Please stow your meal trays and put your seats backs in the upright position - Preparing for a big bang?
Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Where to next...?
Often when I get back from a trip one of the questions my friends and colleagues ask is "Where are you off to next?". They know i've a wish list of countries/regions as long as my arm (no, longer!) and its just a matter of getting more time off work before i'm heading off somewhere else. The question remains.... where?
Up until now various factors have determined my next destination; amount of time off work, the season, political situations and my bank account to name a few. Another factor is difficulty of travel, for example i've not been to many European cities or large swathes of the 'developed' world, simply because travel there is so much easier that I can visit them when i'm older and maybe less able. But just recently i've become more aware of other elements or risks I should include when deciding on my next destination.
Often when I get back from a trip one of the questions my friends and colleagues ask is "Where are you off to next?". They know i've a wish list of countries/regions as long as my arm (no, longer!) and its just a matter of getting more time off work before i'm heading off somewhere else. The question remains.... where?
Up until now various factors have determined my next destination; amount of time off work, the season, political situations and my bank account to name a few. Another factor is difficulty of travel, for example i've not been to many European cities or large swathes of the 'developed' world, simply because travel there is so much easier that I can visit them when i'm older and maybe less able. But just recently i've become more aware of other elements or risks I should include when deciding on my next destination.
The number of tourists traveling to Tibet has hit a record high, Chinese state media has reported.
Just over four million tourists will have visited Tibet in 2007, an official said, an increase of 64% year on year.
The official put the increase down to better marketing and improved transport links, including the controversial high-speed rail service to China. bbc.co.uk 17 Dec 07
For a long time i've dreamt of visiting Tibet - exploring its mountains and high desert plains - but have balked at the idea of going there whilst its under Chinese rule. However with tourism expanding fast that means the country, its people, culture and even landscape, is being exposed and altered by outside influences and if I want to see Tibet before Starbucks moves in i'd better get a move on!
Also much as I abhor the Chinese for their human rights records I admit to admiring their China-Tibet railway. The project they undertook was almost impossible given tracks had to be laid on shifting deserts, melting permafrost, in earthquake zones and much of the construction undertaken at high altitude in freezing conditions. Given my geeky fascination for feats of extreme engineering and passion for unexplored areas and train travel, Tibet and the Lhasa railway is now a dream journey, and it looks like i'm going to have to make it sooner rather than later.
And there are other human impacts that need to be factored in to my decision making...
DENNIS and STACIE WOODS choose their vacation destinations based on what they fear is fated to destruction.
This month it was a camping and kayaking trip around the Galápagos Islands. Last year, it was a stay at a remote lodge in the Amazon, and before that, an ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The visit to the Amazon was “to try to see it in its natural state before it was turned into a cattle ranch or logged or burned to the ground,” Mr. Woods said. Kilimanjaro was about seeing the sunrise on the highest peak in Africa before the ice cap melts, as some forecasters say it will within the next dozen years.
Next on their list: the Arctic before the ice is gone. NY Times 16 Dec 2007
Hundreds, probably thousands, of vacation companies and expedition organisers are cashing in on this 'get there before its gone' logic, otherwise known as 'Doom Tourism'. Its pretty ironic in that in we're all busy burning carbon fuels in a rush to get to the places we're trying to see/save before they melt/flood/burn/die.
Its also hypocritical of me to want to be a tourist in Tibet whilst citing tourism as a reason for its changing face and landscape, however in my defense theres a big difference between being a low impact backpacker and demanding 5-star hotels with Western cafes, CNN & wifi in every room...
x
Friday, December 14, 2007
Save the planet... strip!
(an aside from India)
Good for him! He dropped his pants and raised awareness by ensuring his picture, and therefore the coral project, got plenty of media attention. What i'm curious about though his PR peoples motive behind this picture ...
Back in the summer I posted on the scandal caused by Paris Match air brushing out Sarkozy's lovehandles. Apparently Sarko's entourage felt those 'poignées d'amour' might not correspond with his dynamic, charismatic presidential profile and magicked them away.
Jean-Louis however doesn't seem to deserve the same attention as theres definitely some flab, blubber and even a touch of arse crack going on in this photo.
Do the French expect less of their lower members of government and therefore the PR people let these things slide? or is their aim to portray our Environmental minister as a 'no messy, straight to action' kind of man?
Maybe in revealing himself as a pretty typical middle-aged Frenchmen he'll inspire many other Frenchmen to take some impulsive action to help save our environment. Lets just hope they keep their trousers on in the process!
