Some may still remember the infamous summer of 1976, when for 24 days the UK baked in temperatures exceeding 30C, harvests failed and food prices soared. The summer of 2026 has already surpassed that record number of days exceeding temperatures of 30C from 50 years ago. What was once something of a rarity that might occur once in a generation has now become a regular event. Temperatures for 2015-2024 have been on average 1.2C warmer than the 1961-1990 average, and in 2022 the UK first recorded an instance of 40C.

Heat Deaths and Wildfires

Beyond inconveniences like getting accidentally sunburned or sweating excessively, the impact of this current heatwave has already contributed to the deaths of thousands of the most vulnerable in the UK. The Met Office has reported approximately 2,700 excess deaths across England and Wales in May and June alone. Heat deaths can affect anyone, but it’s particularly those aged 65 and above, or those with underlying health conditions, who are at risk. What compounds this effect, is that individuals within the most deprived areas are also likely to be affected the most. Whether it’s extreme heat or extreme cold, adverse weather conditions take their toll on those experiencing fuel poverty, living in ill-equipped housing, or struggling to access healthcare and support.

Another consequence of record-breaking heatwaves is of course wildfires. Fire and rescue services in England and Wales have responded to over 200 wildfire incidents over just two weeks in July, and, at the time of writing, the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland is still burning. Hundreds of people have been evacuated as a result, but the damage and loss of life extends to our surrounding environment and wildlife as well. Many of these fires have been occurring in already sensitive areas (the Cairngorms, for example, contain 25% of the UK’s endangered species).

The situation is even more extreme on the continent, with record temperatures of more than 40C being reached in multiple countries, and vast wildfires in France and Spain forcing over 300,000 people to evacuate.

No Capitalist Solution in Sight

The UK state has done very little when it comes to programmes or systems to help those struggling with the heat, beyond simple advice like drink more water and stay indoors (not an easy thing to do when you have to work!).

The response has been hardly any better at the global level. The COP30 conference in 2025 proclaimed that they intend to keep the 1.5C goal alive, but a 2024 UN Emission Gap Report found that current policies mean temperatures could rise as high as 3.1C by 2100, and even if pledges are adhered to, which they historically have not, then warming will still likely exceed 2.6C. The consequences for life on earth would be catastrophic. Despite all this, the phasing out of fossil fuels was dropped from the agenda during COP30 in light of opposition from oil producing nations. Clearly, as long as humanity is divided by competition between rival capitalist states, coming up with real global solutions to global problems is off the table.

And let’s not forget another aspect of the puzzle. Imperialist wars, like those currently raging in Ukraine or the Middle East, are making the problem much worse. The production of weapons, as well as their actual use, contributes massively to greenhouse gas emissions. Wars poison our bodies, our land and waters, for generations. And to make matters worse, the new AI arms race depends on servers that produce toxic waste, and data centres which require massive amounts of water consumption for cooling.

So, what can be done? It is understandably a bleak and depressing situation. The world stands on the precipice of generalised war, ecological collapse and suffering for all, yet the politicians, bosses and the rich seem fine with that. Under such circumstances, it remains up to the international working class to save the planet from a capitalist system that leads us towards self-destruction.

The above article is taken from the current edition (No. 76) of Aurora, bulletin of the Communist Workers’ Organisation.