When we first lived at Roskhill - some 10 years ago - it was a delight to see the masses of white, yellow and purple wild flowers that flourished everywhere one looked. Today, while the grasses are as lush as ever, some of the formerly familiar flowers are absent altogether, and only bluebells (now dying back) and foxgloves (just opening) seem to be doing as well as ever. But the masses of ox-eye daisies have gone, as have the carpets of birds foot trefoil - with just a few small scattered patches of these flowers. I am yet to spot a spear thistle, white clover or a common spotted orchid, and while there are a few marsh orchids - they are a fraction of the size they used to be.
So, what has happened? I am no scientist - just an observer - but as we notice a reduction in wild flowers, so have we noticed a reduction in flying insects, and I presume the insects pollinate the flowers. So, no insects = no flowers. We are not killing insects here as the result of crop spraying or intensive farming. This surely has to be an effect of global warming.
Some reports say we have 15 years to reverse the effects of climate change. I say, we are already far too late. I was forecasting the end of the planet more than 50 years ago. My decision to never father any children was because of my vision of the future. I never expected to see the end happen so suddenly, and almost within my own lifetime.
Of course - the planet itself will survive. Indeed, once the human race is out of the way, nature will recover very capably. However, man's interference - by exterminating many species, genetically altering others, and relocating plants and animals to places they should never have been, will leave a planet-wide legacy that will be a change for ever.
Homo Sapiens is supposed to be an intelligent race. How wrong we are.
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| Common Spotted Orchid, Roskhill roadside, 2014 None here, 2019 |
