Hello From The Year 2050

[The PNP]

A) Even in my own little patch, I notice things such as fewer bees, butterflies and other insects. This year I've found myself wondering where the big hairy spiders are that always live on my laundry airer, or spin webs across the path to the shed. At once relieved they aren't there, then instantly concerned at that too.

B) It's happening, but apart from a bit of recycling, I don't know what we, individually, can achieve.

A) Agree.....Far fewer insects splat on car windscreens/bonnets, than there used to be.

Having said that, there's more than a few bugs still get caught in my hair, later on in afternoons. But only when riding cycle-paths well away from traffic, or on little-used singletrack country lanes. It's probably the high density of modern traffic responsible for wiping out whatever flies within sight of roads/motorways, etc. Headlights attract them all from far and wide - to meet certain death!

B) It's often possible to reduce CO2 from domestic heating. E.g. by moving to a 'green' energy supplier. One route to this, is by going all-electric with low tariff night meters/storage heaters, etc. I myself have done away with central heating altogether, in favour of a renewable non-fossil fuel heatsource.

Transport is another area where a reduction in greenhouse emissions can usually be made. Whenever practical, make trips that avoid fossil-fuelled methods of transport.

N.B. It's worth remembering that an electric cargo bike costs only a fraction of what an electric car would.....Yet is fully capable of carrying home a great deal of shopping.

[Toodles McGinty]

A) Agree.....Far fewer insects splat on car windscreens/bonnets, than there used to be.

Having said that, there's more than a few bugs still get caught in my hair, later on in afternoons. But only when riding cycle-paths well away from traffic, or on little-used singletrack country lanes. It's probably the high density of modern traffic responsible for wiping out whatever flies within sight of roads/motorways, etc. Headlights attract them all from far and wide - to meet certain death!

B) It's often possible to reduce CO2 from domestic heating. E.g. by moving to a 'green' energy supplier. One route to this, is by going all-electric with low tariff night meters/storage heaters, etc. I myself have done away with central heating altogether, in favour of a renewable non-fossil fuel heatsource.

Transport is another area where a reduction in greenhouse emissions can usually be made. Whenever practical, make trips that avoid fossil-fuelled methods of transport.

N.B. It's worth remembering that an electric cargo bike costs only a fraction of what an electric car would.....Yet is fully capable of carrying home a great deal of shopping.

Agree with most of what you say. The problem is getting a government to invest in the infrastructure necessary. Electric vehicles are great, if you've a place to charge them. All parties make rumblings about green deals, but I can only imagine the Greens putting in place a 15 year plan to implement one. And they've little chance of getting an MP, much less a majority.

Until the energy companies actually invest in renewables, make a profit on them, then pass the savings onto the customer, then gas is cheaper to heat a home, boil water etc. than electricity. Perhaps a nationalised energy company might help, but again, some way off. Air source heat pumps are great, but expensive. Not everyone can afford or has the property to utilise a wood burner, regardless of environmentally friendly fuels.

It's all good to have the ideals, but unless we get truly green governments around the world, we are still hurtling towards climate change disaster.

2050 isn't that far away. The recent terrible bird deaths in the US are a taste of things to come, I fear.

[The PNP]

It's all good to have the ideals, but unless we get truly green governments around the world, we are still hurtling towards climate change disaster.

It's a 'chicken and egg' conundrum.....Green Govt's can't happen until the people vote for them. But the public aren't minded to vote for a green Gov't, being too set in their un-green lifestyle ways.

[sandGroundZero]

Climate crisis: CO2 hits new record despite Covid-19 lockdowns


image credit

Scientists calculate that emissions must fall by half by 2030 to give a good chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C, beyond which hundreds of millions of people will face more heatwaves, droughts, floods and poverty.

“CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries. The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration was 3m-5m years ago, when the temperature was 2-3C warmer and sea level was 10-20 metres higher than now. But there weren’t 7.7 billion [human] inhabitants.” said Petteri Taalas, the WMO secretary-general

[gazaprop]

Just read an interesting article from Time Magazine: 'Hello From The Year 2050'.

It imagines how the world handles climate change, and the effects of heating on the planet. It doesn't really offer solutions, I suppose mainly because the tech now probably won't be the tech then.

The billion or so climate change refugees should upset quite a few, but it puts Brexit and our current pandemic into perspective. I say 'current' as there's worst to come. As I was discussing with a friend recently, God only knows what ancient diseases with emerge from melting ice millennia old.

It's a year old, so the Trump predictions are a bit hit and miss. But still a good read.

My extended family has been recently seriously considering a move either to Europe or an independent Scotland. Seems grabbing a patch of the Highlands might be a good idea. The midges will be down here soon enough anyway.

What do Posh & Becks look like, what are the Kardashians up to or - have I misunderstood and got the wrong connotation of 'Hello'?

