Climatologists are human shock!

You've probably heard the furore over the leaked e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. If you are a climate denier/sceptic then this is the proof you've been waiting for that the whole thing is a socialist scam to enslave the world. Even George Monbiot says that heads should roll. Rejoice!

Except...

When you look at it, it's all a big fuss over nothing. Let's look at the "smoking guns":

1. One researcher says he's used a "trick" to deal with the "decline". This has already been misinterpreted by The Telegraph that the "decline" refers to recent years' temperature data when it doesn't. It refers to a way round a problem marrying historic tree ring data and actual temperature data. The whole "trick" was so devious the researcher published what he did and how he did it at the time in the prestigious scientific journal Nature and it was accepted as scientifically sound by their (very strict) peer review panel.

2. The censorship of research. This refers to the controversy in 2004 over the editorial policy in the journal Climate Research and again the row was very public at the time. Several editors resigned in protest at the acceptance of a number of (sceptical) papers which they felt did not meet proper academic standards. Academic politics can get quite bitter.

3. Freedom of Information requests. Again this has all been in the open, although I believe that in general data should be shared, even with people who will misinterpret it, deliberately or otherwise.

4. One researcher is frustrated he can't explain why 2008 was relatively cool. If you've worked in academic circles, there are always problems like this to solve.

What else do the e-mails tell us? That climatologists can be truculent, defensive and sometimes rude about others in private. Well, just like the rest of us then...

The whole fuss has got the denial brigade back in the media just before Copenhagen. You'd think someone had planned the whole thing.

Also, Nigel Lawson has launched a new "cross-party policy forum" on global warming which is going to carry out an objective review of the evidence. Except the board of trustees and scientific advisors are packed with the usual suspects from the denial circuit (Lindzen, Stott, Plimer - the best that money can buy). The banner of the website shows temperature data from 2001-08, nailing their colours firmly to the mast. Looks like the Heartland Institute on Thames, then.

Ho hum.

Coming clean: my 10:10 commitment

I've been mulling for a while on what to do for my 10:10 commitment. According to the Carbon Detox method of counting, my carbon footprint is about 18% below average*, so I've done the quick wins and much of the more difficult stuff.

So, I've decided to:

1. Cut my meat intake to a maximum of once per day when I've got a choice.

2. Make a much bigger effort on the allotment this year so I'm both producing more food and providing a carbon sink in the soil by using permaculture and no-dig methods to build up humus (more on this as I get stuck in).

3. Putting another 4 inches of sheep's wool insulation in the loft and growing some climbers up the north wall of our house - the latter will provide insulation and a habitat for wee beasties.

* Actually, the method would now give me an even lower footprint since Jimmy was born as things like heating and car use would get shared between four rather than three, but that seems a bit of a cheat!

FoE Climate Change viral

Book Review: The Transition Handbook, Rob Hopkins

Rob Hopkins founded the Transition Movement whose aim is to build resilience to the twin threats of peak oil and climate change in communities through a return to localisation of services. The model has been applied most prominently in Kinsale in Ireland, Totnes in Devon and Lewes in Sussex and is now springing up all over the UK and indeed the world. This book is essentially both a manifesto for the concept and a 'how to guide' for its implementation.

He starts by making a persuasive argument that peak oil and climate change cannot be addressed in isolation - otherwise a solution to one could worsen the other. The second section of the book is about presenting a positive vision of a resilient future and the third is on how to get there. Hopkins' background is in permaculture and it is no surprise that many of the examples in the book are of the local food, 'rustic' skills and vernacular building. The transition movement has also experimented with using local currencies to strengthen local economies.

The first thing to say is that, as a book, The Transition Handbook is superb. Hopkins practises everything he preaches - a positive vision and a no blame culture - and his prose is clear, personal and anecdotal without ever being cheesy. The participation techniques he outlines are clear and effective - I pinched one (storytelling the positive vision) for a corporate workshop I was running last month and it worked a treat. The only things I felt were a bit underdeveloped were some more examples outside permaculture and local currencies - for example, I'm sure the Transition Movement could help persuade people to walk and cycle rather than driving, or roll out an extra layer of insulation in their loft. While teaching self-build skills is admirable, it will have little effect on carbon emissions in the short-medium term where action is required. This is a minor niggle - as I said the book is superb and I will be using it and its engagement and practical techniques more and more as time goes on.

