[BF Newsroom]

Mild winters and a new diet help the long-tailed tit make it into the top 10 birds spotted in UK gardens, says the RSPB.

More from BBC News...

[citrinella]

I was very disappointed with this article.

I know the article is unlikely to reflect what RSPB said :-) However, I wish they could have persuaded the BBC to report this as evidence of the severe impacts of climate change. Long tailed tits (LOTTI) seem to have had a real rise in numbers over the last few years. They have certainly increased relative to blue and great tits. The evidence from the BTO Nest Record Scheme that LOTTI have had excellent breeding seasons while blue and great tits have fared very poorly indeed is extremely strong. The reason seems clear too - LOTTI breed early when weather has been relatively good in the last few years; blue tit and great tit breed later when weather has been unusually wet and cold.

Whether these effects (wet summer and mild winters) are due to global warming is less certain, but since many of the models have predicted high chance of exactly that at the current stage of development of global warming, I think it is reasonable to bang the drum on climate change because world leaders, most notably in the UK, don't really understand how much it matters.

I am appalled that western leaders in particular are desperate to restore a credit fuelled boom rather than redirecting our resources into restructuring our economies to an efficient, low consumption, low waste model that might survive the resources crisis which looms nearer each day. The policies pursued now are guaranteeing and accelerating the next bust - which will make this one look like a pleasant summer day.

Mike.

[joannec]

Originally Posted by citrinella

Whether these effects (wet summer and mild winters) are due to global warming is less certain,.......................

I think it is reasonable to bang the drum on climate change because world leaders, most notably in the UK, don't really understand how much it matters.

I am appalled that western leaders in particular are desperate to restore a credit fuelled boom rather than redirecting our resources into restructuring our economies to an efficient, low consumption, low waste model that might survive the resources crisis which looms nearer each day. The policies pursued now are guaranteeing and accelerating the next bust - which will make this one look like a pleasant summer day.

Mike.

Hi Mike

I read your post when it first appeared and I've been thinking about it on and off ever since. I am really surprised that no one has responded in three days. I am giving this thread a boost because I think what you have said is really important. It hits the nail on the head and highlights what is wrong with our society. I too, am appalled by the over consumption and high waste of our consumerist lifestyles, primarily in the West. It can only get worse and you are right to highlight western world leaders preoccupation with restoring the the credit fuelled economy instead of concentrating on what really matters: reversing climate change and saving the planet. An example is the recent announcement that people scrapping old cars will receive £2000 towards the purchase of a NEW car! What's wrong with repairing things, using fewer natural resources and more human resources....after all there are more than enough of us?

[citrinella]

Originally Posted by joannec

An example is the recent announcement that people scrapping old cars will receive £2000 towards the purchase of a NEW car! What's wrong with repairing things, using fewer natural resources and more human resources....after all there are more than enough of us?

In general I agree with using things till they are truly worn out, repaiting them to keep them going. I am not so sure about old cars. There seems to be a fair segment of the environmental community who have accepted that this is a good thing. After all, cars are built with a design life, beyond which the costs of maintaining them, in the light of their lower fuel efficiency* than modern counterparts, may not be worthwhile. Another problem is that the new cars they are wanting people to buy under this scheme have already been built, already have an ecological impact. The car may be sitting in storage, but the impact is already suffered.

In general I am appalled at the way governments are pouring money down the drain of the car industry. Have they forgotten all the wasted money of the 1970s trying to rescue dead industries ? Obama sounds better than Brown or Sarkozi, he talks about "only to help them adapt". Yes, let us see them provide jobs (crucial) producing transport systems which will not destroy the planet. Not enough jobs in that ? Well move them to producing energy systems that will not destroy the planet, or recycling waste, or habitat restoration or whatever.

Same for financial services ! Yes we need some, but ...

There will be loads of redundancies. These people need jobs and there is useful work crying out to be done. I am convinced that the lowest long term impact on these people will be achieved by concentrating on the jobs that [i]need[i] done, rahter than trying to perpetuatre useless, unsustainable, activity.

We need a systems approach. Sticking plaster isn't much good for a cracked dam.

Mike.