Notes and links from 14 Aug

The reality of the wildfires in South Birmingham is starting to sink in. Years ago there was a tweet (remember tweets?) saying: “Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it.” I’m not personally filming it yet but friends of mine are sharing wildfire footage from their friends' doorbell spycams in Druids Heath, a mile or so up the road and part of my MP’s constituency, so it’s only a matter of time. I do remember some small patches of scorched grass around here a few years back when we had that 40 degree summer but that was more a curiosity. This is on a different scale and we’re probably only half-way through what I guess we’re going to have to start calling wildfire season. While I was putting this issue to bed we got our national emergency alert along with the rest of England and Wales. My first thought was something major was happening and we’d need to take…