Monthly Archives: July 2018

Dame Emma Thompson lambasts the ‘handful of desperadoes’ in fracking

A mass protest at a fracking site in Lancashire endorsed by actor Dame Emma Thompson reached its 54th hour mark yesterday and closed three years and a day after Lancashire County Council voted against fracking at the site.

The event was advertised by anti-fracking network Reclaim the Power as ‘Block Around the Clock’. It was styled as a festival of resistance and took place while the government was considering whether to approve Cuadrilla’s request for permission to start fracking at Preston New Road. As of this date, a decision has not been announced. If permitted, it would be the first commercial fracking in the UK since 2011.

Recently honoured actor Dame Emma Thompson has sent words of encouragement and thanks to campaigners, stating: “The fracking industry has been transformed from a national tsunami threatening to engulf us all to a handful of desperadoes.

Behind schedule

“And while even the government has cooled down on a fracking revolution, unfortunately they’re still happy to use their power to protect these polluters against the wishes of the people.

“Fracking isn’t failing just because it’s an absurdly stupid, polluting industry. It’s failing because there’s a strong and growing opposition.”

She added: “I can’t guarantee that you’ll ever get the thanks you deserve for what you’re doing, but you’re doing it, and you’re doing it with great courage. So please, please, please, keep doing it”

The actor has been an outspoken critic of the fracking industry for a number of years, and has been a regular visitor to the site where this week’s protest is taking place.

The protest follows widespread local and national opposition to the controversial practice. A continuing campaign by locals has pushed Cuadrilla’s plans to start fracking more than a year behind schedule at Preston New Road.

Evasion tactics

Latest government statistics show that only 18 percent of the public support fracking, compared to 85 percent for renewables.

Despite this, the government last month announced plans to change planning laws to promote fracking, taking fracking decisions out of the hands of local authorities and allowing drilling to take place without planning applications.

Milo Phillips of Reclaim the Power said: “Our round-the-clock protest shows we’ll be there night and day until fracking is defeated. With the climate crisis more urgent than ever, the last thing we need is new gas infrastructure that will lock us into dirty energy for decades to come.

“A rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables can create sustainable employment for local people while respecting the planet, unlike fracking.

“Our message today is clear: whatever the bullying and evasion tactics from government and the fracking industry, we’ll be there organising with local communities ensuring it does not go ahead.”

Anti-fracking parade

Claire Stephenson, from local group Frack Free Lancashire, said: “Despite the PR bluster that has been continually spun from government and industry, peer-reviewed science has highlighted the inherent dangers associated with fracking.

“Local people voted no to fracking in 2015, but our decision was overturned by the Westminster government, exposing local democracy as a sham.”

She added: “We continue to stand in defiant, unwavering opposition to this industry: Cuadrilla has zero social license to operate in our communities and we will continue to peacefully demonstrate that.”

The Block Around the Clock protest was followed by an anti-fracking parade on the streets of Blackpool led by local women.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Reclaim the Power.

Dame Emma Thompson lambasts the ‘handful of desperadoes’ in fracking

A mass protest at a fracking site in Lancashire endorsed by actor Dame Emma Thompson reached its 54th hour mark yesterday and closed three years and a day after Lancashire County Council voted against fracking at the site.

The event was advertised by anti-fracking network Reclaim the Power as ‘Block Around the Clock’. It was styled as a festival of resistance and took place while the government was considering whether to approve Cuadrilla’s request for permission to start fracking at Preston New Road. As of this date, a decision has not been announced. If permitted, it would be the first commercial fracking in the UK since 2011.

Recently honoured actor Dame Emma Thompson has sent words of encouragement and thanks to campaigners, stating: “The fracking industry has been transformed from a national tsunami threatening to engulf us all to a handful of desperadoes.

Behind schedule

“And while even the government has cooled down on a fracking revolution, unfortunately they’re still happy to use their power to protect these polluters against the wishes of the people.

“Fracking isn’t failing just because it’s an absurdly stupid, polluting industry. It’s failing because there’s a strong and growing opposition.”

She added: “I can’t guarantee that you’ll ever get the thanks you deserve for what you’re doing, but you’re doing it, and you’re doing it with great courage. So please, please, please, keep doing it”

The actor has been an outspoken critic of the fracking industry for a number of years, and has been a regular visitor to the site where this week’s protest is taking place.

