Weather and Badgers

I don't know what's happened to the Summer? I placed my order last year and I am still waiting for the Royal Mail to deliver it.

But seriously, for the next two days I am expecting heavy rain. Down in the South West of England, there are six flood alerts. The rain that has already started is expected to greatly increase the risk of flooding and there are flood alerts in my region too.

I had been hoping to go out to watch the badgers tonight, but there are only so many soakings any mouse can take.

Before I go on ranting about the weather, there are developments on the Badger front. I now have permission again to access the main sett that I have been watching. The problem as my regular reader will know, was that other people were going on to the land and causing damage. However, that was only part of the story, as there was a pair of Red Kites nesting very close. I could not disclose this as, there was a serious risk of disturbance. Unfortunately there are some people who do not find these birds as magical as most people do. I wanted to film them but I don't have a licence to do that yet, but next year who knows. Anyway, the happy news is one chick fledged.

Also as my regular reader may know, or did I send that reader to sleep? I have been trying to write a book on the Badgers. I had two potential publishers that were interested. One pulled out due to the Credit Crunch, the other one has also decided not to proceed. They were only really interested in the book, the project had the government gone ahead with a cull of Badgers. They wanted a book that was full of conflict. As people in the UK will know the government has rejected a cull of Badgers to control TB. At least they have followed the science. But while it has curtailed the book for the moment, I will continue observing the badgers. However, I will reduce my observations so I can do other things too. So watch out I will inflict it all on you folks.

Anyway, back to the weather. One thing that I have done is bought some ex army extreme weather gloves. I have bought them during the summer as they were a quarter of the price they were in the winter. That will ensure that this winter I should remain more comfortable than I was during the last. If it was not for the enjoyment I get from seeing the wildlife, I would think I was mad. My psychiatrist may even agree with me.

However there is a serious point that I want to make about the weather. On the news I am getting sick of hearing that this weather is nothing to do with Climate change. These type of events are all in line with the events forecast in the climate models. Its almost as if everyone is trying to ignore the real effects of dangerous Climate change we are all seeing.

One good thing that this weather will do for me though is, I will have the time to continue with cataloguing the video that I have been filming. I have only just reached the film I shot in May, and at least once I get on top of all this I will be able to find the stuff properly. I think I just need someone to keep me in order.

Grass Snake Sighting

Well if the weather of the last week is anything to judge by, it looks as if we have had our summer here. I have been made jealous by seeing the weather forecast from other parts of the country, but this morning we all shared the rain. Therefore, I was not expecting to see to much this morning when I went out for a walk. After all most wildlife will avoid the rain, unlike odd ball hippy wildlife watchers.

However I thought I would take advantage of the wet ground to see if I could find tracks or signs. Apart from dogs paws there seemed to be very little signs of anything. So I went down to the river to see if anything was active down there, not expecting to see much. After a stroll, well more of a slide, I found myself close to where the grass snake winter quarters were built last year, so I thought I would see if there was anything utilising this.

While the Grass Snakes would not have used it for hibernation this winter, many other creatures could have and may be using it. Therefore I was delighted to see a grass snake near the structure. I tried to move quickly and went... well my back and buttocks were wet and caked in mud. I lost sight of the snake. I suspect that this mouse frightened it off and into the water.

There are times when constructing something like this doesn't have the desired effect, but if I haven't frightened this one off, it looks as though the effort was worth while.

Well I must be a glutton for punishment as as soon as this posting is sent, I will be heading out looking for the badgers.

Spring is here?

As this clip shows, we are having lots of weather here!

The Earth Moved

Well the earth moved for me last nigh. You have a dirty mind, I don't mean in that way! Late last night I was sitting at the computer, trying to write up my observation notes. When I noticed my screen shake and the CDs on the rack by my desk started to fall over. As all day I had been caught in the teeth of a severe gale, winds of seventy miles an hour and gusts of over eighty, I thought I was something to do with the wind.

This morning I discover that it was an Earthquake. Well that was a first for me and because of the wind, I nearly didn't notice.

Having Lots of Weather Here

There was a time when I assumed that the reason why the British and more so the English talk about the weather so much was that we are so culturally repressed. While I do feel that this is a small part of the reason, the real reason is that the weather has always been so important to our survival.

While Britain was the crucible of the industrial revolution, agriculture and as an island nation, fishing were so important to the lives and livelihoods of the people of these islands. For several thousand years weather conditions drove the activities that provided the ability for us to feed ourselves. Even as recently as forty years ago the majority of the population were engaged in occupations that were dependent upon the weather, and our ability to grow, collect or sell food.

