When are we going to act on climate change?

August 5th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Although understandably, we worry about economic austerity and Islamic extremism, the greatest threat to humankind is climate change. So, this week, I attended London’s City Lit college for a one-day course entitled “Climate Change: Past, Present And Future” run by Wendy Hartnell, formerly policy adviser at Department of Energy & Climate Change. Interestingly we met in the same lecture room as the one I had sat in the previous day for a course on “Henry V And The Battle Of Agincourt” but the history session had three times as many students as that on climate change. What does that tell us?

First, we examined some of the complexity of the Earth’s climate machine, looking at the role of the atmosphere (the Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar cells and the Coriolis effect), the oceans, sunlight, and greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane). We viewed graphs showing historical changes in climate based on knowledge from tree rings, corals, ice cores and historical records. Currently mean global surface temperature is 15 degrees C and the hope is that we can limit the increase to another 2 degrees C which would still be an increase of 13%.

Next, we looked at the evidence that global temperatures are rising and that this is being driven by human activity. The most convincing evidence is that in the five reports since 1990 from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Some 97% of climate change scientists believe than current climate change is caused by human activity. We are seeing a warming in the Arctic, retreating glaciers, a rise in sea levels, birds breeding earlier, autumn leaves falling earlier, and Japanese cherry trees flowering earlier. The evidence is conclusive.

Finally, we looked at efforts to combat the impacts of climate change and to reduce the rise in temperatures. A key event is the UN conference on climate change to be held in Paris In December 2015 when it is hoped that a new global agreement can be concluded. We looked at some of the actions which governments, corporations and individuals can take and the possible role of what is called geo-engineering (such as a giant reflector in space).

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Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt

August 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

This week I attended a one-day course at the City Lit college in central London on “Henry V And The Battle Of Agincourt”. Our lecturer was Vanessa King of the Mary Ward Centre who ran a course I attended last Autumn on “The Danish Conquest Of England”.

Henry V (1386-1422) is one of the most famous and revered kings in English history. Why? mainly it is because he led the English in the Battle of Agincourt when he defeated superior French forces and his fame was immortalised in Shakespeare’s play. But Henry’s reputation has been helped by his short life – he died of dysentery aged just 35 – and the contrasting performance of the kings who preceded and succeeded him: respectively Henry IV who seized the throne in circumstances of dubious legitimacy and Henry VI who was a child when be became king and suffered from serious mental illness.

The Battle of Agincourt (located south of Calais) took on the feast day of an obscure Saint Crispin: 25 October 1415 – so later this year, we will celebrate the 600th anniversary of the event. Henry did not choose the location – it was the French who attacked him.

According to Shakespeare, the English were outnumbered five to one, but modern historians belief that the numbers were not vastly different: around 12,000 French to maybe 9,000 English. The battle lasted around three hours

What is definite is that the English won or, put another way, the French lost (some two-thirds of their men were killed), so we hold the battle to be one of the greatest victories in our history while the French regard it as a footnote in history. Why did French lose?

1) The French lacked discipline, cohesion and a single command

2) England had an inspirational leader in Henry V

3) The English had the longbow which could be fired six times a minute.

4) There was an element of luck- heavy rain the night before made the newly ploughed field separating the armies very soft which hampered the French attack.

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What did King Henry V say to his troops before the Battle of Agincourt?

August 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

One version is contained in the famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

“This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”

Another version is that really we have no idea.

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How long did the Hundred Years War last?

August 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

This was the long-running war between the English and the French in the 14th & 15th centuries. As I learned on a course this week, actually the war lasted 116 years (1337-1453) – more information here.

You see, most of what we think we know of history is very much an approximation of what actually happened.

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Why do we study history?

August 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

This is a question I asked myself again this week when I attended a one-day course at the City Lit college in central London on “Henry V And The Battle Of Agincourt”. One answer to the question is: to illuminate our understanding of the present because we are writing the first draft of history now.

What any study of history reveals is that: all history is very partially understood with very fragmented evidence; all history is written by the victors so we have a very biased account of events, especially where conflict and war is concerned; most history is presented from a very nationalistic perspective, most especially when a country is trying to rediscover a ‘golden age’ such as former states of the USSR.

We tend to think of so much history as almost deterministic and ‘big’ events – especially when ‘we’ won a battle or a war – as inevitable, but so many events could so easily have gone another way. Luck or chance was often a major factor.

Properly understood, history should teach us that we rarely know the full picture and, upon examination, everything is more complicated than it seems. The version of history propagated in our schools and our media is only one version and we would do well to bring critical thinking to our study of both historical events and current affairs.

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A review of the new comedy film “Hot Pursuit”

August 1st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Don’t rush to see this movie at the cinema, but you might to catch it on DVD, streaming, or television. It tries to be different. You can read my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

A review of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”

August 1st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

The “Mission: Impossible” film franchise has now been running almost two decades and produced five movies. I’ve seen them all and reviewed the latest one here.

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What do these three political campaigns have in common?

August 1st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

1) In the American race to select a Republican candidate for the presidential election next year, 69 year old Donald Trump is currently leading the field of 17 runners.

2) In the American race to select a Democratic candidate for the presidential election next year, 73 year old Bernie Sanders is drawing exceptional support even though he is running against a firm favourite in Hillary Clinton.

3) In the British race to elect a new leader of the Labour Party, 66 year old Jeremy Corbyn is currently the clear favourite.

What do these three political campaigns have in common?

Hardly anyone expected these three candidates to make much of an impact on their respective elections.
Each is seen as speaking with an authenticity that is a contrast to the usual cautious political language of establishment figures.
Each is offering a more radical agenda than the other candidates in the election which appeals to a significant section of their political party.
Many observers feel that, even if he won the current election, he could not possibly win the subsequent general election.

What do you think?

Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs | Comments (1)

My 21st short story: “More Than Lust But Less Than Love”

July 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

We think that the one thing we know for sure is our own lives. But maybe we don’t know it all. This is the inspiration for my short story “More Than Lust But Less Than Love”. You can read it here.

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