On the Transition Movement itself, the argument for moving in this direction is compelling. The big challenge is whether they can extend their appeal beyond the people (including me!) who naturally flock to this kind of thing. It is no surprise that the Transition concept started in the UK in Totnes and Lewes - places with a long history of alternative living and thinking. Transition Brixton will be a key test of whether the man in the Pringle sweater, the woman in the M&S dress and the teenagers in the Kappa tracksuit will join the people in 'ethnic trousers' who have flocked to the movement. Again this is no criticism of the Transition Movement itself, more a reflection on the challenges ahead.

Can we flunk it? Yes we can!

No, not Obama this time, but Bob the Builder. I took my 2.75 yr old to the live show in Newcastle on Saturday (not my idea, honest, no really). The show was pretty well put on (although the young Muck fans behind me were to be disappointed), but it featured such a heavy-handed green theme it made me cringe. Bob and his team were set the task of building an eco-centre, featuring wind turbines, recycling facilities and the slogan "it's only rubbish if you can't recycle it!" repeated ad-nauseum. Pity they couldn't have provided any recycling bins in the auditorium - and don't get me started on the decidedly unrecyclable tat they were selling in bucket loads to the pre-schoolers as merchandise. Just a little more thought would have made it appear a lot less cynical. The Millennium Dome got slaughtered for this kind of not practising what they preach gaffe, you'd think people would learn...

Today (Sunday) we went for a greener trip - the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Washington. Unfortunately we got off to a bad start getting lost due to a road closure and some terrible signposting and, with the moans of hungry people in the car ringing in my ears, we ended up pulling into a garden centre with a coffee shop. We opened the door to my personal room 101 - a seemingly infinite array of gaudy Christmas tat extending as far as the eye could see, with Do They Know It's Christmas blaring over the top - Nooooooooooooooooaaaaaah!!!! Make it stooooop!

Anyway we got to the WWT with time to go around the inner walk - little Jimmy getting breast fed as we went (it really is a very mild autumn, denialists, isn't it?). Great place with loads of interesting birds and hides and some good interpretation panels (I'm a sucker for a good fact). Best one this time - 40% of all species which live on dead wood are under threat of extinction. This made me a bit smug as all the round wood that we can't burn at home I lay between the base of one of our hedges and an old stone retaining wall as a wilderness pile. I originally thought of this to provide somewhere for beasties to hibernate, but I didn't realise I was providing a habitat too. A great day out - despite Harry falling out with a goose - and a lot cheaper than BtB - we will definitely be back for a full day visit.

Turning over a new leaf...

My New Year's Resolution every year is exactly the same - to live life properly. This gives me a kick up the backside every January to stop cutting corners and take the time and effort on every task. That's very fulfilling in itself - I don't buy into this "modern life is so hectic" nonsense in the meeja. If you want the time to do something then you will find the time.

So, a bit early this year, I've decided to do my composting properly. Normally I just chuck leaves into the general compost heap, but this year they're going into a dumpy bag of their own to make leaf mould. Most of the work in a compost heap is done by bacteria who need heat and oxygen through turning. Tree leaves however are broken down by fungi who work in a cooler environment and don't like being disturbed. I'm paraphrasing Carol Klein here, but, unlike her, I'm leaving some leaves to decompose in situ which should improve the ecological value of the garden by encouraging microfauna.

On my main food composter, I'm not only adding shredded brown envelopes this year, but I'm using a small pitchfork (which was in the house when we moved in) to mix the material as I go along. Already the composting is happening faster and better. I've also just insulated the worm bin to help them through the frosts.

All this compost will be used to top-dress the flower beds next year. We did this earlier this year and we've had the best display that we've had in the nine and a half years we've lived here.

Blind faith or sound science?

The case of Tim Nicholson, who successfully sued his employer Grainger plc for unfair dismissal on the grounds that he believed too deeply in environmentalism akin to a religious belief, has generated more in column inches than it arguably deserves. But, never one to eschew a bandwagon, here's my take on faith vs science on climate change.

