Kelly's World | Sun too hot B!

So maybe there’s something to this global warming business after all.

Unless you’ve been under a rock (which would not have been a bad spot actually), I’m pretty certain that you’ve heard about and physically felt the heatwave currently hitting Jamaica.

Let’s be honest, this sun nuh normal! Last Sunday (June 23) I was trying to take a nap at home and trust me, it didn’t go well.

I had to first find a section of the bed that was cooler than the rest. Then I had to make sure I didn’t drown in my own sweat.

Thankfully, in my section of rural St Andrew, we did have some breeze.

So I more than spare a few thoughts for my brethren and relatives who live in Portmore.

I’m pretty certain that dependent on the type of roof some persons have, they may actually get cooked alive in their own homes. That would make the headlines across the globe for sure.

HOTTEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE

By the way, when news came that Saturday, June 22 saw the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Kingston (39 and 39.1 degrees Celsius), I was surprised.

I guess it’s because I spent a good portion of the day indoors. But from what little time I spent outside, I guess I was lucky. I got sensitive skin.

Someone told me last week that pretty soon we won’t need stoves and microwaves to cook our food.

Think about it. With the heat being what is, we might only need to prepare our fish, for instance, with the right herbs and spices, wrap it in the aluminium foil, and lay it out for the sun to go to work.

It would bring down our energy bill considerably (no electric stove, no microwave), but the liquefied gas suppliers might not be so accommodating.

Thing is, despite the forecasts of things getting even hotter, and global temperatures projected to go higher, there are still doubters about climate change.

CHANGING TERMINOLOGIES

To be fair, the ‘weather talk’ does seem to change rhetoric every few years.

Remember when all the discussion was about El Niño and La Nina? Quick reminder, they are the warm and cool phases, respectively, of a recurring climate pattern across the tropical Pacific.

But over time, we seem to have forgot about them.

Terms like global warming and climate change have been used almost interchangeably over the last few years.

At the risk of sounding like a naysayer, I wonder what terminology we’ll be using in the next five years.

But the fact is we are seeing stronger storms and other weather systems all across the globe.

However, where environmentalists and sceptics will disagree is what’s causing all these weather records to be broken.

Obviously, some will point to air pollution, greenhouse gases and all that environmental jazz.

But I know some people who believe that all we’re seeing is Mother Nature correcting the balance, and that for future generations, things will be as green as they were ages ago.

I don’t know, but all I know is, if you don’t have to go outside, don’t! Sun too hot B!

Link me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com.