Snow in Suffolk weather

Editorial by Andrew Cates, CEO of SOS Children UK

A few minutes ago the Met Office website was saying that we would be getting more snow here in the South East tonight, 5 to 10cm more apparently. We still have several inches of snow on the ground from the snow today and slush will be freezing overnight. Tomorrow will be a good day to stay at home, which perhaps on a Saturday will be possible. Of course people will be inconvenienced by snow. At the same time the snow is very beautiful (I took this photo this morning) and great fun for children. Some freezing weather is important for the garden and for preserving the balance of pest and plant. We do not have very much snow in Suffolk in an average year and we enjoy what we get.

While I was on the Met Office website I took a look at the Climate Change predictions for the next 50 years and caught news from the Copenhagen summit. President Obama has declared a meaningful breakthrough but sadly it looks like the "high emission scenario" is the most likely outcome. Will it be a problem here? Maybe not. A few degrees warmer in the summer with a similar level of precipitation. Less snow in the winter, a different balance of plants needed, perhaps the rhubarb won't get enough cold and we will get continental style hornets. But elsewhere in the world people who live closer to the edge will not  find it so easy. Flooding and drought will cause more disasters and no doubt that SOS Children will be first there as usual to help when these strike. 

Can we really believe that the energy we use to heat our homes, drive and fly abroad on holiday are having a real impact on other people's lives on the other side of the world? Is heating my home really making the planet warmer, or does it seem too surreal? I guess no odder than that is that with a few key strokes and a direct debit set up on line we can each have a very positive effect on the life of a child on the other side of the world via a child sponsorship. It is a small and interconnected world we live in and we cannot continue to think only of ourselves.