The gritting lorries are because our roads are not fit for hot weather and melt.
We have a local road that they surface dressed a short time ago, every time it gets above 25c it melts and sticks to your tyres, shoes, animals feet etc In 35c air temp and guess what it's doing; it is a road covered in liquid tar. So to make it safe they need to put grit over the top.
Scottish Borders gritters were out sanding the roads to try to get a little lightness onto them to cool the surface and stop it breaking down.
@somafunk I sat on the pontoon of the (then new) marina and watched the lightening, pooped myself when a slight shift in wind meant every boat turned on it's mooring at the same time. Then a wall of rain came. Was 30+ years ago mind.
Bloody awful night down here, hardly slept, my wife on the other hand was snoring away quite happily. Although she'll deny it if I mention it. 🤐
We gave up on tge bedroom before even starting, it was about 10° hotter upstairs than down. Mrs Lawman slept in a chair, I got a Thermarest and sleeping bag out, and slept on the kitchen floor with the patio door open.
87 yr old mother drank nothing in the 2.5 hrs i spent with her yesterday morning. She’s rebelling as she’s ’fed up’ of everyone telling her. Meanwhile another 96 yr old hasn’t drunk water either and is now in hospital.
ive got 4 waterbutts, meanwhile next door running the hose for 2 hours over visiting children.
Someone I know organises day trips to European cities. They all get up early take the flight, wibble around said city, catch late flight home.
We just can’t get through to some people.
Someone I know organises day trips to European cities. They all get up early take the flight, wibble around said city, catch late flight home.
I read an article on BBC News site a year or so ago about exactly this sort of shenanigans - basically some 'influencer' justifying it as giving her children 'experience of cultures' or whatever. Nah. Blinkered selfishness is all it was.
Someone I know organises day trips to European cities. They all get up early take the flight, wibble around said city, catch late flight home.
I read an article on BBC News site a year or so ago about exactly this sort of shenanigans - basically some 'influencer' justifying it as giving her children 'experience of cultures' or whatever. Nah. Blinkered selfishness is all it was.
I read similar recently:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce84zd68242o
"Rhona acknowledges the environmental impact of the trend, but says she takes steps like eating a pescetarian diet and using a green energy tariff in an attempt to offset part of the impact."
Yeah, that makes it OK then 🙄
Over 40 flights this year alone at the time the article was written in April...
I read an article on BBC News site a year or so ago about exactly this sort of shenanigans - basically some 'influencer' justifying it as giving her children 'experience of cultures' or whatever. Nah. Blinkered selfishness is all it was.Yeaaaaah, departure lounge, flight, arrivals, bus/taxi to city centre, rushed trip round a cathedral/stately home/museum, meal at local equivalent of MacDonalds (or even AT MacDonalds), rushed trip round another local site, no time to see anything, just take ticktock videos for content, then another Bus/Departure/Flight/arrivals. Home.
What utter garbage.
Reads like these itineraries that US citizens have for their visit to Europe. Visit 11 European capitals in 14 days.
Weather broke overnight here (central Scotland) - thunder and lightning and a load of rain. Took the temperature right down although it's already back up at 19.5*C at 9.00am.
16.0*C at 5.30am this morning, bonus comedy mileage milestone in my car 😀
Thing is without overarching strategic decisions being make in a sensible way by goverment/s individual lifestyle changes while laudable will make the square root of sod all difference.
It's ironic when a country turns to A/C with its power needs, gases and manufacturing as a solution to climate change.
It's something for the AB government to work on, along with new home building appropriate to need rather than over-large, over-priced estates of detached housing with poor hot weather credentials
Households living in detached houses (16%) were most likely to report overheating in their homes, compared with 6% in high rise flats, 11% in low-rise flats and a range of 9 to 12% for terraced and other types of houses, Annex Table 2.12.
Households in newer homes were more likely to report overheating than those in older homes.
I saw several parents demanding A/C in primary schools on the news yesterday (which are closed during the hottest months of the year) because their children were being sent home early. Why not start the school day early? Most primary age children are up early.
23 and bit misty this morning in Devon and it feels almost cold…
I found the perfect way to stop sweating yesterday. I got in the ****ing sea. 😀
Windsurf session Thursday afternoon was stunning once out on the water. The beach pebbles however were so hot it was unbearable to kneel or walk on them .
Decided drinking 2ltr of lager would be a good idea , it wasn't. Spent the night melting.
Done a 2hr MTB ride this morning and it was very pleasant in the low 20s . More windsurfing this afternoon hopefully. Going to price up a ghetto Aircon system using a chest freezer as an ice bank , copper coil , antifreeze , water pump and a large car air con condenser with a fan arrangement. I reckon 100kg of ice will hold sufficientl latent heat to run for hours and cool my bedroom
It was 28 as I left the house this morning!
