“Summer is delicious” wrote John Ruskin, and it’s hard to disagree. This is a time for basking in sunshine, paddling in surf — and watching weather forecasts with fingers crossed.
It does us good to be outside in the warm. Increased vitamin D as a result of sunshine bolsters our immune systems, strengthens bones and helps to protect us against cancer. And in summer months we eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, exercise more and tend to feel happier, stronger, more positive.
But only up to a point. It is possible to have too much of a good thing, as Russia discovered last summer when temperatures there rose above 40C, leading to 40,000 deaths. The human body has many extraordinary mechanisms to deal with extreme heat but push it too far and, inevitably, it wilts.
That the European heatwave was followed closely by the British winter freeze is a cautionary tale. The data sent back by scientists drilling through the thinning Arctic sea ice seems to indicate that warming is not spread equally across the globe. India looks set for summer temperatures well into the 40s and even 50s, while our green and pleasant shores could become more like Scandinavia if the melting ice causes the Gulf Stream to change course.
As with the extreme surfers that we also salute in the July issue of Eureka, the global climate is poised on top of a wave. An unlucky break or one wrong move and we could, in surfing parlance, be sucked over the falls.
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So, like the surfer, we should study the conditions carefully, calculate the risks and take the safest path — and, in the meantime, enjoy and appreciate this most glorious season. That is, provided the Sun comes out to play.