Chat

[AvastMH]

...and a jolly big round of applause!

[Randi]

[Vic]

That's a lot of data!

[AvastMH]

The doctoral students in my department at work have set up an amazing map. Stuart - could you get Australia off the starting blocks perhaps? feel free to have your say.

Have a Climate Conversation for COP26
The Talk Climate Change campaign started few months ago seeking to generate thousands of climate conversations worldwide associated with COP26. So far it has received submissions from over 30 countries. You can explore them on its interactive map. However, the Climate Conversation needs your help to give it a wider span in this final week (as well as during the COP26 conference itself). These conversations are incredibly important for building public support for climate action and pushing policymakers to act.

This 1-minute video explains how this simple system works

• ask a friend "What do you think we should do about climate change? Do you know about COP26?" and have an open dialogue
• fill out the quick form to tell the project with whom you spoke, the main points of discussion and (optional) a short message to COP26
• repeat as often as you like!

From the project, and the planet, thank you!

[Michael]

Two recent articles to make you depressed...

Andrew Weaver's 1.5 Degree Reality Check

Arctic ground ‘literally collapsing’ amid abrupt thaw

[Randi]

There are some advantages to being old

[Michael]

I know, I try not to think about our children or grandchildren.

[AvastMH]

Grim grim grim
We need to get going with CO2 sinks asap. Even if we stop producing the stuff we need to clear it back.

Absolutely furious with yesterday's UK budget. Positive financial encouragement to travel by air within the UK when we're supposed to use trains which can run on electricity (and more and more of the rail lines are going that way). Those people running this country just haven't worked out that the planet doesn't care. What ever becomes of us it will still keep going round and round. They are staggeringly arrogant. AND right in the face of COP26!

Yes - I fear for future generations too.

[Hanibal94]

I try not to think about it too much, avoid the negative headlines, and look for positive ones.
This site is a good source of the latter: https://happyeconews.com/

[pommystuart]

Like it Chris.

[studentforever]

Don't mention COP26. Apart from the fact that our government don't seem to have done the necessary diplomatic preparation (OK Covid didn't help) but they seem to be having a spat with China, India is throwing off the colonial shackles and Bolsonaro is hell bent on developing the Amazon so I fear the result will be a whitewash at best. Then we have all sorts of protesters planning to arrive and one of the major hospitals, which also houses the Children's hospital for the West of Scotland and the neurosurgical centre ditto, is down the road from the conference centre so the medics and ambulance service are getting twitchy.

Our politicians mainly spend their working lives around London. London has an extensive bus network, train network and underground. Many provincial cities are lucky to have 1 of them and the more rural areas hardly anything. My village is lucky, we are on a couple of well-served bus routes so Monday- Saturday the buses are quite good - Sunday services are another matter. My brother lives in Cheshire in a large village. They have no buses after 6.30pm so if you don't have a car then it's taxi to the local town or a 3 mile walk or bike ride if you want to go to an evening event at the newly built leisure centre or the cinema. When he was working there was only 1 shift slot where he could use public transport with a reasonable service. Another one would take him 2 hours to get home but 20-25 minutes by car. Well, once you've got the car what would you do. Plus the fact that no season tickets covered the bus journey so it would cost him more than the 'full rate' mileage allowance (the one that gives you petrol + running costs). Well what would you do? Try getting more than cabin luggage onto a modern long distance train and, unless you are going terminus to terminus, you will struggle.

I live near to Glasgow Airport (about £5-7 taxi ride depending on traffic) so, if I go to Heathrow for a long distance flight (I've done a few business ones and maybe 7 or 8 holidays to places not served from Glasgow) then I fly. The alternative is bus/taxi to Glasgow, train to London, transfer stations to get train to Heathrow or Gatwick, trail across airport all with luggage. Well considering I've lived around here for 50 years or so that isn't too bad. I get fedup of politicians pontificating about use of cars etc. I'm using mine more at the moment because I am bothered about picking up viruses especially if I have to travel when the schoolkids are using the bus so it is packed and they are the ones currently shedding virust. Pre-covid I mainly used the bus during the day, except for Sunday, unless I had a lot to transport. The evening buses could be a bit scary and were less frequent so I took the car,

[Michael]

I have a friend in Leigh, near Manchester. She is 80, living on a very small pension and she has the same horror stories about buses, Covid, anti-vaxxers, politicians and etc etc.

[krwood]

In the midst of preparing this year's Arctic Report Card video.

[AvastMH]

Don't mention COP26....

