Aphids versus Computer Models?

Now there have been raging debates about the validity and accuracy (or not) of the complex computer models used to assess climate change possibilities and actualities; but this article from PhysOrg suggests that some of the UK's natural inhabitants, namely Aphids, are much better indicators of just what climate change is actually occurring.

One particular species is now appearing almost four weeks ahead of the 42 year average. The big problem is that these tiny little insects, although invaluable in the food chain for many native species, are a serious threat to many of our food crops. With the possible onset of an EU pesticide ban that could remove a whole raft of the chemical treatments used to protect UK crops, this could (yes, its that word 'could' again) lead to food shortages.
(OK, so the pesticide ban story is from the Daily Mail which actually used the word 'WILL', but you get the point.)

Next bout, Aphids versus Pesticides? Sounds like another interesting dilemma in the offing.

CHEAPIE ALERT- Franking, Scarlett, can't be licked

This... is a necessary version of FREEBIE ALERT, because I still think it might be worth sharing if something is not, as such, free... but still may save (money, kids' futures, etc):

WHEN: Now.. 'til the 30th of April
WHAT: Pitney Bowes are currently offering a 30 day no obligation free trial of their entry level franking machines - with. £20 free postage credit to get you started. Plus built-in logo.
WHAT... MORE?: Via the URL. Franked Mail is cheaper than Stamped Mail - Royal Mail are delivering a strong message to businesses by providing discounted postal rates for franked mail. Whether First or Second Class, all mail is cheaper if you frank it rather than stamp it!
HOW MUCH: Well, you do need to sign up and stay with, so your volumes need to make sense
URL: http://www.pitneyworks.co.uk/w304/
COMMENTS: Shop around! This is not the only one I have ever heard about. I have been tempted just to spare myself the hassle of stamps (and some possible eco-aspects... hard to weigh vs. a machine, delivery, ink, 'lekky... might be worth a Prof's Poser), especially with all the new rules, but our volumes just don't warrant it.

Olympics coverage? Or a new type 'big brother'?

When I saw the number of staff that the BBC were sending to Beijing this summer, to cover the 'Orympic Games', of course, that was my initial silly thought. According to this from the Daily Mail, they are sending 100+ more staff (437!!) than Great Britain is sending competitors!

Now, why so many staff? That's what; perhaps a full camera crew for every five competitors? Are they going to be filming the entire squad 24/7 while they eat, sleep, do their ablutions and train - a la 'big brother' style?

Or just maybe it just happens that it's time for the four yearly jolly, for as many as possible of the Beeb's great and good (and bad?), to the planet's largest sporting event?

Seems to be an awful lot of staff for what will probably be the usual crappy coverage ("sorry, the local director cut the shot just as the finalists were approaching the finishing line - we'll find out what happened for you later").

I just want to know who the hell will be left here in the UK? Imagine the possibilities:-
- Breakfast News with Katie the tea lady?
- The Evening News presented by Sonya the night cleaning lady?
- Cricket highlights presented by the BBC Centre Security Doorman (2nd cousin twice removed of Michael Vaughan)?

Well, I suppose our license fee has to be put to some good use! And, of course, there will be a full explanation of the cost breakdown, and full accountability, after the event, won't there?

What a waste!

N.B

The Prime Minister's green credentials are not in the bag

As interesting for the comments. But still all pretty depressing.

Guardian - Tesco versus Daily Mail: which will Gordon choose? - Well, he made 'a' decision, at least.

Daily Mail - Now eco-friendly Prince Charles teams up with supermarket chain to wage war on the bags

Great. First M&S. Then Gordon. Now Charles. And, er, Booths. The Daily Mail really is rallying a crack team here. All glowing examples to follow. And boy have they inspired everyone, if the comments here are anything to go on.

Driven to distraction?

A lot of folk from the government and media have taken it upon themsleves to lecture us on the sins of our travelling habits.

Fair enough.

Oddly, however, when it comes to the evils of using cars, the alternatives they tend to opt for seem a bit different to those advocated for most of us. And even when they do subsitute a taxi for a car, they don't seem to be any more keen on bearing the costs of such convenience.

BBC under fire again for spending £20,000 of licence payers' money on Wimbledon junket

Or even explaining exactly what these costs are.