K
(an aside from India)
Some people will go to all kinds of extremes to save the planet, Jean-Louis Borloo, France's Minister for the Environment being one of them!
On a recent trip to Bali to visit a coral regeneration scheme Jean-Louis stripped to his boxers, donned a mask and made an unscheduled dive to see the site for himself.
On a recent trip to Bali to visit a coral regeneration scheme Jean-Louis stripped to his boxers, donned a mask and made an unscheduled dive to see the site for himself.
Good for him! He dropped his pants and raised awareness by ensuring his picture, and therefore the coral project, got plenty of media attention. What i'm curious about though his PR peoples motive behind this picture ...
Back in the summer I posted on the scandal caused by Paris Match air brushing out Sarkozy's lovehandles. Apparently Sarko's entourage felt those 'poignées d'amour' might not correspond with his dynamic, charismatic presidential profile and magicked them away.
Jean-Louis however doesn't seem to deserve the same attention as theres definitely some flab, blubber and even a touch of arse crack going on in this photo.
Do the French expect less of their lower members of government and therefore the PR people let these things slide? or is their aim to portray our Environmental minister as a 'no messy, straight to action' kind of man?
Maybe in revealing himself as a pretty typical middle-aged Frenchmen he'll inspire many other Frenchmen to take some impulsive action to help save our environment. Lets just hope they keep their trousers on in the process!
K
Friday, November 23, 2007
Poverty & Filth
For many people the first images that India conjures up are those of poverty & filth, and indeed these words are often come up in descriptions of the country and its people. Both exist here but it annoys me that the terms are used so readily in India's case and often put hand in hand with each other.
When I was growing up in the UK dropping litter was a heinous crime. The 'Keep Britain Tidy' logo was on every can and packet and bins plentiful in every park and street.
Filth is not a word that often comes to mind when thinking about London or many other British cities. However you don't have to go too far outside of many major UK cities in order to find poverty.
Paris is the same and if you glance out of the train window between Gard du Nord and the airport you'll see countless areas in which people are living in poverty, just miles away from some very affluent residential areas. These affluent areas are however often filthy, with dog shit strewn streets and cigarette buts and litter in the gutters. Its this needless litter that I define as filth.
In Indian cities many live in poverty and the litter is thrown into the street as there are very very few bins. However the rubbish is very often swept up and piled into a lorry in the morning, leaving the streets relatively clean. I therefore don't really think you can describe India's city streets as filthy. Unfortunately the countryside is.
With India's middle class growing ever more wealthy more and more families are traveling and vacationing in their country and during a recent 5 day trek we passed countless families ' trekking' with all their bags and trappings piled into a jeep. The jeep also contains mountains of sweets, chocolates and snacks wrapped in miles of plastic packaging, all of which gets tossed out of the windows and on to the paths, just as it would be in their hometown. Here though there is no rubbish lorry, or even a cow to munch up the mess and the paths are tracks are knee deep in plastic trash. In West Bengal's Singalia national park, in which I trekked with Rob and Tom, we paid Rs100 national park maintenance entrance fee each, and spent our entire time picking up litter. The India guide thought we were crazy and I have to admit after another jeep raced past leaving a confetti trail of sweet wrappers I was beginning to think he was right. When we reached a chai house on the trail we pushed all the collected litter into the bin, only to later watch the lady of the house chuck it over the edge of the hill into the collective rubbish pile. This is where poverty and filth meet. When there are no facilities to collect or deal with rubbish and the pollution and health hazards it creates multiples.
The tide of change is slowly turning though as India's poorer population realise that filth and pollution has to be brought under control. The state of Sikkim has come to the conclusion that by being more environmentally friendly (its banned plastic bags and many plastic containers) it can cash in on eco-tourism, which generates much needed revenue to help deal with waste. It's schemes are well organised and its policies based around education and health care so that it simultaneously attacks pollution and poverty issues. Of course not all of its schemes are positive and it has some quite controversial HEP projects but their communications and marketing campaigns are powerful and changing the collective mentality.
Lets hope that this change in mentality will spread to the ever growing mobile India middle class, so that as India continues to pull its way up the economic ladder away from poverty its countryside doesn't drown in the wave of filth most imagine littering its streets.
For many people the first images that India conjures up are those of poverty & filth, and indeed these words are often come up in descriptions of the country and its people. Both exist here but it annoys me that the terms are used so readily in India's case and often put hand in hand with each other.