Oh dear - I feel sorry to have made such a simplistic comment about the flights- I can see how it can all go wrong from the journeys you describe. Sorry!
It does really show that he could do with serious commitment to all forms of public transport. Perhaps it's time to fund it carefully and take it away from the need to make profit? We used to have a lovely little bus service that went around the village (we are the size of a small town) and it picked up at so many places that elderly folk could get to the high street to shop. They axed it for lack of profit and now the elderly cannot get into the village to shop and meet.

[AvastMH]

In the midst of preparing this year's Arctic Report Card video.

Even without reading it I'll be ... then

[ggordon]

We used to have a lovely little bus service that went around the village (we are the size of a small town) and it picked up at so many places that elderly folk could get to the high street to shop. They axed it for lack of profit and now the elderly cannot get into the village to shop and meet.

We currently have something similar to that here in Kent called the "Shopper Shuttle." It's free and runs every half hour connecting the major shopping areas and the Senior Center. There are many stops in the neighborhoods in between.
https://www.kentwa.gov/city-hall/public ... ng-shuttle

[studentforever]

Lucky the people in Kent, nothing like that round where I or my family live. They've just built a massive housing estate about a mile from my brother's on an old factory site. When it's finished over 3000 houses - no bus route, no primary school, church, community centre and currently no convenience store. Plus advice not to grow anything to eat in the soil so the cars (at least 2 per house on average) are swamping the local roads and the inhabitants are moaning about the lack of facilities. The local council refused planning permission but Westminster overruled them and none of those politicians have to live near the consequences.

Travel by public transport pre-covid wasn't too bad for the over 60s or over 65s depending on location. Local buses free with bus pass, senior railcard gave good travel discounts on off-peak trains but still problems with luggage or heavy shopping. Just after my knee replacement,, while I was still on crutches I needed to go down to see my brother in England. So, train and he would collect me from Warrington station in his car. Treated myself to a 1st class ticket to get extra space and it was only for a long weekend in summer so a backpack sufficed. Registered for assistance - first snag, taxis no longer allowed up the ramp so wait around for the buggy. Ramp on train available and nice 1st class steward helped with luggage. Lift out of action at Warrington but brother took bags and I managed stairs OK. On the way back major problem. At one time taxis pulled up under the station canopy at the front to load up their fares. No, this is now for buses only and the taxi rank is across the road. The buggy is only allowed to the station concourse so you are escorted to the old taxi rank then you have to pick up your bags, make your own way to the pedestrian lights at the road junction, cross the road and make your way back to the taxi rank!! Thank heavens I am now rehabilitated and independently mobile. Mind you, I'm avoiding public transport to avoid the dreaded virus but one day hope to indulge in some greener travel and take advantage of the money the NHS spent replacing my joints.

[Randi]

What a pity the people that design these systems are usually young or middle-aged and in good shape AND generally don't need to use them.

We had bus shelters where the back consisted of three panels. They needed to attach a one-panel wide bench and a one-panel wide schedule. Naturally, they put both on the same panel
People took it is good part. Those on the bench would sway right or left to reveal the part of the schedule the person politely hovering over them was trying to read

[AvastMH]

'Thinking beyond the end of your nose' was absolutely drummed into us as kids. It's awful to hear about that change of stopping zone for the buses/taxis. How ridiculous. At the new John Lewis store in Oxford the Town Council banned taxis from going near it. The big taxi company had to fight them tooth and nail to get a couple of slots. They pointed out that the kneeling buses are still limited because there are so many bus stops without even a perch bar which means that many people can't even wait for a bus, so taxis are the solution if they can be afforded

[studentforever]

Yes we've got those too plus some benches designed for the 7 dwarfs and others for the friendly giant. They used to have bus stops in laybys but the cars kept using them so now the bus stop is on the apex of the pavement between the laybys. Needless to say this blocks the traffic so you can imagine the frustration if a wheelchair user needs the ramp which has to be lowered by the driver. Then there is sometimes a stramash when mothers with buggies have used the wheelchair and not the buggy space (or sometimes both) and object to moving. Most are OK but some mothers seem to think that a buggie gives them priority over everyone and everything. However, about the only time I use the bus at the moment is to and from the optician because they don't lke you driving straight after an eye exam where they've used drops to dilate the iris. If cases drop to a reasonable level then I'll go back to my daytime green transport using the car only for heavy shopping or to go to places too far from a reasonablly convenient bus route and of course church on Sundays when the infrequent bus service doesn't fit with the service times.