earth watch
Shall we stand idly by?
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 4 Sep 2026
Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here? Up and down my street, blinds are down and curtains drawn against the midday heat. Overnight, from bedroom windows, strangely alien aircon flues dangle. Parks and lawns are Sahel-brown, hosepipes are banned across the South [of England], and with warm, dry weather forecast for August, we’re all beginning to hope for a spot of rain. Maybe by the time you read this we’ll have had some.
This year is shaping up to be a record-breaker. In May, we had the hottest day ever recorded for the month, and then in June, the same again. Globally, June was the second-hottest on record, just slightly below record-holding 2024. And there’s an intense El Niño brewing in the Pacific that looks like it’s going to set yet more unwelcome records. Phew, what a scorcher.
earth watch
Thinking of our farmers
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 15 Jul 2026
As I write, England has recently sweltered under a record-smashing May heatwave, the culmination of a drier-than-usual spring.
Heather Oldfield, South Lincolnshire National Farmers Union County Chairman, showed Radio 4’s Farming Today her “stressed” winter wheat, and her “patchy” spring barley, and wonders whether she’ll even be planting a spring crop next year. Meanwhile, at Low Sizergh farm in Cumbria, panting cattle and sheep sought respite in the shade.
earth watch
Losing Nemo
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 7 Mar 2026
There’s really no good way to say this, but, the thing is: we’re losing Nemo.
Some of you – many, probably – will know Pixar/Disney’s (mostly) wonderful animated films. Bringing up our kids in the noughties, 2003’s Finding Nemo was one of our favourites. With 40 million copies sold, it’s the most popular DVD of all time, so we obviously weren’t alone! The adventures of Nemo the reef-dwelling clownfish, it’s a heartwarming tale of family, friendship and letting go that brings vividly to life the underwater world of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
A national briefing
The tail-end of last year saw over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, faith, culture, sport and the media gather at Westminster Central Hall for the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
Ten of the UK’s leading experts – including leading climate scientists at top British universities (Oxford, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Lancaster and UCL), many of them global leaders in their fields, and a former lieutenant-general in the British army – briefed them on the latest implications for health, food, national security and the economy. (You can find recordings of the event at www.nebriefing.org/) What, I wondered as I watched, might be an Evangelical response?