Planet Enemy Number One?

A WWF report suggests that humans have eliminated as much as 60% of the natural populations of all other animal species since 1970 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds). This decimation is largely a consequence of many current farming and fishing practices (activities that are commonly eulogised). The result is a terrible reduction in biodiversity but also strongly suggests we are interfering with the cycles on our planet that maintain viable conditions for ourselves and much of the living world. In one sense, we are like a rampant weed that is out of control.

Soy Long

We tend to think that many of the climate-modifying changes in South America are purely driven by local self-interest but much of the incentive to increase soya bean production can actually be directly linked to the production of cheap meat and eggs for European markets (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/26/soy-destruction-deforestation-in-argentina-leads-straight-to-our-dinner-plates). Soya bean is used to feed cattle and hens but leads to the destruction of biodiverse areas like Gran Chaco in Argentina. Will trumpeting our complicity change the drive to deforest (legally and illegally)? I really don't think so.

Sniffing out Disease?

It has now been claimed that dogs can be trained to sniff out whether a patient has malaria by giving them access to the individual's worn socks (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323501.php). This, along with the observation that they can also identify men with prostate cancer, suggests that sniffer dogs (although they are not cheap to train) might well replace some of the high-priced electronic analytical equipment in our hospitals.

Disease?

Just heard a BBC interview on radio 4 on women, over 34, in some areas of the UK, being refused In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedures in spite of NICE suggesting that some cycles should be available to all women under 40 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45977524). These local variations are  presumably a consequence of difficulties with funding (it's a relatively expensive procedure and not having children is not really life threatening as is the case with cancer or diabetes- although it is sad for people who really want them). Having said that, I was surprised to hear a fertility problems  referred to as a 'disease'.

Seeing the Changes 1380

Very crisp but sunny in Bynea, so I was somewhat surprised to see an active Red admiral (Vanessa Atalanta) along with my first Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) of the year.

Simply Ignore the Scientific Concensus If it Loses You Votes?

News that Welsh farmers are also demanding a badger cull  (as is already the case in sections of England) to 'protect' their dairy herds from bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), in spite of the mass of evidence of its ineffectiveness (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45588403) seems to be at one with a current political trend (whether it concerns air pollution, climate change, vaccination rates or food safety et cetera). It seems to me that there is an increasing tendency by politicians (with their focus on the next election) to either ignore what their or independent scientists tell them if a powerful lobby group (car manufactures, farmers, fishermen, frackers, miners, oil companies et cetera) with its associated votes or finances is set on the opposite action (in the case of badgers and bTB, most experts working in the area believe that the cull has actually done nothing to reduce the actual incidence of disease in dairy herds and may, in deed, have had detrimental effects). Politicians seem to adopt one of two strategies namely a) find a minority dissenting voice in science and amplify it or b) more subtly, use a measure that obscures the lack of effect (most of the public will not look too closely).

Seeing the Changes 1379

Another fungus makes a foray in Loughor (possibly Psathyrella pygmaea).