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Climate change/oblivion: breaking point or slow death spiral?

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Maybe that’s why the green lobby hate them- they’re proof of the lie they need to peddle to exist

Umm so you think EVERYTHING the green lobby says is a lie? See, it's fine to debate certain points and identify where things are being manipulated for certain interests - that's really important. But when you claim it's all a lie, that's where you destroy your credibility.

Firstly, there is no one single green lobby...

Blah blah insect Armageddon blah blah

Whaaat? Scientists are actually studying insects all over the world and reporing serious decline, but you think that your one field that has buzzing noises overturns all that study? Seriously?

My local woods also buzz, but I understand that a) that's just one local wood and b) I have no idea what's making that buzzing sound and what sort of diversity that represents. You're no better than the idiots on the green side, by the look of it.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 10:43 am
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We were talking about 5 Acres with no buildings or cottages 😉

🤩 🤩


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 10:50 am
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Th point is a simple one of logic Molgrips that I’ve stated lots of times. If, where habitat is restored, insect (or any other species of plant or animal) numbers return to healthy numbers- it’s clearly a land use problem not a climate one.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 10:53 am
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Still going to be a lot of £5 a month especially when the cost of management is added and that's before we discuss the likelihood of a farmer allowing one of his fields to be rented out and be completely altered.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 10:54 am
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I did think about starting it as a business. I’ll find the plots, do the work and build the hides.

You’d probably find a few acres on most farms for free. I have a 2ac plot of self seeded wheat here that has had literally zero establishment costs this year. You could plant five acres by hand with volunteers.

Back to Dr Woods’ channel for inspiration…


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:03 am
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Isn’t the conservation expression “build it and they will come”?
Like at Knepp:

https://knepp.co.uk/rewilding/wildlife-successes/

But if Cljmate Change was at fault, this wouldn’t happen 🤷🏻‍♂️


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:14 am
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funkmasterp

We need to worry about other species though. We’re losing life at an alarming rate. Lots of these creatures are a part of much wider, delicate systems. We have a duty of care as the supposed intelligent species. Look what happened when vultures started dying off in India. Replaced by feral dogs that started attacking people. Nothing worse than a vacuum in nature.

So do you think this is worse than climate change and how do you personally define worse?
Maybe you could explain how many human deaths from climate change are acceptable to save the vulture? (just to the nearest 100 million I'm not asking for an exact number)


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:18 am
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Th point is a simple one of logic Molgrips that I’ve stated lots of times. If, where habitat is restored, insect (or any other species of plant or animal) numbers return to healthy numbers- it’s clearly a land use problem not a climate one.

LOCALLY, for sure. But there are ALSO global climate related issues. Biodiversity and habitat loss is MUCH bigger than your field in the UK somewhere. You can restore a lot of species, but can you restore them all? Is something going to be missing, because a plant it depends on is now much rarer than it was, because the climate is hotter or wetter or whatever? This is the kind of thing scientists are interested in, not just 'look, insects'.

Listen. To. Scientists. They know their stuff, that's the whole point.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:26 am
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Molgrips

Climate fear is big business? That sounds like a knee jerk reaction.

Of course, people are profiting from pretending to be green. But that does not mean climate change isn’t a real significant problem, does it? You’ve seen the movie Don’t Look Up, right? Hint: it’s not actually about meteors.

Once again you are mixing something most people don't give a crap about with climate change.

Possibly, but a lot of anti-green comment is also driven by knee-jerk ‘it’s all bollocks’ type reactions

Erm that's because it's all bollox due to conflation like you you did above ^^^
The anti-green sentiment is driven by lies and conflation of something that people are genuinely worried about (climate change) and things they perhaps should in an ideal world care about but don't give a crap.
Every lie just makes more people either switch off to both or do something they think helps climate change but doesn't.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:36 am
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Nature is in constant flux. We can recreate whatever we like (assuming it’s not extinct). It’s more about the cost… 💰


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:41 am
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Arrrrgghhhhhhh GGRRRRRRRRRR ssssss

This thread is driving me to distraction the crap circular pronostications and dodgy utube clips.

The use of Wickpeadia as evidence.

