Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category
My new appointment in the water sector (1)
March 17th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Since I took early retirement from the Communications Workers Union 10 years ago, I have been a portfolio worker with a mix of appointments, mostly representing consumers and mostly in the communications sector. It is in the nature of portfolio working that the mix of responsibilities changes over time. I have just completed my four-year […]
Posted in Environment, My life & thoughts | Comments (8)
Ever heard of virtual water?
March 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
No, neither had I – until, on a recent train journey from London to Sheffield, I found myself sitting next to an environmental activist who works for Friends of the Earth. We spent the whole trip talking about environmental issues and she introduced me to the concept of virtual water. Water use and scarcity is […]
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Water, water, but not everywhere
February 21st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday the Government held a water summit to discuss the worsening drought conditions in the South-East of England where I live. In the evening, I attended a seminar on the Government’s recent White Paper on water convened by the think tank the Europrean Policy Forum. It was addressed by Water Minister Richard Benyon and many […]
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It’s hot! hot!! hot!!!
October 1st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The British weather is so variable that it provides an endless source of (usually fatuous) conversation. We had the coolest summer since 1993 BUT: Thursday was the hottest 29 September since 1895 Friday was the hottest 30 September since 1908 Today was the hottest 1 October ever recorded – it reached 29.9C or 85.8F [more […]
Posted in British current affairs, Environment | Comments (0)
The heated debate over a carbon tax for Australia
July 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Every nation on the globe needs to be thinking about its contribution to global warming and debating what it needs to do to reduce its carbon footprint. This is especially the case for Australia which simultaneously contributes more than its ‘fair share’ of emissions and is especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change. On […]
Posted in Environment, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Is the world warming? England is!
May 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The world’s oldest continuous weather record covers a triangular area in England between London (where I live), Manchester (where I was brought up) and Bristol – it dates back to 1659. This record reveals that the average day and night temperature in central England between 1 March and 29 May this year was 10.32C. Previous […]
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Global warming still out of control
May 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
“Greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach, according to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency. The shock rise means the goal of preventing a temperature rise of more than 2 […]
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How much radiation is harmful?
April 14th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The problems with the Fukushima plant in Japan are causing worry around the world about the risk of increased levels of radiation locally but, of itself, radiation is not necessarily harmful. Radiation is a fact of life and present even in the human body. The level of harm is related to both the dose and […]
Posted in Environment, Science & technology | Comments (0)
How to feed the world
January 27th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week Foresight – the British Government’s futures think tank – published a report entitled “Global Food and Farming Futures” which examines how a rapidly expanding global population can be fed in a healthy and sustainable way. The report finds that the existing food system is failing half of the people on Earth, with 1 […]
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What a difference an hour makes …
December 21st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Today is the shortest day of the year and officially the start of winter (that’s a laugh this year for those of us who live in Britain). Once again, one has to think why we actually use the time system that we do in the UK and whether it would not be much more sensible […]
Posted in British current affairs, Environment | Comments (2)