Now I am worried

Gordon Brown gives supermarkets one year to start charging for plastic bags ... or else

I wondered how long it would take for our Dear Leader to decide he was on safe enough ground to emerge from his bunker and take charge of this truly critical issue.

Not too sure if any of the other stuff, including a few other matters of pressing environmental concern, might register with his spinometer for a while now.

Thanks Daily Mail, for showing leadership to our leadership, and getting our priorities truly in the right order.

Gaurdian - How the Daily Mail seized the moment to go into battle - yes, but which one?

Careful what you wish for

I do believe the whole plastic bag thing is now a done deal. Just like any attempt at discussing climate change. At least for reasoned debate. You are either for the ban, or you are an enemy of Gaia. No matter whether it, other in the most simplistic, absolutist terms, might or might not be effective on a few key environmental levels, at least without some other more pressing and vital areas (such as sorting out our woeful waste collection and disposal systems) being addressed first.

Some noisy people have spoken, the media mob has seen a soft target, decided, and it's all over bar the P45s... and possible worse planetary enviROI from the as yet not very clearly explained alternatives (Paper? Much worse for carbon. Biodegradables/compostables? Not really ready to be dealt with properly as yet. Bags for life? Well, yes, but these do seem to be getting rushed out a bit).

No issue that these things are not optimal on about any level, but I'd love such as the Daily Mail to please explain how 'M&S banishing the FREE bag' (today's headline) stops 5p plastic bags getting into the waste stream and choking a turtle. Or at least becoming part of a toxic soup solution. It's mankind's consumerism, and the fact there are an awful lot of us (and growing) consuming ever more, that is pumping ever more crud into the air, land and sea, mostly thoughtlessly or carelessly, that is doing for these precious icons of nature.

And it is driven by a much broader set of entities all complicit in this, including those placing the ads such as those on p24 of the Mail, for M&S, suggesting we dash out and buy Mum a nice bunch of posies (from where?) and chocolates (wrapped in what?). Ditto Tesco on P30. Plus booze. Pampers at Sainsbury’s p18, if you fancy the next cause, guys. I personally support Green Nappies, but not sure what their ad budget is.

But I guess fewer bags might help... maybe along with those in papers that hold the inserts and FREE CDs, etc. And I do notice that on top of the efforts of the Indy and Guardian, the Telegraph today has a FREE 'eco-friendly bag' for each reader... which you need to send off for. Oh, just noticed; the Daily Mail too. What are they giving away next week to persuade us to buy their papers that gets posted back? The container ships (shipping is an issue, too, I imagine, for anything in the sea) from the East must be bulging! Bless.

And in the spirit of jumping bandwagons, as I was listening to the Jeremy Vine show today, there was the delicious irony of one caller in favour of an immediate Planet Ban-it (all anti's selected by being rabid 'who cares about nature' nutters), who had just 'flown in' from her dive business on the Red Sea... and these things were spoiling her UK clients' weekend getaways. Bless. Hope they cycle there and don't use sunscreen (apparently it kills coral).

Yes, things that are harmful to the environment do need to be identified and phased out where alternatives can be found (and maybe even if they cannot). But when the barely informed (I'm still on a steep learning curve ) mob rules, careful what you wish for. Who knows what... or who... may be next in line?

Mail - Marks & Spencer joins The Mail's campaign to Banish the Bags by charging for them

The first climate change refugees

We mentioned Tuvalu and the Torres Straits islands quite a while back as they appeared to be potentially the first islands to be evacuated because of rising sea levels and tidal surges. It looks as if they will now be second or third after one of the Carteret Islands, which are a low level island group making up part of Papua New Guinea.

This report from the Daily Mail highlights the problems that the Carteret Islands have suffered over recent years from tidal surges, and on how the first refugees from one of the islands are having to relocate because of the rising sea levels.

"The fruit trees that carried mango, banana, breadfruit and paw-paw are all dead from the sea water that has killed their roots and the children survive on a diet of just coconuts and fish. The roots of their black hair turn yellow, signifying malnutrition."

"Grass-roofed huts have been washed away by the tidal surges and families have been forced to move further inland to higher ground, away from the beaches where, in decades past, fishing nets were hung out to dry from waterside homes."

I rather suspect that the small group having to relocate will prove to be the first of an ever increasing number over the coming decades.