To start with, most if not all of the commentary is oversimplistic in order to make a good headline. To get a sensible understanding of this situation, we've got to split the 'green position' into three.

First of all, take the science of, say, climate change. I once heard a Met Office climatologist tell an audience "I often get asked at parties whether I believe in climate change. I respond that you might as well ask me whether I believe in mountains. It [climate change] is simply a physical fact." Estimating the likely impacts of man-made climate change is where the real scientific debate takes place and that is a matter of observation, modelling, debate, peer-review and all the other objective processes of scientific endeavour. Faith does not, and should not, get a look in.

Secondly, there is the deeper value-driven belief system when it comes to the environment. Everyone (OK, almost everyone) is an environmentalist. Who isn't amazed by the splendours of nature - the Grand Canyon, wildebeest migrating across the Serengeti or an eagle in flight? This taps into a deeper part of our soul - our attachment to our natural habitat. This is subjective and will manifest itself in different ways for different people. This is the closest environmentalism comes to faith.

Thirdly, there is political outlook. There is no doubt that the physical phenomenon of climate change is convenient for those with an anti-capitalist, anarchist mindset - just look at any major protest. Despite claims to the contrary, you rarely see many men in Pringle sweaters or women with blue rinses at a Climate Camp. That's not to knock those protesters, but they would have to admit themselves they tend to come from a particular mindset. People's politics change, so this can't be faith either.

Many of the commentators on the Nicholson case, deliberately or otherwise, have mixed up these issues. We get told that if we don't get in step with "the climate change orthodoxy" we get howled down (who by? go to any online debate on climate change and see who is doing the howling). Let's get it straight. Man-made climate change is a scientific fact. The enthusiasm or tone of argument of those who promote action on climate change does not undermine that fact or make it an article of faith.

I would like now to throw the "faith" issue back at the climate change denial brigade. I went to a very academic and quite religious school in Northern Ireland. On the subject of evolution we got a very schizophrenic education. We'd go to Biology and get the science in an objective and rigourous manner, then to Religious Education, where a man in a dog collar would try and disprove that science using what I now recognise as some very dodgy scientific arguments and some stuff he simply made up. Reading the ramblings of a climate change denier like Christopher Booker of the Telegraph (who also happens to be a creationist) reminds me of my old RE teacher. They start with an assumption they are right (faith), ignore the core evidence (blind faith) and pick out (or make up) a few 'facts' which they say bring down more than a century of climate science (self delusion). Straw men are set up to be knocked down, experts are derided and laymen are quoted as soothsayers. Despite this, they get the book deals and the newspaper columns - just like many other huxtsers in other lines of human endeavour.

So, whether greens are coming from a scientific or a political angle, it cannot be argued that climate change is "eco-fundamentalism". The only fundamentalism in the green debate is from the denial brigade. Fact.

Mr James William Kane...

...aka Jimmy was born on Thursday at 8:30pm weighing in at 8lb 10oz. He's great, his Mum's recovering well and his brother keeps wanting to buy him presents, so I'm a very lucky man.

So posts here will continue to be a bit erratic for a bit. But eco-living wise, we're mega-recycling stuff from boy#1 most of which has been used by another kid or kids in the meantime. He has inherited his big bro's reusable nappies although we are using some disposables overnight as they do let the lil'un sleep better.

Superfreak! Superfreak!

The chapters of new book Superfreakonomics on climate change (saying we should simply blow aerosols in the atmosphere rather than try to cut carbon) has caused a swift backlash from climatologists - check out this and this.

One thing that bugs me about "the climate change debate" is that everyone thinks they know better than the experts - I don't go to the dentist if I need brain surgery...

Should greens buy eco-homes?

