The Environment Minister has announced plans to curtail new solar farms on agricultural land. this has been condemned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who are faced with coping with the energy crisis; The right wing Institute of Economic Affairs think tank and the Green Alliance think tank.
CLIMATE CRISIS
I am not a scientist (I was crap at science at school), however I was OK at mathematics. So if a country like the USA has had 4 (possibly 5) “once in a thousand years” events this summer; China has temperatures never recorded before of over 50C; Pakistan has record floods; Europe’s main river for trade – the Rhine – has record low flows; crops across Europe and worldwide are having lower yields; sea. levels are rising and coastal erosion increasing; glaciers are melting at record rates in all continents; species extinction due to climate change (as opposed to population growth) is increasing; CO2 levels have doubled in last couple of centuries; methane levels are increasing; IT IS A NO BRAINER NOT TO REACT TO THESE FACTS.
SCHOOL NUMBERS
CLIMATE
PANIC
I live in a rural village in North Somerset. My garden is full of insect friendly flowers. Weather sunny. Few insects. What the fuc* is going on?
CLIMATE ALERT
Portugal declares state of emergency as temperatures soar. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/04/spain-and-portugal-suffering-driest-climate-for-1200-years-research-shows
AN ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY PROJECT
EXAMS
Students are now taking GCSE and GCE Exams with 15-20 different exams. Why so many? Surely an exam in English – written and oral, and one in Maths should be enough. Other subjects could be assessed by competencies (especially the arts and practical subjects). Humanities subjects could be assessed by a reasoning paper with access to internet.
FARMING
Firstly it should be protected from the import of inferior produce with duties and protective legislation. (Taking back control!). Secondly there needs to be a distinction between family farms and those run for investment purposes and pure profit. Third it may need support to change to restorative techniques. Fourth the land owned by farmers should be excluded from property development.
CLIMATE
45 years ago I started teaching geography and climate change was a key component of my geography lessons. I must have been a crap teacher as the situation has got steadily worse. The biosphere is struggling to maintain diversity and food chains. Ice caps and glaciers are melting, the acidity of the oceans is changing, weather events are becoming more extreme and frequent. I still believe it is every individuals responsibility to do what they can to ameliorate these issues, but it needs government and diplomacy to force the mega rich corporations and individuals to take immediate action.