We have just had a mild January and if this is a result of global warming there are some positives we can see. Grass has been growing (some people have even been mowing their lawns), sucking up carbon when trees have lost their leaves are dormant. We have also used less energy to heat our homes, so global warming is not all doom and gloom.
Farmers are holding a mass rally in central London on March 25, but this not a protest or a blockade it’s to engage with the government, MPs and the public on climate change and food security.
Now we are out of Europe the government is going to need to fund farmers for farming for the public good.
I stated last month in Rye News that 98% households bought red meat last year (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) and in a comment it was pointed out that 91% of households bought red meat weekly.
The difference between yearly and weekly mainly reflects households living in food poverty and who cannot buy red meat regularly. They are also frequent customers of the Food Banks. Rye News has run several stories on the food bank.
The farming community is developing alternative farming techniques in response to environmentally conscious consumers, one being vertical farms for crops that are normally grown in soil. These can now be grown in large buildings with hydroponic systems that use rockwool as a base instead of soil, the plants being fed nutrients through water.
Vertical farms and hydroponics have been around for decades, but recently the technology has greatly improved helped by a drop in the price of LED lighting and more efficient solar panels plus smart technology. There are many more cutting-edge technologies that could change farming methods.
Rising sea levels (estimated to be one metre by the end of the century) and more heavy rainfall could impact on Rye and Romney Marsh, but it does not need high-tech to manage it. Better sea defences and improved drainage with more and larger pumps would be a start.
Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionise heat and transport, as has the electrification of cars, heavy goods vehicles (HGV), farm tractors, construction plant and trains. This could mean trebling the size of the power grid.
It is not the farmer, meat eaters or car drivers that are the climate enemy, but rather carbon and other greenhouse gases.
The best weapon we have to fight climate change is technology.
