Transition Town HorncastleLincolnshire |
Last Friday evening 31st July, Geoff Stratford from Lincoln enlightened an assembled chancel full of Horncastle people about the reasons why the climate is changing and the effects that this is likely to have on our lives.
His lively talk was illustrated with graphs and illustrations from the Meteorological Office that showed how our industrial society emits greenhouse gases that trap the warmth around the planet as if it is wearing an extra fleece. 11 of the last 12 years have ranked among the 12 warmest years since records began in 1850.
Melting of ice caps, rise in sea levels and increasingly chaotic and strong weather patterns: floods, hurricanes, water- shortages etc are just a few of the worrying impacts that climate change is likely to have.
This is all very gloomy but there are many groups of people working to make our world a better place before time runs out. Two of them: Tearfund and Christian Aid, are run by Christians and along with other international organisations are calling on governments to ensure legislation to decrease emissions is taken at Copenhagen in December. This follow up to the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial international meeting and the more people can show they care, the more hope there is to mitigate the worst extremes of climate change. Call in the office at St Mary’s to get a copy of the Tearfund publication to find out how you can make a difference and copies of the Christian Aid Pledge in the Countdown to Copenhagen. Or visit Tearfund and Christian Aid.
Governments tend to consider themselves hamstrung by the financial considerations of business economics. But, if all us ordinary people get together, we have a much greater chance of persuading them to act. Horncastle now has its own “Transition Town” group, looking at what we can do to help at a local level in these challenging times. Call Laura Dunn on 525802 if you would like to know more.
Hello from Transition Town Horncastle!
Around 50 new people at the Horncastle Summer Market asked to be kept informed with our work and forthcoming events, so we wanted to make contact to say Hello and Welcome!
Our organisation has just started, and if any of you are keen to get more involved in getting things going at this stage, please get in touch. We have so far been meeting at each others' homes, but to include more people we will soon need a larger meeting place in Horncastle - offers and suggestions welcome!
Our first task will be to raise awareness of the issues of Climate Change and Peak Oil, and encourage people to come up with practical, local responses - on food, energy, transport, community, buildings...etc, etc.
If you are interested in allotments, landshare and local food, you may wish to attend a Horncastle Area Committee council meeting on Monday 13th July, 7pm at Horncastle College.
We are holding an afternoon workshop on Transition Town at Chill Out Day on Sunday 12th July (phone Alison and ken on 01507 526591 if you'd like to come).
You may be aware that the G8 are meeting. I encourage you to sign this petition to ask for a commitment to keep climate change below 2 degrees, as recommended by the IPCC. (Pacific Island States are asking for 1.5, Nasa Sciententist James Hansen recommends 1.7)
Thank you for showing such an interest!
Jenny Davey and Laura Dunn
To contact Transition Town Horncastle, Send Mail to Laura