A cross between Nixon & Mr. Bean

We don't often feature non-enviro posts on Junkk, but I'm allowing myself a slight diversion into the world of pure (sic) politics.

That post title is the excoriating description of our PM, Ol' Golden, by the Daily Express.

"Only five months into his Premiership Brown shows all the signs of becoming a unique creation: the gruff, unbalanced mediocrity of 'Tricky Dicky' Nixon mixed with the comic absurdity of Mr Bean. No wonder so many Britons seem desperate to leave the country."

I have to confess that I hadn't realised that his ratings had fallen as far in the polls as they suggest. Though to be fair, Ol' Golden's been that quiet of late, I'd almost forgotten he was our PM.

Oh, just for fun, here's the Daily Mail's take on our "constipated" and "dysfunctional" government.

Merton rule is/not to be abolished

Please feel free to delete 'is' or 'not' - whichever you find appropriate!

According to this article from yesterday's Guardian Unlimited central government is planning to torpedo the Merton rule; a rule under which local councils sign up to an agreement whereby 10% of all energy requirements on any new development will be met by using renewables.

"housing minister Yvette Cooper, who last year wanted all local authorities to adopt a Merton rule, will soon publish a new draft planning policy statement which outlines the abolition of the rule."

So it appears that our government is reverting to a regressive mode yet again.

But ........ today's Daily Mail reports an entirely different perspective.

"Contrary to fears expressed by some environmentalists, Ms Cooper will not be abolishing the Merton Rule"

"A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government denied the planning guidance would ditch the Merton approach."

Now I know that the media always want to portray their stories as the most up-to-date and correct, but here there are two entirely poles-apart comments on the same subject.

OK, so which one represents the truth and which is a load of porkies? Or is it all intended to add to the plethora of obfuscation? I give up! I really don't know who to believe now!

ADDENDUM from Junkk Male

Recycling Waste World - Lib Dems slam plans to abolish Merton Rule
Guardian - Don't scrap green housing rule, urge campaigners

What's a Boy or Girl to think?

We have lately had a spate of people telling us not only what we should (with any useful info on how being noticeable in the absence) think but, apparently with magical telepathic powers, what we are thinking.

From government to local authorities to the media, our opinions are being shaped, it seems, by telling us that what were thinking is in fact not what we are thinking. I guess that having seen the error of our ways by it coming from such trusted sources we will immediately revise them. Not.

So we have on the BBC this morning a report about the state of our rubbish laws.

What was most striking to me was a piece featuring some residents in Oxford (one of the more enlightened councils, I'd always thought) who were a bit fed up being told that there was no problem with bi-weekly collections, when in fact, by the evidence of all their senses (especially olfactory), there was. Seems they had not read the research or press releases thoroughly enough.

And so we arrive at the fact (well...) that this brainwave to force us to recycle more (nothing to do with saving money, oh, no) is, in fact, not working out: MPs: Fortnightly bin collections are an unworkable mess

Now, in my new capacity as Scoop Male, I have gone off and sourced this report. Well, I googled and clicked two links. Bernstein and Woodward look out!

I feel I must... should... as the quotes from the report writers made... gasp... a lot of sense, and were all the more refreshing by being from 'in-house' taboot, it being a Labour MP who headed it all.

Thing is, it is now in a list of several I have yet to read. Ho hum.

But things like this make it look worth the effort:

"In the long term there should be a move towards a national strategy to encourage householders and retailers to cut down on food waste. At present a third of all food bought is subsequently thrown away, wasting households on average £400 a year and adding to refuse collection costs."

“We would like the Government come up with a core definition of what householders should expect from their refuse collection. This should include no complicated rules, rubbish collected when the council says it will be and schemes to suit every household from the largest rural home to the most crowded urban area.

“What we do not want is, as Ben Bradshaw, then the Minister for Waste, put it, local authorities “blundering” into AWC before proper consideration and consultation has taken place as to whether this is the best system for that area.”

Or, let the BBC show what it is good at: MPs criticise bin collection plan Plus report. 63 b****y pages! Maybe later.

Guardian - Q&A: Rubbish collections
Guardian - Fortnightly collections not always the answer, say MPs

Packaging & Marketing 5 – Consumer & Environment 0

"What’s that you’re doing Walt?"

"It’s a new idea I’m working on for marketing products that are waaaaaay too cheap."

