The pain in the bum is that the increase in population is presumably linked to man's technological advances
Well sort of. The increase in population is about having the resources to grow the food to support a larger population and the medical knowhow to reduce infant mortality and prolong life generally. At the same time, the flattening of the birth rate that robaird is talking about is also linked to the same advances - mechanisation and improved efficiency in agriculture all over the world means families need fewer people working the farm in order for everyone to eat and the reduction in infant mortality means fewer births are needed to get enough survivors. Ultimately all of those only work if the women in a society are allowed to have an education. When women know they have a choice, and know how to exercise that choice, birth rates drop. It's a consistent pattern. Legalisation of voluntary abortion also has a lot more impact than just the number of actual abortions would suggest would be the case. So population control, and possibly our species' survival, depends on better political equality between genders. Who'd have thought it, eh?
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
It's been really interesting following the variety of positions and responses. It's such an emotive subject that tempers do tend to flare and fray. There are lots of wise words here and food for thought.
My personal view is that, yes, we should all push the boat out and do what we can, rather than ceding the ground to a few aficionados. Throwing bricks at each other's heads is never going to be a successful strategy. It is easy to feel sour, shrill or disheartened. Dismissing others as smug, lazy, patronising or hypocritical is not going to help us all get clear and focused. These our problems to solve, indivdual, national, governmental and public. Trying to shift responsibility to other times and places, other countries, classes or continents doesn't help either. I hope we can celebrate what is being achieved and encourage others to step up and reframe our lives. The challenges are immense.
This one is calling on the government to enshrine the new environmental targets (to reverse natural decline in the England by 2030) in law rather than stick to the all talk and no action Tory policies that we've been seeing. This petition is backed by over 50 nature conservation charities (and Boris's own father). This idea has been already debated in parliament and has been voted down by the Tory majority which is very worrying. You can read the full debate here if you're interested https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-01-26/debates/20CFA026-8E78-4D84-82E4-B4236D826AA4/Environment%20Bill
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
This petition could use a bit of a boost apparently. It's reached 85000 signatures quite rapidly but could do with as many as possible to make an impact. Please sign and share if you haven't already.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
This petition could use a bit of a boost apparently. It's reached 85000 signatures quite rapidly but could do with as many as possible to make an impact. Please sign and share if you haven't already.
When I was about 30 and standing in the queue to order my dinner at work a colleague would wait for me to order my food and then pounce on me if I ordered a non veggie option......I had told her I was a veggie.
I feel the same about environmentalism as I try to do what I think is right in daily life but the same as all of us I can only receive information from papers or the TV without having the time or energy to check if its correct.
If I feel good about my actions then i feel most of them must be right !
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
The petition is slowly doing well and is at 160,000+ signatures now.
The news today is full of the governments proposed new targets (subject to public consultation).
Peat to be banned in compost from 2024, despite the fact it should have been phased out last year based on the previous target and it doesn't seem to cover more than bagged compost. The government have pledged £50m of taxpayers' money to restore the peatlands that are being destroyed in the meantime and it doesn't seem like there are plans to increase the tax on peat to pay for it.
Tree planting is to increase to try and hit the targets that have been missed consistently already, but we've been told tree planting will increase every year since this government was elected and little net gain of new native woodland has been achieved. No plans to prevent existing woodlands being felled for roads, HS2 and new housing either. And no promises to plant the correct type of trees and not just commercial conifers.
I don't call myself an environmentalist, because to be associated by name with some of the groups would be too embarrassing. The practice is well on the way to being mainstream, which is good for the future.
Deiighted that peat is to be banned in compost for retail say - this country has been working towards that for at least 20 years, and we are getting into larger scale programmes for protecting / restoring peatland. A good start, but more work on commercial needed over a relatively short period.
Practice on peat-restorative real farming systems, rather than creating only huge 'rewilded' nature-museums, seem to be very achievable.
One thing I think I have not seen before is Aldi compost only being peat free this year. That may be me not noticing, or a straw in the wind of a wider change.
I'd like to see it going further and a ban on peat sales, and particularly on peat burning for power, be specific goals of the climate conference later this year.
Not particularly impressed by the CPRE, who seem only to be saying what they always say. I would hope for some more reflection from such a prominent group.
Encouraged by the further progress from the Govt. We have now had average year on year 3% reduction in C02 since about 2010, which is significant.
Ferdinand
“Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
Encouraged by the further progress from the Govt. We have now had average year on year 3% reduction in C02 since about 2010, which is significant.
Not really. We just exported our CO2 production to other countries. The majority of our manufacturing and recycling is carried out elsewhere including burning our waste.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts
Well sort of. The increase in population is about having the resources to grow the food to support a larger population and the medical knowhow to reduce infant mortality and prolong life generally.
At the same time, the flattening of the birth rate that robaird is talking about is also linked to the same advances - mechanisation and improved efficiency in agriculture all over the world means families need fewer people working the farm in order for everyone to eat and the reduction in infant mortality means fewer births are needed to get enough survivors.
Ultimately all of those only work if the women in a society are allowed to have an education. When women know they have a choice, and know how to exercise that choice, birth rates drop. It's a consistent pattern. Legalisation of voluntary abortion also has a lot more impact than just the number of actual abortions would suggest would be the case. So population control, and possibly our species' survival, depends on better political equality between genders. Who'd have thought it, eh?
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I feel the same about environmentalism as I try to do what I think is right in daily life but the same as all of us I can only receive information from papers or the TV without having the time or energy to check if its correct.
If I feel good about my actions then i feel most of them must be right !
Deiighted that peat is to be banned in compost for retail say - this country has been working towards that for at least 20 years, and we are getting into larger scale programmes for protecting / restoring peatland. A good start, but more work on commercial needed over a relatively short period.
Practice on peat-restorative real farming systems, rather than creating only huge 'rewilded' nature-museums, seem to be very achievable.
One thing I think I have not seen before is Aldi compost only being peat free this year. That may be me not noticing, or a straw in the wind of a wider change.
I'd like to see it going further and a ban on peat sales, and particularly on peat burning for power, be specific goals of the climate conference later this year.
Not particularly impressed by the CPRE, who seem only to be saying what they always say. I would hope for some more reflection from such a prominent group.
Encouraged by the further progress from the Govt. We have now had average year on year 3% reduction in C02 since about 2010, which is significant.
Ferdinand