Luckily we've never fancied Greece so we didn't book a holiday in Rhodes. Those vacationers who happened to be there when the wildfires broke out must have been tearing their hair out and wondering what was coming next. Hotels burning down, luggage lost, flights cancelled, bedding down who-knows-where. Dream holidays in ruins.
Meanwhile those holiday-makers who've booked a stay in Rhodes some time in the future are wondering if it will ever happen. Every day they ask the same questions. What's the latest? Are the fires still burning? Are our flights still on? Does our hotel still exist? They're left in an uncertain limbo.
Not forgetting of course the distressed residents of Rhodes themselves, who're seeing their homes and businesses burnt to the ground and tourists keeping well away. They can't just jet back to their home country, they have to adjust to what's going on around them.
To cut down on flight pollution, we decided on staycations this year rather than anything more ambitious. We're glad we did. We've booked a stay in Liverpool in a few weeks' time. This being the UK we can be sure temperatures will not hit the mid-forties celcius. We'll be lucky if they reach the twenties.
We were in Melbourne once when the temperature hit 40 celcius, and doing anything in that heat was almost unbearable. Anything higher than that would have been pretty gruelling.
Not just Rhodes as you know Nick, but the whole planet is spiralling. So many millions homeless or starving. I don't want to look at the news but I'm drawn to it like a trainwreck. When will they suspend fossil fuel emissions indefinitely? There will be nothing left. Or maybe billionaires in luxurious underground shelters?
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Even those billionaires will have a hard time finding food if this prediction happens.
DeleteLinda
www: Indeed, global temperatures are steadily rising. Not everywhere though - Belfast is just 16C right now. I don't think even the billionaires would survive very long. How would they replenish their supplies?
DeleteLinda: They certainly will. They couldn't just pop round to Sainsbury's. And who would deliver their food? Or would they become hunter-gatherers (that's assuming there are any animals left)?
DeleteI’ve not been abroad since 2001 - Ibiza, and the weather wasn’t fantastic.
ReplyDeleteChilly here in Devon as well, but grateful that we are on the cool side of the jet stream. I found 2022 a little bit too much! Maybe more people will want to come to the UK to cool down!
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Ms Scarlet: It's predicted that the gulf stream will disappear and we'll end up as cold as Canada. On the other hand maybe we'll get some of those European heat-waves.
DeleteGuys: Massive dry goods storage, off the grid for their freezers, greenhouses and seeds and chickens, etc. Kinda lonely though. *grin* But I'm absolutely certain they are all prepared. Superior to us peasants doncha know.
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www: If they're off the grid, how will they power all their electrical appliances? And how do they fuel whatever heating system they're planning? There'll be all sorts of things they haven't thought of.
DeleteSolar and wind. And regenerating H20, I've seen docs on it but hugely expensive. They're own climate system. Self contained. I'll exit ungracefully stage left now.
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www: There are bound to be things they haven't allowed for. Essential things.
DeleteGreece has become a very popular destination for those in the States. I do feel bad for those whose ‘vacation of a lifetime’ is ruined, but the ones living there are now In dire circumstances.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: They are. And once the wildfires are put out, the journos will forget about Rhodes and zoom off to the latest hot story.
DeleteNick, I worry for the autochthonous much more than for the complaining tourists who come home and will not have existential problems like those who lost their homes and find themselves without nothing.
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Hannah: Me too. Lots of islanders will have to virtually rebuild their life after losing everything they possessed.
DeleteI saw the wildfires all over Twitter the last couple of days which is really sad. I haven't taken a real vacation in years, the last time I went anywhere I went with my husband and daughter to New Jersey to see his family... Never again. I'd rather stay home and be comfortable a staycation sounds fine to me.
ReplyDeleteMary: Travelling is becoming a hazardous business. You can never be sure your holiday will take place as planned, given all the things that can go wrong nowadays.
DeleteI'm more worried about the locals and the wildlife involved.....the tourists will, no doubt, claim on their insurance.
ReplyDeleteFly: Insurance companies are pulling all sorts of tricks to avoid paying out. But yes, the locals and wildlife are facing a very hard time trying to recover from this catastrophe.
DeleteAnd our poor, disintegrating prime minister is losing his grip enough to actually make things worse by handing out those drilling licenses which his own government researchers have concluded is a terrible idea.
ReplyDeleteJenny: And Keir Starmer says a Labour government wouldn't revoke the licences.
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