The protest follows widespread local and national opposition to the controversial practice. A continuing campaign by locals has pushed Cuadrilla’s plans to start fracking more than a year behind schedule at Preston New Road.

Evasion tactics

Latest government statistics show that only 18 percent of the public support fracking, compared to 85 percent for renewables.

Despite this, the government last month announced plans to change planning laws to promote fracking, taking fracking decisions out of the hands of local authorities and allowing drilling to take place without planning applications.

Milo Phillips of Reclaim the Power said: “Our round-the-clock protest shows we’ll be there night and day until fracking is defeated. With the climate crisis more urgent than ever, the last thing we need is new gas infrastructure that will lock us into dirty energy for decades to come.

“A rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables can create sustainable employment for local people while respecting the planet, unlike fracking.

“Our message today is clear: whatever the bullying and evasion tactics from government and the fracking industry, we’ll be there organising with local communities ensuring it does not go ahead.”

Anti-fracking parade

Claire Stephenson, from local group Frack Free Lancashire, said: “Despite the PR bluster that has been continually spun from government and industry, peer-reviewed science has highlighted the inherent dangers associated with fracking.

“Local people voted no to fracking in 2015, but our decision was overturned by the Westminster government, exposing local democracy as a sham.”

She added: “We continue to stand in defiant, unwavering opposition to this industry: Cuadrilla has zero social license to operate in our communities and we will continue to peacefully demonstrate that.”

The Block Around the Clock protest was followed by an anti-fracking parade on the streets of Blackpool led by local women.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Reclaim the Power.

Dame Emma Thompson lambasts the ‘handful of desperadoes’ in fracking

A mass protest at a fracking site in Lancashire endorsed by actor Dame Emma Thompson reached its 54th hour mark yesterday and closed three years and a day after Lancashire County Council voted against fracking at the site.

The event was advertised by anti-fracking network Reclaim the Power as ‘Block Around the Clock’. It was styled as a festival of resistance and took place while the government was considering whether to approve Cuadrilla’s request for permission to start fracking at Preston New Road. As of this date, a decision has not been announced. If permitted, it would be the first commercial fracking in the UK since 2011.

Recently honoured actor Dame Emma Thompson has sent words of encouragement and thanks to campaigners, stating: “The fracking industry has been transformed from a national tsunami threatening to engulf us all to a handful of desperadoes.

Behind schedule

“And while even the government has cooled down on a fracking revolution, unfortunately they’re still happy to use their power to protect these polluters against the wishes of the people.

“Fracking isn’t failing just because it’s an absurdly stupid, polluting industry. It’s failing because there’s a strong and growing opposition.”

She added: “I can’t guarantee that you’ll ever get the thanks you deserve for what you’re doing, but you’re doing it, and you’re doing it with great courage. So please, please, please, keep doing it”

The actor has been an outspoken critic of the fracking industry for a number of years, and has been a regular visitor to the site where this week’s protest is taking place.

The protest follows widespread local and national opposition to the controversial practice. A continuing campaign by locals has pushed Cuadrilla’s plans to start fracking more than a year behind schedule at Preston New Road.

Evasion tactics

Latest government statistics show that only 18 percent of the public support fracking, compared to 85 percent for renewables.

Despite this, the government last month announced plans to change planning laws to promote fracking, taking fracking decisions out of the hands of local authorities and allowing drilling to take place without planning applications.

Milo Phillips of Reclaim the Power said: “Our round-the-clock protest shows we’ll be there night and day until fracking is defeated. With the climate crisis more urgent than ever, the last thing we need is new gas infrastructure that will lock us into dirty energy for decades to come.

“A rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables can create sustainable employment for local people while respecting the planet, unlike fracking.

“Our message today is clear: whatever the bullying and evasion tactics from government and the fracking industry, we’ll be there organising with local communities ensuring it does not go ahead.”

Anti-fracking parade

Claire Stephenson, from local group Frack Free Lancashire, said: “Despite the PR bluster that has been continually spun from government and industry, peer-reviewed science has highlighted the inherent dangers associated with fracking.

“Local people voted no to fracking in 2015, but our decision was overturned by the Westminster government, exposing local democracy as a sham.”

She added: “We continue to stand in defiant, unwavering opposition to this industry: Cuadrilla has zero social license to operate in our communities and we will continue to peacefully demonstrate that.”

