Tuesday 12 January 2021

The French Enlightenment

At last, a humane ruling based on environmental issues. A court in Bordeaux (France) has ruled that a Bangladeshi man who had out-stayed his visa, should not be deported (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/12/bangladeshi-man-with-asthma-wins-france-deportation-fight). The individual concerned used to work as a waiter but had severe asthma as well as sleep apnoea. Bangladesh was ranked 179th in the world in terms of its air quality in 2020. It also has 6 times the maximum approved level of particulates in its air. In addition, the drugs used to treat asthma and the technology to deal with sleep apnoea are unavailable in his home country. It was decided that it would be inappropriate to deport the man, as this would certainly impair his respiratory health and might even kill him! Bravo! We have seen, however, that even residents of 'rich' European countries (the UK?,) can have their health imperiled (and even die), when forced to live near busy roads. Air pollution should be dramatically reduced, everywhere.

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Some of My Favourite Pictures of Lepidopteran Larvae

Caterpillars of moths and butterflies from the UK and India