Last weekend I saw the new movie Digger by the incredible, Oscar-winning Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu. It is a masterpiece with sharp, dark satire that frames the slow-motion tragedy of climate change through outright absurdity. I have never been a fan of Tom Cruise, but here he is marvelous and probably delivers the best performance of his career.

That same weekend, two hurricanes and a tropical storm pounded North America. It is worth highlighting that Isaias and Simon formed and matured into hurricanes at an alarming speed. This has been a record year for hurricanes in the Pacific. Although the region has always been subject to hurricanes, warmer sea temperatures caused by global warming fuel stronger, more damaging storms. Why? Because most of the heat absorbed by the planet due to greenhouse gases from fossil fuels ends up in the seas rather than the atmosphere. That could also be generating the super-strong El Niño we are seeing this year, which is another major factor driving hurricane formation.

I often find it challenging to effectively convey the urgency of climate change and the need to phase out fossil fuels. This lecture by Prof. Bill McGuire, delivered in June 2024, does an excellent job of communicating these critical points. Prof. McGuire is a volcanologist and Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London. He is also the author of Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide, a book I strongly recommend.