Life on Earth

Not exactly a good "carbon footprint"

Chelsea are playing Arsenal in the Europa Cup Final!

Their stadiums are 8 miles apart.

They are travelling 2,857 miles to Baku (Russia) to play, along with 1,000's of fans!!

Wonder what the climate change warriors will make of this?

Is there any hope? I don't know but I think we have an obligation to try.

Is there ANY hope? The ecology is going to Hell in a handcart (well, at least that will have a nil carbon-footprint) and teen obesity is apparently way beyond any control now whatsoever. Parents face the prospect of their children dying from weight related problems associated with the middle-aged and the younger generation face the prospect of an unsustainable planet.

Makes me think of Fritz Lang's classic film of life in a future world, "Metropolis".

georgia101
Why don't they stop all these 'business' trips abroad to stop the amount of air flights. That would cut down a lot of air traffic, after all, conference calls are available in this day and age.

My thoughts exactly.

Closer to home, cut down the choice in schools.
If people had to send their children to the nearest school, like they used to, it would cut out that ridiculous situation we now have where parents in one village are driving their offspring to and from school in another village while parents in that village are doing the same journey in reverse. And the lack of a guaranteed place in a school can mean parents having to take their children to different schools, often far apart!

By buying cheap plastic tat from China we are contributing to pollution in China- don’t just blame them. We are all to blame and all should be taking it seriously.

that'll be OUR plastic bottles etc that we send to China rather than find ways of disposing of it ourselves ...but of course the British government would rather you didn't mention that fact .

I notice that zero population growth gets little or no mention. Also I read in the Times that 5 rivers in China and India are causing lots of trouble with clogging of plastic bottles and other detritus. The West can do it's bit but without Asia cooperating we cannot win.

Why don't they stop all these 'business' trips abroad to stop the amount of air flights. That would cut down a lot of air traffic, after all, conference calls are available in this day and age. The governments are very quiet about the pollution that planes cause, instead, they're bleating about how cars are ruining our atmosphere. I do what I can, and feel that I'm being a responsible citizen, but get annoyed and frustrated that my little contribution is having such a small effect compared to what reducing air travel would make.

At a local level - the houses near me have good-sized back gardens. Years ago people grew vegetables and fruit in them. Not now. At least 50% are student-occupied now. We eat a lot of our own veg and fruit. It seems a waste of land not to grow food. We're losing more and more farming land to housing. Why do we need so much? If students went to their local university (I think more do on the continent) then there would be more houses for families and they might even grow some of their own food.

Why do we import so much from China? The seas are suffering from shipping, whales are disorientated, injured by ships' propellers.

We have milk delivered two days a week (in bottles) but it's more expensive so we supplement it from the supermarket.

Every little helps.

I have been to the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest and taken a motorised canoe ride down the huge Napa River from Coca, and was horrified to see a lot of companies drilling for oil along the shores of the Amazon. Unfortunately it is all because of money, which Ecuador needs. To find oil they have to clear forest, and then search for it using a lot of heavy machinery.The men doing this work require housing, so they have to clear more forest to erect the houses. If they do find oil there will be a lot more action and a lot more destruction of the wonderful forest. This was in Ecuador. There are a lot more countries with Rainforest in the way of oil, and they need farming land to for another type of oil too - palm oil. It all comes down to money in the end.

Quizqueen, yes. population control is a wonderful idea. The problem is, it is expensive and there are many people in the world who cannot afford condoms, vasectomies etc.

If this is to be the fate of planet earth then the sooner the better we find other planets to inhabit.
Where without a doubt, knowing the human race, how long before its' back to square one'?

I am afraid that drastic action is necessary. While we must all do our bit, life style changes will be forced on us. Expecting technology to save us is probably misguided.

Planet Earth has entered its sixth extinction phase, the previous five extinction phases resulted in dinosaurs disappearing etc. I would encourage everyone to read more.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn

I found a local milkman arranged how many pints and when I wanted delivery.........opened door to find milkmin plastic cartons!!!!!

If we all do our bit it must have some effect surely?

There is the technology to turn our waste into fuel but is there the monetary incentive, unfortunately money really does make the world go round.

If everyone stopped flying abroad what would happen to these communities who derive their very existence from tourism. There is a burgeoning eco-tourism market, which helps the poorest peoples in third world countries.

In my opinion there is not a "one size fits all solution" we cannot turn back the clock, but surely we can use technology and inventions to help solve the problems the planet is facing?

Buntybunny21 Have a look on line at ‘Milk and More’. I get my milk delivered and it comes in glass bottles.

I think voluntary planet saving is hopeless. We need everyone to be on the same page and that can only be done with laws and cooperation between countries.

We can plod down to the recycling (which I do) as much as we like but until the powers that be recognise only a few will do this whilst others ignore the signs, pollute with plastic, buy whatever they want because why should they abstain when Mrs. so and so from down the road doesn't, then we'll get nowhere.

You have to ban certain things for 'all' to make a difference.

Extract from Time magazine 'There’s an awful lot in the just-released summary of a new U.N. report on biodiversity and ecosystem. There’s the tenfold increase in plastic pollution since 1980, for example. There’s the 400 million tons of heavy metals, toxic sludge and fertilizer runoff poured into the world’s water each year too. There’s the doubling of greenhouse gas emissions since 1980; the growth of industrial fishing, now sprawling across 55% of the world’s oceans, the 85% loss of the wetlands since the dawn of the industrial era, and the 70% increase in invasive species in 21 countries.

And then, finally, and perhaps most worrying are the extinctions. According to the conclusions of the 455 experts and contributing authors from 50 countries who drafted the report for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), up to 1 million species of plants and animals are now threatened with extinction, some within decades, including 40% of all amphibians, 33% of marine mammals, and another 33% of shark, shark relatives and reef-forming corals.'
They are talking decades here, so could be our lifetimes, probably our children, let alone GC. Wake up call, which has been going on for decades now but we choose to ignore it. We will have to change our lifestyles, have to pay more attention and demand action from those who have the political clout to make national differences.

Buffybee, where I live the street lights are off between 1 and 5 am.
You also mentioned solar panels and I cannot understand why our government hasn't made these compulsory on all new builds

I recently opted to have my milk delivered, glass bottles and support for a local business. But, at 86p a pint it's not an option for some families who get through several pints a week.
My particular soap box is motor racing. How much fuel does that need, and the emissions must be horrendous. Add to that the global travel........but it's big money
I'm very conscientious but , as previously mentioned, some countries make no effort so it's hard to imagine that my meagre contribution does any good.

It is incredible when you read that just because you can drive 000s of miles in the US and not see any evidence that people refuse to believe it is not happening. Equally the US is part of the world and will not be immune from global changes. Too late to pull the drawbridges up.

The research is widely reported. It was carried out by the UN.

The main problem is the huge growth in human population and I cannot see any way to control this.
I find it all very sad how things have changed since I was born -no longer see hedgehogs or frogs in my garden like I did 20 years ago and no I do not use pesticides.
When I was a child a huge area of the South American rain forest had tribes unknown to the world but alas no longer
I just cannot see the answer to this as so many governments do not seem to be interested as long as their little bubble is ok

Oh it’s in the guardian so it must be untrue, celebs support it so we can sneer at them , as for 16 year olds - what do they know ? etc. Perfect attitudes for ignoring the problem and feeling smug because we do a bit of recycling.....meanwhile a million species are in danger of extinction, because of human selfishness, but hey it doesn’t matter, the sky hasn’t fallen in.....