Increase in Co2 Concentrations in the atmosphere. The link between c02 and rising temperatures is well established and this year Global Temperatures got an extra boost thanks to el nino, which brings warmer water to the surface of parts of the tropical pacific. That explains why february was 1. 77 degrees warmer than preindustrial temperatures, and why global average temperatures hit a record 1. 55 degrees above preindustrial levels over the last 12 months. It means we have temporarily at least breached the 1. 5 degrees threshold the world agreed to try and limit Temperature Rise to, to avoid the worst impacts of Climate Change. February 2024 was the warmest february on record globally, with an average temperature of 13. 54 degrees, above the 1991 2020 temperature. While this is remarkable, because, for instance, it is a tenth of a degree warmer than the warmest previous february, which was 2016, its not really surprising, because this has been the el nino year, where temperatures tend to be warmer than usual, and more importantly, we have seen over the last few decades a piling up of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere which bring up the temperature of the entire planet. We all enjoy warm weather, especially after the downpours this winter, but we should worry when the seasons get out of whack. Some plants and animals can struggle to survive. Though Scientists Say urgent action to cut emissions can still slow warming. Justin rowlatt, bbc news. Earlier, i spoke to dr ella gilbert who is a Climate Scientist with the British Antarctic survey. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Because as long as we continue to emit Greenhouse Gases, we are going to continue seeing these records falling. The last nine months have been the hottest on record for each of those months. I think that is almost certain to continue as we go into 202a. What happens if this continues, then, and we have this same conversation in a year, where it has continued to increase each month . What are the implications of that . The problem is that every tenth of a degree, every fraction of a degree, means a tangible impact on ecosystems, it means a tangible impact on peoples lives and livelihoods. And we are going to see more extreme events. Heatwaves like we saw with a0 degrees in 2022. The floods, wildfires and droughts we saw in 2023. This is just going to be a flavour of whats to come and these impacts willjust continue to become more exaggerated with continued emissions of Greenhouse Gases and continued warming. So whatever we do has to be to limit those kinds of effects, we have to reduce our Greenhouse Gas emissions. We have to reduce the rate of Temperature Rise to protect ourselves from these kinds of damaging impacts. Year, but is it human we heard injustin� s report that its an el nino year, but is it Human Behaviour thats the main cause . El nino is giving an extra boost. Typically el nino can add 0. 2 degrees to an ongoing trend but the main driving factor under this is human activity. We saw temperatures were 1. 77 degrees above average and thats an astronomical difference from what we would expect without Climate Change. There is no doubt that Climate Change is driven almost entirely by human activity. Finally, do you think people going about their Daily Business Kind of understand the implications of this, because potentially if they are seeing a bit of a hotter summer for example, a bit more rain, are they actually understanding, do you think, the implications of this . I think people are starting to understand them. We are seeing more and more extreme events. I think nobody expected that crazy a0 degrees heat wave we saw in the uk a couple of years ago. People who were watching the news will have seen all the headlines about things like wild fires or floods, they may have experienced them themselves last year. These kind of things are happening more and more frequently, so people are already feeling the impacts of Climate Change and its not necessarily just about the averages or the general, gentle changes. Its more about the kind of extremes we are experiencing that have real huge impacts. Three crew members have been killed in a Houthi Missile strike on a liberian owned cargo ship off southern yemen. Its the first deadly attack since the Group Began TargetingInternational Shipping last november. We ta ke we take a look at these images that came injust a we take a look at these images that came in just a few moments ago. They said it was drifting and on fire. The uk foreign secretary, lord cameron, is spending the day in berlin, with his german counterpart annalena baerbock. 0ne Topic Under Discussion will be the deteriorating situation in gaza. The un has warned that more than half a Million People there a quarter of the population are on the brink of famine. You may find these pictures distressing they were sent to us by dr hussam abu safiyeh, whos the lead paediatrician at kamal adhwan hospital in northern gaza. He has been treating children suffering with malnutrition. On wednesday, the hamas run Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration in gaza had risen to 18. Before the conflict began in october, gaza relied on 500 aid trucks daily. The us says about 250 aid trucks crossed into gaza on tuesday. Lets speak to james elder, spokesperson for unicef. Really spokesperson for unicef. Harrowing pictures we ars seeing really Harrowing Pictures we are seeing there. I remember speaking to you back in december when you