Two Scientists Were Racing For The Good Of All Mankind

A cycle up to the top of the Dovey valley

 Gone are the days when scientific breakthroughs and new discoveries seemed, to me at least, to be limited either to the abstract but fascinating (superstring theory, planets discovered around distant stars) or to the benign and potentially useful (medical physics, gene mapping - OK, perhaps not so benign). An exception in which science sounded alarm bells that really hit the headlines was the detection of the hole in the ozone layer, prompting governments around the world to ban CFC's. Generally speaking though the work of scientists rarely seemed to impinge on the public at large. They worked away in their lab coats and occasionally gave cause for an “And finally..” news bulletin or improved some people's lives (normally the wealthier slice of humanity) in some small way.

No longer. The world's climate change scientific body, the IPCC, is regularly announcing to anyone who will hear that our current fossil-fuel-based lifestyles are having a damaging impact on the planet's climate system which will have, and is already having for some, terrible consequences for everyone (the poorest will be hit hardest, of course). And this week a group of scientists issued a report stating their study showed that the entire human food supply is at risk from the way we are producing our food. This is not a lightly humorous “And finally...” story, this should be a “And firstly...” wake up call.  By spraying all our crops with insecticides, particularly neonicotinoids, we are polluting the soil and killing off the bees and other insects which we rely on to pollinate all the crops. Without pollination it's game over.

Unbelievably, within my lifetime, science has been forced to adopt the role of an Old Testament prophet. To put it succinctly, change the way you live or things will go very bad. Like all respectable prophets the message is hard to hear, and as there is apparently so little we can do individually we learn to filter it out. There are however some things that can be done.

Planting french beans and sunflowers outside Machynlleth's police station

Should look good when they flower!

We can 'de-carbonise' our own lifestyles as much as possible. This means different things for different people, but could include limiting (or cutting out) car and plane travel, or making our home more efficient to heat, or switching to a so-called 'green' electricity tariff, etc.  I suspect one reason why many don't bother with any of this is because they don't want to be tarred with the 'green' brush, accidentally joining a minority that they don't consider themselves a member of.  This is a real tragedy and one day I hope it will be the refuseniks who are the minority, those social deviants who choose to continue recklessly burning fossil fuels at the expense of the planet and the next generation's quality of life.

We can join with others in calling upon our governments to stand up to the colossal power of the fossil fuel lobby and enact and enforce reasonable legislation to reduce global carbon emissions dramatically, or in shaming certain companies into changing their practices. (Joining Greenpeace is a good start – there's that word 'green' again!)

As our global food supply is apparently at risk through the indiscriminate and systemic spraying of chemicals, another thing we could perhaps do is seek out locally grown, certified organic or at least chemical-free produce instead. (Should I declare my interest here as the producer of locally-sold vegetables grown without any pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilisers? If you live in the Machynlleth area, get in touch..)

Harvesting pesticide-free spinach one leaf at a time

And finally...  the answers to last week's quiz! If you got them all right, you have earned a free flower to keep of your choice(redeemable when you come and visit).

A : Tomato

B : Wild Blackberry

C : Potato

D : Mange Tout

E : Mizuna

F : Nasturtium

G : Rocket

H : Broad bean

I : Asparagus