Category: Climate Change

It caught my eye… 6-2024

MikeLeave a comment

Amazingly, the list of cities around the world that are literally sinking is increasing dramatically. This is due to a number of reasons, mainly related to Environmental changes that are affecting the ground on which have been built over the years of their existence.

In a recent report, The World Economic Forum cited 11 cities that could entirely disappear by 2100. It’s not a problem confined to one area, it seems to be a world-wide problem from Bangladesh to Egypt and Houston, USA. The USA is also covered more deeply in this Newsweek report using data from NASA images.

This one definitely caught my eye, having been in the Navy I always like to keep up to date with any changes that are happening, this one is significant.

With HMS Vengeance having just returned from its epic 201-day mission under the sea, this Technical Briefing from Navy Lookout just shows how the underwater threat has changed over recent years. It is going to change further and faster as more nations deploy their own submarines. If you’re interested in this aspect of our defence, it’s worth a read, including the comments.

2nd May 2024 and local elections are looming. But could it also be a snap General Election? Make sure that you have done everything you need to obtain your Voter ID.

The Electoral Commission has full information about this. There is a deadline to obtain a valid Voter ID, it’s 24th April 2024. Don’t delay.

It caught my eye… 2-2024

MikeLeave a comment

Wow!! What a lot of rain over the past few weeks and it seems that we have another example of climate change. That of course is no help to the people are having to bail out their homes from the latest inundation of flood water. Help from Citizens Advice is available.

As the chart on the left shows (click to get a bigger version), the planets’ climate is continuing to change, is it approaching the point of no return? One hope not for all our sakes.

With the sad news that Derek Draper has died today at the young age of 56, Long-Covid continues to cast its shadow over many people.

A recent report indicated that, even in people that have recovered to some degree, they are still affected by it when trying to exercise to get back to full health. If you’re suffering from Long-Covid, here’s a Long Covid recovery guide from the British Heart Foundation.

With Solar flare activity increasing and intensifying—see the recent Northern Lights magnificent shows, another effect of solar flares you may have personally experienced is interference in terrestrial broadcast TV and Radio signals. I have here in the last few weeks.

Italy could soon have a solution to this as a side-benefit to its requirement to provide a reliable TV/Radio signal across all of its regions, in particular the most mountainous areas, by having an internet fall-back. It makes interesting reading and compares how a few other countries are progressing.

It caught my eye… 6–2023

MikeLeave a comment

According to press reports, The Guardian, The FT, This is Money; Thames Water could be about to run out of money!

I thought the whole idea of privatization was that it was going to be better for all!

Funny how things turn out.

The UK Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) confirms plans to check bank accounts to stop £1.3 billion in benefit fraud. In an update to legislation, the UK Government has giving itself the power to look into all UK citizens banks account that receive state benefits!

Big Brother on the march, again! Why not look at the UK.Gov?

A very written article about this very subject — How the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill is the government’s latest erosion of hard-won rights!

With Climate change high on the agenda at the moment and with COP28 taking place in Dubai, it is interesting to learn that Scientists in Scotland are using robotic subsea gliders to check ocean currents for signs of climate collapse.

They are monitoring the “conveyor belt” which carries warm and cool water between the Caribbean and the Arctic.

Let’s hope that they find out what’s happening soon.

It caught my eye this week… 2

MikeLeave a comment

Again, time always seems to be my enemy, I’m never really sat down much, but it seems I need to apply myself a bit more to posting onto this blog. Anyway…

The Atlantic Conveyor – I remember reading an article about this back in 2016 when scientists voiced concerns about the Ocean current known as the Atlantic Conveyor Belt was apparently slowing down. In an interesting article, it was reported that the strength of the current had been dropping since 2009 and was then starting to cause issues with ocean currents around the world and influencing climate change.

Guess what! It seems that this is an ongoing and serious problem; reported last week in the UK Guardian, scientists say that Atlantic currents area at their lowest for a millennium!! What are we to make of this?

