Yes it came across in the film quite well. It's worth a watch for anyone who hasn't seen it. Interesting that they said it was the same pattern of false information as in the past regarding things like smoking, the insiders in the industry knew for years about the potential harm. The oil industry knew the potential harm of burning fossil fuel 40 years ago but have done their utmost to suppress it.
Without the constant growth of our technology, gained from all the previous space exploration, we would not have have the knowledge that we are currently using to exploit greener energy and probably wouldn’t even be able to measure the global disaster that is climate change. Without constantly exploring we are unlikely to survive.
There is so much we just don't know about life on earth. Without a deep understanding of what is going on here, how do we know if using new technologies is beneficial or harmful? I have been reading The Hidden Life of Trees which, (along with a few other studies) shows just how trees in forests communicate with each other. And the rainforests create their own micro-climates which create the 'rivers in they sky' that dictate weather patterns across the globe. Cutting down ancient forests disrupts the climate and destroys the networks that we haven't fully understood yet. We keep measuring things in our own lifespans but the lifespan of trees can be 400 - 1,000 years as opposed to our own of 80-100 years. Chopping down an ancient woodland to make room for a railway, road or housing development is simply vandalism.
My own view is that this planet will shake us off in order to renew itself - we just don't know when, although the process has already started. It is clear that we cannot work together in a way that will allow us to live lightly enough to keep the planet in good health.
I'm having a glum day about it today. I watched a BBC Scotland programme on the iPlayer called 'black black oil' which was deeply depressing. Should know better really. We seem to be heading for 3 degrees of warming because everyone thinks someone else will do something/invent something/deal with the consequences and nothing is going to change at all. Some chap on the radio this morning talking about sustainable aviation fuel. And he was being entirely serious - he probably even believes it.
I'll give that a watch as I don't understand offsetting. I don't understand how a Prime Minister can be so far behind on tree planting and habitat restoration in this country after a decade of his party being in charge and still insist that his private plane flights are offset through investing in foreign schemes even after massively cutting the foreign aid budget. It's like offering to buy an orphan a tent to live in after killing his parents and then burning down the orphanage.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
"It's like offering to buy an orphan a tent to live in after killing his parents and then burning down the orphanage. "
Exactly. Just more dodgy "accounting". You can't clear cut an ancient Amazonian rainforest and replace it with a pine plantation in Poland, thinking it comes to the same thing. But that does seem to be how 'offsetting' works.
I'd vote for planting trees even if it didn't help with capturing co2. The problem is its just one option we should be exploring and yes it's not as valuable to the climate as other methods but it does have other benefits and is a good thing to do.
Unfortunately planning to plant a certain number of trees isn't very helpful. Locally trees have been planted but they aren't looked after and most die. Our local library planted 5 trees 18 months ago after stripping more than a dozen out and only one of them is still clinging on to life now. The same thing happened on our new bypass where over 100,000 trees/shrubs were planted and very few survived. Now our council is paying a company, probably an extortionate amount, to replant and maintain the trees for a couple of years. We need to look at where the trees come from. Locally grown trees would be perfect but the number often quoted is more than we can produce and with the prevalence of diseases it's not idea importing them from abroad.
It would be nice if the world worked together as one but we can't even get that to happen in our parliament.
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We keep measuring things in our own lifespans but the lifespan of trees can be 400 - 1,000 years as opposed to our own of 80-100 years. Chopping down an ancient woodland to make room for a railway, road or housing development is simply vandalism.
My own view is that this planet will shake us off in order to renew itself - we just don't know when, although the process has already started. It is clear that we cannot work together in a way that will allow us to live lightly enough to keep the planet in good health.
Going back to the OP, this is a good explanation of the issue of trees and 'offsetting'. Yes, I know it's the BBC. Even so. BBC iPlayer - Ros Atkins On... - Tree Planting and Climate Change
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Unfortunately planning to plant a certain number of trees isn't very helpful. Locally trees have been planted but they aren't looked after and most die. Our local library planted 5 trees 18 months ago after stripping more than a dozen out and only one of them is still clinging on to life now. The same thing happened on our new bypass where over 100,000 trees/shrubs were planted and very few survived. Now our council is paying a company, probably an extortionate amount, to replant and maintain the trees for a couple of years.
We need to look at where the trees come from. Locally grown trees would be perfect but the number often quoted is more than we can produce and with the prevalence of diseases it's not idea importing them from abroad.
It would be nice if the world worked together as one but we can't even get that to happen in our parliament.