Even now anyone who lives in a rural area is impacted and concerned by the weather. Tourism is boosted by hot weather, this can benefit a local economy with increased spending by visitors, or if there is a lack of facilities it can despoil an area with litter or pollution from engine emissions, or from noise and disturbance from inconsiderate visitors.

In the UK just a little snow just throws everyone, and it has a greater impact upon us than it does for people in other parts of the world who regularly have to live with snow in the winter. Often its just about ensuring that you are prepared for what will happen.

One of the aspects of the recent threat of flooding here that struck me was all of the houses where the media were visiting to illustrate the story were new build housing. While it would be glib to say that it’s only because of building homes on flood plains that are causing this problem, it is a major factor.

In the past people knew not to build in certain areas simply because they would suffer from flooding. However, partly because of the way people have become detached from the land and natural environment, this old knowledge has been lost. Further because people have much greater geographical and economic mobility, most people don’t have the local knowledge of the landscape that enable a population to know where it’s safe to live.

Then there is the problem that for years we have relied upon technology to provide solutions to all our problems. The difficulty with that is as King Chanute showed, no matter how much power you have, you cannot control nature.

Now as well as the normal weather patterns we should expect, we have the added factor of the unexpected weather events caused by a changing climate. The greatest obstacle to understanding about how we need to plan for this reality has been the media calling the problem Global Warming. That one phrase has made people assume that it will improve the weather. The reality people now have to cope with in the form of flooding.

However, there are lots of things that we can all do to help prevent this occurring, not just the people who are at risk of flooding either. One simple solution is to fit a rain barrel or two so that rainwater is collected. Most people will have some use for this water anyway and it may help keep your garden alive during a drought. As the average size is around seventy-five to one hundred litres in capacity, during heavy rains that is a significant volume of water that you are preventing from adding to the problem. While flooding involves millions of litres, if everyone were to contain that water, that would amount to one hundred and seventy-five billion litres saved.

The water saved by people in the upland areas would not then add to the swell of water further down the watershed.

The other simple action is to ensure that your patio, or cars hard standing is permeable. While having off street parking adds to the value of a property, every square foot of impermeable concrete reduces the grounds ability to absorb rainfall. Further, it proportionally increases the amount of water that soils have to absorb else ware and it adds to the erosion of that soil exacerbating the problem further.

While having a permeable patio is more costly, the cost of doing that is far cheaper than the cost of having your home flooded. And while there will be the cynical out there that will say that insurance will cover the cost of flooding, anyone talking to people impacted by flooding and those cynics will be silenced.

I hope that we British continue to talk about the weather so that we can learn to live with the reality of climate change. Incidentally, were in not for the fact that we are living through a period when the climate is changing, this rain would have most likely have fallen as snow, and that reduces the flood risk.

While I realise that none of this helps the people facing flooding at the moment, but in the future if we all took these simple actions then we would be helping our neighbours and ourselves.

My thoughts tonight though are with all those people who are worried and waiting.

The First Snow of the Year

Today I need to apologise to the whole country, yesterday (by the time I post this) we had the first substantial snow this winter. The reason I need to apologise is when talking to a friend over in Maine who had just had a foot of snow, I told her to send some over here. Well it looks as though she did just that.

It was a strange coincidence but last night after getting the woman I spoke of yesterday to read and approve the posting; I went to the Pub for a couple of pints of Irish. As I was walking to the pub it started snowing a bit, but it was more like hailstones. Anyway as one has to, I stepped outside to act as a leper, and while I puffed away, I was told that, with authority, it was to cold for snow. Well the white stuff must be dandruff, memo to self, must get some shampoo! I didn’t want to get into an argument over the point, but I think that when everyone is saying its going to snow, then snow it will.

I did want to get out and take some pictures, but I had a meeting in the morning and I had to do some food shopping in the afternoon, maybe tomorrow.

While it does look picturesque, it does have an impact upon the wildlife. Some will suffer like the robins I reported on recently. And the snow cover will make it more difficult for birds to find food, that’s why I have been feeding the birds since I moved in here. But the snow can also help; small mammals like voles and mice can become insulated from the cold by a blanket of snow. Additionally many tree and shrub seeds need a period of cold the trigger germination in the spring.

Lastly, a reasonable period of cold will help kill off the insects like midges that have brought diseases like Blue Tongue to the UK this year.

One of the difficulties with snow is the way that people drive. I realise that most people don’t experience snow that frequently, that fact should make people more cautious, but they seem to drive with wild abandon. While on the bus I saw several drivers who were on the verge of loosing control of their vehicles. Even as the bus travelled up the hills to Consett, I saw more than ten incidents were a car was driving to fast for the conditions and where the car lost traction and was sliding. Later when I went to the greengrocer in the village, I heard that effectively the village was blocked by accidents at both ends of the village. The main road through the village was just a sheet of ice, yet people were determined to drive on it and were slipping and sliding all over the place. As I walked back home, I advised the driver of each vehicle of the problems and most realised that it was wiser to safely park up and walk rather than trying to slide up the hill home.

