the problems they were causing and the effect of such unprecedented weather on the local population.
Back then of course, despite years of warnings from scientists pointing out that industry and pollution would eventually cause catastrophic man-made changes to our climate. no one took a blind bit of notice.
For those voices were few and far between and had been roundly ignored for years. In fact it really wasn’t considered an issue at all. Least of all by hapless scribes on local newspapers and that of course included me.
As far as we knew the heatwave was just part of a freak summer, a meteorological anomaly. Like the rest of The Press we just wanted tittle-tattle and sensationalism with a pun or two thrown in for good measure. It sounds a bit hollow to say that we knew no better but it’s true.
Displaying what I now see as a spectacular level of stupidity, the world at large regarded the odd dire warning about the end of the world as baseless scaremongering and such utterances were neither noted nor listened to.
Instead we ignored the massive story that was staring us straight in the face and continued running around like headless chickens looking for something, anything new to say about the bloody heatwave
Within weeks the UK’s newspapers were at their collective wit’s end looking for a new angle. The trusty old Phew! What a Scorcher headline, so beloved of the tabloid hacks of the era, had been used to death. Endless health warnings were becoming repetitive and the once novel sounding advice to Save Water, Bath With a Friend didn’t even raise a smile anymore.
One day, as much in desperation as hope. my news editor sent me out with a photographer with instructions to fry an egg on a pavement. Now if you happen to be tempted to give it a go, I can tell you, don’t bother, all you end up with is a gloopy half-congealed mess.
The search for something new to say continued. Some reporters fared better than others. Various bright idea were explored generally with little impact pt consequence. But occasionally those ideas backfired. I particularly remember one that almost cost my friend Charlie his job.
Always a bit of a chancer, Charlie was working for one of the London Red Tops at the time nand not doing well. He spent more time in the pub than the office and was regarded as a useless liability by his news editor.Determined to prove otherwise he came up with what he was convinced was a wizard idea.
With the help of a few friends he found a man working in an Asian restaurant somewhere near Brick Lane who for ‘a small consideration’ was prepared to dress up as a ‘Mystical Eastern Swami’ who had flown in specially to perform an ancient rain dance ritual.
Photographs were taken and duly appeared with a cheery caption story in the next day’s paper. Unfortunately for Charlie within hours of the paper hitting the streets, the heavens opened for the first time in weeks. Immediately the newsdesk was demanding that Charlie go and find his Swami and do a follow up story.
The trouble was the guy in question was as astonished as everyone else. Not only did he know nothing about rain dances but he’d never been furthest east than Southend.
Charlie was left to unconvincingly explain to his bosses that not only had the Swami returned to a remote holy site in India but unfortunately his notebook with all the necessary contact and background information in it had been stolen. Guess what?He didn’t hang on to that job for very long after that.
All of which is of little importance but it is astonishing that half a century later, after years of extreme weather events, countless further warnings and solid evidence that we should have taken action years ago, very little has changed.
We may be taking it all slightly more seriously this time but there are still far too many climate change deniers and millions who consider it all t0 be someone else’s problem.
I won’t be here in another 50 years but I really hope that Planet Earth somehow manages to survive our best attempts to destroy it.
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