Planet Crunch by Richard Brock - Wildlife-film.com
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A personal view
of the planet
from Richard Brock,
a producer at the
BBC Natural History Unit
for 35 years
The Life
(or Death?)
OF PLANET EARTH
Planet Crunch
by Richard Brock
Planet Crunch
THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH
by Richard Brock
This book and the three films are dedicated, with much gratitude,
to my mother, Eileen, and my sister, Cherry, who helped them happen
in our efforts to survive the crunch of planet Earth.
This book © copyright 2021
Richard Brock
Unauthorised reproduction of any part
of this publication by any means
including photocopying is an infringement
of copyright.
Written by Richard Brock
Typing Moira Sage
Film image delivery Gareth Trezise
Abbreviations
Because many of the sources of
the material I’ve included vary
considerably, so do the forms of
abbreviation such as % and per cent;
trn, b and m = trillion, billion (bn) and
million; UN and U.N.; km – kilometres;
I do hope you can understand – literally!
Sustainability and the environment.
As part of my commitment to demonstrable environmental management,
conserving raw materials and energy, my printed materials are sustainable
wherever possible. I select printers who recycle, reuse and prioritise sustainable
practice and who have gained FSC ® and ISO 14001 Environmental Standard
certification. As well as other planet-friendly work-place initiatives, our printer
guarantees: all paper and cardboard waste is recycled, all printing plates are
recycled, use of vegetable-based inks, papers from managed forests and use PUBLISHED BY RICHARD BROCK,
of recycled papers when appropriate. THE BROCK INITIATIVE, CHEW MAGNA, BRISTOL, UK
Contents
Chapter 1 – Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter 7 – Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Chapter 11 – Energy and Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Chapter 15 – Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Richard Brock’s introduction to his method of working i.e. A very obvious food chain involves fishing lines and nets. It’s Oil has seemed to be the solution to human needs. Not just plastic Can money save the planet? Much is carefully hidden away or
searching the media for appropriate content to be included in a a fairly primitive form of hunting which started with simply everywhere, but for transport, heating, cooling, in fact to us, living exists in the value of human property. If the people really wanted
total of 19 chapters. 2021 is a crucial year for planet Earth, and the collecting shellfish or seaweed off the shore, on to massive anywhere, anyhow. But now it’s changing fast. “Big oil” is getting to set aside, protect, re-wild nature it could surely be achieved.
media have featured this fact – alongside Covid-19 of course. industrial freezer trawlers that can dredge a whole marine smaller – and greener. Really? “Green-washing” is a trick that Forget Mars and the Moon and the astronomical costs involved?
ecosystem to death. Which is a shame because fish, given the needs watching, because immense corporations like Shell, BP, Try to reduce that massive spending on military hardware.
Chapter 2 – Greta Thunberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 chance, can multiply exceedingly. The answer is to set aside Exxon and their shareholders (you, me?) are terrified of words like Question the costs of the unsustainable fashion circus, especially
is a phenomenon. A little schoolgirl from Sweden who doesn’t fly reserves for the species to breed and be protected when small. “decline” “reduce” and “loss”. They imply failure and on a planet “fast fashion”. Take a hard look at places of great consumption like
but uses boat or train for environmental reasons. No one is too With enforced fishing quotas the future could be bright for fishing addicted to endless growth it simply won’t succeed as a policy. Dubai, “bling city” – which we do in this chapter.
small to make a difference. From school strikes to presidents she forever. Millions of people worldwide depend on aquatic food in Much has to change with that attitude and just words simply won’t
makes her points forcibly and persistently in her determination to both sea and fresh water. But as long as a giant bluefin tuna (“the do to deflect the problem. Chapter 16 – Trump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
fix the climate crisis and rescue biodiversity. Porsche of the sea”) can assuage the greed of a Japanese customer The Donald. The Loser. Air Force None. Gone. Can Joe Biden,
for £1 million, sorting out the industry will be a challenge. More Chapter 12 – Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 the new President, turn terrible Trump’s plans around?
Chapter 3 – Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 fish fights? Give a fish a chance! They’re good food. And that couldn’t be more true than with the climate. Originally,
A celebration of the wonders of nature on our unique blue planet, mild “climate change”, to “climate warming” to “climate crisis”, Chapter 17 – Aviation, Tourism and Travel . . . 98
a mere dot in the solar system. A wonderful mosaic of life from
Chapter 8 – Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 to climate emergency. In the shadow of a pandemic Covid-19, The steady growth of this apparently glamorous sector has gone
plants and insects up (in evolution) through the fish, amphibians, So far we’ve looked at major sources of food for the human the importance of this subject has been weakened, though it will into reverse, especially airlines and cruise companies. Before
reptiles, birds, mammals and humans. Our species has changed planet. From the “Three F’s” – forests, farming and fishing it’s probably turn out to be much more important than the much- Covid-19 it seemed the sky was the limit, for aviation with cheaper
the planet hugely, and so the challenge into 2021 is to try and pretty obvious we’ve exploited just about every possible edible, publicized coronavirus. Ecologically, the disease may reduce the fares, more destinations, so, as it was turning out as a result, much
repair the damage whilst there is still time – just. There are some or drinkable product from our activities everywhere we can human population pressure on the planet (the “unsurvival of the more of the dreaded CO2, adding to the climate crisis. Greedy
encouraging signs as our “theme bird” the white stork will reveal. reach. Aviation (until Covid-19) could bring anything, anywhere, unfittest”). That may enable nature to recover, with help from companies (and their shareholders?), and the disastrous Trump
particularly if the price was right. In some rich countries like the surviving humans. That’s a controversial view, but the next few didn’t want to know. But they do now. Is “now” too late?
Chapter 4 – Mural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 UK and Europe the choice, in say, large supermarkets is enormous, years will reveal the results of “Planet Crunch”.
