The wit and wisdom of Jeremy Clarkson

Clarkson added that he was not concerned what people might make of the environmental effects of his long-haul flights to complete the tour.

He said: 'Every time they put a climate change programme on, 42 people will watch that, eight million or seven million will watch Top Gear.

'I think people are rather bored with the idea of climate change and, when we do get a lovely day, let's just enjoy it, not get guilty.'

Oh yes, and

Some 20 million people worldwide were forced to leave their homes last year, because of floods, storms, drought and other natural inconveniences relating to climate change, a United Nations' report said.

But that’s alright, because they were foreigners. And climate catastrophe is never going to affect Britain, is it?

Scientists warn that if the Himalayan glaciers disappear, the impact would be felt by more than one billion people across Asia. What will African farmers do when floods wash away their crops as is happening these days in West Africa?

Asians? Africans? Top Gear fans can’t be expected to care about populations where very many people don’t even own a car.

Language shapes how people perceive reality, as we know from those toxic terms 'road accident' and 'road safety'.

Why don't we designate a 2C rise in temperatures "global burning"? Although the term is more emotive than scientific, it would focus minds enormously on the risks of inaction on climate change.

As it is

the world is sleepwalking into a disaster. Unless world leaders wake up pretty soon we will all face a living nightmare. For people all over the world who are aware of or already feeling the effects of climate change, it’s somewhat perplexing and frustrating that there is so much talking and negotiating taking place on an issue that is effectively a ticking time bomb.