This month we discussed the possibility of our group getting together with others to organise a community screening of the recent public information film - "The People's Emergency Briefing for Climate and Nature". Its emphasis is on building awareness and understanding of what the climate and nature crisis will mean for ordinary people over the coming years, the opportunities ahead and the actions needed to reduce the risks (https://www.nebriefing.org/the-film)
We are already living with some of the impacts of climate change; days of 30 degrees are previously unknown and are causing severe health risks for older people. It is estimated that there were almost 3000 excess deaths in the UK in May and June, directly attributable to extreme temperatures.
"This is the least extreme weather you will experience in your lifetime" (Professor Hayley Fowler, Newcastle University)
Our 'Good News' included the reassuring information that, over the last 16 years, mangrove forest gains have out-paced losses. Mangrove forests are coastal habitats that contribute to climate regulation, coastal protection, and the maintenance of biodiversity, and also serve as nurseries for economically important fisheries. Natural disturbances such as cyclones and shore erosion, together with aquaculture, palm plantations, and rice paddy expansion, led to global declines in mangrove forest cover before 2010, but most have recovered since then. A recent study (www.science.org) shows mangroves are now expanding into new habitats, and also regenerating in former habitats, suggesting hope for ecosystem recovery.
Staying with coastal habitats, seagrass restoration projects around the UK coastline in Cornwall, Devon, Wales, Cumbria and, locally, the Tees River Trust in Hartlepool, are helping to improve water quality, sequester carbon and reduce coastal erosion. The plants are crucial in supporting biodiversity, with a single hectare supporting up to 80,000 fish and 100 million small invertebrates (WWF-UK, 2024). Seagrass habitats are severely threatened - the UK has lost 92% of its seagrass meadows since the 1930’s (Ocean Conservation Trust, 2024).
Existing plastic recycling processes are very inefficient and contribute to plastic pollution worldwide. Now, researchers at Edinburgh University have demonstrated that ordinary plastic waste can be turned into L-Dopa drugs to treat Parkinson's. Natural biological processes using DNA-engineered E-coli bacteria are transforming plastic waste into drugs such as paracetamol, synthetic insulin and, at the University of St Andrews, anti-cancer drugs.
Please keep donating to support our Blister Packs recycling campaign - thanks to members we will probably save 6 huge bin-fulls from landfill this year!
Report by Kate Bailey