Greta appears again – this time on a wall at a supermarket in
with competition between them always fierce. Nature often avoids Chapter 18 – China / Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Bristol, England! Her forceful eyes see the shoppers collecting all
this problem by, for example, giraffes eating the top-most leaves Chapter 13 – Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The influence of China, in one form or another, is appearing
right down to a hippo at ground or underwater level, or a wart hog In this chapter we follow the familiar journey of water from melting everywhere, pushed by the appetite for just about everything,
sorts of “stuff”, much of which we take for granted, with little idea
in its burrow underground. ice, rain, downwards, via streams and rivers to that rather different of 1.4 billion people. That’s a lot of mouths to feed and huge
where it comes from, and what the true cost to the planet is – not
just at the check-out. For example, now the notorious palm oil may kind of water, the sea. In all its forms water is essential to life, and consumption by a fast-increasing middle class. When you add in
lead to the deaths of orangutans the other side of the world where
Chapter 9 – Supermarkets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 it’s been manipulated massively by humans. In many countries the demands of the USA, Europe, India, it comes to an alarming
ancient rainforests are felled to enable us to indulge in ice cream, Some shoppers would say there’s not much that’s super about rivers have been blocked for hydropower or irrigation. The impact total for the future of planet Earth. In fact, the Crunch.
shampoo and cosmetics. And more and more people want more these ever-expanding sellers of everything…all that queuing, of these large dams affects fish migrations, and the resulting
and more “stuff” from a planet that may have already reached its searching for the best price…until you have to go back once again. reservoirs may silt up, meaning yet more dams have to be built. Chapter 19 – Nature and Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
limits. Simply ingesting so much merchandise is a big complex job for Pollution is often a problem but these days big efforts are being So, is there any room for nature left? Can we live together
all the main eight or so supermarket chains in the UK. But that’s made to clean up these vital waterways. That’s going to be even on a limited blue dot? Probably not, at the rate we’re going.
Chapter 5 – Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 nothing compared to China where, on Single’s Day consumers more important as more people on the planet want more and more Consumption and population are negative pressures. However,
spent $1 billion in just 1 ½ minutes. That makes Black Friday in of it. being a clever species of considerable initiative, it’s possible
The lungs of the planet are ill. Like any living thing our forests
the West look like a bring-and-buy sale. But, either way, every item (just) to change (if Covid-19 doesn’t get us first). There are many
need help and in some places they’re getting it by us re-planting
and protecting. That’s good for the great diversity of wildlife which
is probably wrapped (or even over-wrapped) in materials you don’t Chapter 14 – Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 examples, worldwide, of winning, rather than losing. (Please see
want, even perhaps really dislike, though it did reach you safe and …is an all-encompassing term, which, today can connect almost 100-film series “Wildlife Winners and Losers – How to turn losers
can then move in. And the timber may be used, on a sustainable
sound. Think the hated plastic – so useful, so deadly in both sea every person on the planet. Social media connects space with a into winners” on YouTube and Vimeo. www.brockinitiative.org
basis, into a greener future, and the climate crisis averted
and on land too. Masai nomad on his phone selling a cow, to the deep-sea where plus 3 special 25-minute films called “Planet Crunch”). As at the
(perhaps?) as the dangerous CO2 gets absorbed by the trees. But
will it work? Looking at the Brazilian Amazon and South East Asia submarine signals by the military distress whales when their own beginning, when we started with the formidable Greta Thunberg,
it doesn’t look too promising. But we can try.
Chapter 10 – Waste, Plastics and Recycling. . . . . 46 communication is damaged, possibly causing death. Is anywhere we come back to the young people of today. The politicians and
David Attenborough remembers how plastic was hailed as a kind of sacrosanct and silent now? Wildlife television can be a powerful corporation bosses must listen and, at last, act, act, act! At the end
Chapter 6 – Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 miracle product (of oil). Strong, transparent, long-lasting, cheap, influence, but not when it endlessly depicts sharks in “fang TV” of 2021 a major conference in Glasgow, Scotland, offers perhaps
potential to be in any shape or form, in theory, for ever. And so it’s “ruthless assassins”, “deadly killers”. That’s more like us, making the very last best chance to repair a broken planet. It’s certainly a
A major reason for clearing forests is to use the area for cattle, crops
turned out to be many years later as revealed globally on television. wars around the world. crunch.
and mining. Once the roads are in, so are people, looking for that
Now the world can see the problems of this magic disaster. With
land and money that they may be able to earn. Can you blame
them? Increasingly, we are being urged to eat less meat and dairy
similar ingenuity and invention can we turn the problem around Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
so that we don’t end up with a plastic planet? Can we cut waste? –
(if only for our health), so that less forest is felled to make way for
surely we can.
cattle or soya which is sent across the world to feed, for example,
chickens and pigs. Right there … another food chain, with us at the
end of it.
2 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH CONTENTS |3
Chapter 1 Worth Sa
vi
All of us? ng?
Foreword By whom
?
It’s now clear
that nature, indeed the
whole planet, is in peril.
Can we help?
If so, how?
,
incerely
Yours s
Storks Back to Breed
For some two years I will have in UK After 600 Years!
scanned and clipped from
newspapers, including The
Daily Star, The Sun, The Daily
Mirror on (up?) to the The
Daily Express, The Daily Mail,
to The i, The Daily Telegraph,
The Guardian and The Times.
I also checked the Sunday papers and regular
magazines like The Week and Time, as well as many Apologies are due in those (hopefully what they find to show us. My own continue? So I have written this book to
environmental/wildlife/conservation publications, few) cases. Some people may object to view comes from many years (81!) of provide a lighter, more refreshing
plus TV, radio and social media. I’ve made (100) my selection, context and presentation. loving wildlife and being able to help it perspective. Major conferences on the
films on such subjects (“Wildlife Winners and But I do not apologise for my bias. In my via television. It’s now clear that nature, subject are planned for 2021 and they
Losers – How to turn losers into winners”) for long career (35 years) at the BBC Natural indeed the whole planet, is in peril. For a should be the real crunch. Too often
YouTube and Vimeo. I wouldn’t say I’ve become an History Unit in Bristol, often filming with long time the BBC avoided telling the truth these events end up as lots of promises
expert on such green issues, but what I have really David Attenborough – on Life on Earth, – the bad news that might affect ratings. and hot air – rather like one of the subjects
noticed is the way such subjects have moved from The Living Planet and much else, the To some extent, those who allowed or climate change! The other is biodiversity,
small items on inside pages to front page displays. golden rule was “balance”. Increasingly planned or commissioned that to happen on which, ultimately, every human being
Some of my many hundreds of clippings and For the this has turned out to be very difficult are to blame. At long last the facts and depends. One of those is a very special
pictures, and cartoons, may contain errors, due to achieve. Instead we have “a personal the message seem to be getting through schoolgirl from Sweden who challenged
good news view”…as various presenters travel round with a surfeit of attention in all the media the people and politicians of the planet, no
perhaps to the hectic rush of publishing, and
printing deadlines.
read on… and round the world seeing and assessing in autumn 2020. But how long will that less. Her name is Greta Thunberg.