The roads home last night through Oxfordshire and West Berks were horrible, some of them were so melted the tar was coming out in palm sized chunks under car's wheels, and roads that were previously smooth now have pronounced ridges between the car wheels.
I'd say that repairs will cost a fortune, but in reality it'll just be next winters potholes.
Reads like these itineraries that US citizens have for their visit to Europe
There was one where they were coming to the UK and were planning to go to London, Edinburgh, the Lakes and Cornwall IIRC.
Not just Americans. Here in the valley we get people from all over the world doing London, Cornwall, Hebden Bridge, Edinburgh in a week. I'm sure there will be small towns and villages all over Britain that are the "small town UK" stop over in a UK tour that includes the major capitals (sorry Cardiffians).
And then there's all the Ireland+UK tourists. Or Paris+London+Lakedistrict. Etc. The distances mean little to some, when they've flown half way around the world.
Reads like these itineraries that US citizens have for their visit to Europe. Visit 11 European capitals in 14 days.
Sometimes there is just lack of geographic knowledge. I was asked to speak at London Climate Week yesterday, hosted by a large international foundation. They were shocked yesterday that I had a 5+ hour train journey home today as they assumed 'small' UK...
(But yeah, lots is driven by a ticklist of 'gram photos. Few of these influencers take any time to discover places properly..
All the windows in the flat we rent here in the Pyrenees face east - so in summer these outside blinds are lifesavers. Come lunchtime we half open them but keep the windows themselves closed - to prevent the hot air from coming in. Keeps the flat comfortable all day..... having said that, I am sitting here in just my underpants 🙂
At night the blinds go up and the windows are flung open - but only until the heat of summer where the night time temp fails to drop below the mid 30's!
![IMG_7342[1].JPG](https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/wpforo/attachments/31367/22778-IMG73421.JPG)
Must be a Spanish thing 🙂
I’m actually surprised how jean shorts aren’t as bad as you’d think in the hot weather.
Yup, patches of snow visible from the garden, up on Mynydd Du.
Probably cotton grass tbh.
Scottish Borders gritters were out sanding the roads to try to get a little lightness onto them to cool the surface and stop it breaking down.
@somafunk I sat on the pontoon of the (then new) marina and watched the lightening, pooped myself when a slight shift in wind meant every boat turned on it's mooring at the same time. Then a wall of rain came. Was 30+ years ago mind.
Cool, that may have been when my dads old wooden fishing boat that he skippered was sat/deserted on the mud. I'm surprised the local tory council at the time didn't attempt to charge you mooring fees for merely sitting on their fancy new pontoon - they were rather proud of it as it attracted more of the yachty/deck shoe crowd and were often seen strutting around whilst attempting to shoo and chase the kids off the pontoons and it gave the councillors somewhere to tie up their yachts (surprise...surprise.....)
It was a shame when they removed the old pier, as kids we used to jump off it in the summer and play around on the supports but it was kinda dangerous as it moved and swayed in high winds/tides etc when lots of boats were tied up to it and a few of my mates received nasty cuts/gashes etc due to the exposed nails - mum has an upright of the old pier in her yard as it has her name/dads name carved into it from where dad carved it way back in the mid 70's when his scallop/queenie boat was tied up at the pier.
Below is an article from our local historical society regarding the old pier.
There was one where they were coming to the UK and were planning to go to London, Edinburgh, the Lakes and Cornwall IIRC.Think i saw that, weren't they planning to drive from somewhere in Keswick/Kendal ish (?) to Cornwall/Devon somewhere for a wedding (St. Austell rings a vague bell)? Drive down the morning of the wedding, then home the following morning?
Someone I know organises day trips to European cities. They all get up early take the flight, wibble around said city, catch late flight home.
I read an article on BBC News site a year or so ago about exactly this sort of shenanigans - basically some 'influencer' justifying it as giving her children 'experience of cultures' or whatever. Nah. Blinkered selfishness is all it was.
Still a fraction of the emissions caused by the rich in their private jets TBF.
I don't blame ordinary people wanting to live their life to the fullest, whatever that means to them, when the people with the power to actually effect meaningful change evidently couldn't care less.
Sometimes there is just lack of geographic knowledge. I was asked to speak at London Climate Week yesterday, hosted by a large international foundation. They were shocked yesterday that I had a 5+ hour train journey home today as they assumed 'small' UK...