The Block Around the Clock protest was followed by an anti-fracking parade on the streets of Blackpool led by local women.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Reclaim the Power.

Dame Emma Thompson lambasts the ‘handful of desperadoes’ in fracking

A mass protest at a fracking site in Lancashire endorsed by actor Dame Emma Thompson reached its 54th hour mark yesterday and closed three years and a day after Lancashire County Council voted against fracking at the site.

The event was advertised by anti-fracking network Reclaim the Power as ‘Block Around the Clock’. It was styled as a festival of resistance and took place while the government was considering whether to approve Cuadrilla’s request for permission to start fracking at Preston New Road. As of this date, a decision has not been announced. If permitted, it would be the first commercial fracking in the UK since 2011.

Recently honoured actor Dame Emma Thompson has sent words of encouragement and thanks to campaigners, stating: “The fracking industry has been transformed from a national tsunami threatening to engulf us all to a handful of desperadoes.

Behind schedule

“And while even the government has cooled down on a fracking revolution, unfortunately they’re still happy to use their power to protect these polluters against the wishes of the people.

“Fracking isn’t failing just because it’s an absurdly stupid, polluting industry. It’s failing because there’s a strong and growing opposition.”

She added: “I can’t guarantee that you’ll ever get the thanks you deserve for what you’re doing, but you’re doing it, and you’re doing it with great courage. So please, please, please, keep doing it”

The actor has been an outspoken critic of the fracking industry for a number of years, and has been a regular visitor to the site where this week’s protest is taking place.

The protest follows widespread local and national opposition to the controversial practice. A continuing campaign by locals has pushed Cuadrilla’s plans to start fracking more than a year behind schedule at Preston New Road.

Evasion tactics

Latest government statistics show that only 18 percent of the public support fracking, compared to 85 percent for renewables.

Despite this, the government last month announced plans to change planning laws to promote fracking, taking fracking decisions out of the hands of local authorities and allowing drilling to take place without planning applications.

Milo Phillips of Reclaim the Power said: “Our round-the-clock protest shows we’ll be there night and day until fracking is defeated. With the climate crisis more urgent than ever, the last thing we need is new gas infrastructure that will lock us into dirty energy for decades to come.

“A rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables can create sustainable employment for local people while respecting the planet, unlike fracking.

“Our message today is clear: whatever the bullying and evasion tactics from government and the fracking industry, we’ll be there organising with local communities ensuring it does not go ahead.”

Anti-fracking parade

Claire Stephenson, from local group Frack Free Lancashire, said: “Despite the PR bluster that has been continually spun from government and industry, peer-reviewed science has highlighted the inherent dangers associated with fracking.

“Local people voted no to fracking in 2015, but our decision was overturned by the Westminster government, exposing local democracy as a sham.”

She added: “We continue to stand in defiant, unwavering opposition to this industry: Cuadrilla has zero social license to operate in our communities and we will continue to peacefully demonstrate that.”

The Block Around the Clock protest was followed by an anti-fracking parade on the streets of Blackpool led by local women.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Reclaim the Power.

Beating the system – metaphorically

The feeling of anticipation I experienced for Jeremy Lent’s The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning was palpable.

It was ignited by an extraordinarily positive summary by the envir­onmental journalist and campaigner George Monbiot. 

He exuberantly declared, “almost every page caused me to rethink what I held to be true,” and concluded that Lent has explained “why, despite our knowledge and even our intentions, we continue to follow our path to the precipice”, and how this might change.

Dominating nature

This excitement was further fanned when I discovered that the book’s foreword is by Fritjof Capra, author of the spellbinding book The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision, which has fuelled my own interest in systems theory.

“Lent proposes new answers to some age-old questions,” Capra advances, and “the answers to these questions are more important than ever.”

The Patterning Instinct is extraordinarily ambitious. It opens with a dedication to “future generations”, and then sets out its claim to present a new practice of “cognitive history”, which is applied to the entire arc of human history.

Lent also claims in the introduction that his book “shows how the systems approach to understanding complexity can be usefully applied to the field of history”. Patterning comes to mean ‘collection of metaphors’ about how people relate to Nature and each other.

Why does this matter? Lent asserts that the meta­phor of dominating nature is the root cause of today’s ecological and social crises. Hence better metaphors are needed.

