Professor P.Brain's blog
This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Thursday, 3 April 2025
Seeing the Changes 2132
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Best For the West?
A New African Savannah?
The Christon 'Heart of Africa' development, which started in 2022, looks to be very substantial. This £28m, 9 hectare project near the city of Chester, is apparently intended to replicate the African savannah of Uganda and Kenya. It will have 57 African species, including antelopes, giraffes, meerkats, Naked mole rats, ostriches, rhinoceros, vultures and zebras. There will be warming stations for some animals likely to feel the cold (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxqx156r13o). By zoo standards, Christon has a very large area and limits itself to animals from a distinct location. It isn't, however, anything like the African savannah. The area is, by African standards, miniscule. There's no possibility of large-scale migrations. No big predators (e.g. lions, cheetahs, hyenas etc.) are, for obvious reasons, included. There will, consequently, be no natural population control. Humans will be in charge. Having said all this, it does seem an interesting development.
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
Seeing the Changes 2131
Watering Down
Thames Water has selected KKR as its 'preferred partner'. This New York-based private equity company, could take a £4bn stake in the company. Thames Water is a privatized English Water company, that has, over decades, greatly mismanaged its finances. It spent much of its income on shareholder payments and rewards to its CEOs. It also illegally pumped out untreated sewage into rivers and the seas to save money. Very little of Thames Water's profit was spent on necessary, new infrastructure. The company also borrowed money, to artificially inflate its shares. Thames Water is now keen to charge its customers more, so it can finally get round to mandatory infrastructure updates (https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-thames-water-names-kkr-frontrunner-equity-raise-2025-03-31/). This may well be an attempt, to stave off renationalization by Thames Water. They could be hoping that KKR's 'investment', given the current anti-environmentalism evident in the US, makes it more difficult for the UK government to bring this monopoly back into public ownership (where it belongs).
A Lawn Isn't Just For Christmas?
Like a pet, a lawn has to be kept year-round. The immaculate UK lawn of yesteryear, has now gone out of vogue. Celebrity gardener, Monty Don, is consequently working with the Royal Horticultural Society to design a hardy 'robust lawn' for the coming Chelsea flower show. Its resulting grassy area, is intended to be occasionally mown but still be resistant to trampling by dogs. A working formula, consists of combining a hard-wearing rye grass variety with daisies, clover and dandelions. The intention is to produce areas usable by humans and their pets but that also support insect pollinators, such as bees and butterflies (https://www.inkl.com/news/rhs-develops-robust-lawn-that-works-for-people-pollinators-and-pets). The old, monocultured lawns basically suppressed many other organisms. The hope is that these robust lawns will facilitate biodiversity. Any lawn, however, is better than gardeners replacing their grass with hard-standing for cars. This makes areas more flood prone, as drainage is prevented.
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Seagrasses are the only flowering plants growing in marine environments. Seagrass meadows (large accumulations of these plants) provide vit...
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Zonal pricing is a proposed change to the UK energy market. It would result in energy consumers paying less for electricity, if they are ba...
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It's necessary, where possible, to replace diesel and petrol-fueled vehicles by electrical equivalents. Electric vehicles (EVs) don...