"Really? So how’s it gonna work?"

"Well, you take a dirt cheap product, like a really cheap shower gel, and you put it into sexy bottles that cost three times the product it contains. It’s a real winner."

"Come on Walt! Get real! So just how do you plan to make people buy it then?"

"Easy, you spend huge wadges on neat advertising, like loads of telly time; price it at five or six times what the entire package is worth, and people will rush to buy it like lemmings."

"But that makes no sense at all Walt!"

"Maybe not to you, but I reckon I’ll make a fortune out of it."

"Sorry Walt, I’m not really with you on this one ……. I just can’t see how it can possibly work, people just aren’t that stupid. And just what do they do with the sexy bottles when they’ve used up the shower gel? Oh ...... I’m with it now ....... they’re paying for the sexy plastic bottle so they can use it for something else, aren’t they?"

"No! They just chuck ‘em away!"
_________________________________

It all sounds absolutely crazy, doesn’t it, but that’s exactly what’s happening with many health and beauty products on the market today. Another little expose from the Daily Mail which neatly demonstrates the massively over-inflated cost to the consumer of some products, and even touches on the downstream cost (to the environment) of throwing the container (that cost three times more than the contained product, and will take more than 400 years to decompose) into landfill sites.

"It's crazy. You pay more for the packaging than the ingredients and then you have to pay again to chuck the wretched stuff away."

Quite! I couldn’t have put it better myself. We live in a mad, mad world.

Council tax funds pensions!!

DAILY MAIL

So now I'm beginning to understand just why some councils are moving to fortnightly bin collections - much of their (sorry, but shouldn't that be OUR?) allocated cash goes straight into 'gold-plated', index linked pensions. .... And they can still retire at 60 whilst the plan is that the rest of us will have to work until 68!

Wasn't council tax supposed to pay for essential services? I don't remember agreeing to help provide super pensions for the faceless bureaucrats who spend all day pen-pushing and inventing new and ever more meaningless targets. But I suppose they have to employ someone to decode the data collected from the "Chip 'n Bin" devices.

I know the G8 important 'n all, but....

The world moves on, and every nuance of revolution needs reporting upon I know, but that doesn't mean Dave from Solarventi can't be replied upon to push some of my buttons, especially when he uses the Daily Mail to do it with:

I thought you might be interested in the fact that the Beeb has sent 60 staff to Germany to cover G8!! See here.

Yes, I say, through gritted teeth, very 'interested', in light of the irony of the climate change main topic.

But maybe they all went over by coach... oh, no... it seems they had to fly. Anyway, here's what you get for your licence fee:

BBC - G8 leaders 'agree climate deal' - Oh, I really hope so.

Trust Drive.

£15 speeding tax for victims of violence - but REAL criminals pay nothing

Might one ask what the surcharge will be that those who are incorrectly charged with a road-based infraction can impose on the authorities?

I have on two occasions been, eventually, found in the right having been subjected to ever-escalating authoritarian pressure and threats, both financial and legal, most likely by automated system.

The only penalty that the accusers suffered was the cancellation of the original, unjust fine.

This is barking. There is no incentive at all to apply common sense to the imposition of such threats, as simply by pushing a computer key a computer racks it up until the individual caves.

This is government-sanctioned extortion, pure and simple.

I'd suggest it was resisted. By all of us.

I won't be the first...

All homes energy efficient within decade says Brown

'Based on consultations with banks and building societies, he said measures to lower a household's carbon footprint had the potential to create a market for a range of new "green" financial products'

Nice idea.

http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=6038

Doing the rounds.

Up on the roof...Cameron's wind turbine arrives

I do wonder what the enviROI - the return on investment to the planet in terms of carbon saved, and the bit that really matters to those serious about making our kids' futures better - was of designing, making, delivering and erecting this edifice?

Is it possible that it actually has been worse (I only ask... I don't know. But if the lifespan is in excess of the payback period, what then)?

If so, then it truly is a fitting testimony to the fact that we live in an era of spin over substance.

Space, the final affront?

Hawking to get brief experience of weightlessness on space flight

As an eminent scientist, one can only presume he will be taking his place to further our understanding of the planet and the changes it faces, say, in climate.

If it were just space tourism or a cheap PR gimmick it would be harder to justify as I doubt this thing is powered by rubber bands or even biodiesel.