were in gaza. It sounds like the situation has deteriorated an awful lot since then. Lot since then. Rapidly and horrendously. Lot since then. Rapidly and horrendously. Youre lot since then. Rapidly and | horrendously. Youre right. Lot since then. Rapidly and horrendously. Youre right. Those images, remembering that that is entirely predictable and man made and preventable. Its very much what we were probably talking about in december, unicef� s great fear beyond thousands and thousands are killed in the bombardments and under rubble, this warning aid has been giving for months and months. If you deprive people of food and water on nutrition water, you mightjust start to see deaths from starvation and dehydration. That start to see deaths from starvation and dehydration. Start to see deaths from starvation and dehydration. That is what we are seeinu and dehydration. That is what we are seeing nova and dehydration. That is what we are seeing now. What and dehydration. That is what we are seeing now. What is and dehydration. That is what we are seeing now. What is it and dehydration. That is what we are seeing now. What is it like and dehydration. That is what we are seeing now. What is it like field seeing now. What is it like field staff who were there, trying to help people, help children, help anyone who needs their help . Who needs their help . Immensely frustratin who needs their help . Immensely frustrating in who needs their help . Immensely frustrating in some who needs their help . Immensely frustrating in some ways. Who needs their help . Immensely frustrating in some ways. You who needs their help . Immenselyj frustrating in some ways. You talk about the number of trucks going in. February, where we are again very low on the amount of aid needed, half the number as compared to january. These restrictions on aid, when you talk about getting a convoy of medicine, life saving nutritious food and water, and then again at the 11th hour, its blocked. Again, at the 11th hour. And you know what is happening in the north, if you look at the most vulnerable children, the youngest, the Malnutrition Rates there are three times higher than in ratho in the south. That speaks to the urgency in getting the side to those children. Malnutrition is an underlying cause of death. A child will die of Something Like pneumonia. When you see a child dying of dehydration in a hospital, that is so distressing. That is a child that is so restricted. A doctor cant get a vein in theirarm, restricted. A doctor cant get a vein in their arm, though use a tube in the oesophagus. So distressing for a child, so distressing for a parent. As i say, it is man made and preventable, and as you rightly say, it continues to get worse and will likely get worse until we see a ceasefire and can flood the gaza strip with life saving aid. Ceasefire and can flood the gaza strip with lifesaving aid. Strip with lifesaving aid. Those Ceasefire Talks strip with lifesaving aid. Those Ceasefire Talks are strip with lifesaving aid. Those Ceasefire Talks are taking strip with lifesaving aid. Those Ceasefire Talks are taking place | strip with lifesaving aid. Those l Ceasefire Talks are taking place in cairo. Theyll resume next week. Just briefly, what needs to change here . ,. , ,. , just briefly, what needs to change here . ,. , i. , here . They need to see your images, to be honest. Here . They need to see your images, to be honest, and here . They need to see your images, to be honest, and realise here . They need to see your images, to be honest, and realise that here . They need to see your images, to be honest, and realise that there l to be honest, and realise that there are children who are still kept hostage somewhere in gaza, and they need to go home. That torment needs to end, and then take raffle. Three quarters of a million children are in ratho. They need to understand thatis in ratho. They need to understand that is now a city of children. The idea that you could now have a Military Offensive where three quarters of a million children in the Population Density of twice that, but not in the high rises, on the ground, somehow, the horrors that i saw in december and that we are speaking of now, somehow they will be worse in the coming days if these parties cannot find a way for these parties cannot find a way for the people of gaza to get a ceasefire. The people of gaza to get a ceasefire. ~ ,. ,. Here in the uk, the chancellor has cut National Insurance contributions and raised the threshold for claiming Child Benefit in his last Spring Budget before the general election. Jeremy hunt says the measures have been paid for by putting up taxes on Business Class flights, vaping and smoking, but the Office For Budget Responsibility warns the government could find it hard to balance the books. Heres the chancellor talking to the bbc this morning. What i did yesterday was show how were growing the economy, how our plan is working. And were doing that partly because were bringing down taxes. And the big divide in british politics. Weve had to put up taxes, of course, because we wanted to support families in the pandemic and through The Cost Of Living crisis. Do we want those taxes to stay high . What conservatives say is, we look around the world, and we say the economies that are growing the fastest in North America and asia, are ones with lower taxes. The leader of the Labour Party Keir starmer had his say onjeremy hunts budget describing it as humiliating for in for the government. How humiliating was that for the government yesterday . We how humiliating was that for the government yesterday . Government yesterday . We said fiuures government yesterday . We said figures that government yesterday . We said figures that they government yesterday . We said figures that they should government yesterday . We said figures that they should get government yesterday . We said figures that they should get rid l government yesterday . We said l figures that they should get rid of non dom pack status and theyve for this did that. Now the only decent tax policy theyve got is one that theyve lifted from us. As we go into a general election, it is that, we need change. 