4 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH FOREWORD |5
Turbines kill Fact
ory
Chapter 2 big birds emi
ssio
ns Wagtail on ice
with dead bird
below
Greta Thunberg
Sun and
stork
2 men/sun
on
llo
Ba air
Hot
e
bin s
ain d tur lant
in r n
Wi &
p
It’s just amazing how alo
Buff
Wrecked
one small girl can house
make such a difference. Sea level ri
se
Greta’s campaign to force adults to stop
prevaricating, and act to save the planet
has inspired thousands of like-minded
young people. School strikes have taken
place in Belgium, Australia, Switzerland,
Climate Tree/
erosion
Canada and the US. Greta, Swedish, was change
just 15 when she started her one woman,
or rather girl, crusade – the campaign A very varied
which has gone truly viral and all around
the world. How did this happen? It’s an
impact on places,
extraordinary story, which we’ll follow d ou
t lak
e people and
through in this “Planet Crunch”. It’s a Drie
mixed media review of the life (or death?)
wildlife.
of a planet. That’s us.
Sun
/lak
Greta refuses to eat meat, and has e
converted her own parents to her cause.
One of her biggest challenges was to visit
Cars
Dust
the USA, the United Nations in New York.
She doesn’t fly, uses trains for distance, but Flood Cattle
in this case she came across the bumpy
Atlantic in a zero-emission racing yacht Birds in trees
with pretty basic living conditions. She ion
Wa Coast /eros
sailed across an ocean that is rising as ves
at Men Rainbow
sea
glaciers melt at both ends of the planet, Glacier melting
the Arctic and the Antarctic, from polar
bears to penguins. That’s what science
tells us, and that’s what Greta is pushing For the
and she’s made it front page news on The Ice on lake good news
Times and The Guardian – not bad for a read on…
15-year-old. And she’s focussed on the
Ducks in snow
next 15 years when she and her millions
of followers will be grown-ups, all around
the world. Uniting nations in fact. There And she moves on to spread her words to South to recycle paper to save resources.” To Poland
at the UN she told them how it is, what the America – Chile. But not – in fact. Because to the huge Climate Change Conference in
science says. At the climate action summit of political unrest there the conference was December 2018… “We have not come here to
she delivers. But did Donald Trump get switched to Madrid, Spain, very disappointing beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us
it? Her brief glance could have re-frozen to some of Greta’s followers who’d sailed in the past and you will ignore us again. You’ve
a glacier or two. She also met a very from Europe to Chile. But, if nothing else, run out of excuses and we’re running out of
different president, the previous one, who like Greta, they’re totally committed to the time. We’ve come here to let you know that
saw sense. Of course, not everyone agrees
with Greta, being told: “If you fail us we
Front Page Girl cause. Extinction Rebellion. Greta, meanwhile, change is coming whether you like it or not. The
had another 4000 mile voyage to endure. In real power belongs to the people. We are about
will never forgive you. We are watching.” the beginning, in London on 31st October to sacrifice our civilisation for the opportunity
Very mixed opponents – Putin, and less so
broadcasters and journalists Piers Morgan
Can She Win? Snow
scene
2018…“When I was about eight years old, I first
heard about something called climate change, or
of a very small number of people to continue
to make enormous amounts of money. We are
and Jeremy Clarkson who prefer business global warming. Apparently that was something about to sacrifice the biosphere so that rich
as usual. Except it can’t be, as Greta keeps humans had created by our way of living. I was people in countries like mine can live in luxury.
telling everyone. told to turn off the lights to save energy and But it is the sufferings of the many which pay
6 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH GRETA THUNBERG |7
begun the process of withdrawing from the the US President to it. It’s said Donald even be too late by then, a classic case of
previous conference, the 2015 Paris accord. Trump always desired that accolade so our species not being able to fix things
A lot of wasted hot air, human emissions he had that kind of front page made up as when all the warnings are there. As Greta
“I will not be from delegates from around our heating
planet, into which the US and China send
him. “Person of the Year”. But he wasn’t.
Apparently, the “covers” were displayed
says “the longer we wait the harder it will
be to turn things around, for too long the
silent while the the most emissions.
So Greta and Extinction Rebellion face a
in his many golf clubs and had to be taken
down. More fake news, from Donald
Trump, Greta’s adversary.
people in power have gotten away with
basically not doing anything to stop climate
and ecological breakdown. They have
world is on fire massive challenge. As ever, nothing much
came out of COP25 except for yet more Rather different to her fame-hungry
gotten away with stealing our future and
selling it for profit. But we young people
hot air in lots of languages, with some opponent, Greta wanted to share the award
– will you?” 200 delegates attending, most flying by
plane, adding yet more emissions. The
with others in the global movements
she helped to inspire. Another time she
are waking up. And we promise we will
not let you get away with it anymore.” But
there was a big fly in the ointment. And
United Nations said… “levels of greenhouse declined another award because
a rather nasty one – Donald Trump who
gases that are the main contributor to many finalists had to fly to
was personally trying to withdraw
climate change hit a new high in 2018. Stockholm for the ceremony.
from the previous Paris
The concentration of carbon dioxide That sort of thing doesn’t
agreement. What kind
(CO2) in the atmosphere exceeded the seem to worry “The Donald”
of message does
average annual increase of the past decade, who used his own 747
that send to other
according to the UN’s World Meteorological jumbo jet “Airforce One”,
nations? Will it
Organisation (WMO). The levels of both
methane and nitrous oxide also hit record
plus a spare, several
helicopters and a fleet
Time weaken their
resolve next time,
highs last year…so no sign of a slowdown
let alone a decline”… The intention is to
of special limousines
plus a large entourage.
magazine’s whenever it’s
keep global warming below 2 degrees And that may be for a youngest rearranged? As
long as Donald
Centigrade. The US, Russia, China, India long distance, short-
and Australia are not helping. And look term visit, as at Davos, “Person of Trump remained
in the White
what happened to Australia, its people
and its wildlife two months later. As
or London to meet the
Queen for tea… and a
the year” House, the US
would continue to
Climate activist @ Greta famously said to a privileged group few hours in England.
impede global climate
of millionaires, billionaires and the ultra You do wonder what a poor
GretaThunberg tells powerful at the World Economic Forum in African who’s saving up for
efforts.