The whole thing has got completely pointless.

Sorry rant over I will go back to sleep.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:45 am
Bunnyhop, gallowayboy, salad_dodger and 1 people reacted
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So do you think this is worse than climate change and how do you personally define worse?
Maybe you could explain how many human deaths from climate change are acceptable to save the vulture? (just to the nearest 100 million I’m not asking for an exact number)

it is part and parcel of climate change. It’s not a one or the other choice. The vulture decline was used as an example of what can happen when a vacuum is created in nature. It was actually caused by humans giving drugs to cattle. I think all life should be protected where possible. We could do that if there was the will to do so, but there isn’t so we’re likely ****ed and have ****ed a lot of other species in the process.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 11:49 am
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We can recreate whatever we like

No we can't, traditional hay meadow vegetation for examples cannot be recreated in its entirety just something similar but but not the same


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:08 pm
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It was actually caused by humans giving drugs to cattle.

Ie. Land use not climate change.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:10 pm
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Nothing to do with land use. It was religion.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:11 pm
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No we can’t, traditional hay meadow vegetation for examples cannot be recreated in its entirety just something similar but but not the same

Hay meadows were created once before right?
They didn’t always exist.

Of course you won’t have the site specific genetic purity but then I don’t hear rewilders telling me their imported beavers can’t still cut down a UK tree??

There’s a kind of liberal self loathing that puts our ancestors methods above our own.
Farmers once destroyed an existing habitat (probably scrubland) to create a hay meadow….


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:13 pm
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Nothing to do with land use. It was religion.

They were wild cows were they?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:16 pm
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Nope, but the meat isn’t consumed for religious reasons and the corpses are left to rot. The drug used kills the vultures that feed on the meat. Feral dogs replaced the vultures and began attacking people and disease also spread. So no, not land use. I would give you a link but it’s to the Guardian so clearly lies and part of the biodiversity agenda or something


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:28 pm
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Surely anything a human does to use the land to their advantage (whether that be religious, food, mountain biking or whatever) is ‘land use’?

Any idea how my not taking a flight to Greece will help the problem too?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:32 pm
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Every lie

Do you realise that going on about lies all the time makes you sound paranoid and completely obscures any point you are trying to make? I have no idea what you are talking about, even though I am actually trying to understand.

We can recreate whatever we like

Ok, so let's do it.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:40 pm
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Ok, so let’s do it.

It's just a matter of funding isn't it. We've already discussed three models- paying to go shooting, joining a conservation org or private intervention (this can be remarkably small scale- we used to have a keen birder who used to come and keep the puddles filled for the swallows and feed a few hedgerows through the winter for taking photos of song birds).

Another one is subsidy of course- the land owner here gets paid by the Tax Payer for growing plots identical to our 'shooting funded' ones.

But how much tax are you willing to give rich land-inheriting toffs to leave some weeds and grow a few seeds?

Natural England seem keener to splash the cash on Sea Eagles (that could fly to the Isle of White from Scotland if they were that bothered about living there) and Beavers.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 12:50 pm
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funkmasterp

It’s not a one or the other choice.

Except for most people it is.

it is part and parcel of climate change.

No it isn't... it may well be one of the consequences of climate change but it isn't a cause.
When it is a consequence then mitigating the root cause (climate change from greenhouse gas) will partially restore it anyway

You still didn't answer the question... and this is fundamental to getting honest support for climate change.
It also provides a measure how serious you think climate change is for humans.
The absolute best case scenario right now is probably tens of millions of human deaths... and that's if we do EVERYTHING
As far as I'm concerned it's a valid response to say "I don't care, the more humans die the better" but equally you can't expect 7+ billion people to agree. This is the stated reason Patrick Moor left Greenpeace because in his words they just don't care about humans. I don't agree with his stance on climate change is actually good etc. but I do agree that Greenpeace is demonstrating that it doesn't care about human deaths or is just ignoring them.

The thing is though we aren't going to do EVERYTHING ... if you care how many people die then we need to do as much as we can and the things make the biggest difference. If you don't care about human deaths just say so and be honest.

