vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page1 VillageVoices The local magazine for Boyton, Capel, Hollesley and Shingle Street. 30p where sold September 2014 vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page2 Dates for your diary Saturday 6/9 2.00pm Boyton Fete, Boyton Village Hall Tuesday 9/9 9.00pm Tai Chi taster ,Hollesley Village Hall Ali 411717 Saturday 13/9 Sponsored Bike Ride, Suffolk Churches Heritage Saturday 13/9 1.00pm Lifeboat Day Ramsholt Quay Sunday 14/9 Rounders Tournament, Sutton MH Wed 17/9 7.00pm Hollesley Gardening Club AGM, H. Bowls Club Saturday 20/9 1-3pm Macmillan Coffee morning 44 Ferry Road, Bawdsey 1-3pm Work Part Hollesley Community Garden Sunday 21/9 2.00pm BeachWatch Litter Pick Meet Boyton VH Keith 411409 Friday 26/9 7.30pm Quiz & Fish and Chip Supper, Sutton MH, Book 411530 or 384659 Saturday 27/9 10.30am Boyton Community Group, The Smithy. 411717 Saturday 27/9 11-5pm Shingle Street Tea Room Open Saturday 27/9 2-4pm Bawdsey Market, Bawdsey VH Sunday 28/9 4.00pm Harvest Praise & BBQ, Hollesley Community Garden Regular Events Day Time What Where Contact Monday 7.30 pm Yoga Hollesley VH Elly Lloyd 412053 Monday 7.30 pm Pilates Sutton Heath Sandy 410530 Tuesday 2 pm Welcome Club Marian C 411262 Tuesday Hollesley Bay Day Centre Eileen M 410340 Tuesday 9 am Tai Chi Hollesley VH Ali 411717 Tuesday 7.30-9.00pm Yoga Butley VH Elly Lloyd 412053 Wednesday 9.45 & 11am Pilates Hollesley VH Sandy 410530 Wednesday The Place Hollesley VH Neil Fox Wednesday 7.30 pm Pilates Sutton Heath Sandy 410530 Thursday Judo Club Julie 410483 Thursday 7.30 pm Hollesley WI Hollesley VH Gerry 411376 2nd week Thursday 7.30 pm Bawdsey Jazz Bawdsey VH Tony Pearson 3rd week Record Society 410353 Friday 11 am Coffee Morning Shepherd & Dog Friday 7 pm Whist Boyton VH Eileen M 410340 Friday 9.15 am Yoga Hollesley VH Elly 412053 Sunday 8pm Charity Quiz Shepherd & Dog (last) Please email [email protected] with updates to this information. Page 2 September 2014 www.villagevoices.co.uk vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page3 From the Editor Butterflies - Wall and Clouded Yellow by Eddie Marsh see the article Butterfly Summer on page 19 Hello again, September marks the year’s turn to Autumn and for many, a time to begin again: the next class up at school, a move to a new school or college or perhaps a decision to take up a new adult learning class. We welcome the new school reporters James and Bethany and their contribution to Village Voices this month (p7) and say a big Thank You to Daniel and Chelsea who have done such a great job sharing the children’s news this year Our feature this month (p 4-6) is on Climate Change - a subject that can be challenging and arouse different views. And another item (p20) about which strong feelings are expressed- Ragwort! On a less controversial note, there’s our usual variety of articles on wildlife, gardening, events and outings, local clubs and groups and more. Many thanks as always to all our contributors. I hope you enjoy reading this edition. Ali Crawford Editorial copy Advertising All three editors: Cheryl, Ali, Nick Gerry Bathe [email protected] [email protected] Copy on paper to: Laurie Forsyth 1 Rectory Road, 11a , Parsons Hill, Hollesley, IP12 3JS Hollesley,IP123RB Tel: 01394 411376 Please note that the opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the editorial team. Front cover: Fur Tree (sic), painting by Michelle Hoffner, exhibited at the Boyton’s got Talent! show. Photo by Ali Crawford www.villagevoices.org.uk Page 3 September2014 vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page4 All Change! Following the appalling weather over last winter, the US National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration (NOAA) has just announced that the highest-ever average global temperature was recorded in June, at 16.2 °C. However, there still seem to be some,including Owen Patterson, until recently Warmer seas, melting ice (Wikipedia Commons) Environment Secretary, who question whether such events can be attributed to climate change resulting from human activities. Along with many others, that debate has left me quite confused: how can there be such a divergence of opinions on the matter? Surely the evidence should be clear, one way or the other. In order to try to get to the bottom of the matter, I have recently completed a short MOOC (massive open on-line course) on the subject of climate change, run by Exeter University. What did I learn? Well, firstly and most importantly, that it is an incredibly complicated subject – not surprising bearing in mind it involves looking at the workings of the complete planetary climate system, in the past, now and into the