united kingdom
Where People Are: Hope and Fear
02/06/10 05:01
How do you engage
ordinary people in the need to prepare for climate
change? This is a problem the environmental
movement has struggled with for a long time. My
particular area of focus — climate change
adaptation — is new enough that trying to describe
what we do in this field can take more time than
more people have patience for, much less trying to
show how the field is relevant to their lives and
their children’s lives.
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Video: UK Rivers on the Edge
01/11/09 09:06
When we think about
great freshwater ecosystems globally, most people
don't think about the United Kingdom. The Yangtze
of China is probably closer to most visions of a
great river, or perhaps from a wild perspective
Lake Baikal of Russia or the Colorado river as it
passes through the Grand Canyon. But there is also
great beauty and wonder in small places — streams
and ponds — that may lack grandeur but are no less
moving or important. The chalk
streams of southern England and
northern France are precisely such places.
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News: Change Comes to the Thames
18/08/08 00:18
The Thames is a great
world river because of its connection to England
for millennia, to London and the City as agents of
modern history, and to its special chalk landscape.
I first saw the Thames last February, late on a
cold and windy night when I was full of sherry and
dragging a lot of luggage on a tour of the City. I
smiled into the thick, churning waters from a
bridge. “That’s one of your rivers,” my friend T
said to me as we looked down. I now smile since
we’ve just launched a climate vulnerability
assessment of the Thames. The report comes
in three versions. The best place to begin is a
glossy and very accessible summary. Also available
are a technical summary and the full technical
report.
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Devonian Time
25/07/08 12:20
The first modern
geological map was pieced together early in the
nineteenth century in England by
William Smith
almost
single-handed. He also helped standardize some
of the terms we use to describe geological
periods, which is why some of these refer to
parts of the English countryside. But in late
July, I found myself in the country of Devon,
thinking of Devonian time in a way that was
quite different from the geological use of
Devonian as I attended a countryside getaway
with some friends and their network of
acquaintences. Read
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Managing Water Managers
08/08/08 12:19
In London in late
July, I met a several people who represent
government and private bodies that “manage”’ the
river Thames. The UK government owns the water, at
least in theory, and this ownership devolves onto
private businesses that manage portions of the
watershed, including treating river water and
sewage and moving water to houses. It’s an old an
complex process, and there are a lot legacy (i.e.,
inherited and old fashioned) components to the
systems. For instance, not many homes or businesses
in the UK have water meters, so usage rates are
often estimated. Many much less developed countries
have much better metering systems simply because
they have newer water distribution systems. Also,
many of the facilities and pipes themselve are well
over a century old, designed for quite different
times and usage levels. Read
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The Accent of Power
23/05/08 13:07
Last month I
experienced perhaps my most interesting level of
policymaker access to date when I was asked to
speak at an embassy in the UK. Some 13 or 15
diplomats from across a large region were in
attendance. They had not asked me per se to speak
but they had approached our national office in that
country. Two freshwater staffers were planning on
going, and I was going to be arriving that morning
in London on the day of the meeting. So my
colleagues asked me to come speak as well.
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Leaving, on a Jet Plane
06/04/08 10:57
I leave for the UK
and India a week from today, flying about
two-thirds of the distance around the planet to
work on two rivers: the Thames in Britain and Ganga
(the Ganges in most of the rest of the world) on
the Indian subcontinent. Much of what I’ll be doing
in both places is just listening – hearing what
experts in each of these basins are afraid of, what
they hope for, what seems likely to happen, what is
happening. Listening is good work, and comforting
too. And it is very good to know and see people who
really “know” things. Read
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