So do you think this is worse than climate change and how do you personally define worse?
Maybe you could explain how many human deaths from climate change are acceptable to save the vulture? (just to the nearest 100 million I’m not asking for an exact number)


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:00 pm
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Molgrips

Do you realise that going on about lies all the time makes you sound paranoid and completely obscures any point you are trying to make? I have no idea what you are talking about, even though I am actually trying to understand.

Simple question - do you believe Boris Johnson lied about parties and breaking Covid? [edit - added one word] laws


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:02 pm
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Hay meadows were created once before right?
They didn’t always exist.

Yes, they were created from woodland understory vegetation, the plant community you create from management depends on what you are applying that management to. If the vegetation that hay meadows were created from doesn't exist you cannot create the meadow vegetation.

Not sure what this has to do with beavers. But it has nothing to do with being liberal or something, it's just science.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:32 pm
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But all the net result is, from an ecological perspective, is an interacting set of plant and animal species.
Recreate that set and you will get the same ecological effect.

Presumably the consultants selling ‘hay meadow restoration’ advice are liars?

A hay meadow wouldn’t exist if left unmanaged anyhow- it would revert to wildwood. Therefore is always a human construct 🤷🏻‍♂️


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:42 pm
 dazh
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I see in my absence the trolls have managed to screw this thread up with their constant misdirection and untruths. That's what they do, on here and everywhere else, and it's very successful because it spreads the seeds of doubt in those who haven't the time or inclination to be fully informed, and ultimately the result of that is less momentum and public interest in solving the climate problem.

Seems to me there's an easy solution to this, which is to de-platform them in the same way we have de-platformed nazis and their ilk. Maybe a change in the terms and conditions of the forum? I would have thought the rules around deliberate trolling would be enough but apparently not. It leaves me wondering whether this forum is part of the problem or the solution?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:47 pm
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No it isn’t… it may well be one of the consequences of climate change but it isn’t a cause.

I didn’t say it was. It will contribute though if species keep dying out then the changes this can bring will worsen some effects. Look at bees as a prime example.

I also answered your question. We shouldn’t just be concentrating on the human element. We should be looking to save as many species as possible as not doing so could lead to dire consequences. By tackling climate change we will achieve this. There is no Will to do so on a large scale though. I care but it is very clear that a lot don’t.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:55 pm
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but I do agree that Greenpeace is demonstrating that it doesn’t care about human deaths or is just ignoring them

Greenpeace supports black lives matter

Greenpeace helps people in their fight against deadly chemical/nuclear hazards

Greenpeace successfully oposes drilling in the proximity of homes and schools

Greenpeace works to protect indiginous peoples

Grenpeace has been one of the main orgainisations rasising awareness on the our Climate in Crisis

Greenpeace promotes renewable energy

Greenpeace campaigns against bee-killing pesticides (bees are essential to many people's lives)

Greenpeace fights against illegal deforestation

Greenpeace has succesfully campaigned against hydroflourocarbons

But don't let facts get in the way, Stevextc.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 1:57 pm
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Recreate that set and you will get the same ecological effect.

It's very unlikely, the interactions between species are huge, knock out a few and it has massive knock on effects on other species. Add in problems caused by not using seeds with local provenance and how they interact differently on multiple trophic levels and trust me you are not going to be recreating anything like what has been lost.

I have seen meadows that were ploughed and planted with potatoes for a year or two in WW2 and compared to those managed exactly the same on the same farms the botanical diversity is massively reduced and has remained so.

Presumably the consultants selling ‘hay meadow restoration’ advice are liars?

Pretty much, you might be surprised to find out who did the original research on the methods many of them use to....


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:04 pm
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In the context of all these 00,000,000’s of people predicted to die from climate change (now apparently because Singletrackworld are allowing healthy debate on their forum 🤣) though: arguing whether a modern reconstructed hay meadow is identical to a pre war hay meadow is kind of getting lost in the weeds 😉 🌾


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:15 pm
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Seems to me there’s an easy solution to this, which is to de-platform them in the same way we have de-platformed nazis and their ilk.

Chronic censorship to stop (checks notes) Climate Nazi’s. Isn’t that…. a little bit Nazi-ish??

