It's a crazy World

Everything is awry. The beautiful early autumn colours that I spoke of last week have faded. That brilliant blaze of orange and gold has quickly turned to ashes, and the leaves are now a sad dull brown. They curl and seem ready to crumble away. It should not be like this. And still there is no rain. Once more the long range forecast promises storms and showers, but , as they say, we'll believe it when we see it. We continue to collect our drinking water from the village, while our bore hole offers up plentiful supplies for other purposes. "But what if the water table dries up too?" I ask B. anxiously. It is already well past the time that storms normally break into our long summers. But then, when rain does eventually fall, the ground is so hard and dry, it will just run off the surface anyway.

Looking further afield, a major Australian ski resort has closed two of its four ski lifts due to lack of snow. This has been attributed to climate change. In the northern hemisphere disasters are widespread, from floods in the Nevada desert that have turned everything to a dangerous slimy mud, to fires in Rhodes and Hawaii. And yet still tourists have flocked to these islands to play on beaches in the midst of burnt out landscapes. Their flights are exacerbating the very cause of these disasters. Did I say that it's a crazy world?

Surely we cannot now deny that we humans are responsible for climate change. So... "what can we do?" I look around me at the life style that we have adopted in the West with our frequent flying , and profligate use of fossil fuels and other resources. Here are some of the things that I have heard people say recently.

"I'm too old to change my life style. now."

Solution: Why don't we strictly ration flights? People could trade their annual allowance with others if they so wish.

" I shan't give up flying. The consumption of meat creates far more CO2 emissions than flying."

Alas, there is no logical answer to this. One might point out that taking a long haul flight generates more carbon emissions than the average person, in dozens of countries throughout the world, produces in a whole year. Oh yes, and why not give up eating meat too!

Meanwhile two 'Stop Oil' climate protestors are languishing in jail, while some prominent British politicians and right wing newspapers are eulogising the actions of Ulez protestors. These vandals are destroying the very cameras that seek to control air polluting vehicles in London streets. Crazy, or what?

Closer to home we make our own rationalisations while continuing to drive our 12 year old diesel vehicle. "Our yearly mileage is very low, we say. "If we go electric, someone else will buy our car and create far more pollution." But perhaps we should scrap our perfectly serviceable vehicle altogether ! But then what about the environmental costs of manufacturing a new car? It's all so complicated.

But there are better long term solutions. These include improved town planning, and public transport. And for individual transport needs , when only a car will do, how about car sharing clubs? These are ways towards a better future.

As B. said to me yesterday: "my only real regret is that I shall not live to see the end of the internal combustion engine." Let's hope that momentous change really does eventually happen.