[Blackrock]

Even in my own little patch, I notice things such as fewer bees, butterflies and other insects. This year I've found myself wondering where the big hairy spiders are that always live on my laundry airer, or spin webs across the path to the shed.

Mystery solved. . . . They have all moved into my garden - I can't move without bumping into a web, usually at face height unfortunately.

[Toodles McGinty]

What do Posh & Becks look like, what are the Kardashians up to or - have I misunderstood and got the wrong connotation of 'Hello'?

I imagine they look exactly the same. Nips, tucks and botox

[Hamble]

I imagine they look exactly the same. Nips, tucks and botox

Before lockdown I could read a couples undying love for each other at the dentist and a regrouping update of partners at the hairdressers!

[local]

I was just trying to imagine how anyone could think cutting down forests and filling the air with cancer-causing emissions is good for the environment.

[Toodles McGinty]

Before lockdown I could read a couples undying love for each other at the dentist and a regrouping update of partners at the hairdressers!

True, depending on the age of the mags. And barely looking a day older.

Although to be fair, one of the 'Kardashian / Jenner' family of celebs did change almost beyond recognition.

[The PNP]

I was just trying to imagine how anyone could think cutting down forests and filling the air with cancer-causing emissions is good for the environment.

Lol....I was just thinking how great it is for the planet, that even more people are switching to woodstoves for their heating. Because thanks to them, 1,000's of additional trees are planted as a carbon-neutral fuel, to meet that rising demand. Good for wildlife, good for mountainbiking, and crucially - absorbing more atmospheric CO2!

N.B. Based on a typical forty-year crop rotation, trees planted today for fuel will still be standing tall in 2050.

[local]

Lol....I was just thinking how great it is for the planet, that even more people are switching to woodstoves for their heating. Because thanks to them, 1,000's of additional trees are planted as a carbon-neutral fuel, to meet that rising demand. Good for wildlife, good for mountainbiking, and crucially - absorbing more atmospheric CO2!

N.B. Based on a typical forty-year crop rotation, trees planted today for fuel will still be standing tall in 2050.

Are you still trying to con people that chopping down forests, destroying wildlife habitats and filling the air with cancer-causing pollution is somehow environmentally friendly?

You and Said should have a science fiction thread and try and compete with each other for the most ridiculous claim of the week.




A team of researchers from Kings has found that burning wood generates particulates that can trigger heart attacks and lung complaints, as well as causing long term damage to health.

[The PNP]

A) Are you still trying to con people that chopping down forests, destroying wildlife habitats and filling the air with cancer-causing pollution is somehow environmentally friendly?

B) A team of researchers from Kings has found that burning wood generates particulates that can trigger heart attacks and lung complaints, as well as causing long term damage to health.

A) On the contrary....I'm delighted to be part of a system that plants trees which otherwise would not exist! Precisely the same economics apply to any commercial crop, i.e. a cabbage only gets planted if there's a market for it.

B) An investigation also discovered that countless 1,000's diesel of cars, were emitting far more carcinogens all year round than the manufacturers claimed (e.g. the recent VW smoking tailpipe scandal).....Whereas DEFRA (Govt.) approved stoves are so clean, they're approved for use in Smoke Control Areas (smokeless zones). Even then, they are only lit for a limited part of the year.

[local]

A) On the contrary....I'm delighted to be part of a system that plants trees which otherwise would not exist! Precisely the same economics apply to any commercial crop, i.e. a cabbage only gets planted if there's a market for it.

B) An investigation also discovered that countless 1,000's diesel of cars, were emitting far more carcinogens all year round than the manufacturers claimed (e.g. the recent VW smoking tailpipe scandal).....Whereas DEFRA (Govt.) approved stoves are so clean, they're approved for use in Smoke Control Areas (smokeless zones). Even then, they are only lit for a limited part of the year.

If you carry on with your lies I will fill the pages with proof that you are pedalling lung destroying child killing environment destroying woodburning stoves its up to you.

Frankly its evil.

[local]

Children and Wood Smoke Pollution
Children are among the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of particulate air pollution. Children breathe faster and inhale more pollutants in proportion to their body weight than do adults. Their immune systems and organs are still developing.



Particulate pollution has been shown to affect lung function and lung development. Eighty percent of the lungs’ alveoli are formed after birth, and children’s lungs continue to develop through adolescence. During infancy, the developing lung is highly susceptible to damage from environmental pollutants, including those from wood smoke.


All Wood Stoves Pollute —
Including New Certified Ones
The wood stove industry works hard to convince everyone that buying more wood stoves will solve our wood smoke pollution problems. But this simply does not work.



EPA-certified wood stoves are not nearly as clean and efficient as many believe. Even if used with perfectly dried wood and operated exactly as recommended ? which, in the real world, they almost never are ? they are still far more polluting than other heating options.







https://woodsmokepollution.org/children.html