What are YOU doing to mitigate against Climate Change?

Doing your bit

  • Yes, I am doing everything I can

    Votes: 8 4.3%
  • Yes, I have changed a few things

    Votes: 45 24.2%
  • Yes but very minor

    Votes: 49 26.3%
  • Changed nothing

    Votes: 77 41.4%
  • No, I have made it a bit worse

    Votes: 5 2.7%
  • No, I have changed a lot

    Votes: 2 1.1%

  • Total voters
    186

slackjawedyokel

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
I agree but can someone do the calculation as to whether this is better than Oil or Gas for the planet?
It’s not a sensible calculation to be attempting- like comparing apples to marmosets.

There are 3 places for carbon to be:
1) Underground (coal etc)
2) Earths surface (soil, living organisms)
3) In the atmosphere.

Climate change is mainly caused by 1➡️3 and it’s not currently reversible (airlines planting trees to be green is a nonsense!)

Your heating your house with 2➡️3 will also cause some warming effect, but it is fully reversible- I assume that you, like me, quite like trees and if you have land you will probably occasionally plant trees so over your lifetime you at least replace the trees that you’ve burned.
Even if you detest trees, the climate change effect of removing them is not as large as the carbon released from them because SOMETHING (grass, shrubs etc) will naturally grow in its place.

Woodburning stoves also cause local pollution (PM5s, PM10s etc), but unless you live in a built-up area with a lot of people burning wood, that’s unlikely to be a problem.

I suspect that folks that look down on woodburning stoves in rural areas:
1) don’t understand the basic mechanics of climate change.
2) are conflating climate change with rewilding etc. Such folks, I suspect, feel a collective guilt about the destruction of globally important rainforests but, impotent to do anything significant to stop it choose instead to try and reinstate forests here that were removed thousands of years ago (the irony being that that places greater strain on tropical areas for our food production, results in greater transport emissions and generally causes global warming…)

So crack in with your wood fire- much better than any alternative!
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Given that warming has been happening for a while can someone tell me where the sea levels have risen so far?
I think changes are not linear, rather, work on the principal of tipping points, like the Amazon, once a tipping point is reached the climate of that area will change and suddenly rainfall patterns will change significantly (reducing a lot of grain supplies to the world), last straw to break the... and all that.

I just heard on youtube, that the oceans have absorbed a lot of Carbon (as C02 levels in the atmosphere have gone up), so even reducing atmospheric levels of C02 will not reduce (as the excess in the oceans will be released as levels in the air fall), however if we farm in a more regenerative way, that will take C02 from the air and increase soil water holding capacity, this alter hydrological cycles and increase global cooling to offset global warming.
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
The OP can either be taken at a personal level or business level i.e. your own contribution

Mine is probably to make both personal and business emissions worse until it makes financial sense to make it better.
I shall phrase my response again... Is this thread asking about what steps we are taking to reduce our contribution to climate change or what steps we are taking to cope better with the effects of climate change....
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
Our carbon footprint has gone up in the last 10 years.

Mainly based on the fact we have more youngstock around to mitigate past TB issues.

Maybe I should be a flying herd instead to fiddle the figures.

Seems to take zero account of that.

System is flawed.
 

curlietailz

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Sedgefield
Here’s a plan
Govt GIVE every person in the U.K. 2 tree whips/saplings to plant
They must plant them and must keep a visual record of looking after them ( ie photos of trees growing)
If they don’t produce the evidence of the nurtured trees at “signing on” day, - they get reduced dole Or sanctioned

those with gardens or space should plant the trees in their own gardens
Those who don’t have space to plant the trees then the council must provide some community woodland creatin space on parks etc for them

This would make every person in the country invested in tree nurturing
And the govt would get other people to
Plant and maintain 120milliontrees for the price of 2 whips
 
A man after my own heart.
It appears @SilliamWhale is taking the role of trying to “trip people up”very seriously.

Not so much that. Its just the concept that is developing that we are calling some people selfish for not living in the way other people think they should. Not you specifically but the whole debate about climate change is developing into this idea that we are all sinners unless we change.

It has a religious zeal whereby the high priests of it don't live the way the serfs do. The other interesting idea is that people should reduce their quality of life now in order to potentially improve someone else's in the future - but there is no knowing at all that that person in the future will need you to.

Are Ed Sheeran and Chris Martin selfish? Are premier league footballers?
 
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texelburger

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
I'm eating more meat.
Hopefully, this will increase the amount of grazing grass required and therefore sequester more carbon into the soil (y):D.
That is,actually,the best thing for the planet.Strange how the eco warrior/Vegan activist has completely twisted the true facts with the assistance of the BBC and Media in general.
Also eat LOCALLY ,don't listen to Boris and Co who want to do trade deals all around the World to fly and ship food to us whilst we plant trees.
 
And also use much more air con thereby heating the environment outside the buildings, but your point was that more people die in cities. I was just referring to the simple maths.
You thingk aircon is common in uk cities? Your having a laugh. I’ll put it differently. A disproportionate amount of people will die In cities during a elongated heat wave.
 

HatsOff

Member
Mixed Farmer
I am not sure that is correct.
At present we have the lowest ever birth rate since records began and I haven't noticed any one starving yet in this country.
What does of course make the greatest difference would be to reduce the population in the world, however at present everything is being done to keep more people alive. Malaria vaccine will make a massive difference to the population in the world.
Covid has reduced the numbers but has mostly done that be accelerating the rate at which the elderly or infirm have left the planet.

Famine still reduces the numbers in parts of Africa but not in many other areas. There is of course still starvation due to wars and lack of infrastructure and desertification.
In the west, population rise is due to increasing life expectancy.

In societies with good welfare (health, sanitation etc), people tend to have fewer children because child mortality is lower and a more mature economy means that labour isn't as required. Over time this brings birthrate below replacement. This is observed across all cultures and locations.

So for populations to stabilise we need to get all countries to a position where child mortality is low and the economy is mature.

This would help stabilise carbon emissions for the long term.

Yet UK government cut overseas aid.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
In the west, population rise is due to increasing life expectancy.

In societies with good welfare (health, sanitation etc), people tend to have fewer children because child mortality is lower and a more mature economy means that labour isn't as required. Over time this brings birthrate below replacement. This is observed across all cultures and locations.

So for populations to stabilise we need to get all countries to a position where child mortality is low and the economy is mature.

This would help stabilise carbon emissions for the long term.

Yet UK government cut overseas aid.
I have been in favour of overseas aid, to as you say, help their economies mature, but I was unhappy with the perceived waste of the money. I am not sure that our aid money is well spent.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey

No ... Honest.

I am thinking of semi retiring within the next 12 months and always promised myself a nice SUV but as I am not sure of the morality of mining lithium & cobalt to make the batteries nor whether the national grid has capacity, it will be petrol (or diesel) and fast

As for the farm, well that is where it is and until we have the incentive to change, I suspect we will keep on

Having said that, I am not adverse to hosting some beaver as we already have otters & the odd bittern dropping in
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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