Eco Friendly House And Garden

There are a lot of words being used to describe current weather events – but what do they all mean?

Sometimes people use the same word to descibe 2 different events or activities, and other people use completely the wrong one!  Sometimes the sources we use get it wrong too, to fit with a headline or because it gets better effect.

So what I have put together here are a few of the most heard of climate related words and a short explanation of each that follows:

Weather:
The outdoor experience you have on a day to day basis where you live, for example ‘sunny’ or ‘heavy rain’  Weather is only local to you, with sunshine and heavy rain sometimes only a few miles apart.  This is also true for events like hailstorms which fall in very specific locations.

Climate:
All the weather experienced in the whole world all summed up in one sweep.  So even if you had a lot of rain local to you, the whole climate could actually becoming drier – as it takes into account all the weather around the whole world.  This is why you might hear that the world is getting warmer, but you then get weeks of snow falling in the winter!

The Atmosphere:
All the air around and above us is termed the ‘atmosphere’ yet it is divided into 4 distinct layers that all have their own specific behaviours.  The lower layer that we are surrounded by rises only about 4 km into the air and contains virtually all the breathable gases out there.  There are 3 more layers above it:

Troposphere – Lowest Layer: Contains breathable gases and gets colder as you move upwards.
Stratosphere – 2nd layer: Contains the Ozone Layer towards the top, so gets warmer as you move up.
Mesosphere- 3rd layer: The coldest part of the atmosphere, falling below -90 centigrade.
Thermosphere – Final Layer:  Over 85km high, this layer is the thinnest and leads out into space.

The atmosphere is held in place by gravity, and is the only reason why there is an abundance of life on Earth.  Without the gases in the sky, the plants and animals would eventually be killed by the heat of the sun and there would be no water at all.

Ozone Layer:
This thin layer of the gas ozone in the upper stratosphere is very important to life on Earth.  Ozone is a very unsteady gas, and this is used to our advantage by the way it reacts to ultra-violet radiation – it basically absorbs it all way up in the sky so it doesn’t fall to earth and cause terrible damage to skin and genetic material hidden inside of us. 

As a result of damage to this layer, a hole appeared in the southern hemisphere and there was a very noticeable rise in radiation related illnesses and deaths.  Ozone, however, is also a greenhouse gas.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG):
These atmospheric gases are all able to trap heat from the surface of the Earth and also to reflect it back down to the ground – both action are raising the temperature of the surface. 

As humans have greatly increased the amount of one of these GHG’s (carbon) in to the atmosphere, this heating effect has been increased and the Earth is now experiencing much warmer temperatures than over previous centuries (and eras) this continued activity that is now referred to as global warming.

Global Warming:
The increased global average temperatures experience today as a result of increased human activity in relation to releasing GHG’s.  The stresses caused to the atmosphere and weather systems by these great and prolonged changes can put pressure and stress on some of the natural systems currently in place. 

For example, changes to rainfall patterns (due to changes in land and ocean temperatures), increased flooding (due to warmer water being ‘bigger’ than cooler water) as well as droughts and other severe weather events.  And all these events added together can be defined as climate change.

Climate Change:
By changing all the local events, there will become a great noticeable event – and this is represented y our changing climate.  Basically, stresses on natural systems have started to change weather patterns across the globe, and following the normal feedback systems in nature – this can only lead to massive change.

If you read about how delicate weather systems already are with regards to rainfall, storms and sea level rises – you will see how easy it is to disrupt them.  And this is just what rising temperatures are doing today. 

Not all severe weather events are purely down to human activity and the climate has changed over the history of the Earth on a massive scale – like ice ages; but never this fast.  There will soon be a change in the frequency and/or location of those events over time – and this will definitely be the effects of human-induced climate change as opposed to a natural change.

With the recent bad weather across most of the northern hemisphere – should we stay home?

I haven’t left my place apart from to go for a great walk through the woods and a walk to the local store – so what did you do – and could it have caused problems for others?

There is an argument for both sides really, but which is more eco friendly?

The Case For Staying Home:
For a start, you will be one less car on the road in the way of other important people or vehicles that need to use the roads.  Many people like doctors, vets, firemen, police, grit lorry drivers, petrol tankers, grocery vans and ambulances that need to use the roads all day and at any time. 

So what would you do if you had got stuck on ice on a slip road and were now holding up one or more of the above people?  Stopping valuable staff from doing their job when you were only off out to do a bit of shopping or to visit a friend?

You would also be one more person that local services would have to worry about.  For example on 1 road in the UK earlier this week, there was a reported 25 mile tailback in the snow.  All those people were stranded in the freezing cold and the emergency services, local hotels and recovery drivers were now having to work overtime and through the night to help them all – and I bet all 25 miles wasn’t filled with doctors and food supplies?

And talking of medical care – if you went out and injured yourself on ice or through a car accident – you are adding to the pressures that emergency services are already facing.  If you can’t get to town in the bad conditions – what makes you think that nurses can either?  So more injuries and less nurses is really only going to mean longer waits and over-worked staff. 

The same goes for any other business as well.  Just because you managed to get yourself to a store, it doesn’t mean they will be able to offer you their best service, as they may also be short-staffed or have deliveries that cannot make it to the store due to accidents etc.

The Case For Going Out:
If you are one of the services that keep everyone else going then yes, you should try to get to work.  Hopefully all the non-essential journeys have ceased and so the roads should be clearer and safer for people like yourself to get through.

Also, many small businesses couldn’t function without their staff, and so struggling in to work could be the only option for some people. 

Imagine if everyone stopped going to work on the same day – countries would come to a standstill as no energy would be available, no need food would arrive in stores - and if it did, there would be noone there to sell it.  No gas, no gritters, no ambulances……….

People need to go to work in these terrible conditions – but think about who you are before deciding, as it’s not about how important you think your journey is, it’s about how important you know your job is.

Many eco friendly people will live near to where they work anyway – so a walk to work in the cold is going to be a million times better than a drive anywhere – and less of a drain on society during these hard times!

The Answer:
Stretched resources or reduced services? Neither is better than the other if you have to get to work – but there is a clear winner if you are not needed anywhere.

People not working, on a day off or who can work from home are the ones that can make a real difference in this whole thing.  By limiting their impact on the outside world during this stressful and very cold time, they can make all the difference to those who don’t have a choice.

So wrap up warm and go visit your elderly neighbours today – or snuggle up in front of the TV and watch a good movie instead.