Tag: Planet Earth

A view of England – from France.

A work trip to Brittany, France and a chance to reflect on the differences.

I’m sat writing this in my hotel room on the outskirts of Quimper in Brittany. Usual overcast and drizzle but considering I’m only a couple of hundred miles south of home, that’s the only similarity with the Devon weather.

They simply seem to have no comprehension about the recession. There are small signs of some new office building being empty but more buildings seem to have appeared and business appears to be booming. The super market where I have lunch is even busier than last year and the shops are full of people buying things.

What’s the difference?

I’m sure my friend Chris [Chris Snuggs, another author on this Blog] who I used to work for here will be able to say, but I can’t believe it’s all about the main business of food and agriculture, which predominates in this part of the country.

Back home in Devon, the same set of circumstance ought to hold true as it’s mainly agriculture and tourism, just like in Brittany. However there is a vibrancy in Quimper that I find refreshing. And a lack of charity shops!

What can we learn from this?

I was bought up in an environment that did not trust the French and it wasn’t until I got an opportunity to work here 10 years ago I realised that it wasn’t all that I’d been told.

I really like Brittany and its people who are friendly and very welcoming. There is definitely something to learn from this.

By Jon Lavin

Climate warming: the debate

Patrice Ayme believes it is real, on a scientific basis.

On the 16th October, we published a Post called Climate warming?. The sub-heading gave a clue to the content of the Post: What’s the truth about climate warming, e’rr change?

My stance was to express doubt about man causing climate warming. But then, a good friend of this Blog, Patrice Ayme, added this comment:

Lowest ice on record in the Arctic was 2007, then 2008, and now 2009. [More exactly the sea with more than 15% ice reflecting.]
As I pointed out on http://patriceayme.wordpress.com/2009/05/ (May 31, 2009).
The sun has been going down in the last 30 years or so… Watch the nice graph there, extracted from Science Mag…
We are just coming out of a solar minimum so pronounced that cosmic rays, less deflected by the sun’s magnetic field, have become a problem… This explains why greenhouse heating has been less pronounced than some expected in the last few years. Things should pick up in the next 7 years, as the sun heats up. The multiplying factor is 3 or 4…

It seemed appropriate to ask Messrs Ayme and Carlin for permission to reproduce both their Blog articles. Both very kindly agreed – thanks Gents.

These are long articles – but will inform you in a way that the mass media never do.

Here’s Patrice (Alan Carlin’s article tomorrow):
Read more about this important subject

CERN

Is CERN investing in fundamental science or wasting money?

Frankly, any rational assessment of CERN must conclude that it is the most humungous and nonsensical waste of money at a time when millions or even billions of people are threatened by a) starvation and/or death from lack of water and/or b) flooding, burning or freezing caused by Global warming not to mention the wars that are inevitable as people (probably mostly in the Middle East, Asia or Africa) start to fight over scarce resources.

The billions spent on this rather esoteric and ridiculous research would be better spent on practical steps to save people and the planet. And, “yes”, I do know that basic research can lead to useful “products”, and I have nothing against research into, for example fusion power. But why we really have to know what happened in the universe one millisecond after it blew up is beyond me, especially given the cost.

Climate warming?

What’s the truth about climate warming, e’rr change?

I will put my hand up to subscribing to the notion of humans having such an effect on Earth’s atmosphere that climate warming was likely, inevitable and could be the destruction of life, as we know it. It seemed to fit the idea of mankind being disconnected from the planet and completely out of touch with the reality that our Earth is a fragile place, our atmosphere a (relatively) very thin ‘skin’ around our planet and few of us spare a second thought for protecting the environment for the generations to come.

earth-moon

But gradually the faint sounds of opposition to the ‘simple’ argument that man is screwing up the Planet have become clearer. The latest is a very clear cry.

Dolphins – will you help them?

One man’s mission to stop the killing and capture of dolphins.

A dolphin is one of the most beautiful creatures on this planet.

dolphin

I was going to write a very long Post setting out the reasons why everyone who cares for these creatures needs to get involved. But, in the end, a few links and extracts achieve that much more effectively than several hundred words from me.

Integrity of explorers

Achievements and integrity

What do the achievements of explorers like Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Ann Daniels have to do with “integrity”? It certainly is about directing a huge effort towards something larger than oneself, while exposing oneself to considerable risk. It is also about taking single steps and trusting that they add up to something. However, there is perhaps another aspect.

It is my understanding, without being a psychologist, that it is all in the mind; and one can detect this in their interviews. For example, Ann Daniels clearly loves being “on the ice”, especially floating ice that is moving, sometimes in the wrong direction! Her references to phoning her children very occasionally while away also indicate that she is not concerned about being away from them.

Take your own baggage

It is also my understanding that there is one aspect that psychologists have discovered is required for this kind of activity. It is a characteristic that they have found in people who are remarkably successful at it. Perhaps it was spotted in Ann Daniels by the people who selected her for her first expedition.

It is not easy to describe, but it is the characteristic that, psychologically, these people “take themselves with them” when they travel. When they are in all sorts of very demanding situations, they are not wishing that were back at home in a cosy environment. They are completely “present”, as others have described it (including on this blog). They have all their feelings, psychological baggage and all, “with them”.

Perhaps there is something that we can all learn from this.

Wolf meets Man

An amazing true story of a relationship between a wild wolf and a man.

This is a story of a particular event in the life of Tim Woods told to me by his brother, DR. It revolves around the coming together of a man sleeping rough, with his dog, on Mingus Mountain, and a fully grown female Gray or Grey Wolf. Mingus is in the Black Hills mountain range between Cottonwood and Prescott in Arizona, USA

DR and his brother, Tim, belong to a large family; there are 7 sons and 2 daughters. Tim had a twin brother, Tom, and DR knew from an early age that Tim was different.

As DR explained,

Tim was much more enlightened than the rest of us. I remember that Tim and Tom, as twin brothers, could feel each other in almost a mystical manner. I witnessed Tom grabbing his hand in pain when Tim stuck the point of his knife into his (Tim’s) palm. Stuff like that! Tim just saw more of life than most other people.

Postscript to Luna, the wolf.

The story of Luna has some interesting connections.

The person taking the picture in the Post about Tim Woods was Willie Prescott. He just happens to be the grandson of William H. Prescott from whom the town of Prescott is named. Here’s that picture again.

Another breath-taking picture from Patrick Smith

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Copyright (c) 2009 Patrick Smith Photography

Patrick says of this picture:

This is a view that includes only one of the needles, so that you can get a closer view of Haystack Rock. The light was too good to resist for about two minutes, so I captured several variations of this scene..

Photograph reproduced with the kind, written permission of Patrick Smith.

By Paul Handover

The Saola, what future?

The Saola is one of the world’s rarest mammals, on the brink of extinction.

(Please share this Post as far and wide as you can – thank you.)

NOTE: Thanks to Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism for this amazing picture that came from the BBC. (By the way Yves’ Blog is an excellent subscription if only for the wonderful daily animal pictures.)

If you, like me, had never heard of this creature then be prepared to weep a few tears; this beautiful animal is very unlikely to survive as a species for much longer.

Saola

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