Blank slate

I became interested in ‘systems’ when reading John Bowlby’s paradigm-shifting trilogy, Attachment, Separation and Loss. These texts set out systems theory in a way that is thoroughgoing and compelling.

Bowlby succeeds in explaining how the same homeostatic process that controls central heating can be found in natural thought systems.

This ranges from the duckling, who follows the first shape it sees, to the human child, who over time learns attachment to an adult and then feels intense anxiety when experiencing separ­ation.

Reading Bowlby’s books was life-changing and I now find myself drawn to systems theories in their many guises.

More generally, I have come to believe that human beings are not born with the mind a blank slate adept at learning from culture and from its environment. This was quite a challenging process for me.

Irreparable damage

The claim that humans are ‘programmed’ from before birth has been largely colonised by reactionaries, who have distorted evolutionary psychology and other schools to justify racism and sexism, hierarchy and prejudice.

Bowlby’s systems-based attachment can provide a very different insight into how individuals, groups and societies function.

My interest in systems means I am no follower of René Descartes, of reductionism and linear thought, and am susceptible to theories that emphasise totality, interaction and change. I am, therefore, Lent’s target audience.

There is indeed much to celebrate and enjoy in The Patterning Instinct. Lent is clearly a person who cares passionately about the human species as a whole and about the natural environment in which we have evolved over the last million years.

He is driven by a deep concern that we are about to cause irreparable damage to our surroundings, our habitat and therefore ourselves. He has gone to extraordinary lengths to discover why this is the case, and has generously shared his findings.

Systems theory

I also agree with him that the work of George Lakoff, the American cognitive linguist and phil­osopher who argues that our lives are shaped by the metaphors we use to explain life’s phenomena, is important to political science.

This was also for me the first attempt at a unified field theory of history that I have read, and it takes in an extraordinary amount of research and knowledge from a wide number of academic sources.

The grand narrative had been cast aside by postmodernism, alongside the claims that we had in fact reached “the end of history” – but clearly it is now back in fashion.

Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens – just as Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man a generation or more before – attempt to chart a long arc of human existence between two covers, with a unifying theory that can serve as a cover title.

The Patterning Instinct is a wonderfully readable and energetic romp through the history of ideas. In particular, I think the summary of systems theory that comes in the later chapters is very accessible and robust. All of this makes the book a good read.

Ideas/metaphors

Yet the single most important thing, surely, is whether a book succeeds or fails on its own terms, and here it must be said that Lent has set himself an enormous challenge.

The suggestion is that all of human history is about to be explained through an advanced understanding of “cognitive structures of the mind”. History is about to be told using systems theory.

All too often I found myself wading through tens of thousands of years of a narrative of human development, from ape to Edward Lorenz, only to reach the very end of the chapter and be told that this proved something in relation to “cognitive history”.

Lent spends almost the entire book describing a linear, chronological history where teleological progression is assumed. This feels like Cartesian rather than systems thinking. Ideas/metaphors get better, the world/living conditions get better.

My primary concern about the book is the divorce between the physical and the psychic.

Singular story

Capra states clearly in his foreword: “Instead of the traditional approach of assuming that the direction of history is determined, ultimately, by material causes – geography, economy, technology, and the like – [Lent] argues that … ‘metaphors forge the values that ultimately drive people’s actions’.”

Lent gives a lengthy and fascinating exposition of the Taoist worldview, which unites the interacting qi (energy and matter) and li (structure).

Yet he does not seem to reflect on the fact that his own argument is that cognitive structure (li) is determining rather than economies and geography (qi) .

He fails to convince me when attempting to explain why the Industrial Revolution happened within the cognitive framing of Descartes rather than, say, Neo-Confucianism.

Lent’s book stands in contrast to Ian Morris’s Why the West Rules – For Now, published in 2010, which is an earlier unified field theory of history in which geography, biology and sociology are brought together to provide a compelling and singular story of human history.

Interdependent and coevolving

The hypothesis – which is well supported by evidence throughout Morris’s book – is that humans in large numbers behave in the same way and it is geography (materiality) rather than ideas that determines regional differences.

This provides a simple but – for me, at least – satisfactory answer to the question of why modern science advanced at a particular moment in history in one region.

Morris is an archaeologist and puts forward a well-grounded and expansive history of the most advanced societies on Earth – and he gives a good account of what we might mean by ‘advanced’.

Lent’s book would need to unearth some incredible insight to challenge what Morris already “held to be true”.

