EU’s Common Agricultural Parliament up for vote today I believe, it will be interesting to see if there is any will to move away from what is such a disastrous climate policy. Completely undercuts EU efforts in the energy sector, but the refrain has always been ‘this is not the time to change’, so very unlikely to be the time now.
Anything but modify the way we live (Ahem reduce [cough] capitalism) and lets face it, countries have been invaded and slaughtered over less. Our very way of life…is the problem.
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I remember circa 2006 or 2007 attending a workshop on catastrophic climate change, unreservedly given over to exploring worst case scenarios.
The list that I remember is ice sheet disintegration in the West Antarctic and Greenland, methane release from the disappearance of permafrost, and the Arctic ocean burp. The last one is the only we had not already seen hard evidence of occurrence or imminence.
Still no signs of ice sheet formation in the Arctic Ocean. In 1970, the navigation season ended in October.
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The meta-stable methane and CO2 deposits on the ocean floor were always the big issue when I studied chemistry and Geology at Uni. Once they start burbing there just isn’t a way back.
If you need proof that temperatures are rising this is it!
Frightening for future generations (maybe even my kids generation).
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The Coronavirus pandemic was the perfect opportunity to address air travel. Instead, nothing will be done.
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Leaders behave on this like they have a glut of alternative planets to bale to!
Trouble for the people is we have been fed that much shit over the years they have no reason to come clean about this. Its not happening everyone, and even if it is we have a microwaveable quick fix to hand.
I was shocked to hear that a farm in the region (near Kingston, Ontario) is trying winter barley this year, having seen disappointing spring barley yields for the past 5 years due to hot and dry conditions in May and June.
That is almost unimaginable, yet real. The entire Carolinian ecosystem has shifted north, so it makes sense that the winter growing season is now viable.
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Can someone please explain the purpose of this BBC montage - are they really eulogising the merits of the RAF over a million tons of melting ice; they have no shame.
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Ya what, its about climate catastrophe, its not even mentioned. A piece of the antarctic breaks of the size of an English county…and arent the RAF doing a great job.
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And its not the first time an iceberg has broken off and rested around the continental shelf surrounding South Georgia. Its a symbol of climate catastrophe and global warming, which are easily the wider issues, yet none are mentioned. The greater points are not mentioned thats the point…in other news another crack has appeared in Antarctica and a further huge berg should be readying itself to follow this one.
So this is not a problem is it?
Its so much of a sideshow that journalists are justified in ignoring it and raising concern about wildlife?
You dont think its a little dishonest?
Its close to being reported as a ‘spectacle’ do you know what that means in art? For your idle amusement and entertainment is what it means.
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Any aircraft flight will contribute towards the heating up of the atmosphere which leads to ice shelves breaking up.
But that probably hasn’t registered with the BBC.
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Incredible - the wealthiest 1% are responsible for twice the emissions of the poorest 50%.
It also suggests our default approach to climate change - raise the prices and let the market sort it - is functionally pointless.
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No wonder, they also own more than the poorest 50% in terms of money.
Question: how will these incredibly and wealthy people, most of them not interested at all in the issues of environment/climate, drastically change their lifestyle without being forced?
And the correlated question: how could they be forced, as they also hold full political power in some countries, and at least have control of it in all others?
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Not really. The 1%-50% is a cute way of getting attention, but what it obscures is just how little that energy that bottom 50% actually uses. The article notes the small percentages for the bottom half for transport and energy, without noting that transport is actually relatively high compared to other activities. The 49% in the middle account for an enormous percentage of total energy use. That is virtually everyone in the developed world.
Effective carbon pricing would go a long way to change energy behaviours. But the simple reality is that the level of ambition with which it has been pursued has been inadequate everywhere. Aviation in particular has managed to stay out of any carbon pricing structure until quite recently. Any regulatory approach is doomed by that lack of ambition.
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Systemic change is required and if we dont do it ourselves, nature will ensure it comes.
These little adjustments to taxes and incentives amount to nothing, and get accounted and re-packed to look impressive as a headline.
Its capitalism. End of, I wish.
Capitalism is completely incompatible with the futurity of the planet.
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I ask this question frequently.
We have lots of floods. Some of it is quite natural since we are a delta and is actually pretty beneficial. Some of it is avoidable by regularly dredging the rivers. Even the natural floods will affect nearly a third of the country and for us that means around 50 million people.
We have been building embankments along the rivers for over 50 years. But preventing the natural flooding has affected agriculture, fisheries etc.
So, do we continue to keep the river management/embankment projects?
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This is so true 
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Dredging and embankments just causes worst flooding down stream and destroys the natural bio system, generally.
If you have been doing something for over 50 years you just can not stop otherwise you’d end up with a disasterous situation.
I’d change the management system and start putting in dams (spread the flooding over a larger land area in more appropriate areas (if that is possible)) and permanent features like trees in a massive land management scheme.
Of cause it’s easy to dream up these things but the resources to do so need to be found.
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Some dredging is necessary since the rivers carry so much silts/sediments and the water-flow (from upstream) is decreasing every year. But the dredging is neither planned nor managed properly (then, there’s corruption).
Let me work on your other part.
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Its not that bad mate, think of the factories and retail parks you could get into this cleared space, and with pretty rivers in and around, small bridges, and some well placed trees, this could be the envy of Asia. You could even launch new brands, its just the kick start that is required.
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