But two decades and 750bn tons of atmospheric carbon pollution later, Rahmstorf is still wondering when the wake-up call will come. I’m writing this from Berlin, where temperatures are set to reach 37C (99F) on Thursday – and ferocious wildfires that have broken records in France and Spain. Rahmstorf cut his holiday in Lacanau a day short and headed to smoke-choked Bordeaux on Friday evening, eager to take the train back to Germany the next day. Two weeks ago, the European Commission proposed watering down the continent’s emissions trading system, a form of carbon market widely hailed as its most successful tool to cut pollution. “Some people think we can wait and, when it gets too bad, then we reduce emissions and things will get better again.