And although tantalising in places, he does not quite succeed. A systems theory history of humanity – where material and immaterial systems are interdependent and coevolving – is still to be written.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist, founder of Request Initiative and co-author of Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries (Oxford University Press)He tweets at @EcoMontague.

The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning by Jeremy Lent is published by Prometheus Books, 2017. ISBN: 9781633882935.

Eat your greens like the whole world depends on it!

The campaign to end single use plastics has been inspiring – it has gripped a nation. But you might be forgiven for thinking that cutting plastic was the only environmental campaign around.

Veganism is certainly having its moment too. Yet, in the mainstream media there is far more excitement about how to cook with jackfruit or seitan than there is about the dramatic positive impact that going vegan has on the planet.

I believe that veganism is the environmental campaign of our time. Researchers at Oxford University appear to agree. They stated that avoiding meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on the Earth.

Sustainable food

The weight of evidence goes back to 2003 and the UN’s Livestock’s Long Shadow report which stated that animal farming was responsible for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Since then a myriad of unbiased research has been published, confirming the carbon impact, species destruction, land use and inefficiencies of animal farming. However, the animal farming lobby – or those posing as sustainable agriculture experts – have tried to cling on to the necessity of using animals in our diets.

Yes, of course, The Vegan Society has a vested interest in positioning animal farming as environmentally damaging, but we are the only such organisation. And every research institute, think tank or commentator who agrees with us has absolutely nothing to gain from this fact.

Last year The Vegan Society launched our campaign, Plate Up for the Planet, to encourage environmentalists to think about veganism as part of their positive lifestyle choices. We’re launching the 2018 campaign on World Environment Day with new recipe content and an interactive game to tell the sustainable vegan story.

Often, when we think about sustainable food the conversation is dominated by local sourcing, organic or packaging use. However, the prevalence of animal products in our diet is hugely damaging to the planet.

Livestock sector

You may be surprised to hear that the livestock sector is the major cause of global deforestation and is responsible for up to 91 percent of Amazon destruction. Trees and forests are destroyed to graze animals and to grow crops to feed those animals.

Very little of the world’s soy crop is used to produce meat substitutes for vegans and vegetarians, a far greater amount ends up in feed for poultry, pork, cattle and even farmed fish. Going vegan would reduce the land needed to produce our food by up to a half.

We could be protecting wildlife here in the UK as well as saving precious habitats in the Amazon. Rewilding some of our land used to farm animals would protect natural habitats, increase biodiversity and help with flood mitigation.

This destruction is one of the reasons that animal agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of livestock. On top of that, the deforestation is a contributing factor to climate change, removing the valuable C02 absorption and storage that trees provide.

Deforestation isn’t the only way that the livestock sector contributes to climate change. The global livestock industry generates as much greenhouse gas as all transport combined. All those car, ship and air miles are outweighed by the preponderance of meat on our plates.

Plant-based diet

This is exacerbated by the fact that animal agriculture is the world’s biggest producer of methane, a far more powerful greenhouse gas than the much maligned CO2. An average cow produces around 700 litres of methane per day – equivalent to the emissions produced by a 4×4 travelling 35 miles a day.

Going vegan can reduce food related emissions by 50 percent. Of course, there are nuances to this, and if your diet is heavy in avocados and almond milk you might need to do some recalculations, but on the whole, we know that veganism is the most carbon friendly ‘off the shelf’ diet.

Those who think they’re making the green choice by switching to free range meat are not solving the environmental crisis. Intensive factory farming may be more problematic than organic, grass fed farming, however, the Oxford report states that even the very lowest impact meat and dairy products still cause much more environmental harm than the least sustainable vegetable and cereal growing.

At a very simple level, eating meat is an incredibly inefficient food source and form of nutrition. We find ourselves in the bizarre situation where for every 100 calories we feed to animals, we only receive 12 calories back from consuming their meat and dairy products. By feeding ourselves with those crops directly, we could feed billions more people around the globe.

More and more esteemed bodies are advocating a move toward a plant-based diet for the reasons outlined.

Real hope

Respected policy institute, Chatham House have stated: “Reducing global meat consumption will be critical to keeping global warming below the danger level of two degrees Celsius”.

The World Wildlife Fund’s recent report, aptly named Appetite for Destruction, states: “Meat consumption is devastating some of the world’s most valuable and vulnerable regions, due to the vast amount of land needed to produce animal feed.”

