March 2023

March 20th (2023) at 21:24 h. universal time, is the solar equinox. That day, globally, day-light equals night-dark in length, i.e. 12 hours of each across the whole of planet earth. After this date, daylight hours are longer in the northern hemisphere and shorter south of the equator. Hence, one global thing that does not change, with human induced climate change, is the cycle of day length variation. Earth will continue to orbit the sun and spin on its axis resulting in seasonal change. Meanwhile, down here on the planet surface, us enterprising and increasing humans are continually finding ways to make life easier for ourselves, such as better modes of transport, more and warmer houses, convenient plastic packaging, efficient waste disposal like landfill, combustion and the open oceans. Also, industrialised farming, better quality food, deeper open cast mines and oil wells digging out more valuable raw materials.

This is all very well, but where does oxygen to do it come from? Answer = nature. Where does our water come from? Answer = nature. Who deals with our waste products such as CO2? Answer = nature. Who looks after nature? Answer = we are supposed to as stewards of our environment. Are we succeeding? Not really. Why not? Because we seem to have confused our priorities. This has resulted in 3 linked by-products of our technological revolution, namely, pollution, species extinction and climate change. So, how do we deal with those? That is difficult. In truth it has become a priority to have big airports with more aeroplanes so that we can holiday in more exotic locations. It has become a priority to make bigger, more intensive farms to produce more animal feed to make more meat for ‘luxury’ food such as beef, lamb chicken and pork. It has become a priority to dig out and burn more and more fossil fuels to service our desire for a more luxurious life. However, in doing this we are damaging the very land that feeds us and the very paradise that we desire to be part of. Sadly, the greed of the few is increasing the suffering of the many. In truth, many folk will migrate from hot countries to cooler ones like ours to escape the ravages of climate change. This migration is not confined to people, animals too are changing their locations as their home ranges become uninhabitable due to drought or starvation. As time moves on we are learning more about the consequences of our work. Hopefully, we will soon start to see the solutions making a difference.