LORELY LISTENS, SOLIHUL TIMES

Published on Sun 23rd Jul 2006

Are you fed up with the hot weather yet? We British are the butt of jokes all over the world because we talk about the weather all the time. But following a week in which we had the hottest July day on record, I feel justified.

And it seems that whether we like hot weather or not, there's plenty more in store: not just this year but for the foreseeable future.

Unless we all work to take steps to safeguard our environment, pictures of dried-up reservoirs and pigs with sun cream and sunglasses will cease to make the news. Rather, the weather and its consequences will be the 'hot' topic for the whole world with draught killing millions and rising sea levels causing mass migration and misery.

So let's see what we all can do to help avert this tragedy. The Environment Agency has some good advice. You can reach them on http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed/campaign/?user=71366 or through my own website www.lorelyburt.org.uk.

They suggest 10 ways in which each one of us can make a big difference, from using reusable bags at the supermarket and heating only the required amount of water when we boil a kettle to offsetting our carbon emissions from our holiday flight.

If YOU have a good idea for reducing carbon, saving water or any other precious resource I'd love to hear from you. Write to me at House of Commons, London SW1 1AA or email me at lorely@lorelyburt.org.uk.

Together we can create some good news about the weather for a change.