When I was growing up in the UK dropping litter was a heinous crime. The 'Keep Britain Tidy' logo was on every can and packet and bins plentiful in every park and street.
Filth is not a word that often comes to mind when thinking about London or many other British cities. However you don't have to go too far outside of many major UK cities in order to find poverty.Paris is the same and if you glance out of the train window between Gard du Nord and the airport you'll see countless areas in which people are living in poverty, just miles away from some very affluent residential areas. These affluent areas are however often filthy, with dog shit strewn streets and cigarette buts and litter in the gutters. Its this needless litter that I define as filth.
In Indian cities many live in poverty and the litter is thrown into the street as there are very very few bins. However the rubbish is very often swept up and piled into a lorry in the morning, leaving the streets relatively clean. I therefore don't really think you can describe India's city streets as filthy. Unfortunately the countryside is.
With India's middle class growing ever more wealthy more and more families are traveling and vacationing in their country and during a recent 5 day trek we passed countless families ' trekking' with all their bags and trappings piled into a jeep. The jeep also contains mountains of sweets, chocolates and snacks wrapped in miles of plastic packaging, all of which gets tossed out of the windows and on to the paths, just as it would be in their hometown. Here though there is no rubbish lorry, or even a cow to munch up the mess and the paths are tracks are knee deep in plastic trash. In West Bengal's Singalia national park, in which I trekked with Rob and Tom, we paid Rs100 national park maintenance entrance fee each, and spent our entire time picking up litter. The India guide thought we were crazy and I have to admit after another jeep raced past leaving a confetti trail of sweet wrappers I was beginning to think he was right. When we reached a chai house on the trail we pushed all the collected litter into the bin, only to later watch the lady of the house chuck it over the edge of the hill into the collective rubbish pile. This is where poverty and filth meet. When there are no facilities to collect or deal with rubbish and the pollution and health hazards it creates multiples.
The tide of change is slowly turning though as India's poorer population realise that filth and pollution has to be brought under control. The state of Sikkim has come to the conclusion that by being more environmentally friendly (its banned plastic bags and many plastic containers) it can cash in on eco-tourism, which generates much needed revenue to help deal with waste. It's schemes are well organised and its policies based around education and health care so that it simultaneously attacks pollution and poverty issues. Of course not all of its schemes are positive and it has some quite controversial HEP projects but their communications and marketing campaigns are powerful and changing the collective mentality.
Lets hope that this change in mentality will spread to the ever growing mobile India middle class, so that as India continues to pull its way up the economic ladder away from poverty its countryside doesn't drown in the wave of filth most imagine littering its streets.
Night Skies
There are many many reasons why I travel to some unusual places, one of them being that often I find myself far aware from dust, light and air pollution and in some really impressive places.
Often perched on top of a mountain or in the ocean of a desert you get the most magnificent night skies with millions, billions, countless stars spread out before you.
I'm just back from Northern Sikkim, a small region to the North East of India squashed between Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Bangladesh where each night I would sit outdoors watching the stars track across the sky. Despite the freezing cold temperatures I couldn't drag myself away and for hours I gazed at satellites, planets and the Milky Way and every so often caught a streak of light as a star shot across my hemisphere.
Its only when you get to see the skies like this you realise how small we really are and how much we've fucked up our atmosphere and environment. I wish more of you could experience what an unpolluted version of our nights could look like.
xxx
There are many many reasons why I travel to some unusual places, one of them being that often I find myself far aware from dust, light and air pollution and in some really impressive places.
Often perched on top of a mountain or in the ocean of a desert you get the most magnificent night skies with millions, billions, countless stars spread out before you.
I'm just back from Northern Sikkim, a small region to the North East of India squashed between Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Bangladesh where each night I would sit outdoors watching the stars track across the sky. Despite the freezing cold temperatures I couldn't drag myself away and for hours I gazed at satellites, planets and the Milky Way and every so often caught a streak of light as a star shot across my hemisphere.
Its only when you get to see the skies like this you realise how small we really are and how much we've fucked up our atmosphere and environment. I wish more of you could experience what an unpolluted version of our nights could look like.xxx
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Ice Ice Baby
Large swathes of Southern Chile and Argentina are in fact covered with glaciers and the area contains some of the most active glaciers in the world. Active unfortunately not just in that they advance and receed quickly, but that they're disappearing. Between '95-'00 the area experienced twice as much melt as it has for the last two decades.
