The realisation that climate change has come far faster than anyone could imagine is a humbling experience.

Pulling into Peterborough station I couldn’t but think that the recent nomination of the cathedral city as the “worst place to live” in the UK was extremely harsh and ill founded.

Coming out of the station is a monument to the middle class, Waitrose, while the city centre hosts a well designed shopping centre.

At night time the square is illuminated by blue lights while the beautiful cathedral gives it a charm and energy that radiates off the back streets, which have a medieval charm to them.

There are certainly worse places in the UK, and a variety of mid market restaurants and bars make it a pleasant place to pass an evening.

But I was not reflecting on the city’s charms yesterday. Instead I was alarmed to read that this month saw the hottest February on record, something Caroline Lucas of the Green Party referred to as a “climate emergency”.

On July 7 2017 I warned in Renewables Investor that my research, work and conversations with scientists who study climate change had led me to the conclusion that we were already halfway through an almost apocalyptic scenario in which a combination of rising population, food shortages and heatwaves will lead to war and unimaginable strife.

Two days later the New York Magazine wrote the “Uninhabitable Earth” piece, in what is likely to be a historic piece of prose in the forthcoming saga of humanity’s descent into climate crisis.

Those who have followed my writings in previous roles will know that I take a longer term and macro view of investments, believing that an investment decision must bear in mind the hand of history and the wider environment in which we operate.

Peterborough terrified me because the burning heat of what should be a mild February is a reminder that we are halfway through what is going to be an incredibly difficult crisis to manage.

In private many in the climate change space are less enthusiastic about the prospects for humanity’s survival (at current numbers) which may have led some people to think that climate change is a problem for another generation to face.

To the north of Peterborough lies Lincolnshire, which is expected to be so badly hit by the end of the century that large parts of it will need to be abandoned altogether.

Sitting in Nando’s eating my (plant based) meal I was also beset by thoughts of East Anglia.

A little known but terrifying threat facing the region is soil erosion. While climate change is a much discussed devil, excess ploughing and unsustainable farming practices have meant that soil erosion in the East of England may prove a major threat to food security.

Another thought came to mind, this time my tastebuds enjoying the perinnaise and mushroom combination while contemplating the ecopalypse beginning to unfold in the UK.

Much of Camridgeshire will also be underwater in the UK, with the towns of Chatteris, Wisbech and Whittlesey being devoured by a vengeful sea.

Yet despite the fact that chaos is approaching toward the east and north of Peterborough and the UK will be hard hit by the ravages of climate change, the tragedy of humanity can be seen in the relatively lacksadaiscal response to the fact that our planet will never be the same one that nurtured humanity’s rise (or destruction depending on how you see it) to agriculture and modern industrial civilisation.

Musing on the forthcoming challenges and the scale of the work ahead of me, I decided to dig deeper into the burger, gazing through the window and imagining what this part of the UK would look like in 60 years.