(#AreWeTheBaddies Yes. Yes you are 🤣)


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:23 pm
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arguing whether a modern reconstructed hay meadow is identical to a pre war hay meadow is kind of getting lost in the weeds

Only when you come out with comments such as

We can recreate whatever we like

Which is patently bollocks like so much of what you type. You make sweeping comments, assume they are fact and then just press on with whatever point you want to make but so much is just plain wrong on a fundamental level.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:28 pm
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The key word being 'recreate' (verb; Create AGAIN) not 'clone'. (And actually, given enough time, we could get to the same place given that the entire country was once an Ice sheet.....). The point was clearly related to what we were discussing about land use being of greater concern to biodiversity loss than 'Climate Change'. We've lost Hay meadows not because the species can no longer exist but because we dug for victory and then kept on digging 😉

I'm trying to keep this polite and keep the thread on topic in good faith so will ignore the rest 👍🏻 🙌🏻


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:38 pm
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The key word being ‘recreate’ (verb; Create AGAIN) not ‘clone’.

Not sure you understand what both those words mean tbh but saying that you are right because something you didn't say is obviously wrong is not the best debating style.

And actually, given enough time, we could get to the same place given that the entire country was once an Ice sheet…

You clearly don't understand how succession works.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 2:53 pm
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Admit it boys you’re losing this debate. Crosshair is outwitting you with real world experience and intelligence. 🤣🤣


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 3:04 pm
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Given the propensity of chance in deciding what evolves, what thrives and what dies, I guess it is unlikely that the same exact set of species will occur. There is no 'climate change' impediment though.

The idea that one snap-shot of land management at one moment in history when humans were interacting with a set of species purely by chance in one particular way is the only valid one is ridiculous though. It is perfectly possible to recreate something equally or even more diverse.

Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what point you are trying to make relative to the climate v land use biodiversity issue?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 3:10 pm
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Simple question – do you believe Boris Johnson lied about parties and breaking Covid?

What the..?

But how much tax are you willing to give rich land-inheriting toffs to leave some weeds and grow a few seeds?

I'm happy for toffs to shoot, as long as the land is managed to a high standard for the benefit of all nature and not as a monospecies bird factory. And as long as the public still has access when shoots aren't on.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 3:12 pm
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The idea that one snap-shot of land management at one moment in history when humans were interacting with a set of species purely by chance in one particular way is the only valid one is ridiculous though.

True but it has nothing to do with anything we were discussing.

It is perfectly possible to recreate something equally or even more diverse.

You keep saying that but it is still incorrect.

Otherwise, I’m not entirely sure what point you are trying to make relative to the climate v land use biodiversity issue?

We were discussing your inaccuracies as regards recreating habitats, I have no idea why you thought making such a comment, however false,  helped your argument re land use v climate change. In fact I have no idea what your view on this is. I was just pointing out an example that shows how you are incorrect.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:06 pm
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The idea that two habitats; both with the same list of species present; interacting with each other in the same way; both man made; both contingent on future management at the hands of man and thus both superficially identical are TECHNICALLY DIFFERENT is such a ridiculously obscure point to make that I’m not sure any kudus you get for making it is worth having.

But if you want to say I’m incorrect because the lack of continuity present in a restored hay meadow precludes it from your narrow definition of the original- then go for it.

The point to Molgrips relative to the topic still stands- there is, in my opinion, no *climate related* barrier to habitat recreation in most cases. That a habitat that relies on a continuous, specific, form of land management (that may have fallen out of popular economic use), renders it lost for all time, is not Climate Change’s fault either 😀


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:25 pm
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there is, in my opinion, no *climate related* barrier to habitat recreation in most cases.

Are you talking about the UK only here? We're not one of the most at-risk areas of the world.

There are places where indigenous plants and animals won't grow any more because of higher temperatures or lower rainfall, in some parts of the world.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:32 pm
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The idea that two habitats; both with the same list of species present; interacting with each other in the same way; both man made; both contingent on future management at the hands of man and thus both superficially identical are TECHNICALLY DIFFERENT is such a ridiculously obscure point to make that I’m not sure any kudus you get for making it is worth having.A

Again you are correct, but, it has nothing to do with anything we are discussing. You just keep making things up to try and prove whatever point it might be you are trying to prove.