Similarly, respected environmentalists, such as Al Gore and George Monbiot, are accepting that eating animal products just isn’t compatible with green living. As Monbiot says, “The livestock industry is inherently no more sustainable than the fossil fuel industry”. When we consider the damage that our current diets inflict on our planet, veganism starts to look less like a whimsical lifestyle choice, and more like a moral imperative.

You can make a change right now that will have an immediate positive benefit to the environment. Try our Plate Up For The Planet challenge and eat a vegan diet for seven days and join the environmental campaign of our time. We’ll send you recipe ideas, hints and tips, and give you a running total of how much CO2 you have saved by not eating animal products. It’s an easy, fun first step, and we’ve already had more than 10,000 people taking up the challenge. Collectively they’ve saved as much CO2 as flying to the moon and back.

As environmentalists, we need to take a joined-up approach to protecting the Earth and its inhabitants. As vegans, we believe that cutting out animal products is a simple, logical step which is essential if we’re to see real hope for the future of our planet.

This Author

Louise Davies is head of campaigns, policy and research at The Vegan Society. 

TV coverage of cycling races can help document the effects of climate change

The impact of climate change on trees has been detected by analysing almost four decades of archive footage from the Tour of Flanders cycling race, according to researchers from Ghent University published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

The team looked at video footage from 1981 to 2016 obtained by Flemish broadcaster VRT and focussed not on the pedals but on the shrubs growing around recognisable climbs and other ‘landmarks’ along the route of this major annual road cycling race in Belgium.

The ecologists found that the trees had advanced the timing of leafing and flowering in response to recent temperature changes. They estimated how many leaves and flowers were present on the day of the course – usually in early April – and linked their scores to climate data.

Sunlight to bloom

Before 1990, almost no trees had grown leaves at the time of the spring race. After that year, more and more trees visible in the television footage – in particular magnolia, hawthorn, hornbeam and birch trees – were already in full leaf.

These shifts were most strongly related to warmer average temperatures in the area, which have increased by 1.5°C since 1980.

Professor Pieter De Frenne, of Ghent University, was the lead author of this study. He said: “Early-leafing trees can be good news for some species as they grow faster and produce more wood.

“However, their leaves also cast shadows. When trees flush earlier in the year, they shadow for a longer period of time, affecting other animals and plants, and even whole ecosystems.

“Some of the flowers growing under these trees may not be able to receive enough sunlight to bloom. As a result, insects can go without nectar and may struggle to find enough spots to sunbathe”, he added.

Open-air concerts

Phenology – the study of natural phenomena that recur periodically such as leafing and flowering – is mostly based on long-term observations and repeat photography, with data often being biased towards common species or geographical regions.

In this study, archive footage allowed the researchers to use previously unexploited records of twelve tree species in the Flanders region in order to build long-term datasets of phenological responses.

“Our method could also be used to collect data on other aspects important for ecological or evolutionary research, such as tree health, water levels in rivers and lakes, and the spread of invasive species. Only by compiling data from the past will we be able to predict the future effects of climate change on species and ecosystems”, De Frenne said.

Television footage of cycling races lends itself well to research as these have relatively fixed routes and are organised around the globe, providing an opportunity to study a diverse range of species and locations that are currently understudied.

De Frenne points out that researchers could also take advantage of video material from other annual sports events such as marathons, golf tournaments and rally races, or even news coverage featuring open-air concerts or iconic landmarks surrounded by trees.

The report by Pieter De Frenne, Lisa Van Langenhove, Alain Vandriessche, Cedric Bertrand, Kris Verheyen, and Pieter Vangansbeke (2018) is titled Using archived television video footage to quantify phenology responses to climate change is published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution and is available here.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from the British Ecological Society.

China launches unprecedented judge training for environment cases

China is today strengthening enforcement of its environmental laws with the largest ever training of environmental judges in Beijing.

The week-long set of seminars for over 300 judges was organised by the Supreme People’s Court and international law organisation ClientEarth. Senior judges and environmental experts from across the world will share environmental cases from their jurisdictions.

Speakers include Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UN Environment; Laurent Fabius, former Prime Minister of France and chair of the Paris Agreement on climate change; and James Thornton, CEO of ClientEarth.

Environmental disputes

In recent years, China has established over 600 environmental courts at all levels of the judiciary.