crowds in Bristol, UK, that Davos, Switzerland in January 2019: “Our a bike would make of that. It so So, perhaps Greta needs a
“world leaders are behaving house is on fire.” And she’ll be back – as happens that previous critics of Greta had little cheering up. How about having
like children” so it falls on we’ll see. to swallow their tea, or wine, too. Piers a beetle named after you? Well, that really
Morgan from TV’s “Good Morning Britain” happened, as yet another accolade appeared
young people “to be the For Greta, it’s now back to London, which
stopped twiddling his pen for a moment on the scene. Actually it was found over 50
adults in the room.” she left several weeks ago, crossing the
to acknowledge Greta’s immense efforts years ago but was only discovered recently
Atlantic to Canada and the USA, then back
and Jeremy Clarkson had his petrol head by scientists in the Natural History Museum
again, via Portugal to Spain, briefly to Italy,
mind changed when he found a lake in in London. You may not think it very
and always carrying her message “School
Cambodia almost dried up and the mighty flattering to have a tiny beetle with no eyes
Strike for Climate” – in her own language
River Mekong a trickle of its former self. or wings named after you, but the Museum
of course. She said that 2020 would be
It was that which eventually turned him was “very impressed with the work of
for the luxuries of the few”. Greta is difference. We, the people in Extinction were said to have a duty to protest over the “year we bend the global emission
green – and he’s even started farming. this young campaigner, raising awareness
Swedish but her words have appeared in Rebellion, and those schools striking for climate change because it’s the “most curve”. Time for a brief chat to Sir David
Remember, he apparently said to Greta of environmental issues.” Sir David
two best-selling books both called “No one the climate, we are making a difference. important existential crisis facing the Attenborough, another formidable adviser
“How dare you stand there and lecture us, Attenborough has also had various species
is Too Small to Make a Difference”. Two It shouldn’t be like that, but since no one human species” with a website of Doctors on the future, handing over the baton
you spoilt brat?” (September 2019). He around the world named after him.
years later Greta was to confront the private else is doing anything, we will have to do for Extinction Rebellion. of environmentalism. She was then 17
called such people “eco-mentalists”. “But Greta was nominated for a Nobel Peace
jet-set, and the “Denier-in-chief” President so. And we will never stop fighting, we and him 93. He’s seen the world human
“Climate Change Dwarfs Brexit” as John we don’t blame mankind for it” he said, Prize in 2019.
Donald Trump, Greta’s main adversary in will never stop fighting for this planet, population grow three times in his lifetime
Newman of High Coniscliffe, County “we’ll let Greta Thunberg do that” and,
this battle for the planet – the “Crunch” and for ourselves and our futures, and to the current nearly 8 billion people. At At the Museum, finds of lichen, marsupials,
Durham wrote to The i Newspaper on “Now go back to school. But I genuinely
no less. for the futures of our children and our this rate we’ll need several more planets snakes and even long-extinct dinosaurs
20/9/2019. “Our juvenile manoeuvrings hope people are working on what on Earth
grandchildren. Thank you.” – and there’s nothing else like the Earth. were among the 412 species officially
But back then, to all over Europe, around Brexit feel like squabbling over to do about it”. Well, some are and some
The Moon and Mars are no use – except for named in 2019. However, experts warn
from COP 24 in Poland, to Belgium, and So, welcome to some new words: “Climate the arrangement of the deckchairs on are not.
the view of our tiny fragile planet. And, of that species are being lost faster than they
Germany for a film and TV award… strike”. It took off in late 2018 when the Titanic.” course, that connects very much with our The United Nations two-week climate are being discovered and many may vanish
“I dedicate this award to the people fighting Thunberg’s decision to skip school on changing climate, oceans, and biodiversity talks, COP25, ended in Madrid with before they are known about. 2019 saw the
The 36 Dutch activists, who’ve been
to protect the Hambach Forest…But here is Fridays and protest in front of the Swedish as we’ll see at the end of our story. And a compromise deal that was met with naming of 8 lizards, 5 snakes, 4 fish and
trolled and received death threats had
the truth, we can’t do it without you in the parliament made headlines. In September Prince Harry backed her too. almost universal disappointment. A very an amphibian native to India, plus the first
planned to sail to Brazil, take a bus across
audience tonight. People see celebrities 2019 an estimated 6 million people joined sad result, or non-result, for Greta and new species of pit viper described from
the Andes (as you do) to Chile. Sadly At last Greta’s got back home to Sweden to
as gods. You influence billions of people. the worldwide climate strike. It was her followers. As is typical, the 200-or-so the country in the last 70 years, as well as
they had to travel back and missed the her parents, sister and her dogs, Roxy and
We need you. We are standing at a Collin’s Dictionary’s 2019 word of the delegates prevaricated, pledging to set wasps, centipedes, aphids, snails, moths
re-arranged COP25 meeting starting on Moses. And a happy Christmas.
crossroads in history. We are failing but year. And there was the “Greta Thunberg new improved carbon-cutting plans by and butterflies. We do still have a treasure
2nd December 2019.
we have not yet failed. We can still fix this. Effect” that took hold too, resulting in big After that it got even happier. Greta seems the time they meet at their next planned trove of life on Earth. Take beetles, like
It’s up to us.” increases in individuals and businesses Greta appealed for a lift by boat and to be unaffected by fame and that may be conference, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland. Greta’s, with 350,000 species, and counting.
opting to offset emissions by investing in managed to get to Madrid, Spain in time. why the much-respected Time magazine Because of Covid-19 that was postponed to Some people think there were only four,
Greta also visited France, Austria, Italy and
carbon-reducing projects in developing Her enemies were there too – the US sent devoted some 18 pages to her as “Person late 2021. But, for many, this merely kicks musical ones, with an ‘a’! That’s John, Paul,
London, UK. “We are the ones making a
countries. Medical doctors and nurses a delegation but President Trump has of the Year” – the youngest ever, and beat the climate can down the road. It could Ringo and George.
8 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH GRETA THUNBERG |9
Chapter 3
Biodiversity Flowers and
Insects
Flowers are pollinated by bees, butterflies and
Solar System Follow our stork
A winner or a loser?
other insects as they feed on nectar. Our own
survival depends crucially on the continuing
and Earth success of these interactions. Some orchids
bloom at just the right time and emit scents
that attract specific insects. Certain members of
If there is really any point in going to the bee orchid group have even evolved to look
the Moon or Mars, at exorbitant expense, like their pollinators. One site in Wales, with
over 10 orchid species, is ideal for observing
it’s for this view. this miracle of nature.
