Meeting Summaries 2019 - 2020
We intended to concentrate on looking at the Oceans and the many aspects of environmental concern surrounding them.
In September however we were very busy catching up on local news of environmental improvement schemes such as:
- the action around Keswick to alleviate flooding
- the re-meandering of Goldrill beck (Ullswater) to allow it to spill over to flood planes to slow the flow of water
- and forest management in Dumfriesshire.
We also discussed many actions further afield such as the New Zealand scientists who are working on an anti-burp vaccine for those methane-emitting cows!
As I had been to a brilliant lecture by Dr Diva Amon entitled The Dark Heart of the Ocean' in October I gave a summary which discussed the different ocean depths and explained the vast biodiversity of the deepest areas which are still little studied. However, these areas are being explored for potential sources of minerals and this could be devastating to habitats.
There were a number of presentations by different members of the group in November. One on the issues surrounding the off shore oil industry with examples which raised many discussion points. The next two presentations were supported by notes which showed the problems of rising sea levels and the increasing Ocean temperatures. So many aspects that are inextricably linked!
Marine Protection Zones are an attempt to improve Oceans and The Economist had produced a YouTube clip looking at their advantages and disadvantages. We looked at this in December and it was an excellent start for our discussions.
Getting back together in the New Year the group discussed lots of topics including sea grass, marine conservation zones, electric car charging points, wave / tidal energy, re-wilding (Joanna Tree’s book) and cheap clothing and textiles in January.
In February we looked at many ways climate change is being tackled form local action by Cumbria Action For Sustainability (CafS) to national action informed by the UK Climate Assembly and finishing with the progress of the Conference of Parties (COP) (26) - United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow in November. Little did we know that this would soon be postponed for a year!
In the general chat about local news one of the group reported on his research with devices to collect microfibers from washing clothes. He brought a coral ball and guppy bag neither of which seemed to have worked well. This was very interesting as most of us are concerned about practical actions we can take to reduce pollution.
In March one of the group shared his research on the wide ranging topics relating to transport over the oceans. He started from an historical perspective then explored the problems and some solutions to providing more sustainable forms of energy for shipping.
As we meet on the first Thursday of the Month we were not aware of the timing of the lock-down round the corner and that we would have to cancel the April talk by Judith Bradshaw (Waste prevention officer Cumbria CC).
By May many of us had got used to communicating with friends and family using conferencing software so most of the group were prepared to have a go at a meeting using Zoom. Supporting each other along the way we managed to continue with successful meetings in May, June and July.
Inevitably in May we were trying to see what effect the international disruption had had on the Environment. There were so many aspects to be discussed such as:
- the reduction in transport
- our relationship with the natural world
- changing work patterns
- changing public and government attitudes
- and the postponement of the international talks COP(26).
In June I reported on a webinar held by Carbon Brief “What impact is Covid-19 having on global emissions”. The bottom line is an estimate that it will reduce emissions this year by between 3 and 8%. The punch line from the experts was that “The Government needs to look at sanitary and climate risks and drive and support systemic change”. There were differing views about how likely it was that we would get a green economic recovery.
In July the challenge was to find positive local action and good places to visit over the Summer. The YouTube clip about successful action around Ullswater and the Webinar by Dynamic Dunescapes showing how our dunes are being restored in Cumbria were good starting points for discussion.
We have taken our annual break in August but will regroup in September -on Zoom at the moment.