Wildfire, clouds and lego - a pick of summer reading
Plus the latest on river pollution, eco protests and blue jellyfish
Good morning! I’m Sarah Hartley and this is The Northern Eco weekly update. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed, or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.
Don’t pack your summer reading until you’ve checked out the list below! As it’s the last Tuesday of the month, we’re starting today’s newsletter with the latest book recommendations with a green tinge from Claire and Alan at The Wonky Tree bookshop, perfect for the holidays. (For news, scroll down the page.)
Fire Weather by John Vaillant
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
Description: In May 2016, a Canadian oil town was overrun by wildfire, turning entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and driving 90,000 people from their homes.Through the gripping story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores our relationship with fire, an energy source that has been our partner in evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping our culture and civilization. Now, in our age of intensifying climate change, its destructive power has been unleashed in ways previously unimaginable.
“Fire Weather is an astounding account of this century's most intense urban fire, and an urgent examination of humanity's future in an ever-hotter, more flammable world.”
You can order this book here.
Adrift by Tracey Williams
Description: In 1997 sixty-two containers fell off the cargo ship Tokio Express after it was hit by a rogue wave off the coast of Cornwall, including one container filled with nearly five million pieces of Lego, much of it sea themed. In the months that followed, beachcombers started to find Lego washed up on beaches across the south west coast. Among the pieces they discovered were octopuses, sea grass, spear guns, life rafts, scuba tanks, cutlasses, flippers and dragons.The pieces are still washing up today.
“A fascinating and gentle message about the horrors of plastic pollution.”
You can order this book here.
Cloudspotting for Beginners - Gavin Pretor-Pinney & William Grill
Description: Have you ever watched a cloud being born? Clouds come in all manner of shapes and sizes, from low-lying Stratus to high-flying Cirrus via roll clouds, banner clouds and tornados. This beautifully illustrated guide reveals the facts, secrets and stories of all the major cloud types, and how they shape the weather around them.
“Cloudspotting for Beginners will inspire curious minds with a lifelong sense of meteorological wonder.”
You can order this book here.
The three most clicked links from last week were:
Farmer in Skeeby loses thousands as sewage spills onto land
Yorkshire rivers contain 10 times the legal limit of phosphate pollution
Petition: Initiate public inquiry into unjustified executive bonuses in water companies
Protest watch
It looks like we’re in for a summer of environmental protests so we’ll keep a watch on them for you here starting with the headline grabbing Just Stop Oil group who’ve been disrupting airports this week:
When five activists who brought chaos to the M25 motorway were jailed last week, some thought the law had finally caught up with Just Stop Oil. But as this thoughtful BBC exclusive lays out, getting jailed was always part of the strategy. I’d love to hear what you think of these protests - the comments are open.
The trial of four Greenpeace activists accused of causing criminal damage to former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire home has been adjourned, reports Dylan Connell at the York Press.
A Just Stop Oil protestor from Newcastle was one of those guilty of Van Gogh Sunflowers damage, writes Daniel Horden in The Northern Echo.
Drax power station in Selby, North Yorkshire has secured a High Court injunction against would-be environmental activists on and around its site after a police tip-off about a planned protest camp, writes Kevin Glenton at the York Press.
Douglas Rogers says there’s lessons still to be learned from the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement in this article for The Ecologist.
“Five years on, whisper the name XR and you will draw winces from many former organisers, at least here in the UK. A messy middle-period, combined with the usual personal ordeals of activism, have given this movement a social signature comparable to Facebook, skinny jeans and Game of Thrones.
In the news
🔥 The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire will give shareholders a £300m windfall after a sharp rise in taxpayer subsidies boosted its profits for the first half of the year to more than £500m. Jillian Ambrose at The Guardian reports that the power station, which receives hefty subsidies from burning biomass wood chips, mainly shipped from North America, generated almost a third more electricity over the first half of this year compared with the same months last year.
🪼 Groups of blue jellyfish have been spotted on a North East beach after high temperatures in the water have brought the sea creatures onto the sands of the region, reports Patrick Gouldsbrough in the D&S.
💦 As we flagged a couple of weeks ago, North Yorkshire County Councillors were asked to vote on a motion to support the Save Our Swale campaign in its bid to get Bathing Water status. Local democracy reporter Stuart Minting was at the meeting where the motion received unanimous support - he writes at RichmondshireToday.
“The first part of the season was all about getting the Island ready for the breeding seabirds. We had an incredible team of volunteers helping to put gravel on the Roseate tern terraces, cut the grass to make habitat for Arctic and Common terns, and a host of small but vital jobs such as washing bedding and bringing people and supplies on and off in the boat.” Coquet Island seabird assistant Holly Pickett writes for The Ambler.
🪻Thirsk flower farmer Fergus Corrigan sees an ambitious future for Northern Lavender, which could include a shop off-site but, for now, he hopes to expand the farm to its full potential. He talks to Patrick Gouldsbrough at the D&S.
🌼 Thank you for reading edition number 84 of The Northern Eco. This newsletter remains independent, free unless you want to pay, ad-free and proudly reader supported thanks to paying subscribers. The main newsletter is sent out at 7am every Tuesday and wouldn’t exist without paying subscribers. Please do subscribe to keep it going - I can’t do it without your support. Thanks!
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