THERE'S a myth if you put a frog into a saucepan of boiling water it will jump out, but put it into a saucepan of cold water and slowly increase the heat, it will sit until boiled.
I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. This week, the world's political leaders convened in Glasgow for COP26 where they, yet again, promised decisive action to limit emissions in order to achieve 'net zero' by 2050.
If achieved, this would hopefully limit a temperature rise to 1.5C; unfortunately, most experts now estimate a more realistic figure is 2.4C. Such an increase would be catastrophic, yet most politicians seem happy to luxuriate in their warming saucepan.
Thousands of gathered environmentalists were ignored while leaders of two of the world's most polluting countries - Russia and China - snubbed the meeting. The promises of some leaders who did attend, such as India's Narendra Modi, were disappointing. Mr Modi announced his country would be net-zero for emissions by 2070, akin to a drug addict promising to give up after one last hit.
For most of us, the problem of global warming appears overwhelming, with many rationalising, "Why bother recycling when China pumps out tons of CO2 every day?"
It's hard to argue with such logic, except it conveniently abrogates personal responsibility and, in so doing, adds to the problem.
I recycle because I don't want to add to the problem - my motivation not due to lofty philosophical arguments but fear for my two children. I'll be long gone by the time the worst ravages of global warming hits, but at 12 and 14, my children will reap the disaster being sown today.
They will be left to deal with extreme weather in the shape of flooding, drought and fires. They will see food prices soar as life expectancy dips. The population shifts brought about by present-day wars will be as nothing to the migration of hundreds of millions, as whole areas of the world become uninhabitable.
For some, this will sound alarmist yet, in my 60 years on Earth, I have witnessed harbingers of such change. I have lived through a shift in consciousness where humanity became detached from nature, treating it as but one more commodity to be used in our drive for convenience and pleasure.
Some my age will remember when it was common to repair, mend and reuse. The clothes I wore as a child weren't thrown out when I grew out of them but trickled down to my three younger brothers.
I remember waiting expectantly each week for the lemonade man to come and deliver glass bottles of cream soda, cola and whatever other flavours we wanted. He never left without collecting our 'empties', for which he gave a small refund.
Groceries were carried home in brown paper bags and the few electrical goods in our home were repaired until replacement became an absolute necessity. The idea of single-use anything was beyond our comprehension.
The first time I was given disposable cutlery on a school outing, I was thrilled to have my own bright white plastic knife and fork. I was shocked to see my friends dispose of theirs in the bin; I brought mine home in my schoolbag.
I'd love to say that was my awakening and that I grew into an eco-warrior, but that would be a lie. Like most of you, I quickly bought into our disposable new world, where I replaced goods not because they were broken but because a new shiny version had been released.
Only last year, my children highlighted one example of such insanity, challenging my habit of buying bottled water. Pointing out we lived in a country with abundant clean water, they explained my demand for convenience over conservation impacted on our oceans by adding to its plastics contamination.
I now own a recycled water bottle which I fill from the tap - I know doing this won't save the world but if we all did the same, consider the mountain of plastic we would remove from our oceans.
The phrase, "suffer the little children", kept popping into my mind as I wrote this column. It originates in the book of Matthew, when Jesus said: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them. For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
I hope that's true, as we've hindered their future here on Earth, I also hope generations to come will forgive our stupidity.