From an ecological point of view my house is rubbish. It was built 110 years ago when the ventilation to prevent rot was seen as more important than energy efficiency, it has solid brick walls, it is the northern one of a pair of semis and it is down in a dip where the sun seldom strikes when we need it in the depth of winter. We have done what we can to improve it from a carbon point of view - blocking holes in the wall, replacing single with triple glazing, doubling the attic insulation and adding some to smaller roof cavities, upgrading the boiler and putting in a solar hot water system, but I doubt the house has a better carbon footprint than a well made modern house. I have a dream of building my own zero carbon home, but the question remains, why don't I move into a well built modern home? My personal carbon footprint would be instantly cut.

The simple answer is location, location, location. I live within walking/cycling distance of the city centre in a wooded river valley where I can hear the owls cry in the night. You can't beat that on many levels.

But, more importantly, would a non-green have lavished the eco-love (and money!) on this house that it needed? Probably not, and while I was tucked up in a modern house feeling smug, someone would be sitting in this one, complaining about the fuel bill, while the inefficient boiler pumped out the carbon.

So, with a huge number of poorly performing houses out there, there is a strong argument that greens should buy houses with a huge carbon footprint and do their best to cut that footprint as much as possible, going above and beyond what a home owner would normally do. Then Joe and/or Jo Public can buy a modern house and have a lower carbon footprint by default. Everyone's a winner!

Bunny boilers...

... the Swedes have come up with a solution to having too many rabbits and not enough renewable energy... those with a delicate disposition may want to skip this one!

Like father, like son...

Chop chop!

My arms are aching today from chopping the four large logs I've had in the back yard for about three years - they were 'rescued' from some local tree surgery. Well, I got a neighbour with a chainsaw to cut them, then I split them in four with a large axe, so they're not quite a carbon neutral fuel. If they were recently felled green wood I would leave them for a year to 'season', but these seemed to have dried out well during their wait, so I'll try them out in the new year. I should have enough wood from previous years to last until then - we only use our wood burner on really cold nights.

Also yesterday I did the final hedge trim of the year which filled up much of the compost heap. The problem now will be getting enough high nitrogen material to help the woody stems to rot - not much grass from now on in, so it will mainly be the odd widdle... I made sure that I left some parts of the hedge rough and left some leaves for the micro-fauna.

I also fixed my wormery whose tap I had managed to knock off some time ago - so little or no liquid worm food this year, although we'll still get the lovely wormcast to top dress the flower beds in the winter. Once I've made sure they've got enough food for the winter, I'll bubble wrap the container to keep the frost off.

Just another Sunday in the life of an eco-liver (or lifer!)... by the way, is it just me or are the leaves staying on the trees much longer this year?

Sticky

I'm on a train back up to Newcastle after a couple of day's work in London. Hardly slept last night as it was so sticky.

Sticky? In October?

I was sleeping under a single sheet with the window open. And yes, the heating was off.

Funny how a bit of snow back in February brought the denial brigade out to play. What do they say now?


(actually neither event proves anything - could just be freak weather - you have to look at the trends, but still...)

Blooming obvious

A little obsession of mine this year has been keeping colour in the garden all year round to support a healthy insect population and, in turn, birds too. The easy way to do this is any time the garden is looking a little green, go to the garden centre. They tend to sell whatever's in bloom at the time as it looks nice and you tend to buy it. Obvious, isn't it, but it took me long enough to work out!

Franny Armstrong on 10:10

Personal journeys

I was running a sustainability workshop for the executive board of a major client yesterday. Despite there only being 7 (sometimes 8) people in the room, the reactions were honest and varied. Initially one attendee said "this is nothing to do with me" and another "we're all going to hell on a handcart and there's nothing we can do about it" - the two extremes of denial. By the end of the session, both these people (and their colleagues) were fired up to act, but there wasn't a neat progression - the buy-in ebbed and flowed like waves on a rising tide. While one person made a step forward, another would be retracting slightly, but overall the motion was in the right direction.

It struck me on the train on the way home that we're all on a personal journey when it comes to sustainability, climate change and all the rest. There is a tendency for those who 'get it' to berate those who don't. This will achieve nothing, or worse, push people into a more defensive position. We need to help people find the way forward, make them feel comfortable with what they are doing and confident to make the next steps.

So as well as working on our own footprint, it is essential to bring someone with us.

How to meet your 10:10 commitment

If you've signed up to 10:10, here's some guidance on how significant different actions are to the average UK citizen's carbon footprint. Just pick the right combination to add up to 10%.