I had a friend visiting the UK for the first time a few years ago. She was like "I'm doing London on Monday, Liverpool on Tuesday, Edinburgh on Thursday, then I might pop over to Dublin..." Honey, let me talk to you about geography and those short little lines you're looking at on the map.
Delightful to step off the train in Edinburgh and discover it's a cool 18*c... This morning's 28*c at 7am is long forgotten...
Delightful to step off the train in Edinburgh and discover it's a cool 18*c... This morning's 28*c at 7am is long forgotten...
I used to feel like that when I was flying backwards and forwards between Birmingham and Belfast a few years ago, landing at Belfast and stepping off the aircraft was always cool and fresh 🙂 usually wet and windy!
people with the power to actually effect meaningful change
surely it starts with all of us?
For me I think it starts with the people and organisations who are responsible the the most emissions. Rich people are responsible for vastly more emissions than ordinary people. Any change you make is effectively pointless while rich people carry on as they are.
And that's why worrying about it is pointless. We're all the same.
'They' should do something about it and why should 'we' when 'they' do xyz... That coupled with all the vested interests campaigning, lobbying etc that we don't see that is completely at odds with securing our future.
I'm as guilty as anybody and my legacy is to accept it stoically and just get on and enjoy what's left of my and possibly the planets time left.
Thing is that the big corporations respond to demand and we're the ones creating the demand. If I buy a leccy Renault that's more demand for leccy cars and les for ICEs. If I don't fly that's reduced the demand for airlines, if I buy local stuff that's reduced demand for Chinese gods/coal/shipping. You can vote every now and again in an election and vote every day with your consumer choices.
And I really haven't found the changes have reduced my enjoyment of life, on the contrary, I feel better for actively doing something positive.
Yeaaaaah, departure lounge, flight, arrivals, bus/taxi to city centre, rushed trip round a cathedral/stately home/museum, meal at local equivalent of MacDonalds (or even AT MacDonalds), rushed trip round another local site, no time to see anything, just take ticktock videos for content, then another Bus/Departure/Flight/arrivals. Home.
What utter garbage.
Reads like these itineraries that US citizens have for their visit to Europe. Visit 11 European capitals in 14 days.
I've been on an "extreme day trip" and thought it was fantastic. We certainly were not rushed (although I will freely admit I allocated only minimal time to making "ticktock" videos).
We were actually in the destination city doing stuff by 9AM, toured around on hired bikes, saw all the sights we wanted to, had lunch, dinner and evening drinks (none of which involved McDonald's), and were home just after midnight.
Still, if the experts on sententious twit world have decreed it to be "utter garbage", I guess it must be.
And that's why worrying about it is pointless. We're all the same.
'They' should do something about it and why should 'we' when 'they' do xyz... That coupled with all the vested interests campaigning, lobbying etc that we don't see that is completely at odds with securing our future.
I'm as guilty as anybody and my legacy is to accept it stoically and just get on and enjoy what's left of my and possibly the planets time left.
But we're not all the same. The rich are different because they are responsible for vastly more emissions.
If you want to seriously cut down on anything, start with the big ticket items.
It's like trying to stop gaining weight by cutting your cucumber slices down from 7 to 5 but still eating 30 cream donuts for breakfast.
A surprising number of Japanese on day/weekend trips to Chamonix. Fly into Geneva, transfer to Chamonix, up the Aiguille du Midi cable car, French restaurant, return. We met a Japanese guy on Mont Blanc doing similar but walking up Mont Blanc. He had such bad altitude sickness we accompanied him until happy he wasn't going to die. He missed the last tramway but we saw him on his way to the restaurant in fine form despite walking all the way down.
A weekend in Paris on Eurostar takes you from city center to city center. Madame has done Pau - night sleeper to Paris - Eurostar to London - wedding - return, on a long weekend. Have a look at some train time tables.
surely it starts with all of us?
Yep but the average person doesn't want to hear that, they'll trot out any excuse, rich people, China corporations. exhibit a:
For me I think it starts with the people and organisations who are responsible the the most emissions. Rich people are responsible for vastly more emissions than ordinary people. Any change you make is effectively pointless while rich people carry on as they are.
Doesn't matter if the average person in the UK emits multiple times more than the sustainable levels because they'll point at Jeff Bezos, Shell or and influencer in Dubai and say "but, but , but ......"
To put it into context, the average UK house value puts it's owner in the wealthiest top 5% globally. 95% of the worlds population would say that same statement and point at us. Sure Musk exists, but he's 0.0000001% of the population.
Realistically the only way we're solving this is if the government does it in the background. Decarbonize the grid, ban ICE in new vehicles, ban gas boilers, tax flights, re-allocate farm subsidies away from meat, etc.
