25th March 2017 - Earth Hour
21st April 2017 - The first time since electricity was first generated from coal in 1882, that the UK went a full 24 hours without using any coal resources. 22nd April 2017 - World Earth Day 25th April 2017 - 2nd anniversary since the Nepal Earthquake For Christmas last year, my sister bought me the hard copy of Planet Earth 2. Knowing I would not sit still long enough to watch the series, I now have a permanent fixture on my bookshelf of documentary genius. As ever, it is a David Attenborough collaboration masterpiece, of which the first series soothed me beautifully through my painful university hangovers. I have great memories of being stuck on my sofa for days at a time, being able to continue learning about the world from the warmth and comfort of my living room. In the second week of January 2017 I visited Hampi in Karnataka, India, and was fortunate enough to be able to watch some of Planet Earth 2 under the stars for movie night. The 'Cities' episode was particularly enthralling, featuring many Indian cities, notably picturing the true stories of big cats prowling the encroaching cities for food in animal or human form. The industrialisation of cities around the world is a growing concern for environmentalists and animal lovers, and to be able to portray this dilemma of development in such an educational way is a treat for all of us wanting to learn more. I try to take my small part to reduce consumption, turning off lights and fans, eating vegetarian, and taking shorter, cold showers for example. You may query what the point is in such small lifestyle changes, however Earth Hour is an amazing example of this. For the last 10 years, for one hour each year, everyone around the world is encouraged to turn off their electricity. In Toronto, Canada, Earth Hour was reported to have reduced the cities energy consumption by 15%! If every city in the world could come close to this phenomenon even for one hour per year, the results will be dramatic. I included the dates at the top of this post because they have been stuck in my mind for some time now, and I believe they really do correlate. The first two are obvious, and a real achievement in creating lasting change in our energy consumptions and use of fossil fuels for future generations. A proof to us all that small changes really will make a difference. The third date - World Earth Day - fittingly was the day after the UK's first coal-free day in 195 years. The Guardian newspaper (UK) reported that in 2015, coal consumption was 23%, yet by 2016, this had reduced to 9%. Similar to Earth Hour, it is a reminder to us all that small changes will reduce our energy used, and help us to appreciate the natural world that we already have. The final date is harrowing. Since the earthquake in 2015, I felt a strong desire to visit Nepal and see the amazing landscapes for myself. In late 2016 I stayed in Nepal for 2 months, trekking for a total of 22 days in the Annapurna and Langtang regions. The devastation that communities are still experiencing is hard to explain, living in plastic shelters in below freezing temperatures thousands of metres above sea level. But the warmth and positivity of these people and those helping them is undeniable. There will always remain questions about the geography and science of natural disasters and our propensity or not, to be able to help them. However if you are able to memorise these dates for 2018, and practise simple changes to your lifestyle from today, we will show that however small, you are able to make a lasting difference to the earth.
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About meI enjoy writing and have had experience from my degree and through working on news posts. I hope to use this blog as a summary of extraordinary things I've discovered or witnessed in everyday life. Archives
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