Dear reader,
It is with some astonishment I report the British are at it again!
That is, they are talking about the weather, which is somewhat wetter than the beginning of the year. As is typical of the modern British, the complaints are monotonous.
“Why have the water companies declared a drought when my garden is drowning?”
“What happened to the English Summer?”
“Nobody said we’d get this much water. Why weren’t we prepared?”
“Why do they keep building houses on flood plains and marshes?”.
Well, to answer a few questions about the weather, you will need to understand the climate. It has been discovered that the global weather is held hostage by two predictably unpredictable events, commonly known as El Nino and La Nina. Being a phenomena in the Pacific Ocean, the fact that they effect us on the other hemisphere, tells you immediately how powerful they are. Whilst one is dormant the other is either on the wax or wane. Our weather is thus effected by the switching of high air currents and water temperatures. Thus we have had a drought for two years. La Nina, it was predicted, would finish at the beginning of April. Hence we have had rain rather than the unseasonably warm and dry weather we were enjoying; enough rain to cover the preceding months you might say. However, this rain is not useless, but not nearly as useful as winter rain.
The reasons:
Firstly, a mature Oak tree can absorb and expire a huge quantity of water every day during the spring and summer. In fact over the growing seasons it will expire 28,000 litres of water. Now multiply that by all the plants and you have a hefty amount of rain needed.
Secondly, the amount of hard standing we now have on this tiny island vastly reduces the amount of water absorbing directly into the soil. It goes onto the road, roof, driveway, patio and straight into the drains, where much of it is lost into the rivers.(This could be reversed by the better use of materials and water storage. It could also be helped by the introduction of green roofs instead of slate, tile or tar.)
A series of green roofs in Norway made of grass.
One also has to understand the idea of climate change. To some, climate change is not a fact, but a fiction dreamt up by dark and mysterious persons hell bent on scaring the world into submission. Others are running for the hills – in their gas guzzling SUV’s, trying to avoid something they know nothing about. The truth is nobody actually knows what the weather and the climate has in store. I have heard climatologists say that the mean temperature of the planet is 1 degree hotter than the previous half century.
However, what we do know is the weather is becoming more violent and more extreme. The recent Tornado season started in the USA with larger, more frequent and more violent storms. I recently witnessed a hail storm of extreme proportions, within minutes the road was a sheet of ice, the hailstones as large as golf balls. Indeed our recent rain has been torrential. In Australia, Bangladesh and India there have been terrible floods and terrible droughts. There is a vast band of the world that it is reported is becoming uninhabitable due to drought.
Snow in October 2008
Incidentally, are we in line for colder winters? The answer is in all probability, YES. According to climatologists, we are entering a global ‘thirty year’ cold spell. Despite, threats of global warming, the earths natural cycle is cooling. In fact, some climatologists reckon that global warming will make recent harsh winters seem mild in comparison. Another deciding factor is the recent eruptions of the volcanoes in Iceland. Since records began, major eruptions of volcanoes have always resulted in cold winters in the same hemisphere. It is also interesting to note, many climatologists are paying closer attention to the suns cycle. Sun spot activity may have its part to play, although no conclusive evidence has yet been released.
So what do we do?
There is no whether to or whether to not about it.
We try to reduce our carbon emissions. Eat less meat, use less often the carbon hungry machines that we rely on for virtually everything, and burn less fossil fuels. At least that is what we are told, but honestly, I think the stable door has been well and truly blown off its rusty hinges, the horse has gone to knackers yard and the stable boy has run away.
It would be better if we prepared the fact that the climate has changed irrevocably. We are past the point of no return. As a species like Darwin said, we have to adapt or be like the dinosaurs.
Incidentally Darwin didn’t say “Survival of the fittest”. That dubious honour goes to a vile man called Herbert Spencer who believed that the death of a ‘weak’ worker was good for the country.
Happy, damp gardening.
Guy
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