Being one of Air France's favourite customers I have a carbon footprint the size of the Antarctic (thanks Jenko...) and so probably contribute considerably to the stat above so I thought i´d pop by the Perito Mereno glacier in order to apologise.
I´ve seen a few glaciers in my time but none quite as awesome as this. Its a 65ft high wall of ice, twisted into sharp towers with deep fissures and undulating through different shades of grey, blue, white and green. The photos really dont do it any justice, especially as you cannot hear the deep groans as the mass moves or the gunshot cracks as chunks break off and crash into the water below.
Many agencies in the area sell tickets to allow you to hike on the glacier, or if you´re skilled enough ice climb, however given that I was supposed to be paying my respects I decided to skip these and head for the ecologically sound walkways that have been constructed nearby.
It used to be that you could get a lot closer for the glacier face but since a couple of folks were killed by falling icebergs you´re now kept a safe 30m or so back, but thats plenty close enough to really appreciate how amazingly beautiful and powerful these things are. I´ve stolen the photo above from someone elses blog as it was kinda grey and rain the day I was there - punishment for my polluting now doubt...
Large swathes of Southern Chile and Argentina are in fact covered with glaciers and the area contains some of the most active glaciers in the world. Active unfortunately not just in that they advance and receed quickly, but that they're disappearing. Between '95-'00 the area experienced twice as much melt as it has for the last two decades.
Being one of Air France's favourite customers I have a carbon footprint the size of the Antarctic (thanks Jenko...) and so probably contribute considerably to the stat above so I thought i´d pop by the Perito Mereno glacier in order to apologise.
I´ve seen a few glaciers in my time but none quite as awesome as this. Its a 65ft high wall of ice, twisted into sharp towers with deep fissures and undulating through different shades of grey, blue, white and green. The photos really dont do it any justice, especially as you cannot hear the deep groans as the mass moves or the gunshot cracks as chunks break off and crash into the water below.
Many agencies in the area sell tickets to allow you to hike on the glacier, or if you´re skilled enough ice climb, however given that I was supposed to be paying my respects I decided to skip these and head for the ecologically sound walkways that have been constructed nearby.
It used to be that you could get a lot closer for the glacier face but since a couple of folks were killed by falling icebergs you´re now kept a safe 30m or so back, but thats plenty close enough to really appreciate how amazingly beautiful and powerful these things are. I´ve stolen the photo above from someone elses blog as it was kinda grey and rain the day I was there - punishment for my polluting now doubt...
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Tierre del Fuego - Land of Fire
Sorry about the complete lack of photos on the blog but until I get to somewhere with decent internet service and reliable PC´s you´ll just have to use your imagination....
Looking back over my last entry I really didn´t say much about Ushuaia or Tierre del Fuego so here goes with an attempt to fill in the gaps.
Split unevenly between Chile & Argentina the area was named Land of Fire after the activities of the Yaghan tribes people that inhabited the area when Fitzoy first navigated the Beagle into the channel. These days the tribes and their fires are nearly extinct, replaced by the exploitation of the natural gas fields in the area.
Although the remaining tribes people are rare the region has abundant marine and wildlife. Even without really looking I saw penguins, sealions, guls, cormmorants, seals, albatross and a whale (ok, it´s hump) in the Beagle channel and whilst hiking in the national park came across foxes, woodpeckers, rabbits (hundreds of) and eagles, although the beavers and pumas remained elusive.
Despite being the Southern most city of earth with all the tourist trappings that the moniker brings Ushauaia remains remote. Its a damn long way to the nearest town and all communications with the outside world have to be transmitted via satelitte. These could be seen as inconveniences but coupled with the long daylight hours and stunning views they just add to its appeal.
Sorry about the complete lack of photos on the blog but until I get to somewhere with decent internet service and reliable PC´s you´ll just have to use your imagination....
Looking back over my last entry I really didn´t say much about Ushuaia or Tierre del Fuego so here goes with an attempt to fill in the gaps.
Split unevenly between Chile & Argentina the area was named Land of Fire after the activities of the Yaghan tribes people that inhabited the area when Fitzoy first navigated the Beagle into the channel. These days the tribes and their fires are nearly extinct, replaced by the exploitation of the natural gas fields in the area.
Although the remaining tribes people are rare the region has abundant marine and wildlife. Even without really looking I saw penguins, sealions, guls, cormmorants, seals, albatross and a whale (ok, it´s hump) in the Beagle channel and whilst hiking in the national park came across foxes, woodpeckers, rabbits (hundreds of) and eagles, although the beavers and pumas remained elusive.