future. It would be very difficult to condense even the short course, and that only touched the surface of the issues involved, but here goes. The climate on Earth is driven by the sun. In very simple terms, of the energy that reaches the Earth’s surface, part is absorbed by the surface and part reflected back. Of the energy radiated back by the surface, some is trapped by the atmosphere and re-radiated back to Earth. Without the effect of this atmospheric blanket, the temperature on Earth would be around 18 ºC below zero, rather than the average 15 ºC we have at present. The two most important greenhouse gases are water vapour and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is important because, although it only forms a small part of the atmosphere, it is a very effective greenhouse gas and is long-lived. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by around 40% in the industrial era, largely a result of burning fossil fuels and deforestation. In May 2013, 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide was recorded, a level not seen for 3 – 5 million years. Methane and synthetic compounds such as CFCs are also important but one that is often overlooked is nitrous oxide, which is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is produced by fertilisers and manures, fossil fuel Page 4 August 2014 ww.villagevoices.org.uk vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page5 combustion and biomass burning. The elements affecting the climate are inter-woven and there are many examples of feedback loops. These can act to exacerbate or diminish a particular effect. An example of positive feedback is the melting of ice caps: that exposes a greater area of water that is darker than the ice and which therefore absorbs more solar radiation, leading to increased melting. That is the basic system; so what is the evidence that human activity has affected the balance? The Earth’s climate has changed dramatically in the past. Some of the factors affecting the climate are predictable. The eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit varies on a roughly 100,000 year cycle. The tilt of the Earth’s axis varies over a period of about 41,000 years. There is a wobble in the Earth’s axis that has an approximately 23,000 year period. Shorter term variations are more difficult to predict. There is a shorter term variation in solar activity and volcanoes can be an important factor; the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, for example, caused a 0.5 ºC drop in global temperatures as the ash clouds blocked out solar radiation. Climate scientists take all these factors and produce sophisticated models run on vast arrays of super computers, looking to replicate the climate of the past as a way to predict the changes in the future. These models have become increasingly accurate, with the greater understanding of how the climate works and advances in computer technology. It is now possible to run models based on these naturally occurring events that accurately mirror earlier climate patterns up until the recent past. But here’s the rub: it is only when the factors resulting from human activity are included that the models reflect more recent changes in the climate. That itself should be good evidence that the changes are the result of human activity but the speed of the changes has also been unprece- dented. An example of this is the acidification of the oceans. Augustine Volcano (Wikipedia Commons) Oceans play a very important role in the carbon cycle as carbon dioxide is readily soluble in sea water (absorbing about a third of the atmospheric carbon dioxide and thus, so far, buffering us against even more dramatic climatic changes). The carbon dioxide reacts with the sea water to form carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is unstable and quickly disassociates into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. It is the latter that determine the pH, the acidity, of sea water. Various feedback mechanisms have kept the oceans stable at a pH of 8.2 for millions of years. Since industrialisation that has decreased to a pH of 8.1. www.villagevoices.org.uk Page 5 September 2014 vvsept1-20_vv20/08/201417:37Page6 As pH is measured on a logarithmic scale, that represents an increase in acidity of about 30%. It is predicted there will be a further change of 0.3 to 0.4 pH by the end of the century, meaning a 120% increase in acidity. This will have a devastating effect on many marine creatures as the timescale is too short for them to be able to adapt. So, what conclusions to draw? I would be the last to suggest that we blindly accept anything and it’s great that people are still questioning climate change.