Action % cut
Install whole-house biomass heating 21.7
Cut out a long haul flight (eg to the US) 13.0*
Insulate the loft from 150mm to 300mm 13.0
Switch to green electricity 13.0
Insulate your cavity walls 8.7
Install wood burner in one room 8.7
Install solar photovoltaic 8.7
Go veggie 8.7
Eat organic almost always 8.7
Upgrade to a condensing boiler 6.6
Upgrade heating controls 6.5
Upgrade to a Prius or similar car 5.7
Install solar hot water 4.3
Install thermostatic radiator valves 4.3
Turn down thermostats and tweak radiators 4.3
Car share for commuting every day 4.3
Cut out a short haul flight 4.3
Cut mileage by 1000m pa 2.9
Change all lightbulbs to CFLs 2.9
Upgrade to an A rated freezer 2.0
Work from home or cycle to work 1 day pw 1.7
Compost all green/food waste 1.7
Switch off appliances properly (ie no standby) 1.6
Upgrade to an A rated dishwasher 1.4
Insulate hot water tank 1.0
Upgrade to an A rated fridge 0.9
Draughtproofing 0.9
Seal gaps on skirting boards 0.9
Put foil behind radiators 0.9
Upgrade to an A rated washing machine 0.5
Lag hot water pipes 0.4
Defrost freezer and dust coils 0.2

The numbers have been extracted and extrapolated from Carbon Detox and How To Live A Low Carbon Life (see right hand side). The assumptions behind them are necessarily crude to keep this table simple.

* The average person doesn't take a long haul flight every year so I've had to scale this down to account for the fact that if you do, your carbon footprint is way above average.

Seen Any Brown Astroturf?

Astroturfing is the cynical creation of artificial grassroots movements to achieve political and/or corporate aims. It is a bigger phenomenon in the US than the UK, but I'm sure we still get plenty of climate change denial astroturfing under the radar.

Take George Monbiot's blog in the Guardian. He goes out of his way to provoke the denialosphere and every online post immediately fills up with denial comments. The commenters obviously aren't your average everyday Grauniad readers and you see that many of them are spotting right-wing dweebs just waiting for Monbiot to makes his move before they shout 'Aha!' and start typing furiously. But spotted in amongst these are a strange brand of faux-naive comments like "I came at this with an open mind, but when I looked at the science I couldn't believe how skronky it was."

Let's be clear - almost no-one who looks at the science with an open mind finds fault with it - because most of it is fact and the rest reasonable interpretation of the evidence collected and analysed and checked over many decades by thousands of people. So what made this anonymous poster think he could see gaps where the great minds of science can't? That word 'skronky' looks like a US spinmeister's creation to me and is at odds with the personal authority he claims.

It appears that the same old tactic of 'don't debate the substance, just spread uncertainty' is alive and well. This was the tactic used by the GW Bush administration and the Global Climate Coalition for many years to avoid the brutal facts their scientific advisors were telling them. Beware of astroturf...

The last wilderness

(originally posted on the Terra Infirma Blog)

On Tuesday night I was invited to a fundraiser to send a young man, Joe Spedding, on an expedition to the Antarctic as part of the 2041 campaign to maintain the continent as the Earth's only untouched wilderness and draw attention to climate change. 2041 is the year when the international agreement to preserve the Antarctic is up for renewal.

The talk was by Robert Swan, the founder of 2041 and the first man to walk to both poles. The tales of derring do, determination and hardship were at times overwhelming, and Swan got rather brutal first hand experience of two global environmental issues. On his South Pole trek in 84/85, the walkers' faces blistered and peeled far more than had been expected. It was only while they were there that the hole in the ozone layer was discovered. On the walk to the North Pole five years later, they found sea where they expected ice - evidence of climate change - which as a scientific phenomena was only just emerging at that time from academic studies into the public arena. Amongst his myriad other claims to fame, Swan now owns the only private building on Antarctica - an educational building powered entirely by renewables. His life is now dedicated to the global environment.