But if you want to say I’m incorrect because the lack of continuity present in a restored hay meadow precludes it from your narrow definition of the original

Nope that's not what I said, yet again you just made that up.

You said we can recreate any habitat we like (or words to that effect I can't be bothered to go back and look. I said we cannot and gave the example of hay meadows. I used that example as I know a bit about them and their restoration. We can make things which look to the untrained eye like them but we cannot restore what was lost. The restored meadows are better than a field of grass for diversity but not as diverse as what was lost.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:33 pm
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there is, in my opinion, no *climate related* barrier to habitat recreation in most cases

The phrase "in my opinion" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Should we value your opinion so highly? Why?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:35 pm
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We can make things which look to the untrained eye like them but we cannot restore what was lost.

This is correct. Soil mycelium and mycorrhiza are hugely important parts of the world we live in, and little is known. It's likely to be different in a meadow that has been there for 500 years versus one that was a factory until the 60s.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:38 pm
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Again you are correct, but, it has nothing to do with anything we are discussing.

?? It’s exactly what you are discussing. You keep saying things along this line that make me think you aren’t arguing in good faith here.

You said we can recreate any habitat we like (or words to that effect I can’t be bothered to go back and look. I said we cannot and gave the example of hay meadows. I used that example as I know a bit about them and their restoration. We can make things which look to the untrained eye like them but we cannot restore what was lost. The restored meadows are better than a field of grass for diversity but not as diverse as what was lost.

And this is exactly what I just said, worded differently 🤷🏻‍♂️

Should we value your opinion so highly? Why?

Only because I seem to see things thriving on a daily basis that popular media (and some strong voices in this thread) is telling us are in dire straights.
But it’s a Bike forum Chat room and this I’d prefer people used their own eyes to form an opinion rather than take mine.

If I help one person with climate anxiety chill out and enjoy life a bit more then it’s worth wading through this petifoggery 😀


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:49 pm
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This is correct. Soil mycelium and mycorrhiza are hugely important parts of the world we live in, and little is known. It’s likely to be different in a meadow that has been there for 500 years versus one that was a factory until the 60s.

As just said in different words- I accept that point 👍🏻
But that’s not climate change’s fault 😀


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:50 pm
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Do raptors thrive in your little non-climate change affected piece of land?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 4:59 pm
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And this is exactly what I just said, worded differently

It really isn't, let's take one more attempt. You cannot recreate a traditional hay meadow. The diversity will be lower, many species absent, many present in very different proportions. The mycorrhizal assemblages for example will exchange photosynthetic products between species thereby giving some a competitive advantage and others a disadvantage when the management is changed it has drastic effects on the soil fungi. Improved grassland have very little soil fungi and much higher soil bacteria all this will impact the plant community that the soil will support.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:03 pm
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We’ve covered that already when I snapped a passing sparrowhawk pic for TJ. I have kestrels nesting at the end of the garden, enough kites to put the hawk conservancy to shame, rarities like little and long eared owls and buzzards by the flock.

I’d bring A_A round for a tour to show him what we have but I’m not that inclined to want to spend an afternoon with him now 🥱😴🤣🤣


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:07 pm
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The mycorrhizal assemblages for example will exchange photosynthetic products

That's easy for you to say....


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:07 pm
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It really isn’t, let’s take one more attempt. You cannot recreate a traditional hay meadow. The diversity will be lower, many species absent, many present in very different proportions. The mycorrhizal assemblages for example will exchange photosynthetic products between species thereby giving some a competitive advantage and others a disadvantage when the management is changed it has drastic effects on the soil fungi. Improved grassland have very little soil fungi and much higher soil bacteria all this will impact the plant community that the soil will support.

You’re making the point I just conceded. Which is completely irrelevant to the thread. Neither the fact that a precious habitat has been lost nor the fact you cannot *technically* recreate it even with seed and soil imported from a remaining hay meadow are to do with climate change- you’re actually proving my point which, all along, was that land use changes are a greater threat to biodiversity than climate change.