Earth is the only place at all out there where life exists, where people
and nature live together. Or at least seem to be trying to. But it
would appear that wild plants and animals are the losers these days
and we’ll track those changes across the following chapters over one
year and beyond. That’s “Planet Crunch”. Staggering
diversity
Dodo A single protected
Extinc: A certain loser has been the Dodo…”as why, possibly a global disease which place in Wales is
1681 t: about dead as”, a flightless pigeon-like bird, continues to spread. home to 14 species
that was not born to win, on the island
of Mauritius in about 1681. We’ll look at solutions later. Never give of orchid
up! Can three “extinct” species return?
On the other side of a changing planet, – Formosan clouded leopard, a giant
in Costa Rica, the brilliant golden bee and a giant tortoise in Galapagos,
toad crashed to zero and is now difficult to confirm you’d think, last
d totally extinct. No one knows exactly seen in 1906.
n Toa
Golde t
c
Extin For the
Bee Or
chid
good news
read on…
Man and seal
A very rare monk
seal and its friend
– probably a too
common species. Us
“One million
species at risk
of extinction”…
out of 8 million,
C risis
et in
according to the
reds of
UN biodiversity
Plan pening “ten s of hund st 10
e pa
report of May 6th, now hap te over th
is
That loss st as the average
ra s all over
2019. s” as fa reat to ecosystem ve and
time dire th e ha
posing a ot what w
millions, So how have we g
.
the world losing it?
e
why are w
Sir David Attenborough is a great butterfly fan
and supporter of research into our 58 or so species.
10 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH BIODIVERSITY | 11
g variation
n
Amazi Amphibians
Fish The junction between below the water and
above is a strangely elastic one. Surface
The sun, the sea, life. From the tension. Amphibians, as their name says, must
simplest invertebrates – organisms, break through and make that huge move to
like jellyfish, later creatures developed the land, yet still, all of them are tied to water
backbones, a crucial structural move for breeding. That may have its limitations
towards other vertebrates culminating but frogs, toads, newts and others have shown
in us millions of years later. Is that it can be done – that’s over millions of years
progress? Or are we now travelling of evolution. Not only that, but like their
backwards and destroying that
brilliant predecessors, the fishes, the amphibians are a
incredibly diverse inheritance? The
n arrow frogs are success story. So far that is. Just look at their
Poiso me.
s on a the
fishes have moved in everywhere. global diversity. But pressure from us can make
The sharks and rays with their variatio n
Sawfish their lives very difficult. If not impossible.
primitive skeletons of cartilage That’s called extinction. The final crunch.
with the Greenland shark living to
a great age under the ice, unless
Mouths
slaughtered by temporary man, to the
international harmless blue shark
and teeth It’s tense at the
top!
to the infamous great for the
white whose territory ha
we have invaded, and Job! Pir
an
whose reputation has
been exaggerated and Some are see-through.
wrecked by the media
with the myth of Jaws Som
e are
and its many sequels. bein
g rea ser.
red i
n tea! tadpole is a lo
og
This fr
Grouper tiny.
e are
sh Bas Som
nfi kin
Su g Sh The new
ark
is a winnt
ker
el Some are goliath –
er!
Mac
and eaten by local people.
From sawfish shark, basking shark
sieving plankton (their very distant
Ar
ow
ancestors) at the surface to the depths. an leaping for
a prey from the
Yes, mouths for the job. Such a Amazon
versatile group. And that’s just the
sea where it all started. The conquest
continued to fresh water not just
accessible to fish but, as it turns out,
vital to us as food, as we’ll see later.
Whether it’s the Amazon, or across
the world, both in the sea or fresh
im
water, with eels crossing the Atlantic
, an d swcan!
Jumapy if you
to spawn, even sliding across land to
get there.
aw
Eels
12 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH BIODIVERSITY | 13
Baby turtle in s
the Pacific curlew
Sea stone
Gal
apa – gu Eagle
ll att More
gos ack! Award for
tort
oise team’s success
Reptiles Birds affected by climate famous for its commitment to justice,
You certainly would if change – up to including hunting of innocent female
The age of modern reptiles, you were a Guam rail,
continuing their survival from the a third, research suggests. tourists.
isolated on an island in For example, the turtle
dinosaurs, is possible because of the Pacific. Flightless, But in our changing world of Wildlife
their waterproof skin, an advance dove - famous for its
therefore vulnerable, Winners and Losers, now in “Planet
on the water-dependent amphibians Christmas role “in
it was an easy prey to Crunch” there is a scattering of good
though they haven’t done too badly a pear tree” – is
the snake accidentally Sea Eagles: have down by 94%
news. For example, in New Zealand, the
except for that disease spreading introduced at the end of fattest species of parrot is winning with
worldwide. Famously, Charles been reintroduced since 1995,
a lot of help from its friends. There are
the Second World War. probably due
Darwin, worked out the natural The poor rail was actually to Scotland. only some 150 kakapos alive today. They
selection process in the Galapagos to habitat loss
declared extinct. But, was used to be really common, before being
Islands in the Pacific. Different Formentera and farming;
Lizard saved by captive breeding Turtle Dove: down though an
hunted and killed by introduced predators
islands produced different giant and reintroduced – Hoorah! (similar to the problem with the brown
tortoises, and some land iguanas by 94% since 1995 encouraging re-
tree snake and the flightless Guam rail).
floated across from the South rass sna
ke It does show what nature can wilding is under
British g of skin In 2019, 76 chicks have hatched and 60 are
American mainland, diversified, terpro do if it’s given half a chance way in Sussex and
W a expected to grow up due to heavy seeding
some even becoming marine, “a spark of hope”, against the at a wildlife park in
of its favourite food tree. So some will be
holding their breath and diving odds. The snake population had Norfolk. But when
even fatter than normal. What a thought!
to munch kelp. Back in Europe a grown to two million but scientists they migrate across the
Though disease is still a problem. We’ll
somewhat similar radiation of lizards captured 21 of the rails and bred them Mediterranean twice a
see. As ever, food is crucial. And that’s
took place on the Balearic Islands Fangs and brought them back from the brink. year to and from Britain
certainly true for sea eagles. Successfully
notably on the island of Formentera, But worldwide, many bird populations they are “hunted” in their
like they’ve reintroduced to Scotland, they’ve done
fortunately not (yet) damaged always been are declining, mainly because of what we thousands. However, now
well on plenty of fish, but farmers worry
by mass tourism as on Ibiza and do. In North America three billion birds illegal bird killing by poachers
about their lambs. Hopefully that’s a false
Majorca. have disappeared over the past 50 years, at a military base seems to be
alarm. A rabbit or a squirrel or even a
especially small species. British ones are falling – by 70%, though Cyprus is hardly
The reptiles have hung on around deer calf would be tasty. Again, we’ll see.