Despite being the Southern most city of earth with all the tourist trappings that the moniker brings Ushauaia remains remote. Its a damn long way to the nearest town and all communications with the outside world have to be transmitted via satelitte. These could be seen as inconveniences but coupled with the long daylight hours and stunning views they just add to its appeal.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Its getting hot in here... 
Whilst ice storms knock off handfuls of people in the Southern US, and bits of the rest are crippled by massive snow storms the Alps remain green, folks flock to the Cote d'Azur for a quick dip and new islands emerge from beneath the retreating ice-caps. Global warming has officially arrived! Bring on that seasonal creep...
2007 is set to be the hottest year on record (something to do with El Niño and cow farts) and given that it was 15c in Paris last week i'd like to lobby for adding the long-armed wooly jumper and five-fingered mitten to the endangered species list.
As I sit here on the 15th floor looking out across the harbour its difficult to make out Kowloon a couple of hundred metres away for the fug in between as I we flew in from Paris I saw first hand one of those brown clouds high up in the atmosphere, chocked full of fossil feuls and various other crap someone somewhere had burnt. Hence my 'better late than never' new years resolution - be as green as possible.
Things got off to a great start. I cut down my shower time to reduce water, unplugged or turned off everything electrical that I didn't need then picked up my bag and ran to the supermarket. In Paris I was buying as many organic and green products as possible, but here its practially impossible. Asia might be a newly awoken tiger when it comes to business but its a beast that doesn't give a shit about the environment it lives in. Recycling is practically unheard of - I got a strange look when I asked where the recycle bins were in the building and the girl at the check out till look positively disgusted when I said I didn't need a plastic bag as i'd brought my daypack. I find it mind boggling that so many people here are infatuated with cleanliness; face masks in the metro, hand sanitisers in every building lobby (sometimes also in the lift); and yet there seems to be so little care for the environment. So, it looks like i'm just going to have to step up my efforts to make up for them. And if a single one of you makes a smart comment about the amount of air travel I do i'll recycle you ;-)
x
Whilst ice storms knock off handfuls of people in the Southern US, and bits of the rest are crippled by massive snow storms the Alps remain green, folks flock to the Cote d'Azur for a quick dip and new islands emerge from beneath the retreating ice-caps. Global warming has officially arrived! Bring on that seasonal creep...
2007 is set to be the hottest year on record (something to do with El Niño and cow farts) and given that it was 15c in Paris last week i'd like to lobby for adding the long-armed wooly jumper and five-fingered mitten to the endangered species list.
As I sit here on the 15th floor looking out across the harbour its difficult to make out Kowloon a couple of hundred metres away for the fug in between as I we flew in from Paris I saw first hand one of those brown clouds high up in the atmosphere, chocked full of fossil feuls and various other crap someone somewhere had burnt. Hence my 'better late than never' new years resolution - be as green as possible.
Things got off to a great start. I cut down my shower time to reduce water, unplugged or turned off everything electrical that I didn't need then picked up my bag and ran to the supermarket. In Paris I was buying as many organic and green products as possible, but here its practially impossible. Asia might be a newly awoken tiger when it comes to business but its a beast that doesn't give a shit about the environment it lives in. Recycling is practically unheard of - I got a strange look when I asked where the recycle bins were in the building and the girl at the check out till look positively disgusted when I said I didn't need a plastic bag as i'd brought my daypack. I find it mind boggling that so many people here are infatuated with cleanliness; face masks in the metro, hand sanitisers in every building lobby (sometimes also in the lift); and yet there seems to be so little care for the environment. So, it looks like i'm just going to have to step up my efforts to make up for them. And if a single one of you makes a smart comment about the amount of air travel I do i'll recycle you ;-)
x
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
HOLY CRAP - We just had a freaking earthquake!
Mixie, despite being balanced precariously on the edge of the shelf, managed to hold on as the room shook and the windows rattled here on the 15th floor.
We're both off out for a stiff drink now. We need it!
x
TOKYO (Reuters) - A 3-foot-high tsunami was headed for the eastern coast of the
Philippines on Tuesday after an earthquake struck off the coast of Taiwan. The
quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.2, Japan's Meteorological Agency
reported.
Mixie, despite being balanced precariously on the edge of the shelf, managed to hold on as the room shook and the windows rattled here on the 15th floor.
We're both off out for a stiff drink now. We need it!
x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)