FOUR DEGREES MORE - Chapter One - East Anglia Reporter: Collapse of the house on the edge

Sep 29, 2026

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First-person narrative of a thirteen-year-old in East Anglia whose bedroom collapses into the North Sea as coastal erosion accelerates. A mobile-phone recording is sold to television, turning the accident into repeated news footage and an uncomfortable symbol of environmental change. The story connects personal anger and family stress to global warming, citing rising sea levels, stronger storms, and coastal erosion, then challenges the idea that nothing can be done.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages66

Reading Time1 h 42 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter One

East Anglia Reporter: Collapse of the house on the edge

FOUDEGREESMOREMalcolm Rose SHADFS # F0UR DEGREESMORE Malcolm Rose Published by Evans Brothers Limited2A Portman MansionsChiltern StLondon W1U 6NR C Evans Brothers Limited 2008 First published in 2008 All rights reserved.No part of this publicationmay be reproduced,stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any form,or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor otherwise,without the prior permission ofEvans Brothers Limited. British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataRose,Malcolm Four degrees more.-(Shades) 1.Global warming-Fiction 2. Environmentalism-Fiction 3.Suspense fiction 4.Young adult fiction I.Title823.9'14[J] ISBN-13:9780237534967 Editor:Julia Moffatt Designer:Rob Walster Chapter One # East Anglia Reporter:Collapse of the house onthe edge BBC News:The real cost of global warming My bedroom fell into the sea last year.Iwas watching on a safe part of the cliffwhen the bit under my room gave way andripped my house apart.A zigzag gash in the 5 brickwork opened wider and wider.Woodsplintered like breaking bones and mybedroom separated from the rest.Strips ofwallpaper flapped around,plaster crackedinto pieces,and the whole lot tumbled down the cliff.By the time it splashed intothe North Sea,it looked like a smashedbird's nest.I remember my wardrobe doorbobbing around on the waves before Istomped away in a strop and kicked thefour-by-four parked in the lay-by. I wasn't the only one who saw my homebreak up.Someone filmed it on a mobilephone and sold the footage to the television people.It got played over andover again on the news.One moment,myroom was perched on the edge of the cliff.The next,some of it was floating and therest was sinking in an angry sea.I supposethat made my bedroom the most famous room in the country for a while. I was thirteen at the time and how did itmake me feel?Never mind the sea beingangry.It wasn't as angry as me.Angry istoo small a word for how I felt.My brainboiled.I blamed the sea for being toorough.I blamed the wind and tide forturning each wave into a battering ram.Iblamed the East Anglia cliffs for being toocrumbly.But the telly news called it thereal cost of global warming. I did an environmental project at school.A few minutes on the internet told me thatthe TV got it right.It told me global warming was to blame for rising sea levels,stronger storms and coastal erosion.It alsotold me who to blame:oil and power companies,big business,the government,car drivers and air travellers,anybody withcentral heating and light bulbs and TVs and computers and every sort of plug-inelectrical gadget.It was a very long list ofanyone who uses energy.Really,it's peoplewho are to blame for my bedroom takingthat dive.But particularly people intransport and power who burn fuel andpump out carbon dioxide like there's notomorrow.Made me glad I'd put a dent inthat four-by-four. It wasn't just a house that broke up.Myfamily fell to pieces as well.I’m not blaming climate change for Dad walkingout on us.That'd be silly.I guess it was thestress of living on the edge.By the time wehad to move away from Happisburgh,Mumand Dad were at each other's throats allthe time.Another gash had opened widerand wider. Now,a year later,I live in Ipswich with Mum and my old bedroom's not so famous.I still see it collapse sometimes,though.Ican close my eyes and replay every detailbut that's not what I mean.Documentarieson global warming give it an airing nowand again.Usually,it's a slow-motion replay-a slow slide into the sea.It's on theGreenWatch website as well. I’m never mentioned.No one ever says,'Poor Leyton Curry.There goes his bedroom.'No one ever says,'I wonder whatLeyton thinks about his personal spacebecoming a public display.'To them,it'sjust bricks,mortar and wood tumblingdown.It’s funny.Maybe scary as well.Noone ever asked my permission to use myroom as proof that the country's changingin a big way. It's like when a goalkeep

FAQs

What causes the narrator’s bedroom to fall into the sea?

The ground under the bedroom gives way, widening a crack and pulling the house down the cliff into the North Sea, framed as part of global warming–driven coastal erosion.

How does the accident become widely known?

A mobile-phone video is filmed and sold to television, then repeatedly played on the news and later on websites and documentary programs.

What does the narrator learn about global warming from school?

An internet search links global warming to rising sea levels, stronger storms, and coastal erosion, and lists people and industries using energy—especially transport and power—as key contributors.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Ivy