the planet but a crunch is coming. Teeth on living
Crocodiles and alligators are not dinosaurs
re
easy to live with, and humans are Vultu
Feathers
increasing everywhere. And snakes
h!
eakthroug
are so often portrayed as “fearsome
predators, deadly killers” by crappy
What a br rk
Sto
TV. Yes, like many species that must
catch prey to survive, they have
made the most of where they are. An amazing invention! The feather;
derived from the reptilian scale,
ss-ups in
from pre ibian desert and must always be meticulously
the Nam
Deadly maintained. Their lives depend on
the bro snakes hidin it – to fly across continents, to display,
wn jun g
gle floo on to mate and generally survive. And
r man has helped that happen, as white
storks increase and share the same Osprey
rees
een t habitats, and even houses, on which
in the gr they nest. We’ll follow them through
or up
this book as they lead each chapter
towards a happy ending.
Another great traveller, the osprey,
can hover and hunt with a steady
stare at fish below. Then plunge for
catch of the day. No problem. And…
perhaps next to a puffin, whose wings n
n ffi
es to gree will carry it over the waves and then Pu
those dead leav snake can effectively “fly” under the water to grab
om of
And up frere many species e bodies… like its prey in that brilliant beak.
on es, wh r pentin l you
h their se successfu Penguins use their flippers in a similar
climb witn tree snake too way, but they’re not much use on land.
the brow They can’t fly. We need aeroplanes and
may say. submarines. In many ways birds are
better and they now rule the skies on
those amazing feathers.
14 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH BIODIVERSITY | 15
tory
Chimp s
Mammals P ine Mar
ten
26% of British
As we compe
inevitable who
te for space an
d resources w
will win and w ith our neares
t relatives, it se
takes away the ho
This most advanced group, the mammals here for years
home of the ch will lose out. A huge sugar
im ps and much el corporation
ems
mammals, goes from the smallest needs only stic
shrews and bats to huge elephants could be ks for a cookin se. A local man who’s
g fire in his ho lived
me – a mud hu
on land and the great whales in the disappearing t.
oceans. Who’s best? Man? Man
is a mammal, but is that word “best” according to
appropriate? At his rate of increase, and The State of Nature
consumption, it may or may not prove Report 2019
to be true. Pandemics permitting, that
is. He may become too successful for
his own good and that of the planet and
its wildlife. Some British mammals are
winning, others losing. Take squirrels
for example. You see, when the greys
were introduced to Britain from North
America they pretty much took over
from the native reds. The greys are
tougher, and carry a disease that kills r– l
ghe irre
the red, not the greys. To the rescue Tou y squ
– another mammal, the pine marten. gre
Once rare, it’s now increasing and hunts
grey squirrels, whereas the lighter reds
can escape by climbing to the slender
ends of branches where the heavier
greys can’t follow. You win some, you
lose some. The State of Nature Report
At
2019 found that 26% of British mammals red risk
could be disappearing, partly because squ – na
irr tive any
of intensive agriculture and climate ours in m
el
b ehaviour, so like in the
change. But people are helping to turn p from
study chim s to learn
the tide, whether it’s bats, hedgehogs, Scientists ill there be chimp
w
harvest mice, water voles, and the very ways, but ’ll see.
e
rare Scottish wild cat. On the other future? W
hand, deer, both native and introduced, Bong
o
can be a problem overgrazing and then
there are controversial foxes and badgers
all jostling for space on Britain, a very
crowded island. And getting more so.
Worldwide, mammals have become a
successful group, with humans probably
too successful. We admire them in the
confines of nature reserves, and, in one Arctic Fox
particular case, well outside. A fantastic
Arctic fox was tracked wearing a GPS
collar right across the Arctic.
Sea ice, now melting with Otter
climate change. Such
is the indirect impact
of our species as our We win some, we lose some. Biodiversity Wimbledon, or a supermarket near
numbers increase Arctic animals: is threatened as never before. Biologists you – or me. We’re all linked by a lynx.
so much. are being affected Seal in Turkey try to help the endangered And we do like cats, and they like eating
Monk Mediterranean monk seal driven from rabbits. And people in other countries,
by melting sea ice
the once empty beaches and remote and there are many millions of them,
now – the indirect breeding caves by the ever-increasing enjoy all sorts of food, some of them very
impact of our ever- tourism. But on Britain’s coasts and traditional, they claim, like “bush meat” –
growing species. rivers from the far north to the far south, chimp – bongo – sort of “jungle venison”.
otters have made a comeback with a lot Or elephant plus ivory or rhino horn as
of help from their friends. The very rare “medicines”. And thereby hangs a sorry
cat the Iberian lynx is slowly recovering story as the pressure on “Planet Crunch”
in Spain despite its home being changed increases even more. A lot more in fact.
to grow strawberries, perhaps for
16 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH BIODIVERSITY | 17Snakes
life Trade Wuhan Market
Wild
Wolf
pups
ts: ps as
han o d
Elepeat to cr for foo
hr rch
T sea
they
How to
help elephants
and rhinos? China
Educate the next
Bats
generation about
the deadly source
Pangoli
n
us
The harmless Vir
vulnerable
pangolin in a
market of dyin
and death. Did g
Covid-19 start
in this way? H
ere?
Rhino h
Worth it orn:
in gold s weight
Welcome to Wuhan, China, January 2020. perhaps humbling to consider a tiny, tiny, global heating), and particularly pangolins,
One of the biggest trades on the planet is Elephants can be a big problem – really It’s a very sad sequence of events and it Not exactly the place or time you’d like microscopic organism, a virus, a million a mammal, the most trafficked animal
the wildlife trade, now being confronted big. An African farmer may have a few happens increasingly as man and wildlife to be welcomed, because it turned out to of them can fit on this full stop. And can on the planet for its meat and the very
by Prince William, Tusk, and several other crops to feed his family in the future collide. Rhino horn, which is made of be the source of one of the most virulent, effectively bring humanity to its knees – its dubious medical value of its scales.
