Writing about climate research has revealed a generation gap
within my own family, made obvious this weekend by wine-fuelled
dinner-table debates. Visiting my nearest and dearest over the
Easter national holiday for the first time since I started
Simple Climate, they grilled me on the research I’ve covered. In
the UK daffodils are often associated with spring and Easter,
but have been late to appear this year thanks to an especially
cold winter. Both my parents and my girlfriend’s strongly
dislike the cold. Therefore, like so many people across Europe
and the US, they currently find it hard to accept that the world
is warming overall. However, when I pointed out that climate
researchers assess average temperatures across the planet, my
stepmum did recall her friends in Australia complaining about
January to March being exceptionally warm. Simple Climate has
published graphs over the past three months showing how
temperatures have risen over the past decade – with 2009 being
the second warmest on NASA’s record