HOOKY IN HARMONY WITH NATURE
climate change
noun
a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Definition from Oxford Languages
We know the twin crisies of climate change and nature loss are inextricably linked - we do both, or do neither. NatureScot Chief Executive, Francesca Osowska
Nature and Climate Change
Climate change is increasingly recognized as the driver of biodiversity change with the most rapid increase in impacts and related cascading effects on human livelihoods. Loss and degradation of biodiversity, such as forests, is also an important driver of climate change. Through the ecosystem services it supports, biodiversity makes an important contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation, providing the basis for efforts to reduce the negative effects of climate change.
Addressing Climate Change
The majority of people acros the UK accept that Climate Change needs to be addressed. Human activities (primarily the burning of fossil fuels) have fundamentally increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, warming the planet.
An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group of 1,300 independent scientific experts from countries all over the world, concluded there's a more than 95 percent probability that human activities over the past 50 years have warmed our planet.
A warming climate is taking its toll on Greenland and Antarctica glaciers, melting them from above and below the surface. Nasa Global Climate Change
Threats to mammals, birds and fish
Agriculture accounts for over 70% of land use in the UK, but the environmental damage we have suffered while inside the current Common Agricultural Policy has been significant.
Soil health has deteriorated. Numbers of farmland bird species such as the grey partridge, tree sparrow, skylark, linnet and yellowhammer have dropped. Precious UK habitats have been eroded.
It’s been hard to miss some of the shocking facts about our plastic waste recently. Did you know for instance, that by 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish? Or that we flush away 3.4 billion wet wipes each year?!
Our rivers have suffered from ‘over-abstraction’ – taking too much water out – as well as pollution from fertilisers and pesticides. Less than a fifth of England’s rivers are healthy, which poses a big threat to amazing UK wildlife such as water voles and kingfishers.
Another result of the intensification of agriculture has been an increase in the use of pesticides, but it is not just agricultural pesticides that pose a threat to UK wildlife. Many slug pellets used in gardens around Britain contain an active ingredient called ‘metaldehyde’ which can cause huge damage if it's not applied carefully. It can enter our waterways and into our drinking water.
Like microplastics, this toxic chemical can be passed from slugs up the food chain, harming predators like hedgehogs or birds.