Clearly, the way we have treated the planet has had a lot to do with this; the ongoing effects of burnt fossil fuels increasingly warming the atmosphere is clearly now having a measurable effect. One wonders how much of this can be reversed and is anyone’s guess when; one hopes that we have not reached the point of no return or are we really heading for our ‘Day After Tomorrow‘?

Some other resources about this ….

NHS Privatisation – Well love to ‘own’ the NHS; they have (and still are) delivered a truly amazing service during the pandemic, so I feel quite annoyed when I read that very quietly and without any big announcement a major GP surgery been swallowed up by an American Health Insurance company. Privatisation by stealth is the watchword that we should all be afraid of.

Of course, the powers that be will raise their hands and still say that nothing will change and the NHS is ‘Safe in Our Hands‘. However, if recent examples of USA health care are anything to go by, then we should be very worried that this has happened and I can only believe that this is just the start of things to come under the current UK government. Will we end up paying twice for our healthcare in the UK?

Biobank Study Reports – I’ve taken part in a number of studies with this organisation over the years, one of the latest was a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus study that required blood samples to be take every month for six months and sent in for analysis by them. Quite a painless exercise, though I would like to know why a ‘paper’ cut never stops bleeding; but when you ‘want’ to get 10ml of blood out of your finger, it takes for ages!

The reports of the Serology Study can be download here – Month 1 and here Month 6.

It’s all about the recycling; isn’t it?

MikeLeave a comment

With Christmas very much (and some might say ‘thank goodness’) over, I am sure like my house, the main room was covered in wrapping paper and empty plastic boxes/containers on the day.

We will also all have spent quite a bit of time diligently sorting through the ‘mess’ to make sure that we put the right items into the right recycling boxes ready for the ‘rescheduled’ holidays collections – how many of us still got the dates wrong!

Copyright – Veolia

But hang on a minute! Yes we are all encouraged to recycle our waste so that it does not end up making a bigger problem, but what about all the items that came ‘in‘ that mountain of paper and plastic in the first place?

This interesting article from the Guardian ‘The solution to the plastic waste crisis? It isn’t recycling’ caught my eye today. I was amazed to read that the latest Disney sponsored Arendelle Castle Village from Lego contains some 521 bits of plastic!

With many of the plastic based toys that now abound for our younger generation, one wonders if we need to approach recycling in a different way by simply buying less plastic in the first place, especially if much of the plastic around us is still not fully recyclable. I should point out that from my current understanding many of the latest Lego products are fully recyclable.

However; as we look around us, much plastic is still not fully recyclable and there; is the crux of the problem! Just how do we solve this dilemma, plastic is cheap and everywhere, we have got to think about not producing as much and really ramp up the use of other more sustainable & recyclable products.

Global Recycling Day – 2020

Climate Change – It’s happening!

MikeLeave a comment

With the news that grasses has been found growing on the lower slopes of Mount Everest and with the Aussie bush fires about to enter a new cycle with the return of increasing temperatures and winds; it’s pretty obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence that something is happening to our climate and at an increasingly fast pace.

Copyrights – Karen Anderson/University of Exeter (Mount Everest); Copernicus Sentinel 2 (31Dec2019), Getty Images (Burnt Forest)

I wonder how long it will be before Governments really start to take serious actions now and not by looking to reduce carbon commissions variously in the next 10/20/30 years.

I think it is time for action now.

Aussie Fires

MikeLeave a comment

What devastation we are seeing on our screens!! Who knew that fires could travel so fast? Having a connection with Australia makes it all the more sad to see the carnage that is happening all over the country, especially in New South Wales (NSW) where my fathers family hailed from.

Photo: A hot and parched Australian landscape is fuelling devastating bushfires on the east coast. – Copyright http://www.abc.net.au & (AAP: Dean Lewins )

Lets hope they can get the situation under control soon.