0bviously, into a general election, it is that, we need change. Obviously, we will keep coming back to the nhs, so important it is. We will go to all of the numbers and we will be absolutely clear that nothing in our manifesto will be funded and uncosted. That is an iron rule for the labour party. Contrast that with the labour party. Contrast that with the government, where yesterday, the end of the budget, the chancellor made a 46 billion pounds of unfunded commitment to abolish National Insurance. That is bigger than liz trusss commitment. They have learnt absolutely nothing. We need change, its time for change. We will go through, in an orderly fashion, all of the numbers now. We will keep the commitment to the nhs because it is really important we get this Waiting Lists down, but there will not be a single unfunded commitment in our manifesto. But £46 billion unfunded commitment yesterday from the chancellor at the end of the bosch jet to abolish National Insurance . That is staggering. In the end, the overall story of the budget was, as ever, the government give with one hand and take much more with the other. People have seen 14 years of this. They are not going to be taken in by this con trick. In by this con trick. They want chan. E. In by this con trick. They want change it in by this con trick. They want change it is in by this con trick. They want change. It is basing in by this con trick. They want change. It is basing much in by this con trick. They want change. It is basing much of l in by this con trick. They want | change. It is basing much of its assumptions on population increases. Do you support more economic migration as a means of a growth . Irate migration as a means of a growth . We need migration as a means of a growth . Need a proper plan for growth. That is what the labour party is set out. We talk about that plan here on this Construction Site because it is about Supply Change and long term decision making. Its about making sure that Public Investment is matched by private investment. That will only happen with the economic stability, which will only happen under a Labour Government with tight fiscal rules. The complete opposite from what we saw yesterday from the government. D0 from what we saw yesterday from the government government. Do you support the idea of more migration government. Do you support the idea of more migration to government. Do you support the idea of more migration to grow government. Do you support the idea of more migration to grow the of more migration to grow the economy . I of more migration to grow the economy . Of more migration to grow the econom . ~. ,. , economy . I think the way to grow the economy . I think the way to grow the econom is economy . I think the way to grow the economy is to economy . I think the way to grow the economy is to have economy . I think the way to grow the economy is to have a economy . I think the way to grow the j economy is to have a longterm plan, economy is to have a long term plan, a Strategic Plan to do with planning, Supply Change, making sure that government can ensure that private investment comes in. I dont think that should be done in the way the government has done it which is simply, their only plan for growth this migration. Theyve got to explain that and be honest to the public about what their plan for growth really is. Earlier, i spoke to our chief Political CorrespondentHenry Zeffman in westminister. He told me the budget didnt present any surprises. Actually, the biggest announcement was known the evening before, let alone after the budget. Conservative mps were in the House Of Commons waiting for something that would be a big surprise, often in westminster known as the rabbit out of a hat, but actually the biggest announcement was the 2 cut in the rate of National Insurance, the tax paid by those in employment, which had leaked the day before. So it had a sort of slightly odd political landing, the budget, because it became kind of a bit of a flat one for conservative mps. Im emphasising conservative mps because the budget is of course a big economic event for people up and down the uk, but it is also, especially in a general election year, a political event. And some conservatives wanted jeremy hunt not to cut National Insurance but cut income tax because that is paid by a wider range of people including pensioners, who are a big part of the conservative electoral coalition. I think the reception on the conservative side has been reasonably well welcomed but certainly not rapturously welcomed. 0n the other side, the labour side, they say that the tax cuts jeremy hunt has offered are completely dwarfed by whats known as fiscal drag, the fact that lots of people have been dragged into higher rates of tax by inflation because the thresholds have not moved up with inflatio