George Monbiot has condemned the right-wing press for engaging in what he calls 'heat-stress denial,' arguing that their dismissal of extreme heat risks endangers children and vulnerable people. In a Guardian column, Monbiot targets editorials and columns in the Telegraph, the Sun, and the Daily Mail that minimize the health impacts of the recent heatwave, particularly in schools.
Telegraph editorial: 'Hot weather alarmism treats the public like children'
An editorial in the Telegraph claimed that 'unlike in the seventies, when people were largely trusted to look after themselves, officialdom now feels the need to lecture the public about the risks of hot weather at every opportunity.' It argued that the government should trust people to 'take the appropriate precautions' and 'learn to live' with heat. Monbiot retorts: 'Whatever happened to the bulldog spirit of ignorance and needless death?'
Columnists reminisce about 1976 heatwave
Ysenda Maxtone Graham, writing in the Telegraph, recalled the 1976 heatwave as 'two months of blissful messing about' and claimed that 'common sense was applied by most without the need for nannying intervention.' She dismissed health messages as 'patronising' and 'preposterous,' asserting that schools did not close due to heat. Similarly, Jane Moore in the Sun described 1976 as 'the best summer of my life' and called for a return to the 'gung-ho spirit.' The Daily Mail ran a subheading claiming that 'in 1976 … the schools DID stay open.'
Evidence contradicts nostalgic claims
Monbiot cites Leo Hickman of Carbon Brief, who notes that schools did close early during the 1976 heatwave, even though June temperatures never reached recent records. He also points out that 1976 heat was dry, while last week's humidity compounded health risks. According to a 2023 Red Cross survey, there is 'strikingly poor understanding' of heatwave health risks in the UK, and a study in Energy Research & Social Science found that 49% of participants had 'little to no knowledge on how to cope with extreme heat.'
Class politics of extreme heat
Monbiot highlights the class disparity in heat protection. The same study found that 82% of households reported difficulty keeping at least one room cool, with the poorest half overheating twice as often as higher-income earners. 'Steady temperatures are the preserve of the rich,' he writes. Children are especially vulnerable due to higher metabolisms and lower sweating rates; their thermal comfort levels are 1.9-2.8°C lower than adults'. Temperatures above 25°C limit cognitive performance, and the Climate Change Committee finds that 'taking an exam on a 32°C day leads to around a 10% lower likelihood of passing compared to a 22°C day.'
Government fails to set maximum school temperature
The UK government confirms it sets no maximum temperature limit for schools. A new study of Hampshire schools finds that 66% of classrooms present a 'cognitive impairment risk,' projected to rise to 92% by 2050. Already, 6% of classrooms experience 'heat strain'—physiologically dangerous levels. Monbiot concludes: 'Performative ignorance is the default state of such journalism. But I can’t help wondering whether there’s also an element of gleeful, snobbish cruelty: I’m all right, so let the great unwashed get what they deserve.'
