Tag: Climate Change

Environment3 Comments

A Burning Question

franklparker

Here’s Suffolk based writer Stevie Turner with some wise words on food hygiene, mostly learned from her Mum who sounds like a woman I would have liked to have known. But who knows the answer to the question she poses? Why do they? I never do – seems pointless to me, eat outside in the garden by all means, but cook it inside. And as for those gas fired monsters, I can’t see the point when you’ve a perfectly serviceable oven and hob inside. And then there are those outdoor heaters which seem to have been created to prevent smokers … Continue reading A Burning Question

Environment, World Affairs1 Comment

What’s the Difference between Global Warming and Climate Change?

franklparker

Re-blogged from The Climate Reality Project. Climate Change is one of my long term concerns and I have not written much about it  lately. So I thought I’d share this with you. You can call it global warming or climate change, but it’s the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. The Internet is full of references to global warming. But we don’t use the term “global warming” much here at Climate Reality. Instead, we prefer to use “climate change.”Why?  Global warming and climate change – while closely related and sometimes used interchangeably – technically refer to two different things: “Global … Continue reading What’s the Difference between Global Warming and Climate Change?

World Affairs2 Comments

The Proper Response to Famine

franklparker

How should we respond to disasters? Natural events – earthquakes, floods, forest fires – usually evoke an outpouring of sympathy accompanied by the dispatch of all manner of aid. Engineers, medics, machinery and food are flown in to the disaster area to ensure that victims receive succour. Appeals raise millions of dollars to support such efforts. Is our response to famine different? Should it be? Are we more inclined to seek the cause of the catastrophe before making a commitment to assist? How deeply ingrained in our knowledge of Judao/Christian history is the story of how Joseph taught his Egyptian … Continue reading The Proper Response to Famine

Environment7 Comments

No Dumb Blond: Interview with an Environmental Campaigner

franklparker

I first became aware of Theresa several years ago when I came across her website dedicated to sustainable development. Some time later I received a telephone call from her after the County Arts Office had given her my name as a contact for the Laois Writers’ Group. Theresa became a regular attender at the group’s meetings, where she shared with us her poems and other writings in which she expressed her concerns about the environment, and about what she sees as widespread economic injustice, exacerbated as it was by the political response to the banking collapse. As time passed it … Continue reading No Dumb Blond: Interview with an Environmental Campaigner

World AffairsLeave a comment

Environmental Damage: Solution or Acceptance?

franklparker

The problem with Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything, is that it is long on defining the problem but vague on solutions. Klein cites various books and articles claiming it is possible to switch 100% of energy production from fossil fuels to renewables in a relatively short time frame (20 to 40 years). I’ve looked at some of those articles and, whilst the solutions they offer are technically possible, their practicality is questionable. Jacobson and Delucchi, for example, in their 2009 Scientific American article, claim the 100% could be achieved world wide by 2030. This plan requires, among other things, the … Continue reading Environmental Damage: Solution or Acceptance?

Original writing, World Affairs1 Comment

Channeling Naomi

franklparker

Yesterday I posted links to my review of  Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything on Goodreads. Also  yesterday I wrote this fiction piece set in a possible future when some of the possibilities she discusses have come to pass. The piece also uses a sentence provided as a prompt by the leader of the writing group to which I belong. You’ll find it near the end. See what you think. The memory of those carefree days could always be relied upon to do it. The years when her every need was catered for – or so it seemed, looking back. The … Continue reading Channeling Naomi

Reviews, World AffairsLeave a comment

Will this book change anything?

franklparker

This is a short post to draw attention to my review of Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything, which I just posted on Goodreads. As a taster, here are a couple of quotations from the review: Branson’s greenwashing is accompanied by the rapid expansion of his fuel guzzling transport empire [the] Irish rural population is yet another manifestation of Blockadia You can read the whole review here. Better still, read the book and decide for yourself if the change it advocates is something you want, or if you are happy to continue living in fear of the alternative. Continue reading Will this book change anything?