These courts handle all kinds of environmental disputes, including criminal cases such as wildlife poaching or illegal logging, civil cases such as personal or environmental damages from pollution, and administrative cases where government is James Thornton causing damage to the environment.

ClientEarth has an office in Beijing to work with the Chinese government.

James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, said: “The importance of training Chinese environmental judges cannot be overestimated.

Legal experts

“It is the decisions of these judges which must protect the environment in the world’s largest developing country. The effectiveness of China’s emerging system of environmental laws ultimately depends on them.”

Dimitri de Boer, head of ClientEarth’s China office said: “China wants to increasingly use law-based approaches to deal with its environmental challenges.

“We are seeing a number of reforms in this direction. For example, NGOs and state prosecutors are now able to bring cases on behalf of the public interest.”

Just last week, China’s Supreme People’s Court announced that it will establish two international courts to settle disputes in the Belt and Road Initiative. It will invite authoritative legal experts from outside China to participate.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth.

Spending time alone in nature is good for your mental and emotional health

Today, Americans and Europeans live in a world that thrives on being busy, productive and overscheduled.

Further, they have developed the technological means to be constantly connected to others and to vast options for information and entertainment through social media. For many, smartphones demand their attention day and night with constant notifications.

As a result, naturally occurring periods of solitude and silence that were once commonplace have been squeezed out of their lives. Music, reality TV shows, YouTube, video games, tweeting and texting are displacing quiet and solitary spaces.

Alone, not lonely 

Silence and solitude are increasingly viewed as ‘dead’ or ‘unproductive’ time, and being alone makes many people uncomfortable and anxious.

But while some equate solitude with loneliness, there is a big difference between being lonely and being alone. The latter is essential for mental health and effective leadership.

We study and teach outdoor education and related fields at several colleges and organisations in North Carolina, through and with other scholars at 2nd Nature TREC, LLC, a training, research, education and consulting firm.

We became interested in the broader implications of alone time after studying intentionally designed solitude experiences during wilderness programs, such as those run by Outward Bound.

Our findings reveal that time alone in nature is beneficial for many participants in a variety of ways, and is something they wish they had more of in their daily life.

We have conducted research for almost two decades on Outward Bound and undergraduate wilderness programs at Montreat College in North Carolina and Wheaton College in Illinois.

For each program, we studied participants’ experiences using multiple methods, including written surveys, focus group interviews, one-on-one interviews and field notes.

In some cases, we asked subjects years later to look back and reflect on how the programs had affected them. Among other questions, our research looked at participant perceptions of the value of solo time outdoors.

Our studies showed that people who took part in these programs benefited both from the outdoor settings and from the experience of being alone. These findings build on previous research that has clearly demonstrated the value of spending time in nature.

Intentional solitude

Scholars in fields including wilderness therapy and environmental psychology have shown that time outdoors benefits our lives in many ways.

It has a therapeutic effect, relieves stress and restores attention. Alone time in nature can have a calming effect on the mind because it occurs in beautiful, natural and inspirational settings.

Nature also provides challenges that spur individuals to creative problem-solving and increased self-confidence. For example, some find that being alone in the outdoors, particularly at night, is a challenging situation.

Mental, physical and emotional challenges in moderation encourage personal growth that is manifested in an increased comfort with one’s self in the absence of others.

Being alone can also have great value. It can allow issues to surface that people spend energy holding at bay, and offer an opportunity to clarify thoughts, hopes, dreams and desires.

It provides time and space for people to step back, evaluate their lives and learn from their experiences. Spending time this way prepares them to re-engage with their community relationships and full work schedules.

Participants in programmed wilderness expeditions often experience a component known as “Solo,” a time of intentional solitude lasting approximately 24-72 hours. Extensive research has been conducted on solitude in the outdoors because many wilderness education programs have embraced the educational value of solitude and silence.

Time for reflection

Solo often emerges as one of the most significant parts of wilderness programs, for a variety of reasons. Alone time creates a contrasting experience to normal living that enriches people mentally, physically and emotionally.

As they examine themselves in relation to nature, others, and in some cases, God, people become more attuned to the important matters in their lives and in the world of which they are part.

Solo, an integral part of Outward Bound wilderness trips, can last from a few hours to 72 hours. The experience is designed to give participants an opportunity to reflect on their own thoughts and critically analyze their actions and decisions.