I obviously agree that these precious diverse habitats should be preserved where they still exist 🙏 Maybe you could agree that that would be a better direction for climate hysteria and associated funding to be pointed?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:12 pm
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That’s easy for you to say….

It is yes

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01570.x


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:13 pm
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But that’s not climate change’s fault

No, but other things are. You accept this right?

you’re actually proving my point which, all along, was that land use changes are a greater threat to biodiversity than climate change.

Er, well, perhaps, but so what? They are sort of orthogonal concepts from a social point of view. We need to combat climate, change AND we need to protect biodiversity and habitats. Do you disagree? Do you think we should only be doing one?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:28 pm
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No. I agree. But we need to be clear about cause and effect. Asking people to make climate change sacrifices to solve unrelated ecological conundrums just makes me think team Armageddon don’t have enough of a convincing argument after all.

Mind you, I still find it incredulous that we are just shrugging and saying ‘oh well’ about the fact that governments thought they were justified in telling porkies about Covid interventions!

I’m sure team Armageddon are similarly convinced that the end justifies the means (of conflating climate with more tangible bad things happening) now- and that’s terrifying!


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:38 pm
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you’re actually proving my point

No sure you understand what that means.

that land use changes are a greater threat to biodiversity than climate change

Maybe, maybe not I am not sure it would be possible to disentangle the effects of both on each other tbh. Land use and habitat loss can drive climate change and climate change can drive habitat loss. Long term climate change is likely to have a bigger effect globally I would think, but like I said the two are so intrinsically linked that they cannot be separated.

But we need to be clear about cause and effect.

Impossible to do


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:41 pm
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After 34 pages, I can officially add this thread to my doom scrolling list.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:43 pm
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No. I agree. But we need to be clear about cause and effect. Asking people to make climate change sacrifices to solve unrelated ecological conundrums just makes me think team Armageddon don’t have enough of a convincing argument after all.

I don't think that's what's happening? Most people are completely ignorant as to the finer details of environmental science in all its aspects, so they just need to be told what's good and what's bad. I mean we've had a 30 page argument about something or other when we all actually agree that climate change and biodiversity both need addressing.

But at the consumer level they aren't related. I mean you can (in your view) pay to go shooting and support well managed wildlife sanctuaries, but you can fly up to Scotland and drive a hired Range Rover to the site, OR you can get the train and drive a hired EV. Similarly you can lobby your supermarket to avoid palm oil plantation products, but you could also have a Range Rover and a hot tub.

There are situations where the right thing to do is not clear, but this isn't one of those situations.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:50 pm
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Also, why do you use words like 'team armageddon'? You're trying to trivialise the issue, and mock those who care, right? Why would you do that? You do admit there's a serious problem, right?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:53 pm
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No sure you understand what that means.

These jibes are even funnier seeing as I’m reading them in your accent in my head 🤣

(Droll “tired with life” Northerner for those who haven’t met him).

Maybe, maybe not I am not sure it would be possible to disentangle the effects of both on each other tbh

Fair enough….
What personal action would you recommend folk take to halt biodiversity decline through that lens then?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 5:57 pm
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What personal action would you recommend folk take to halt biodiversity decline through that lens then?

Whatever action they see fit.

Northerner

Midlands is not the north


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:01 pm
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You do admit there’s a serious problem, right?

Most are aware there is an issue, but most can agree that they as an individual can do totally nowt about it, other than at a personal level, which in the grand scheme of things is utterly meaningless to the problem.

Spitting at a forest fire isnt going to put it out, and while individual efforts, though meaningless to the problem might feel morally correct, they aren't going to change the issue.

Crosshairs cant fix the world, so maybe stop blaming him for not being able to.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:02 pm
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Also, why do you use words like ‘team armageddon’? You’re trying to trivialise the issue, and mock those who care, right? Why would you do that? You do admit there’s a serious problem, right?

Not one that aligns with the interventions being suggested, no.

I’m mocking the lunacy of thinking not having kids or going to Greece on holiday when the plane is going to fly anyway, is going to change a damn thing.
If you want to save a species or protect a habitat- do it directly with your money, your hands and your enthusiasm. To outsource it to conflated solutions in the name of climate change is just dishonest. Someone is profiting on the back of your naivety.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:07 pm
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@crosshair

Mind you, I still find it incredulous that we are just shrugging and saying ‘oh well’ about the fact that governments thought they were justified in telling porkies about Covid interventions!

