A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of salt, but with more than a grain of truth!

Why is it that just as a controversial theory is becoming accepted worldwide, politicians have to take it up as a cause célèbre and promptly devalue it? Just as it was dawning on most of us that climate change (not global warming) is a reality, it seems that governments are hoping to make dealing with it an attempted vote-winner. Visit the 'Last Chance Saloon' and get your 'fix' now before it is too late. Yawn. It is the season for pickling and jam making, but it seems we are in a real jam and those in charge are in a real pickle of their own making.

Our governments are not consistent in their threats or promises. On one hand we are urged to eat more vegetables, but do we get carrots? No, we get sticks. Dozens of them spewing out of the 'spin' machine so fast it makes us dizzy, resentful and bored! They seem to forget that donkeys (us) respond better to carrots than sticks. They seem totally unable to come up with any workable ideas to control climate change. They have just one solution to all ills.

We are urged to adopt alternative energy, recycle more, save energy! After all, it is our fault we are in this mess, isn't it? Certain world leaders have been talking the issue up as if they can save the world. So what do they come up with?TAXES. Oh, yes, and FINES! Tax people on everything that moves, lives and breathes and if you can't tax them, fine them just for doing what comes naturally. Yes, and that'll be the next brilliant think-tank idea! They already want to know where we are sleeping!

If it wasn't so appalling it would be funny. You couldn't make it up. 'Green taxes', they call them. Now tell me, what good are those taxes going to do except swell government coffers? Taxes to be used for better public transport, better recycling facilities, serious financial help for adopting alternative energy systems? To improve and restore wetlands, plant more forests, and maintain waterways? Pull the other one, it's got bells on, and whistles too likely as not!

Global warming is a misnomer, for it may mean hotter, drier weather for some, which is greeted with delight by those wishing to top up their tan, but it may also mean wetter and colder weather. So drought, flooding, hurricanes and similar disasters may increase. Food production may have to move or be lost altogether. Humans and animals may have to change their habits and movements. Therefore, calling it climate change makes more sense. Climate change has taken place since the beginning of time, but what makes this different is the speed at which it is happening. I am no scientist, but I can see it happening with my own eyes and it is causing havoc with wildlife already.

Spring is earlier, autumn is later, summers are hotter and drier and winters milder where I live. Birds, animals and plants are confused by the changes and many suffer as a result. Breeding at a time when food should be available but isn't, flowers opening too soon or too late so nectar is not available at the right time for bees and butterflies. We sometimes forget that we need all these creatures to pollinate fruit and vegetables, not just as a pretty decoration in our false 'all that glitters' world.

Taxes would not have helped the people of New Orleans or Florida, or the people of our own east coast where erosion is bringing 'living on the edge' a whole new meaning. Would they be used to improve flood protection for London? Would more taxes help those in East Anglia or London if predicted floods wipe them out? I don't think so. One of the reasons these scenarios are so much more dangerous now than in the past is because all the areas mentioned, once almost devoid of human habitation, are now heavily populated. Land has been 'reclaimed' from the sea for agriculture, dwellings and holiday resorts. The dreadful flooding of Lynton and Lynmouth in the summer of 1952 and the devastating floods along the East Coast of England in January 1953 could easily be repeated. Those of us who were around at the time will never forget it. Ah, they say, but we have better communications and transport now, and forecasting is better. It didn't help Boscastle in Cornwall. Neither did modern technology help New Orleans or the tsunami victims.

The sticks (or taxes), the punishments and the obstacles put in the way of those who would co-operate, are short-sighted. For example, my house is ideally placed for both solar and wind energy adaptation. Could I afford it? Could I even be bothered to jump through all the hoops demanded to get planning permission? I don't think so. At my age am I prepared to take on huge debts to install such things? Not likely.

Others would change their cars to energy-efficient, non-polluting vehicles if they were not so expensive and more freely available, but with motorists punished at every turn with parking charges, speeding fines and congestion charges, resentment is high. People would willingly recycle if given enough 'carrots' — encouragement in the form of lower taxes, rebates and grants, more doorstep collections for recycling and positive feedback on how the recycled materials were used. Governments need to push and financially support recycling companies and initiatives. Instead we get spy computer chips in wheelie bins, fines for putting rubbish out on the wrong day or not shutting the wheelie bins properly, ideas guaranteed to set neighbour against neighbour. I don't think that is the way to get co-operation.

If we all became model citizens in Europe, Canada, Australia, America even, I doubt it would make one iota of difference to global pollution and the onset of climate change, when China and many other countries are racing hell for leather to catch up and surpass our greedy energy guzzling lifestyles our efforts are a drop in the ocean.

So, is it worth recycling, changing to alternative energy, cutting waste and reducing our energy consumption? Yes, most definitely, if only because it will save us money and resources in the long run. Common sense, that outdated and much-derided feature of the past, tells us that we live in this beautiful world, the only one we have, and that resources are finite. We cannot continue to plunder without taking the consequences. We are ripping apart a web of life that has sustained us for thousands of years. We are pulling bricks out of the 'retaining walls' so fast the whole thing could collapse. We are polluting and wasting the very 'water of life' to a point where it will not be viable to live in some areas. Most of us at one time have dreamt of living on a desert island in idyllic sunshine, fresh food and water for the taking. Well, we had that once and look what we have done with it.

Watching a polar bear floundering through slushy water desperately trying to find solid ground from which to catch food, and dying in the attempt. Seeing orangutan orphans bereft as their habitat is destroyed in our desire for designer furniture. Seeing birds and animals dying because lakes and rivers are drying up because water has been extracted to supply washing machines, dishwashers and car washes. All this should tell us that something is radically wrong. If we wait for politicians to get the ball rolling, we will wait forever or die of taxation.

So, we want more carrots please, not endless sticks to beat us with. More action and less hot air. We cannot change things alone, but at least we can make a start and make our own individual lifestyles better. Wildlife and human life would benefit.

Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World Archive

Websailor

30.11.06 Front Page

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