The same happened with CFC's, no one stopped using hairspray* or getting their takeaway in polystyrene trays, or buying fridges. governments just legislated CFC's out of them and we all carried on as normal, just with different gasses in the canisters. Same with acid rain, governments legislated to clean up air, as individuals you only have to look at any car thread (even on STW) and there'll be some blithering idiot talking about having their DPF / AdBlue / EGR mapped out.
*well, maybe the end of the perm era helped a bit
on Eurostar
That works fine as an option if London is within easy striking distance, I'd love the opportunity to get to Europe by rail, but for most of us out in the sticks, or in my case across the water, it's pretty much out of the question. I have thought about flying to London City to get the Eurostar but by the time I have done that I might as well fly direct into Europe!
Is this the self-flaggetion thread now? I'm willing to bet that, across the STW demographic, 95% of us have made some change that benefits the environment and that 0% have made all possible changes, regardless of how vociferous and patronising they are.
0% have made all possible changes,
Well I really hope no-one has committed suicide to reduce their environmental impact. 😉
Loving your finding fault with those doing a lot more than most to be constructive and then slagging them off as vociferous and patronising. 🙂 Had a bad day ?
Is this the self-flaggetion thread now? I'm willing to bet that, across the STW demographic, 95% of us have made some change that benefits the environment and that 0% have made all possible changes, regardless of how vociferous and patronising they are.
Except Edukator obviously 😋
this may have been said, but for anything to actually change all governments need to outlaw the things that create the pollution, including conspicuous consumption. As an example of conspicuous consumption I’d include a new bike/car/e-bike every 3 years and the finance that is required to make that possible
the way I see it there are 2 problems with this, economies would suffer and raping the earth is highly profitable.
meanwhile the richest folks are making plans to leave the earth behind, while another group is actively trying to bring on the rapture. Both groups have the ear of the government in the biggest economy in the world
if we are stopped from over consuming the economy suffers and a lot of people loose their jobs, if we carry on consuming the environment suffers and the planet becomes a very hostile place to live. No government is going to crash their economy. A probably poor example of this is the pull back on the move to electrified vehicles.
Lovely today here! Mind you, that's mostly because we had the mother of all thunderstorms last night and everything has now been struck by lightning. Never seen anything like it- woke up to this weird, constant omnithunder, and lighting flashes so constant you could use the light to walk by. Nature's pretty good!
surely it starts with all of us?
Yep but the average person doesn't want to hear that, they'll trot out any excuse, rich people, China corporations. exhibit a:
For me I think it starts with the people and organisations who are responsible the the most emissions. Rich people are responsible for vastly more emissions than ordinary people. Any change you make is effectively pointless while rich people carry on as they are.
Doesn't matter if the average person in the UK emits multiple times more than the sustainable levels because they'll point at Jeff Bezos, Shell or and influencer in Dubai and say "but, but , but ......"
To put it into context, the average UK house value puts it's owner in the wealthiest top 5% globally. 95% of the worlds population would say that same statement and point at us. Sure Musk exists, but he's 0.0000001% of the population.
Realistically the only way we're solving this is if the government does it in the background. Decarbonize the grid, ban ICE in new vehicles, ban gas boilers, tax flights, re-allocate farm subsidies away from meat, etc.
The same happened with CFC's, no one stopped using hairspray* or getting their takeaway in polystyrene trays, or buying fridges. governments just legislated CFC's out of them and we all carried on as normal, just with different gasses in the canisters. Same with acid rain, governments legislated to clean up air, as individuals you only have to look at any car thread (even on STW) and there'll be some blithering idiot talking about having their DPF / AdBlue / EGR mapped out.
*well, maybe the end of the perm era helped a bit
Not everyone in the UK owns an average house, far from it. Average net worth in the UK is actually only about £125k which would put you around top 12% globally.
But as I'm sure you're aware it's not linear. On a global scale even being top 5% just puts you 'in the pack' so to speak.
The "rich" in my view starts from around top 0.1% - net worth at least £5m - and they are specifically responsible for a vastly outsized amount of emissions. Generally the richer they are the more they emit. The super rich emit thousands of times more than someone in the pack.
It's quite clear where the problem is if only people would stop apologising for the rich.
FFS! Over 30c yesterday but today it is 17c with thunderstorm. Where is the heat? 🙄
Whoop whoop, in the last 30mins it has dropped 5° in my house and a breeze has picked up from the sea, from 28° down to 23° 😀
Just driven from East Mids where it’s been 36deg back to the Welsh boarders where it’s a positively cold (cold believe I’m saying this) 24deg ! 😱
