Iain Dunn
Author, blogger, conservationist and sustainability campaigner. Founder of Earth and Leaf Community Interest Company. Lifelong experience and career as a livestock farming expert backed by excellent qualifications in agricultural sciences and economics.
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Green-washing isnt so Green after all
On Radio 5 this morning I realised green-washing isnt so green after all, 7th February 2024 featured a discussion on flying and private jets. A listener messaged in to say “Ive planted over 1000 trees so I will fly as much as I like.” Oh dear! My immediate response was; “Firstly this listener doesn’t understand global warming and climate change. Secondly, he feels entitled, although he plants trees which is good. Thirdly, has he planted the trees or simply used offsets or bought carbon credits.” Now to the 1st of March, concerning Drax Power station in Yorkshire. The first thing to say about Drax is it is counted as a…
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Sheep Farming Reform is Long Overdue
Sheep farming reform is long overdue in the UK. We have unique system that produces about eight million lambs for slaughter each year. This system involves 18 million ewes when just 8 million should be enough. Why? Tradition. We have what is known as a stratified sheep farming system. This is rooted in traditions of upland and moorland management. Progress in the new science of Genomics means we no longer need that system which would free millions of hectares of farmed land for other uses. Sheep meat consumption is falling fast so we no longer need those eight million lambs. This is the ideal time for sheep farming reform in…
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Time to Take Action on Nature Decline
It is time to take action on nature decline. A report today by the Office for Environmental Protection states; “If action is not taken England risks an irreversible spiral of decline in its nature” Here’s the report from World at One: Government remains largely off track to meet its environmental ambitions, finds OEP in annual progress report. It is time to take action on nature decline. 18.01.2024 Government remains largely off track to meets its environmental ambitions and must speed up and scale up its efforts in order to achieve them, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found in its annual progress report. The OEP report provides an assessment…
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Time for Another Agricultural Revolution
It is Time for Another Agricultural Revolution
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Global Warming and Climate Change – Despite all the Warnings
Have a look at this, despite all the warnings on Global Warming and Climate Change, little is being done. Everyone on this world has to reduce carbon emissions and do all they can to grow and rehabilitate rain forest in order to slow global warming. Tourist destinations of natural beauty only exist because of our beautiful fragile green globe. Then someone does this! The Mexican government has driven a huge railway through the Yucatan Rain forest. Its a crime against humanity if you would like humanity to survive rather than make a lot of money for a very few people. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240102-the-train-maya-mexicos-ambitious-new-tourism-megaproject The destruction of the Pantanal surely should impact everyone…
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Electric Vehicles are not the Answer
You will see in other areas on this site that the worlds headlong rush towards electric vehicles is not as green as everyone thinks, nor is it a solution. If you are an average family of four with two children and two cars you give up a car if you really want to make a difference. Replacing the worlds eight billion cars with EVs will add billions of tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere. It will destroy huge parts of the environment in Sumatra, poisoning water courses, the sea and the people with pollution from Chinese owned heavy metals mining. Of course it drives economic growth so we must rethink…
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Loss of Antarctic Sea Ice is at Crisis Point
How much evidence do we need on the loss of Antarctic sea ice? This is terrifying and will take decades to even slow down never mind reverse. I wont be here to see it reversed if that is possible, but we have a succession plan at Earth and Leaf. My fingers are firmly crossed. Less obviously, but equally important, is the diminishing Arctic sea ice. Shipping companies are really excited about opening up northern shipping routes which is a pretty good indicator of how much they care about the environment. Ironically this year’s Arctic sea ice is growing early in the season – this is simply normal variation which climate…
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Wildfires are Tipping us Ever Closer to the Edge
As I write there are over 2000 current wildfires in Canada. This is on top of those in Hawaii, the USA, the Amazon, Greece, Australia and many other countries. It will take 50 years for the Canadian forest to start to recover. There will be more fires next year. Every fire adds to the CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere. It is a self accelerating process. We are getting quite close to runaway global warming. If that happens, humanity at least is finished, rain forests will be completely gone, it has to rain or life cannot persist as we know it. It is estimated that the 2022 wildfires in Australia…
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Earths History – the Anthropocene
Earths history extends back for 4.5 billion year. For the last tens of thousands of years in the Holocene era, the atmosphere has been stable with a steady content of CO2. This common gas is incredibly important for life (plants) and as a thermo-regulator for our world. If the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere rises, global temperature rises. If it falls far enough, the planet cools enough to bring about ice ages. These processes normally take millions of years. Technically we are still in the Holocene however. Plants are also incredibly important for our world. They absorb CO2 and release Oxygen. In the Anthropocene we have inadvertently taken control…