Joe Spedding saw Swan talk about these experiences when he (Joe!) was just 11 years old. 11 years later and he is fulfilling his dream to travel to Antarctica - the aim of the trip is to train him and others as environmental ambassadors and leaders. As one of my formative environmental experiences was an expedition to the Ecuadorian rainforest in 1993, I'm a sucker for this sort of thing and was happy to make a contribution. Pity I can't go too!

Hell-in-a-handcart Headline of the year...

...must go to the Daily Mail who, in response to some perceived threat of enforced food recycling, thundered:

"A SLOP BUCKET FOR EVERY HOME"

Blimey, O'Reilly, do they never tire of being indignant?

Harvest...

It's that time of year to collect and eat the allotment bounty. Problems include:

1. Some things are too big and heavy for some of our workers (see above).

2. What do you do with all this food arriving at once?

Well 1. will sort itself out in time and 2. - well it's the chutney season (below). Plums, tomatoes, onions and apples from the allotment, plus some vinegar, sugar and sultanas from the shop*. Shame is you have to leave it for 3 months before trying... The marrow has gone into a lovely marrow, pea and mint soup.



* I should be honest here! Some of the onions and tomatoes were shop bought - the former to get the quantities right, the latter because the home grown toms were too tasty to put into the chutney so we swapped them.

OK, now what?

So I've signed up to 10:10. How am I going to cut my carbon footprint by 10%?

Low hanging fruit? I work from home, drive infrequently, cycle, walk and take the train all over, I've insulated the loft, put in triple glazing, installed a solar panel and a wood burning stove, mainly buy second hand books, I switch things off, I'm on a green electricity tariff, I don't window shop, I try to buy local and organic, I recycle as much as I can and compost what I can, I wear my clothes until they wear out, I holiday in the UK and take at most one short flight to N. Ireland every year. So, what am I going to do?

Well first off, I'm going to finish measuring my carbon footprint using the Carbon Detox method - a project abandoned three quarters of the way through. At that point my calculated footprint was 18% lower than the UK average and I was assuming my general shopping was average, which it isn't, so I need to some more research and analysis.

But I guess the only chance I have of making a real difference will be food. More veggie, less meat and dairy (the latter being a tip I hadn't thought of before reading the 10:10 website). More food coming from the allotment, which means I have to do some planting as well as my usual role of occasional maintenance, watering and harvesting.

What are you going to do?

Beard stroking and tree hugging...

I've just finished my profile of deep ecologist Arne Naess for Green Gurus. What struck me about his philosophy (when I wasn't trying to remember what 'deontology' meant) was the idea that not only are we a part of nature (which many people forget), but that nature is a part of us.

Naess spent a huge amount of his time in a mountain hut, contemplating nature, seeking spiritual enlightenment. This kind of behaviour is normally dismissed as beardy-weirdy tree-hugging, but who hasn't felt spiritually uplifted by an amazing landscape or an astonishing animal? I have felt giddy with excitement at the lip of the Grand Canyon, a whale breaching from the sea in South Africa and even a golden pheasant puffing up its ruff in a mating display in our local pet zoo. Millions tune in to nature programmes on TV (tonight's BBC programme about the undiscovered species in a Papua New Guinea volcanic crater looks like a cracker). So why are we so suspicious of those who immerse themselves in nature?

We spend over 80% of our time inside - some of it watching TV programmes about the outside. As a homeworker, I'm particularly vulnerable to not going out as many days I just don't have to go anywhere. So this summer I decided to get out more. Not having a mountain hut in a Norwegian massif to hand, I make do with my garden. If it ain't raining I try to get out - coffee breaks, mealtimes, anytime I can. Blocking out the traffic, people walking down the street and the sounds of work from the allotments, I watch the birds eating at the feeders, the bees on the sedum and the shapes of the trees billowing in the wind.

And guess what? It does makes me feel happy. Of course, it might just be the vitamin D, but I don't care!

A good day to sign up to 10:10

I've just had the big carbon weekend of my year flying over to Belfast to see my parents. Strangely the small turboprop we flew on had one of those EU Energy Labels which have transformed the white goods market and are now seen in the foyers of public buildings. I couldn't believe that it was an 'A' - the whole point of such labels is to transform the market, so achieving an 'A' should be really difficult. If you give existing craft an 'A' then it suggests that this is the best you will ever get and leave no room for technological improvement. Pah!

