EcoWarriorMe

Do you remember the weather last December? Some of it wasn't pretty, such as Storm Deirdre.  In case you have forgotten, the Met Office's report states the following impact: Freezing rain caused treacherous conditions and multiple traffic accidents, particularly on the M74 and across southern Scotland, and the A66 across the North Pennines was closed. There were further traffic incidents across parts of England and Wales, reports of fallen trees and several hundred homes without power across parts of Wales and Scotland. Planes had to abort landings at Manchester Airport due to strong crosswinds. And here are some contemporary reports: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/15/storm-deirdre-batters-britain-snow-freezing-rain https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46574942 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/16/storm-deirdre-set-to-ease-after-snow-and-gales-wreak-havoc In short, not a great few days to be out and about. Was this a one off or more typical

Many people oppose genetically modified crops. There is fear that s plicing genes from one species in to another will, for example, turn ordinarily benign rice in to a ravaging carnivorous organism akin to Wyndham's triffids. While that may be an exaggeration, there are good reasons to, if not fear, at least be wary of creations made by artificially changing or combining genes. Concerns mainly fall in to one of the following categories: unforeseen or unintended impacts on stable ecosystems; control of seeds by powerful agri-corporations limiting farmers' ability to grow the crops; or adverse health effects from unnatural Franken-foods. Let us consider the first category, which has the biggest potential impact on the environment. Crops have been genetically modified for a number of reasons, all with the aim of increasing yield. Increased yield is not a bad thing but at what cost. One method is to improve resistance of plants to pesticides, meaning that more pest