‘Unthinkable’ polar heatwaves show we are coming to the crunch over the climate crisis

Supercharged Antarctic and Arctic temperatures are yet more evidence we no time to lose on global warming, writes Harry Cockburn

Ice shelf in Greenland. The Arctic is warming 2-3 times faster than the rest of the world (REUTERS)

The established weather patterns which make our world function as it has done for millennia are breaking down with extraordinary speed.

The first serious warnings about global climate change were made in the second half of the 20th century – less than a single lifetime ago.

But with the pace of human existence as we know it, it is easy to forget that we are literally seeing the systems which have governed the world for millennia come undone in decades.