Is record breaking no longer cool?
Who remembers the TV show Record Breakers? A classic in my opinion. A show that celebrated being the ‘best’ at something. Doing something that had never been done before.
Whether that was playing the most instruments in one song or doing the world’s fastest tap dance. There seemed to be a period of our lives where breaking records was a clear measure of success.
But in recent years, we’ve all started to question whether breaking records is still a good thing at all.
Do we want to always be topping what happened before? Going one up on someone or something else? Is life really such a competition? Or do we actually just seek the status quo? Particularly when it comes to the health of our planet.
It’s been hard to avoid the influx of headlines about new records that are being broken.
July 2023 was the world’s hottest month on record
Whilst parts of the UK saw the wettest ever July
The average surface temperature of the world’s oceans has just hit its highest-ever level, reaching 20.96C last week.
The 2023 Canada wildfires emissions have already doubled the previous annual record.
To name just a few.
Our idea of ‘normal’ feels like it’s coming under threat. There hasn’t been a day go by in the last month or so without a story of extreme weather events or a shocking new climate statistic. But these aren’t just new stats to be aware of. Or interesting developments. Or journalistic hyperbole. This is the planet is ringing its alarm, and it’s a stark wake up call for many.
I was in Rome in July.
It hit 40 degrees by 10:44am.
I felt hot (of course), in disbelief and also felt pretty guilty for flying there in the first place. I felt part of the problem.
Was I shocked by the record temperatures I was seeing in the region? Yes.
Was experiencing them first hand a reality check? Absolutely.
This is perhaps our greatest challenge as we strive for 1.5C and to halt nature loss.
Do more people need to have a lived experience of our planet’s crises to feel compelled to act?
Are all of these records that are being smashed just tomorrow’s fish and chip paper? A momentary acknowledgment of something that’s happening somewhere else to someone else before being forgotten? When our weather patterns seem to go back to ‘normal’, will we all think the extremes of this summer were just a blip?
Let’s hope not.
Perhaps these inescapable stories from around the world of how our planet is hurting might actually help to heal it?
Because the more of us that know, are aware, have experienced and therefore understand what’s happening to our world, the more we can do to save it.
And believe it or not, in amongst these negative records, there are some amazing good news stories too.
Could balance and equilibrium be restored after all?
UNDP has deployed a record US$500m of Global Environment Facility Funds to fight against biodiversity loss.
Brazil Amazon deforestation has dropped by 34% in the last 6-months.
Renewable's share of total electricity generation reached a record 47.8 per cent in Quarter 1 2023.
The summer of 2023 might go down in history as the year we broke all climate & nature records. But wouldn’t it be good if it was also remembered as the catalyst to finally see us bending the curve in the right direction.
To start breaking records for all the right reasons again. At last.
