Climate Change: In London, as students, what does it mean and why should I care?
- Apr 22
- 8 min read
By Paris King
Climate change matters because it is already reshaping our education, our city and emotional landscape.
Why a voice matters
The topic of “Climate Change” has swung around news, media and tv for the greater part of the early 21st century. Since the early activism of Greta Thunberg, in classrooms and out, language of change, emergency, breakdown and crisis have reverberated through environmental discussion, both in the private and in public. In 2018, following Greta Thunberg's global “School Strike for Climate” movement (or “Fridays for Future”) one could hardly speak of something as simple as the weather without a small protest to the melting ice caps in Antarctica. Nor could you, in my school at least, litter without some small rebutting plea to the defence of sea creatures, satiated with plastic, across the seas. At that point environmental crisis seemed a great concern for masses of young people but, life goes on. It gets busy and large, and climate crisis becomes but another item on a list of global and personal concerns and so, the climate loses its spotlight.
Conversation surrounding climate change now has fallen into passivity. It is something that cannot be changed or fought against directly by those with little power. Speaking to other students across London I have found the climate issue is considered a problem that is far from home; That there are worries closer to home that are more important and what comes first for them is them. Their family, their neighbourhood, their street. Others vocalised that the word alone, the whispers of climate change, induces them into a state of moral panic and worry, forcing them to detach from the conversation in a kind act of self-preservation. This issue becomes prophecy waiting to be felt, waiting to fall upon our doorsteps.
This sense of powerlessness has been absorbed into our culture. In Film and Tv, Netflix’s (2021) Don’t Look Up that explores the arbitrary treatment scientific voices in face of the breakdown of society; Additionally the rising popularity of apocalypse genre franchises seen in the resurgence of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s (2025) 28 Years Later set in an idealised pre-industrial landscape; Or, Denis Villeneuve (2021-2026) Dune franchise that explores human adaptability through environmental tragedies like extreme drought.
It is seen in the voice of magazines. In popular Media, the i-D column records advice for the generation of tomorrow in a world full of “the most incredible levels of stress, inequality, environmental destruction and threats to world peace.” The global voice of cynicism, quoting Jeremy Corbyn, Hasan Piker, Nicola Coughlan, Sexyy Red, Alexa Chung, Keith McNally, Princess Julia, Diane Abbott, Adut Akech, Mindy Seu and more – even including the voice of ChatGPT- comes to mind. SARA MCALPINE & DOUGLAS GREENWOOD “Advice for generation Beta, With Love From i-D” September 8, 2025.
Through a fashion editorial lens, Peng Chang’s “Heat Wave,” photographed by Zhong Lin for Vogue Taiwan (January 2022), confronts climate change and overpopulation by drawing attention to Taipei’s polluted waters. By collapsing fantasy and reality, the work foregrounds the inescapable and destructive human impact on wildlife.
So what? As a culture, we have not stopped thinking about the end of the world nor, the legacy of climate change. These examples are to name but a few from the top of my head.
From 2021-2026, much of our media has been framed through narratives of collapse, extinction and irreversible damage; Defined by hopelessness and a total lack of agency. These representations are not complete fantasy or fiction; they reflect
real scientific warnings and very human concerns and fears. But they often position the future as already lost. And in doing so, they risk replacing urgency with fatalism.
But there is a hope for the future. We are not yet beyond the point of intervention. Framing climate change solely as an inevitable end obscures the reality that political will, public pressure, and collective behaviour can shape the future. The difference between crisis and catastrophe lies in response. A collective voice generates recognition. Public opinion transforms abstract data into shared experience. When climate change is spoken about openly, in classrooms, publications, creative work, and policy debates, it moves from the background anxiety to acknowledged priority; no longer a prophecy waiting to be felt. Hope, in this context, is not naïve optimism; it is a strategic necessity. Without it, engagement collapses into avoidance.
Before we imagine the end, we must clarify the present. What is climate change? What are its mechanisms? And why does it demand our attention now?
What is Climate Change? What are we doing about it?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in global temperatures and weather patterns. While such changes can occur naturally, through volcanic eruptions or variations in solar activity, the current rate of warming is primarily driven by human activity. Since the nineteenth century, industrialisation and urbanisation have accelerated this process through the widespread burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.
These fuels power modern life, but they also release greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), which trap heat in the atmosphere (United Nations, Climate Action, n.d.). By increasing the concentration of these gases, human activity is intensifying the natural greenhouse effect, causing the planet to warm at an unprecedented pace. The challenge, therefore, is not simply to acknowledge climate change, but to reduce the emissions driving it, to lessen the heat we continue to trap within our own atmosphere. (Brian Cox, 2025)
Since the 2010’s there has been some initiative, some hope, some meaningful dream, to reduce our collective carbon footprint. The Paris Agreement (2015) recognises that climate change is a global emergency which demands “international cooperation and coordinated solutions at all levels.” (United Nations, The Paris Agreement, 2015) In this agreement world leaders took on long-term goals to the reduce global greenhouse gas emissions; to periodically asses the collective progress towards achieving said agreement; and, to provide finance and aid to developing countries to mitigate climate change and support adaptation to climate impacts. (United Nations, The Paris Agreement, n.d.)
Nationally, the UK plans to reach “net zero” by 2050. This promises that the total of greenhouse gas emissions would return to pre-industrial levels to limit global warming and change through the “Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan.” (House of Commons (2025) The UK’s Plans and Progress to Reach Net Zero by 2050)
However, climate plans and political promises continue to fall short. In fact, Greta Thunberg’s school strikes emerged as a response to the lack of meaningful action following the Paris Agreement as many UN member states failed to meet their emissions targets. The gap between commitment and implementation remains stark. Greenhouse gas emissions are not accidental anomalies; they are manufactured and embedded within the systems that sustain contemporary life: agriculture, energy production, transport, industry, buildings, and land use (United Nations, Climate Action). Energy, in particular, is foundational. It powers food production and global trade, heats homes, charges devices, and fuels transportation. In short, our current standard of living is dependent on fossil-fuels.