Solitary reflection enhances recognition and appreciation of key personal relationships, encourages reorganization of life priorities, and increases appreciation for alone time, silence, and reflection.

People learn lessons they want to transfer to their daily living, because they have had the opportunity to clarify, evaluate and redirect themselves by setting goals for the future.

For some participants, time alone outdoors provides opportunity to consider the spiritual and/or religious dimension of life. Reflective time, especially in nature, often enhances spiritual awareness and makes people feel closer to God.

Further, it encourages their increased faith and trust in God. This often occurs through providing ample opportunities for prayer, meditation, fasting, scripture-reading, journaling and reflection time.

A place apart

As Thomas Carlyle has written, “In (solitary) silence, great things fashion themselves together.”

Whether these escapes are called alone time, solitude or Solo, it seems clear that humans experience many benefits when they retreat from the “rat race” to a place apart and gather their thoughts in quietness.

In order to live and lead effectively, it is important to be intentional about taking the time for solitary reflection. Otherwise, gaps in schedules will always fill up, and even people with the best intentions may never fully realize the life-giving value of being alone.

These Authors

Brad Daniel is professor of outdoor education at  Montreat CollegeAndrew Bobilya is associate professor and program director of Parks and Recreation Management, Western Carolina University, and Ken Kalisch is associate professor of outdoor education at Montreat College. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

New survey to record the sound of our cities

An online mapping survey has been launched to help mitigate the negative impact environmental noise has on city dwellers’ health and wellbeing.

Devised by researchers at Heriot-Watt University, it’s hoped the survey will help identify and preserve places with positive soundscapes.

Starting with Edinburgh, Brighton and Hove, and Sheffield, the so-called DeStress project team is asking residents to take a few minutes to go online and identify the quietest and calmest parts of these three cities.

Experience soundscapes

This will establish whether the councils and public agree over which areas are quiet or calm, and determine what is the best criteria to identify those areas

The three-city survey is the first step towards the ultimate goal of the 16-month DeStress project: the creation of a visual soundscape simulator (VSS) that will let planners, architects and policy makers ‘hear’ the sounds that result from a particular built environment, and see the typical health outcomes those sounds have on people in those areas.

Dr Sarah Payne, lead researcher and assistant professor of health in the built environment in Heriot-Watt University’s Urban Institute, said: “We want the public to help us identify the quiet and calm spots of Brighton and Hove, Edinburgh, and Sheffield.

“At the moment, the public often has little to no involvement in identifying quiet areas in their cities, with many councils largely relying on physical measures of sound levels, decibels.

“How we experience soundscapes, which are the sounds heard within an environment, depends on many more factors than just sound levels, such as the type of sound, what we think about the object or person making the sound, and what we are doing in the place.”

Keep quiet

She added: “We want to empower more people to identify and safeguard the quiet areas in their cities and increase awareness of the implications of the layout and surrounding building surfaces on soundscapes.

“This is increasingly important as the public can get involved with Local Community Planning Partnerships and help shape how their neighbourhoods and city centre ‘sound’, so that it supports their health and wellbeing.

“There is a real disconnect between research into urban soundscapes, mental health and built environment design, which is what we are addressing with Project DeStress.

“DeStress could have huge societal and economic benefits for the UK: in 2011, the UK Department of Health reported mental health costs of £105 billion, and the World Health Organisation has warned about the health outcomes of increased environmental noise, mental and physical.”

Once the three-city survey is complete, Dr Payne and her team will focus on developing the visual soundscape simulator (VSS). The VSS will include audio and visual stimuli, positive and negative sounds, the ability to adapt the scene and sound source and the mapping of health outcomes associated to particular soundscapes.

Impact of noise

Dr Payne said: “DeStress will establish clearer links between the impact of the design of the built environment, people’s experiences of soundscapes and the subsequent outcomes, particularly in terms of stress and cognitive restoration.

“The VSS will be a truly novel tool that will help policy makers, but will also be available to the public so that they can be informed about the impact that noise (unwanted sound) is having on their lives, and potentially campaign for better urban soundscapes.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a news release from Project DeStress (Designing and Engineering Soundscapes to enable Restorative Environments for Sustainable Societies). 

Visit www.destress.hw.ac.uk for more information and to complete the online survey, or follow the project on twitter @DeStressRestore or https://www.facebook.com/DeStressRestore.