Anyway, I'm going to sign up for the 10:10 campaign today - the idea is to make a 10% cut in UK carbon emissions by 2010 - ie in the next year. This is a great an idea - an infinitely stronger and immediate call to arms than all those 2020 or 2050 targets which are so wonderfully distant. You can get a 10:10 tag made out of a scrapped airliner to show your commitment. Check it out, then go through the back posts on this blog to give you some extra ideas.

The apples of my eye...

Went down to the allotment yesterday for the first time since our holiday and was astonished by the crop of apples from our tree. Actually the tree looked ill-prepared for it too as a major branch had split under the weight. So I picked a month's supply (at least!) for us and left the rest on, but a lot of people are going to get a bag of apples as a pressie in the next few weeks. This is both a nice thing and a pain about growing your own - you get too much of one food in a short period of time. Pain as it makes playing at being Tom & Barbara Goode impossible, but nice as you get to share. Got some onions and tomatoes in more sensible quantities and I'm still plucking the odd strawberry off some plants in the garden too.

As I mentioned earlier in the year, I'm trying my best to keep some blooms all year around. In the garden it's all gone a bit green, but our huge buddleia and a couple of other stalwarts are keeping the insects happy, and the sedums (seda?) are on their way. In the allotment we have some beautiful Dahlias which were crawling in bees yesterday, the sunflowers are about to open, but despite its beautiful white trumpets, the bindweed is mercilessly ripped out.

Speaking of insects, I got nature's full spectrum of beauty and the beast when I went for a run on Wednesday. A raptor of some sort took off up through the trees at my approach, a kingfisher flitted along the river and a wasp went out of its way to sting me on the elbow, all within 2 minutes. They seem to be going for me this week, don't know why...

Puzzle answer

The answer to my puzzle is that the UK is the biggest cumulative emitter of carbon dioxide per capita as shown in this graph presented by Prof James Hansen when he testified on behalf of the Kingsnorth demonstrators.

Back home again...

Got back yesterday from a wonderful, relaxing and rather sunny fortnight in the Yorkshire Dales. Our rather spacious 'cottage' was in Askrigg in Wensleydale where All Creatures Great & Small was filmed. While tourism is obviously a big part of the economy, there isn't the cramped, rushed feel you get in, say, parts of the Lake District. We were able to get a lot of local produce: our beer, bread, milk and, of course, cheese was all produced in the village itself or very near by. We spent the time walking, cycling, reading and doing the odd tourist cliché like the bizarre but brilliant Forbidden Corner. Didn't watch any TV for a fortnight.

It's a beautiful part of the world, although the dramatic limestone landscape has been exposed by man - for centuries Wensleydale was a hunting forest. It is notable that the next village to us, Bainbridge, became a centre for forestors. Obviously their job was not to maintain the forest but to clear it for livestock - the stands of trees left over were few and far between. Parts of Swaledale between Reeth and Richmond gave a glimpse of the natural post-ice age environment.

I've really enjoyed holidaying in the UK for the last few years. OK, you take your chances with the weather, but some of my trips have been much more memorable than many trips abroad. This was no faddish 'staycation' - surely the most annoying neologism of the century - but part of a deliberate effort to make up for all the long distance flying I did in my twenties and early thirties. It helps that I get bored very quickly sitting on a beach all day!

Trick question

I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks (in Yorkshire - no flying etc), so I thought I'd leave you with a puzzler.

Q. Which country is the biggest contributor to climate change?

A. The UK.

Do you know why? Post your explanations in the comments.

Gee whiz, that's neat!

Saw this cute little G-Wiz parked up in London today, thoughtfully leaving space for another in the same standard parking bay. Like all electric cars they're exempt from parking charges, but if they weren't surely they'd only have to pay half?

Are you a campaigner? Do you know one?

The competition for this year's Green Awards has opened - individuals and not for profit groups with less than 4 employees can apply - deadline is 18 Sept. More details here.