Personal Blogs

Have you had it? I'm on day 8 and feel like I've got a few more days at least to get over this. Not Covid, not 'flu and it won't kill me, but this thick cold of sneezing and coughing is waring me out. I'm asthmatic so I monitor my Peak Flow. From my highs of 720 it has dropped to 500 and is just recovering to 620. Teens competitive swimming helped me develop big lungs, otherwise I might have been seeking help.

I am feeling like a race horse inadvertently jammed into the starting gate ... I want to be out there doing things especially with COP26 and being an active Green Party Member and elected Town Councillor. 

The world wont't wait. We're sliding down a steep mountainside with a cliff edge ahead of us - there is a tipping point and we are gambling with where this might be. 

I'm less worried for the British Isles - we are wet, and green. We have hills. I am deeply worried for 100s of millions of people living in marginal parts of the world who as the world sinks/dies, will be penned in by national immigration controls. Is this inevitable?

Or can Elon Musk offer them Mars?

Who will live long enough to know? None of us. Whose still around from the 14th century coming out of the plague? 

14 months away. Worth reading the background work and planning to be there. 

https://hoffmanncentre.chathamhouse.org/article/cop26-a-roadmap-for-success/

On 7th July the Environment Agency were called out to investigate the condition of Piddinghoe Lake, East Sussex as there were a number of dead fish. Acting quickly to test the water first an emergency pump and then two industrial scale pumps were brought down and set to work re-oxygenating the water.

Speaking to Mark Bennett, Team Leader at the regional headquarters of the Environment Agency, Worthing an explanation was offered. Warm weather, a lack of shade on the lake and little wind or rain lately had caused the temperature to rise. This had resulted in an algal bloom. Not a worry in itself, these blooms might crash suddenly at night or even with a thunderstorm. 

Blooms such as these are a summer event. It is rare but not unknown for these to occur as early as February. Algal blooms like these have been occurring more often in recent years so there is no doubt that climate warming is a factor.

This event impacted on the larger fish and eels. Smaller fish and carp have proved more resilient. 

The water is not a health hazard so long as people don’t ingest the water and you wash your hands before eating. There were no signs of the blue/green algae which would have been a cause for concern.

The courses I've done with FutureLearn over the last 18 months.

1. World War 1: A history in 100 Stories: Monash University
2. Medicine and the Arts: The University of Cape Town 
3. The Mind is Flat: University of Warwick 
4. Understanding Drugs and Addiction. King’s College, London 
5. World War 1: Changing Faces of Heroism. University of Leeds 
6. Explore Filmmaking: National Film and Television School 
7. How to Read a Mind: The University of Nottingham
8. Start Writing Fiction: Fall 2014. The Open University
9. Word War 1: Trauma and Memory: The Open University 
10. World War 1: Aviation Comes of Age: University of Birmingham 
11. World War 1: Paris 1919 - A New World: University of Glasgow 
12. How to Succeed at: Writing Applications: The University of Sheffield 
13. Introduction to Forensic Science: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow 
14. Shakespeare’s Hamlet: University of Birmingham 
15. Climate Change: Challenges and Solution. University of Exeter
16. Managing my Money: The Open University
17. Community Journalism: Cardiff University
18. Developing Your Research Project: University of Southampton 

Those I'm on or have pending

1. World War 1: A 100 Stories: Monash University
2. Start Writing Fiction: Spring 2015: The Open University
3. Monitoring Climate From Space: European Space Agency
4. Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum: University of Leicester
5. Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales:  The Hans Christian Andersen Centre