conservation organisations. They may be but when a herd of hungry elephants, keratin, like our fingernails, is believed to contagious viruses ever to hit the human money markets, its tourism, its politics, its
Because of the Covid-19 disaster out of
winning. Just. But, as human numbers perhaps displaced from a nearby protected have medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties race. Indeed, it was a race to control its future. Planet Earth is the only one like it
Wuhan, the Chinese have been forced to
grow and demand increases, it’s a race area, invade his only source of food he’s (perhaps because of its posture). They say spread right across the planet. Previously, and, seemingly, so vulnerable. It turned
close down many markets. But they will
against time, using education as a major obviously devastated, as is his corn. Then it’s now, literally, worth its weight in gold in SARS had the same impact. And ebola, out that the coronavirus probably started
always find loopholes if the demand and
weapon – especially to the young. Ivory some men turn up and offer to “remove” the markets of China, Japan and Vietnam. the black death, polio, leprosy, they’ve all in a bat (as did the SARS in the past) and
the greed is there (see China chapter later).
and rhino horn – many people in South the threat, i.e. kill them. We call those And it’s there, in those crowded and often threatened the, apparently, so successful in Wuhan it could have been wolf pups,
Hopefully future generations (and that’s a
East Asia don’t know where the stuff men “poachers” because they’ll find the illegal surroundings, that you could say homo sapiens. “Sapiens” means wise rats, badgers, snakes and even, would
lot of people) will understand the real cost
comes from – not unlike the chicken/egg, elephants, kill them and send the tusks to suffering creatures and their products got but do we have the wisdom to learn you believe, koalas? (As if they hadn’t
to the planet – our planet.
cow/milk “gaps” in the UK. China, where a middle-man makes a lot of their revenge. from our mistakes, not decimate wildlife had enough problems in Australia from
money from the ivory. and to try to reduce our numbers? It’s the fires, caused indirectly by us, through
18 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH BIODIVERSITY | 19Chapter 4
Consu
Mural
mer o
f the f
uture
On its way
e? to your
utur
of the f supermarket
ED
SUM
CON
Tourists
Greta’s mural
watching Elephan
t
over mass A lonely tural home
who’s na felled
consumption has been
with a chain saw. You could say our hands
are on it. In a few minutes a fine hardwood
ta tree is sliced, revealing years of growth
Gre in one of the oldest and most diverse
rainforests anywhere. A huge diversity
of plants and animals is reduced to this!
Effectively sterilised. Except for a lonely
elephant, who’s natural home has been
felled, logged, and he will be forced to feed
on oil palms and will then be considered
a pest, a big one, so drastic action will be
taken, all on our behalf the other side of the n: l
tatio
world in a supermarket.
defores palm oi
h
Some of the customers might come here Massaced wit
Repl tations
to Borneo as tourists. But they may not plan
be getting the full picture behind their
shopping. Rivers are useful thoroughfares
Supermarkets cream, toothpaste…and thereby hangs a amongst these really “big boys”, all
for boat traffic, some of the original
rainforest and mangroves remains uncut.
But only as narrow strips, the remaining
tale. There’s plastic and water too, which offering lower prices than the other one.
Worldwide, people throng we’ll investigate in a later chapter. And, Globally, the demand for resources and
is the linear, original habitat of proboscis
to markets, whether it’s monkeys, pygmy elephants and orangutans.
believe it or not Greta is here too, as a millions of items and products is ultimately
Beyond these final sanctuaries stretch miles
a potential lethal one in mural, watching, as she said she would. unsustainable on a finite planet. Much is
upon miles of palm oil plantations, yielding
Fortunately Trump’s not here as well, wasted often causing pollution.
China, or one like this thousands of products consumed around the
ex-president of the most consuming Many products include an apparently world. No wonder the previous inhabitants
typical Aldi supermarket country on the planet – the USA. Here in essential ingredient called palm oil. And it of the incredibly diverse forest enter, and
Britain Aldi has 874 stores, plans to have
in Bristol, England. 1,200 open by 2025 for the consumers of
connects through to our relatives, another conflict with the palm oil monoculture,
primate, the orangutan. It turns out that basically a desert. But anyone travelling
They come here not to buy koalas, wolf the future. It’s hiring more than 4,000 staff the real cost of many of our purchases is by boat along the river will only see what
pups or snakes, but familiar items for the this year. And it’s only one of some eight not money, but a red ape, thousands of appears to be jungle, the pride of Borneo.
home – soap, chocolate, shampoo, ice huge supermarket chains. Consumption miles away in South East Asia. It starts Well it’s not. And of course a view from the
is massive, and competition is intense
air will reveal that.
20 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH MURAL | 21Chapter 5 A huge
diversity
Forests of plants and
animals
is reduced
to this…
Truly a scar on the
landscape. Which would
take many years to heal
and can’t, anyway, if
poor people move in and
inevitably increase.
Many may earn a living from palm oil,
so preventing forest clearance presents
a tricky dilemma. And, don’t forget we,
comparatively well-off, seem to really
need the so-called “golden liquid” for our
KitKats and Nutella. The Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is trying to
solve the dilemma, but alternatives are
more expensive and many need more
land, so the problem doesn’t go away.
Less consumption would help but big
companies like Unilever don’t like those
two words – nor do their shareholders.
Now though, the global situation is
changing. As climate change speeds up
and sea levels rise, more and more people
around the planet are having to adjust,
especially in the tropics. In Indonesia,
home of the orangutan and huge
biodiversity, planners are going to move
the whole capital city of Jakarta, home to what Indonesia is having to do. They
more than 10 million people, to another created a new city, inland, called Brasilia
island, East Kalimantan 800 miles away. to take the pressure off coastal Rio de
More roads will bring more and more Janeiro and Sao Paolo. Again, another
people to crowd the landscape. Is this large, ancient community of plants and
“progress”? And to add extra pressure animals – and indigenous people were to
that huge city of Jakarta is currently be affected. Later came the “Trump of
sinking into the sea – and sea level rise the Tropics”, Jair Bolsonaro. His plans
threatens too, as ice melts at the north and promises hit the Amazon, the world’s to live sustainably off the original jungle.
and south poles. It’s beginning to look largest rainforest and the headlines all And of course so had the wildlife. All was
like a global crunch. over the world. It was pointed out that about to change in August 2018. And then
These changes affect the whole planet top the Amazon, “the lungs of the planet” came even more fires. It incensed the
to bottom. Donald Trump (remember are vital to all, everywhere. Bolsonaro world. But Bolsonaro didn’t seem to care
him?), in North America, may even didn’t see it that way. He wanted to about the headlines – rather like another
notice when his US palace, and various “use” it, for agriculture – to grow soya for current president, up there in North
For the low-lying golf courses start being flooded, pigs and chickens in China and Europe. America. Power of the few, damage to
good news and Florida is overwhelmed with people, Mining with big corporations and their the many. Apparently some Amazon
read on… looking for the sunshine, which is money. Timber for anyone who would native people have been killed trying to
becoming hotter and longer. On south buy it legally or not, and he threatened to protect their land.