This structural reliance makes change complex, politically contested, and often slow. That is the broader picture of climate change. But why should it matter specifically to students?
Global Warming: A problem that is far from home:
Global Warming means an instability of extremes across different forecasts. A hotter, atmosphere can hold more moisture, like a sponge holds water. As global temperatures rise,
the air absorbs more water vapour. When that moisture is released, rainfall becomes heavier and more intense-- the water from the sponge all released at once. (Newcastle University, 2026; BBC, Brian Cox, 2024). Whilst the distance between London and climate change may seem vast, it is not. With an understanding of our sponge-like atmosphere, the consistent rain fall from January to February this year is felt differently. Not every grey afternoon in London is evidence of climate collapse but, climate scientists have consistently shown that rising global temperatures increase the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the UK. The UK Met Office data shows that between 2023 and 2024 the UK saw a 9% increase of rainfall from the 1980s. (Newcastle University, 2026) These shifting patterns evidence the impact of climate change. When weeks of persistent downpour stretch from January to February, it no longer feels like “just British weather” because it reflects a shifting climate pattern.
This affects each student at Queen Mary’s University of London (QMUL). As each day trudges on with the outcry from the skies, the classrooms get quieter, they grow smaller. Motivation falls with the rain and no doubt with our comfort— Why go out into the rain when I could stay inside? Why should I allow the cold to seep through my bones and the damp into my clothes, when I could stay home and catch up online? If this is not an ideology that affects you, I no doubt believe it affects someone that has disappeared from your seminar room. Academic performance is impacted by weather significantly (Ivan Carlo Alberto et al. 2021). This research exemplifies one example of how climate change is already reshaping our education, our city and emotional landscape.
QMUL is a global institution which holds a proud global identity this is marked by a cohort of students from over 170 countries all collaborating, studying, and living in one place. Our international diversity means that this is an issue that affects everyone. Some of us, or someone we know, will have families in climate-vulnerable regions impacted by heatwaves, flooding, crop loss. As students preparing to enter an interconnected global workforce, we cannot separate our future from these global consequences. The diverse identity of our school populus means we have a moral responsibility to act and amplify global perspectives through conversation, to model the international cooperation that is falling short of The Paris Agreement (2015). A unified student voice on climate change reflects the global collaboration needed to address the crisis.
Why should I care as a student?
Students should care because we all once did. In 2019 climate strikes across the UK proved the effect of a passionate and caring united student voice:
In London alone, over 100,000 students marched.
In Edinburgh, more than 20,000.
In Brighton, 10,000.
Across the UK, 200 events were organised by young people who believed the mattered. (BBC News, 2019)
This gave a massive platform to this issue of climate change and the impact of human activity. I don’t think that voice is lost. I think its hidden somewhere underneath all the other things that come with growing up. But, if we stop talking about the climate breakdown, it remains in a place of passivity and international agreements, like The Paris Agreement (2015), struggle to move.
People and movements to look out for and follow:
• Fashion Creators: Gina Corrieri Sustainability and fashion
• Consumption and Shopping habits: The rise in vintage shopping and reselling amongst young people and in popular culture. Think, Vinted and Depop or the rising popularity of Nordic Poetry and a shared affection to slow fashion.
“London wears vintage like second skin.” i-D
“Conscious Luxury Archive”
• A voice in Sports: Marathoner Innes Fitzgerald who turned down competing for GB in Australia over flight climate concerns in 2023
• Small Acts of Protest: The “QuitGPT” movement (2026)
• Awareness: Young people and their awareness; knowing is enough
References
1. Ajit Niranjan (2026) ‘Why is the UK so rainy this year and how is the climate crisis making matters worse?” The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/09/why-is-the-uk-so-rainy this-year-and-how-is-the-climate-crisis-making-matters-worse
2. BBCNews ‘Climate strike: Thousands protest across UK’ September 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49767327
3. BBCNews ‘School strike for climate: Protests staged around the world’ May 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-48392551
4. Douglad Greenwood, Sara McAline, ‘Advice for Generation Beta, With Love From i-D' Sept 2025 https://i-d.co/article/issue-375-cover-advice-for-gen-beta 2025/
5. Brian Cox, Myles Allen, Kathryn Browne, Hayley Fowler, George Monbiot, ‘Will We Survive Climate Change?: A Question of Science with Brian Cox.’ The Francis Crick Institute, YouTube, 15 Oct 2025
6. Floodlist ‘UK-- Over 1,000 Homes Damaged, Hundreds Evacuated as Storm Babet triggers Major Floods,’ Oct 2023 https://floodlist.com/europe/floods england-scotland-storm-babet-october-2023
7. House of Commons Library, ‘ The UK’s plans and progress to reach net zero by 2050’ Nov 2025 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp 9888/
8. Ivan Carlo Alberto, Yang Jiao, Xiaohan Zhang (2021) 'Too hot or too cold to study? The effect of tempperature on student time allocation'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775721000716 9. Kevin Rawlinson ‘Runner says no to competing for GB in Australia over flight climate concerns’ The Guardian, Jan 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/runner-gb-australia climate-innes-fitzgerald-cross
country#:~:text=In%20her%20letter%2C%20published%20by,raising%20hopes% 20about%20her%20potential.
10. United Nations, Climate Action, ‘What is Climate Change?’ (n.d.)
11. United Nations, Climate Action ‘The Paris Agreement’ (n.d.)
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