I can feel the carbon in the air tonight ...

Climate change is happening, there is no doubt about it, yes it seems to be the hot topic these days with many companies going green, my favourite example is Marks and Spencer who have initialized their 'Plan A' (because there is no Plan B) which quite frankly sounds damn scary. The truth is that we've done some serious damage already, the effects we're feeling now are from 30 to 40 years ago, we won't know the effects that our culture of want is having until it is too late. It is true we are not 100% sure what causes the odd weather or the un-seasonal temperatures but then science is hardly ever completely certain about the big picture, the untestable things; i have to admit however, seeing as there appears to be a lack of planets with the same properties as ours, that i'll just follow their advice blindly on this one.

In the recent years the amount we know about global warming has increased vastly, we've found that the greenhouse gases that were despised in the 90's actually help to keep our planet at a perfect temperature for life. We've found that the antarctic ice keeps a perfect record of the amount of carbon in the air, fantastic for us, as we can plot a simple graph to show the changes in the amount of carbon in the air. Yes it is true, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere does naturally fluctuate in waves (between 200 and 220 parts per million) we however are currently at 380 PPM. There is no way that this is a coincidence, we have changed our atmosphere considerably (statistics show that we are adding to this figure at 2 parts per year). The real worry comes when we try to reverse this effect, the longer we leave it the harder it is, until the atmosphere eventually goes into positive feedback and then we are in real trouble, once this occurs the very things that have been absorbing the carbon will die, rotting to produce more carbon and ending all life. The point at which positive feedback will start to occur has been pinpointed to 430PPM, which leaves us 25 years to drastically cut our energy consumption.

I feel there can be no clearer case for cutting carbon than this, and if we happen to be wrong, then so be it, we will have atleast achieved something, not as a nation or as a people, but as a planet, something which can only lead to better.



"I don't have to remind you of the two forces which are currently converging on our lives. The first is that the source of energy that is hardest to replace, more or less impossible to replace, - and I mean, liquid fossil fuels, - that source of energy is now running out. The second is of course that the consequences of the fossil fuel burning that has brought us here today, are now being visited on us. And everything around us, all this that seems so solid, that we took for granted, that we just lived with and expected always to live with, that was seen as non-negotiable, suddenly looks contingent. All this begins to look like a great tottering pile, balanced on a ball - a ball that's about to start rolling down hill."
- George Monbiot (3rd December 2005)

For more information on this please see http://www.bitc.org.uk/document.rm?id=5244

A bit more about blogs.

It occurred to me today when i logged in to have my (almost) daily bitch/ponder that despite only being signed up to this for four days, i've already got 5 drafts sitting waiting to be looked at, re-written and eventually discarded (either onto the internet or the bin).

I feel that this is probably down to my writing style, which to be honest would probably be called 'sprawling' by a particularly kind nun. I admit that i talk utter crap most of the time, this is more than likely due to the fact that i have an idea and then rush to get it down, but amongst the excitement i forget the main point and have already diverted along a tangent, leaving me a little lost and confused (like a child who's lost his mum in a supermarket).

Nearly all of my blogs start with a specific aim, which quickly gets lost in the general flippancy of my comments and my total willingness to suddenly dive down a dead end tangent with no real way to get back to the main argument. I would like to give a clear and precise reason for this, but i don't have one, i'm like that in real life as well, just bimbling around with no real idea of the point.
So yeah .. it's not writers block.
Also i lied to you, this post has nothing to do with blogs.

When i was young, life was so wonderful, magi[COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT]

No this blog, isn't about copyright infringement, nor is it about that particular song, it is about feeling nostalgic for being young.

Everybody has a phase where they wonder what it would be like, to go back a few years and be in school again or maybe even just have a bit more hair and a lot less you.

Those people who do ponder this unanswerable question are just being nostalgic, however if you act on it and buy a motorcycle (and associated leathers) you're automatically having a midlife crisis (despite motorbikes being pretty cool); but what if i wanted to go out and buy a motorcycle wear leather trousers all the time and generally make a bit of a nuisance of myself? I'm sure many people wouldn't think much of it what with me being a fair distance away from my 30's. But when you think about it, how many young people do you see actually wearing leathers and riding a motorbike? not many.

Which leads me believe that this is less a crisis and more a Revelation (Yes, with a capital R) these people have decided to have one last go at doing what they really want to do. When you're twenty you just want to look cool and have a good time, but you're an adult now, and you need money to live, so you get a job.

Fast forward 25 years and you've settled down, you've got disposable income, sure the kids want a new puppy, but fuck that, its time to buy a bike. Yes it may seem irresponsible but you are doing something that you've wanted to do for some time, and i think that's right, you're not hurting anyone (yes i know the kids want a puppy, but they wont become crack addicts if they don't get one) and you may look a little silly, but well done, you've achieved something.

I guess the reason for this blog is that, i've recently become one of the 9 'til 5 masses, and i do really enjoy my job, but i know that it is not what i've always wanted to be.
When i was 8 i wanted to be a map maker, i thought you explored jungles in the morning then did some colouring in in the afternoons.
When i was 15 i wanted to be in a band, i played with a couple of bands did a few gigs, had a good time. I eventually realized that i don't have the musical ability to be a professional musician. Since going to uni, i've wanted to be a war photographer, i'm currently working in marketing; this doesn't mean that i've given up on the idea, or that i've settled for second best. It just means my plans have been put on hold until i've got an idea of what to do to get there. Even if i don't become a war photographer i've at least got my midlife Revelation to look forward to.