That's because you're trying to create a false equivalence.

The collapse of the natural world, which is very much happening (unless you count 70% decline in all animal populations since 1970 a bit of made-up asshattery), dwarfs the covid idiocy into insignificance.

There is no fixing climate change without hand-in-hand fixing the bigger biodiversity issue - because ultimately the preservation of our natural ecosystems is the goal. Combatting climate change is but one thread of achieving that goal.

Of course, like Lovelock said, we're too dumb to fix it.  We don't have the systems to do so.  And the human race is in the last 1% of it's lifespan.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:11 pm
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Do you think there is enough land for everyone to grow their own food?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:13 pm
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I’m mocking the lunacy of thinking not having kids or going to Greece on holiday when the plane is going to fly anyway, is going to change a damn thing.

What? You think the number of flying hours isn’t related to the demand for flights? Or do you simply not get that many small actions can add up to bigger actions?

Of course the really big changes need to be enacted by governments working together, but demand driven changes (for better or worse) that come about though shifts in social expectations and norms will also play their part.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:14 pm
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We live in a society, Crosshair, it's collectively we make a difference. Not having too many kids as a society will make a difference (rather than not having any). If enough people decide to take a train rather than a plane then the plane won't fly. If enough people buy EVs emissioons will be reduced. If enough people insulate their houses gas consumption will fall.

Of course the utterly selfish don't give a ****s won't contribute but if enough of us do the world will be a better place for the kids people do dare to have knowing the legacy we're leaving them.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:16 pm
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I said a long time ago in this thread that we should worry about climate change once we’ve applied ourselves to the much more achievable goal of reforming land use. Then we’ll know where we are at. And maybe a few less 25,000,000 acre forest fires will help the atmosphere too 😉

Imagine if the money spent on new ULZ signs was spent educating Londoners on the 14,000 species of nature on their doorstep. (I’m still amazed by that stat). Ah, but there’s no cash in that.
‘We’re’ being played as fools.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:21 pm
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Imagine if the money spent on new ULZ signs was spent educating Londoners on the 14,000 species of nature on their doorstep

The vast majority still wouldn't give a ****


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:26 pm
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It’s okay, when things get really ****ed we can just move to Crosshair’s thriving field and live a life of sublime luxury whilst laughing. Fools! We have so many insects and birds here that it balances out the losses elsewhere. 70% lost worldwide but a 9,000.000,000,000% increase here, in this field, you doom mongering Armageddon worshipping idiots!


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:30 pm
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‘We’re’ being played as fools

Actually many people can see right through your posts and are not being fooled by an occasional post with some worth. You are a good troll but you're still a troll. Or seriously misguided. Or both


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:32 pm
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What? You think the number of flying hours isn’t related to the demand for flights? Or do you simply not get that many small actions can add up to bigger actions?

The best thing would be to only fly planes at full capacity. Instead, they’ll fly them empty to keep their slot if you stay at home (because you’re assuming people in Greece won’t want to travel back and forth just because you’ve decided to be a holiday-martyr 🤣).

It’s like swapping to an EV. That’s only a good move if you ICE car is recycled. Instead it will likely get shipped abroad and carry on chugging AS WELL as your new car.

The people in this thread are almost without exception in the top 1% when it comes to global wealth. The idea that you’ve had your fill of fossil fuel-powered freedom and that burgeoning economies and populations around the world are going to sit back and let you impose like for like climate policies on them is bonkers.

Don’t want to fly in a plane? There’s plenty of places where people still will. And plenty of governments and operators that will still let them.

“You’re a kite dancing in a hurricane Mr Bond” but it’s quaint how important everyone thinks their individual actions are 🥲


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:32 pm
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It’s okay, when things get really **** we can just move to Crosshair’s thriving field

It’s not mine- we rent it 😉 But the farmers cows aren’t on drugs so at least they’re doing their bit for the vultures.
“They tried to make me go to Rehab: I said “mooo, mooo, mooo “ 🐮 “ 🤣🤣


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:40 pm
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@elshalimo:

Do you think there is enough land for everyone to grow their own food?

