An aeroplane on its way from London to Singapore is cruising over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar when it violently lurches upwards and then immediately plummets downwards for half a second, falling 54 metres, then up again for four seconds, down, up, down, like a nightmarish airborne rollercoaster.
The incident lasts five seconds, but the impact is terrible. Passengers are projected into the air. Some are seen somersaulting through the cabin, slamming against the overhead bins, in a few cases with such sickening force their heads knock a dent in them. One man dies, dozens are injured. Later, it is explained that in incidents of extreme turbulence anything not secured – this includes passengers – will continue moving in the original direction while the plane takes a different course.
Clear air turbulence is the immediate explanation; the underlying cause is, of course, climate change. The signs, big and small, are everywhere: a drumbeat of dire warnings, terrifying headlines and, more often now, evidence we can see with our own eyes.
This week’s batch of alarming news includes reports from Delhi, where the temperature has risen above 50 degrees Celsius and hospitals have begun opening heat stroke wards. And reports from Antarctica, where the disconcertingly named “Doomsday Glacier” – twice the size of Ireland – is melting “faster than anticipated”. And from Japan, where a prolonged “earthquake storm” is attributed, probably, to climate change.
Then there are the signs we can see for ourselves.........