I T’S not only nature that’s been thrown out of sync by our changing climate. I cast my clouts well before May was out – back in April when we had that scorching weather – and it’s been windy, rainy and chilly ever since I packed away my cardigans.
Obviously those old wives knew a thing or two when it comes to British weather, but you don’t expect to need Factor 50 suncream in April. Having switched to the summer duvet and started fake-tanning my legs in earnest, it came as a shock when the weather reverted to type.
Apparently, it’s going to be hot and sunny again this weekend, which is a relief after the awful Bank Holiday weekend. I was out playing with the brass bands in high winds and driving rain and it’s no fun sitting in the trombone section at the back and having the run-off from the gazebo canopy cascade down your neck. I guess playing Singing In The Rain was bound to jinx it.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for fine weather tomorrow because Planet South Bank, the community group I help to run, is holding an outdoor information stall, compost clinic and plant swap in the morning. It’s to mark World Environment Day, which is officially on Sunday, but I doubt we’ll be reprimanded by the UN Environment Programme for going a day early, besides which you get a better footfall on a Saturday.
We did the same thing last year in the same spot on the corner of Bishopthorpe Road and Scarcroft Road and it was very successful. Lots of passers-by stopped and talked to us, asked questions, picked up leaflets and low-energy light bulbs, did our climate quiz and ate cake (kindly donated by the Pig and Pastry, which is supporting us again this year).
People loved the plant swap and some went rushing home to bring us back even more plants and seedlings for swapping, which was great.
Any plants that don’t get swapped will end up in our community garden in the grounds of nearby St Clement’s Church, which is now sprouting potatoes and pak choi and a host of other vegetables and soft fruits. The project is being run in conjunction with Edible York and St Clements and has already seen local people coming together to share the planting, digging, watering and weeding, their children joining in with gusto (anything that involves hosepipes and watering cans is especially popular). Community activities such as the stall and the garden are the best way I can think of to celebrate World Environment Day. Such activities may be small – trifling in the scheme of things – but at least they are practical and purposeful and engage with issues in a way you can get your head around.
Far too often environmental concerns can feel too overwhelming and depressing to even think about, let alone do anything about. The news in Monday’s papers made particularly grim reading.
According to the International Energy Agency, greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year to the highest carbon output in history – this despite the worst recession since the 1930s – putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach now.
Worse, the current trend is putting us back on a “business as usual path” which could result in a 4C rise by 2100 with devastating consequences.
This could produce irreversible effects, including large-scale decline of the great ice sheets with associated sea-level rise, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, the release of huge quantities of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost and acidification of the world’s oceans, which would create a positive feedback mechanism, further accelerating climate change.
Like I said, it’s hard to get your head round those kinds of scenarios. But we must. They may sound like the stuff of disaster movies but the script isn’t finished yet. There’s still time, just, to rush through a rewrite, but that call for ‘action’ has to come now.
Which is why I’ll be out on that stall tomorrow. It’s to keep the dialogue going. The weather, that British conversational standby, seems a good a place to start.
“Warm enough for you, today? (Assuming it is. But even if it isn’t – witness Miserable May – the following still holds.) Did you know that it’s been the hottest Spring in the UK since records began in 1659?”
OK, look, I’ll just give you a courgette plant and a leaflet on loft insulation if you like. . .
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