I realise that most people need (or think they need) their cars for work. But today the common sense thing to have done was use public transport, but in my experience sense is not common.

Americas Bali Road Map to Inaction

The day after agreeing to the Bali Road Map for tackling Climate Change, America and especially the White House started backing off from the agreement. My reaction to that was one of puzzlement. If the US government didn’t agree with or want to be a part of the solution then why sign up?

Further, during the extension of the negotiations it did look as though the US were going to block an agreement. It became clear that the US was isolated and while on minor details America did have its supporters, the overwhelming feeling was that the US were trying to prevent agreement.

Then something rather curious happened. The Dutch Diplomat and Chief negotiator, Yvo De Boer came to the podium and after deigning that the secretariat had been involved in secret and separate talks he broke down and was lead off stage in tears.

Then the most curious aspect was that all of a sudden Paula Dobrianski under secretary of state and the US representative, said that America would join in and follow the majority, that’s the rest of the world as the US were indeed isolated.

I can now report what actually happened. The US had no intention of signing up to any agreement on climate change, well nothing that would be meaningful of effective. Further, in Bali the US were effectively trying to scupper any agreement by holding secret talks with other nations. It was only when the US were discovered doing this that the American delegation agreed to sign up to the Bali Road Map. That is why the Bush administration is calling foul and trying to avoid its responsibility.

The reality is that the US under Bush will do nothing to curb CO2 or take climate change seriously. While the US Government is saying that Climate Change is real it is doing so reluctantly. Additionally, while Americans are the greatest polluters of our planet, even the very weak energy bill that the president has just signed into law is woefully weak. Even the Chinese are implementing measures that are more effective than the US.

I suspect that the US is attempting to create the illusion of tackling the problem, while in reality it will be business as usual. Eventually this inaction by American will end up causing America real pain.

One of the conundrums of climate change is the simple fact that as the planet is warming more water vapour has been released into the atmosphere. As has been shown with Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that occurred in the UK this year, eventually that water will fall as rain. Further, the atmosphere has been retaining more water vapour than any of the computer models were ever predicting. Apart from the fact that this is speeding up the warming of the planet, current thinking is that at some point in the Weather/Climate cycle most of this extra moisture will be released in sudden and violent downpours. Not in areas normally affected by flooding but in places that monsoon type rains would not normally happen. Therefore just on the basis of landmass, America will be hard hit. It is just an event that the models are predicting like the snowstorms that have hit America. The inaction of the Bush government is impacting the population of America.

Learning Lessons from the Great Storm

When the Great Storm of 1987 hit the UK, my now ex-wife and I had not long moved up to the Northeast. It troubled us greatly as both our families were down in the area devastated by the hurricane and of course the telephones were out of order. Fortunately, none of our kin were hurt in the storm, but with reports of deaths it was an anxious wait for news.

For me though the most memorable part of the events of that time was that it was the first time that I was able to have a sensible discussion with “Non Environmentalists” about global warming. Until that event, everyone I ever spoke to always dismissed it by saying “Great we get better Weather” or some other nonsense.

While that particular storm may not have been caused directly by climate change, the simple principal of a warmer planet does mean that there is more energy put into the atmosphere to drive the weather systems. This brings me to an article on the BBC web site talking about the lessons that the met office learned from the storm, and the improvements that new and improved technology now plays in more accurate forecasting.

You can read the article here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7044050.stm

However, it’s a quote from Ewen McCallum that really caught my attention.

"It is like if we have a big storm tomorrow, you'll get the same answer out of places like the Met Office, where they will say that it certainly fits with the [future] scenarios, but to blame any one event on climate change is facile.

"It is only when you look back over time and you look at global trends, can you make comments like that."

While what he says is scientifically accurate, the greatest obstacles to persuading people to stop polluting our planet is the lack of leadership from people like him, who could get people to take notice. The science is now clear that Climate Change is happening and that it is man made. Therefore with that extra energy in the atmosphere, the changing climate must be substantially at the root of any dramatic weather occurrences.

The trouble is that there are still far to many people, politicians and scientists among them, that are looking for that magic single bit of data, that single event that can only have happened because of Climate Change, before they will commit themselves. Yet if we wait for that single event proof, we will already have destroyed our home world and our species will be facing extinction.

Even if we stop burning all fossil fuel tomorrow, it will take more than one millennia for our planet to get back into equilibrium.