Is the grass dying yet?

[Stringmaker]

I have just read the most depressing article about what we are doing to this country.

It summed up the views I have held for a long time about over-population, over-development and ignoring the natural ecosystem, specifically when it comes to collecting and using water.

What do you think, are we at a tipping point? Where I grew up has been so massively developed and concreted that they are one of the first regions in drought. I know that the true picture of climate should be seen over decades, not the odd year, but if this keeps up we face the very real possibility of woodlands and meadows dying before our very eyes.

Go and hug a tree whilst you still can...



I'm normally quite a cheery bloke but this has really made me think.

 

[dwardo]

Which article is this?

 

[Stringmaker]

Which article is this?

This one:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ous-record-breaking-weather-bring-misery.html

 

[Jock]

Don't let the Mail manipulate you
Go out & enjoy the sun it might p*ss down with rain all summer
Even if they're 100% correct in the article realistically as individuals there's little that we can do to alter the situation

 

[Adze]

You can sum up a lot of the Daily Wail's reporting like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTu7GLfrmUI

 

[Adze]

He did a little bit more too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq5_joo5l5I

 

[mountainm]

I haven't read the article - but does it sound something like this?

"Illegal immigrants drinking all our water - hard working Brits will starve as crops fail. Europe to blame for new hosepipe regulations"

The daily mail isn't even good for wrapping chips in IMHO

 

[Stringmaker]

Once you've all got off your high horses about the Daily Mail....

The fact is that in many parts of the country, and specifically the South East, the demand for water has increased exponentially over the years. The population now is millions higher than it was in 1976; all I'm saying is that the article made me really think about how we are endlessly mis-managing our natural resources.

You peeps more than anyone should notice that surely?

 

[wattsy]

i've got a rule where i don't believe anything that max hastings has written. its been a dry few months yeah but all my stuff at the allotment is doing fine and i've not watered anything for 3 weeks

 

[Bushwhacker]

Once you've all got off your high horses about the Daily Mail....

The fact is that in many parts of the country, and specifically the South East, the demand for water has increased exponentially over the years. The population now is millions higher than it was in 1976; all I'm saying is that the article made me really think about how we are endlessly mis-managing our natural resources.

You peeps more than anyone should notice that surely?

I agree. Folk are so wasteful with water because it's easy to turn on a tap and magically it's there.

 

[Tony]

it's lovely and green around here, buds coming out on the apple trees, grass growing fast and very green, insects buzzing about etc etc I might be living in a little cocoon but it's a nice cocoon

 

[Retired Member southey]

Nope, all lovely and green here in Hampshire, crops are coming on well, everything is starting to burst into life and colour

 

[Zingmo]

Is this one of those "It's bad in London so we're all going to die!" stories?

Z

 

[Bushwhacker]

I don't think it bodes very well if somewhere like Upton Heath goes up in flames, as it did on Sunday, because it's tinder dry already.
A heath fire in March?

 

[Tony]

I have to admit I was thinking the other day about water, we use water in butts for a good portion of our growing etc, never water the lawn, we've a stream near us and we're at the bottom of fields so water drains though ok. The rivers are already looking lower than usual though so i've no idea what this year will bring, west Wales though isn't' usually one of the paces that worries about water, although we as individuals are careful with it, saying that I should drink more of it

There's going to be a lot of grief in the years ahead over water though, I don't know about the UK but in other countries the demand is far outstripping the supply and that's going to end in some type of conflict, even though I hope it doesn't. I remember Ben McNutt years ago talking to us about water and how it's not going to last and every year we hear more and more stories of just that. In the UK we use far less than the US per person but we still use far more than a lot of countries.

 

[mountainm]

Most of the UK isn't metered - we have regular flood in the autumn here around York - in facts floods haven't been out the news for the past 3 years. We just need to get smarter at collecting it, and the logistics of sharing it.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Climate change is something we will all have to face up to, even the doubters will realise it soon.....ignorance is not bliss in this situation..
I'm not in the UK but in mid west France & I can see in the 19 years I've been here, a dramatic change in the weather patterns...Apart from isolated drizzly showers or thunderstorms it just doesn't rain anymore. Summers are much hotter & dryer than they used to be & start earlier & end later each year.The sun seems to be more intense too.......Farmers are now re-sowing seeds up to 3 times in the autumn because the forecast rains don't arrive & the seeds don't germinate.......soil erosion is visible too.
Water management is not just a UK concern but a worldwide.one....there is less water & rain & increasing human demands on it.

Summer has been starting in march here for the last 2 years & when I think that we are likely to have temperatures of 30°C + from May to the end of October, I just want to pack my bags & head North.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

it's lovely and green around here, buds coming out on the apple trees, grass growing fast and very green, insects buzzing about etc etc I might be living in a little cocoon but it's a nice cocoon

Wales this March has only had 20mm of rain when it normally recieves 180mm.so I heard on Radio 4 recently ..also it's not because everything is green right now that all is OK....plants are using their reserves at the moment.....It's later on in the year that any problems will show....their growth rate & seed/fruit production (or lack of it) & early leaf fall wll be an indicator as to the real state of the water shortage.

 

[Beardy]

Just a quick question: do utilities still work to a 'economic rate of leakage' calculation (where, if it costs more to fix the leak than fixing it would save in water costs, it simply doesn't get fixed)? That there is ripe for changing if it has not already been!

Coming from Wales I also am not exactly used to worrying about too little rainfall, but I do wonder if the population density isn't encouraging or deepening microclimates. The 'urban heat island' effect can warm cities more than 4C higher in temperature than they otherwise would be, and considering how urbanised and developed the South East in particular has become, I wouldn't be surprised if all that concrete and tarmac was contributing to keeping water bound up in the air and less likely to fall as rain for a fair sized chunk of the country.

 

[Tony]

absolutely, but where i am we've had quite a bit of rain and if the last years are anything to go by we'll have a lot of rain through the summer as well, our trees kept leaves very late last year. I know other areas of wales are having a much harder time of things...