Pure Mashed Potatoes Served Up in Latest BBC Climate Scare Story

“Jeeves,” I said, “you’re talking rot.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Absolute drivel.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Pure mashed potatoes.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Very good, sir – I mean, very good Jeeves, that will be all.”

P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good Jeeves (1930)

The humble potato may struggle to grow in the U.K. in years to come due to climate change, reported BBC Scotland recently. Researchers are said to have identified “huge problems” coming in future with hotter weather and droughts “which pose an existential threat to the industry”. Needless to say all these future predictions arise from climate models including “crop simulation” research from the Invergowrie-based James Hutton Institute (JHI).

According to these models, there may be as many as 60 “heat stress” days of at least 25°C in the growing season in parts of England and Scotland, states Professor Lesley Torrance, the JHI director of science. The researchers claim that this will reduce yields. Is that great British delicacy, a simple plate of fried chips (plus pot of curry sauce for true gastronomic diversity), under existential risk? As always when the BBC tells you anything these days, it is a good idea to consult the actual data, and take the climate model forecasts and attribution guesses with a large dose of salt (and vinegar). First up, we can see that all that promised extra heat had better get a move on. In Scotland, the average temperature has been flatlining for nearly two decades.