Hothouse Earth: an inhabitant's guide

30 March 2023, 6.30-pm. St Philips Church Centre, Mill Road, Cambridge. Booking (and directions) at Eventbrite here

Bill McGuire talks about the magnitude of the climate emergency facing us and what we can do about this, based on his latest book Hothouse Earth. Cambridge is located in one of the most vulnerable parts of the UK - its hottest, most low-lying, and most drought prone region - and yet those who govern us, invest in and plan for the area fail to address this.

As Bill writes: "We inhabit a planet in peril. Our once temperate world is locked on course to become a hothouse entirely of our own making. The absence of any meaningful progress at COP26 and COP27 on cutting emissions, means acknowledging that it is now practically impossible to keep this side of the 1.5°C dangerous climate change guardrail. The upshot is that we can no longer sidestep the arrival of disastrous, all-pervasive, climate breakdown that will come as a hammer blow to global society and economy. The sort of world our children will grow old in, and our grandchildren grow up in, we catch only glimpses of in today's blistering heatwaves, calamitous wildfires and ruinous floods and droughts. The reality will be far, far, worse. Bleak though it is, this is picture we must all face up to, if only to spur genuine action – even at this late stage - to stop a harrowing future becoming a truly cataclysmic one." Following Bill's talk, we can discuss what needs to be done - and what we can do - locally and regionally to stop the cataclysm.