to Brazil where, in the past, they did reduce, or weaken the forest reserves of
indigenous people who had learned how
22 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH FORESTS | 23Forest
s or fi
elds?
t
cos
true
e
e – thation
re nt
et la
Lona tea p
of
A mig
hty gr
ab
Under thre
at
Fires in Brazil
Not only were the indigenous people Boris Johnson did say he would threaten the lives
threatened by the chainsaw, fires and focus on natural solutions to
mining, but by land grabs for almost climate, such as reforestation of indigenous
anything. Hundreds of endangered and called for tougher targets people and 265
wildlife species were listed as the on protecting and restoring
number of fires increased by almost natural habitats, conserving endangered
30 per cent, the fastest level of tree- wildlife, tackling pollution and wildlife species.
felling recorded since 2008, equivalent environmental damage and
to about two football fields a minute. dealing with invasive species.
Britain pledged £10m to help protect “We cannot sit back as animals
and restore – there have been nearly and plants are wiped off the
40,000 fires in Brazil in 2019. Back in face of the planet by man’s
2017 the world lost tree cover the size recklessness”. He also urged
of Italy using fire according to Global countries to back Britain’s call to
Forest Watch – from the Amazon to protect a third of the world’s oceans
the Congo Basin, equivalent to 40 by 2030 and reverse the damage
football fields a minute, that sadly inflicted by overfishing, plastic
Front Page News familiar unit. Forest destruction
drives climate change. Norway
pollution and climate change. That
was back in August 2018. Despite,
has invested about £2bn in the perhaps having a partner of similar
But what difference can it make? past decade, more than any other
rich nation. Norway’s massive
intentions, maybe Brexit, HS2,
Heathrow and other pressures will
income from oil raises questions empty some of those words. They
about burning fossil fuels which is are in fact some of the main topics
increasingly criticised for adding to of this book “Planet Crunch”.
emissions damaging the planet.
24 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH FORESTS | 25A tiny tree sprouts
in a fallen log
Tru
for mp b
ma est fire lames Britain
nag s o
em n po
ent or
A green and
pleasant land.
Because of trees,
planted and
nurtured.
ge
lden Agy: g Tree
s
p’s Go r Plantin
Trum erican Ene
of Amting ecology
Upset
From the “Trump of the Tropics” to the
“Trump of the USA”. He blamed the fires
of California in 2015, and also in 2020,
for poor management, having apparently
cut funding. $13½ billion was paid out
in settlements. Then Trump wanted to
lift a logging ban to unleash a “golden
era of American energy”. That, in the caused by its fossil fuel products. Joining
25,000 square mile Tongass forest, would, in are individuals in the Punjab in India, if
it is said, upset the ecology of trees, soil, you want a gun licence you must plant at
streams, salmon and bears that catch them. least ten trees. (Not sure what he shoots
Then ecology was never Trump’s strong with it?) An individual, Felix Dennis, who
which officials claim is a world record. In without trees, on which 1.2 trillion native other squillionnaires, and royalty, they climate emergency. Local school children
suit. Whatever size it is. died in 2014 left money to pay for a 30,000
Turkey, mass-planted 11 million trees at tree saplings would naturally grow. The discussed the climate emergency, probably held a strike, protesting at the lack of
acre forest in central England. It’s already
On the other hand (little ones) Trump 2,000 sites. But now, for the bad news. area equates to about 11% of all land, and is not helping with flocks of private jets. action. Greta said she was still not used
got fantastic wildlife. The front page of
was later to say one trillion trees would be Apparently up to 90% died there due to equivalent to the size of the US and China Trump, plus daughter, boasted for half an to being a public figure. But she did get to
The Times announced Britains must plant
planted. But was that to prove to be “fake lack of water. And “maybe” news. Robin combined. Tropical areas could have 100% hour. Tremendous boasting. Phenomenal meet the Prince of Wales who had, rather
billions of trees, consume less beef, lamb
news”? In fact there is, good, bad and How of Peterborough wrote in the Daily tree cover, while others would be more boasting. He was boasting like no other controversially flown in by private jet,
and dairy; 200,000 miles of hedgerows
“maybe” news about tree-planting around Telegraph (21.11.12): “Planting 30 million sparsely covered, with, on average half American president had ever boasted continuing in a greener Jaguar electric car.
will need to be grown and flying is likely
the world. Good – National Trust to plant trees shouldn’t be too much of a problem; the area under tree canopy. Sustainable before. His boasts were some of the biggest And very green company Jane Goodall,
to become more expensive. It all requires
millions of trees on its farms by 2030. The based on current British population figures, cartons mean that European forests are boasts in the history of boasting. His famous for her studies of chimps in
a huge effort, and the Woodland Trust
Daily Mirror newspaper were giving away that’s about half a tree each. Perhaps a increasing in size by the equivalent of 1,500 boasts were truly incredible. You wouldn’t Tanzania. Their forest home is now much
provides it. And Danish TV, in a telethon,
20,000 trees praised by the Dalai Lama, national tree-planting day is required”. As football pitches per day. That unit again! believe them. Very soon the US will hold reduced. Somehow I don’t think Trump’s
enabled people to “plant trees” from the
who thanked Greta Thunberg for her above, that’s what took place in Ethiopia a presidential election. Everyone is saying trees would be appropriate. And, four days
comfort of their sofa with a “green levy”. And of course, Donald had to Trump that.
campaigns. Eurostar will “plant a tree for and Turkey with definitely mixed results. he’s going to win it. If he loses, it will be later it’s all over at Davos.
every train”, saying the carbon emissions More good news – Ethiopia in Africa has But it seems planting billions of trees is a He came to the World Economic Forum in
incredible. It will be tremendous. It was.
plans to spend £230 million planting suffered droughts and deforestation. But very good way to save the planet, to tackle Davos, Switzerland in January 2020 and
millions of trees around the world to help on the 29th July 2019, Ethiopians planted the climate crisis. An analysis shows that announced he would plant a trillion trees Greta delivered two speeches – she told
absorb the greenhouse gas emissions more than 220 million trees in one day 1.7 billion hectares (4.2 bn acres) of land is – not personally one assumes. Along with leaders they need to “panic” about the
26 | PLANET CRUNCH THE LIFE (OR DEATH?) OF PLANET EARTH FORESTS | 27You can also read