Yep.  Our monocultural mechanised pesticide-and-fertilizer method of growing crops is cheap (if you don't factor in the externalised costs, the cost to the soil and other parts of the environment etc).

But you can achieve 10 times the calorie density, be better for nature and remove pesticide and fertilizer use.  It requires more people, yep, and is more expensive because of that.  But it's what we should be doing.

Land isn't the problem.  It's what we're doing with it that's the problem.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:44 pm
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it’s quaint how important everyone thinks their individual actions are

Each of our individual actions and behaviours amount to nothing on their own, that is exactly the point I made in the post that you’re replying to. That isn’t a reason for each of us to avoid playing our own small part in societal changes.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:46 pm
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@chevychase - and where will we all get access to this land? We don't live in a some communist idyll where we all have an allocated acre. And where will this land be? How will the >37Mn residents of Tokyo get there?  Will it be local to them?


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:49 pm
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holiday-martyr

That's a bit rich from a farmer, the ones I knew in Wales didn't have a holiday in the time I lived there, the ones I know in France take less holiday than factory workers.

Have a look at my contribution to the Interrail thread, I've detailed parts of my Summer holidays for the last three years. So far this Summer:

10 days in Spain doing El Camino dos Pharos on foot (bus travel), 5 days walking in the French Pyrenees (bike and EV travel), two days horse riding - Madame has done many more (EV and bike travel), 4 days riding cols on a roadie from home, 6 days MTBing from home, several swimming sessions in a sunny 50m outdoor pool heated by the local incinerator, playing with a rock band and going to a concert (ICE travel 🙁 )etc.

Two weeks of holiday left 🙂 We might take the EV to the coast as it gets quieter after 15/8.

I really don't feel like a holiday matyr, do you feel like a slave to your land and the bank? That's the most common complaint I heard from farmers.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:55 pm
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That would be fine if our society was 95% of the worlds population. British folk are what, less than 1%?
Whatever slack we give up, the rest of the developing world will happily take up.

We’re like a living analogy of John Kerry being forced to sell his ‘wife’s’ private jet because of the optics 🤣🤣 Desperately trying to appear green cuz it’s trendy.

Let’s just be honest. We love all this amazing stuff. Fossil fuels have made our lives insanely better. Planes are cool. Going abroad is awesome. Let’s strive to improve the tech to pollute a little less as we go- through evolution not revolution, but progress needs to be forwards not backwards or folk will never accept it.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:55 pm
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@ElShalimo

and where will we all get access to this land?

Ah, OK.  I see your question more clearly now.  You want us to grow our own food, not 'change the way we grow our food' 🙂

So since we need ten times less land, when we go and bosh the rich landowners and corporate mega-farms, we can take a little bit of their land, grow our own food, and then put the rest to nature.

Or, we could enforce a change in how we grow our food to how I mentioned above, and start exporting it to the rest of the planet because of our massive overabundence whilst living and working in a natural paradise.

🙂


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:56 pm
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I last went on holiday to Northumberland two years ago and haven’t been abroad since Shetland maybe 5 years ago 🤣🤣
But I’ll defend the right of people who do like to go away (mainly because if they’re here they’ll be wandering all over the place 🤣🤣🤣 ✈️ 👋🏻)


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 6:57 pm
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Fossil fuels have made our lives insanely better.

And renewables will make them better still.

My solar thermal produces piping hot water and costs buttons in depreciation

The PV produces more leccy than I use so makes me money

The insulated house is cosy in Winter and cool in Summer

I like travelling by train a bus and seeing the world go by

The EV is a delight to drive, as they replace ICEs the air I breathe will be cleaner

The cycle and pedestrian infrastructure in town is improving: pedestrianised, cycle lanes and paths - town used to be a stinking, noisy, dangerous place, it's lovely to sit outside a cafe now.


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 7:05 pm
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Unless you sink a concrete wind turbine base into an old Hay meadow! Then them mycorrhizal assemblages gonna be well cross 🤣🤣


 
Posted : 14/08/2023 7:10 pm
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