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Yes, there is climate change which is natural but plenty of peer reviewed studies, by independent and unrelated organisations, have allowed for all natural influences and concluded that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are to blame.
Please bear in mind that because the issue is *global* temperatures, ice fairs on a frozen Thames or Roman vineyards in England are not significant.
Dealing with climate change with also help enormously with the immigration crisis because there are currently 200m people living in coastal cities and because it will enable people to carry on earning a living as pastoralists - I believe this is the occupation employing the most people globally - rather having to move to a city because rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns make farming difficult or impossible.
We already have a village in the UK which will be lost to rising sea levels, Fairbourne, and more will follow. Richard Tice has said sea walls should be built but the cost is prohibitive; an article in Geographical magazine over a decade ago quoted Environment Agency figures for sea defences of £5000 per metre, yes, per metre.
We are doing reasonably well in the UK in terms of renewable energy but can do better. Putting green and health concerns to one side, if we could become self-sufficient in renewable energy, we would improve the resilience of our economy because we would no longer be reliant on imported nuclear or fossil fuels.
Over 30% of global energy is now being supplied by renewables and some countries are streaking ahead: in the first quarter of 2024, Portugal produced 91% of its electricity using renewables.
"Nourry's also introduced interviews for prospective signings. Everybody who signs here now is interviewed by the club as part of a big bulked up character and background check".
Technology can help but I've seen a documentary about trying to replace farm workers with machines and there remain some huge challenges. It's very difficult, if not currently impossible, and costly to replicate the combination of vision and grip required for some activities, not just picking produce but also some of the processes involving in growing it.
For a while, I worked full time in a plant nursery when I was a teenager and some of the processes required a very deft and gentle touch, like potting on young plants and taking the top bud out of a plant to make it bush out rather than just grow upwards. We did have a potting machine which greatly speeded up that process - and was a tremendous laugh to use as we used to keep upping the operating speed to see how fast we could work, until invariably, a pot was placed in the driller on a slant and couldn't be filled properly.
I understand the theory of only bringing in immigrants to do highly skilled jobs, but every country, no matter how high tech, is going to need binmen, farm workers and healthcare assistants. It's not just that these jobs are poorly paid, they are hard work. After I got made redundant recently, I actually considered a farm labouring job and investigated a place offering them locally. A requirement was that you had to live on site, which was the killer for me.
As an aside, there were other factors which made that plant nursery job pretty gruelling: - Your clothes got destroyed - It was filthy work, obs - I got rashes on my hands from all the contact with plants and, probably more importantly, loitering insects - Some of the long and tedious tasks messed with your head. When you've spent 90 minutes walking up and down a field, staring at seemingly countless potted plants in a bid to find and deal with any which aren't sat straight (for automated watering purposes), you can start seeing endless rows of the damn things in your sleep. Well, I did, at least.
I don't think there are any easy answers but I can't believe there are many countries of the size and nature of the UK which can currently manage without *any* immigration.
Although levels of taxation are currently at a 70 year high and, according to the IFS: "Under current government plans, tax revenue is forecast to rise to 37.7% of GDP by 2027–28. If this happens, it will represent the highest level of tax ever seen in the UK".
Fabulous riff, great singing, powerful message: Excerpt: In your real life Treat it like it's special In your real life Try to be more kind In your real life Think of those that love you In this real life Try to be less blind
There are so many crackers out there, but here are three of my favourites:
Mei, by Echolyn. A single track prog epic which is haunting, melodic, bombastic yet at times melancholic, with an orchestral feel.
Six, by Mansun. So much going on, a chameleon of an album, full of twists and turns.
Map of the past, by It Bites. John Mitchell, a producer/singer/guitarist, decided he was such a big fan of It Bites that he would attempt to revive the band, a band which jacked it when their front man/singer/guitarist left to pursue a solo career. The chemistry between Mitchell and stalwart and creative genius John Beck was excellent and this is the second of the two albums the reanimated band produced. Full of singalong hooks and unexpected instrumental passages, yet still boasting the It Bites sound, this is the better of the two, I reckon. It was inspired by some old family photos Mitchell stumbled across.
"...at which point things started to get a bit chaotic, with everyone pushed to get to the front".
You're such a tease, Konk, ending episode one with a cliffhanger like that. Is the rest of the series available to stream? It feels to me like there's a lot more still to tell.
Twenty years ago, a British friend and I were in the middle of a huge crowd of people queueing to get onto a ferry, in Sicily. The vast majority of the other passengers were French pensioners.
We ended up being the last two to climb onboard. British reserve
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Thanks for posting. 
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