Blairgowrie & Rattray Hub Magazine - Autumn 21

In my view . . .
As I write this article towards the end of
July, sadly things do not look as optimistic as
regards the pandemic as they were when I
last wrote this column. For a time, it looked
as if about now all the restrictions that the
people in England had to endure would be
lifted and that the same would be true for
Scotland a few weeks later. However, as I
write this, sadly the number of people who
have Covid has grown and with it the number
of hospitalisations. However, thankfully,
the number of deaths is a small percentage
of what it was earlier in the year due to
the roll out of the vaccines. There is a lot of
discussion in the media as to what is the best
way forward, with some scientists predicting
that if we are not careful then the admissions
to hospital might end up in the thousands in
the future.
The UK Government want to make people
more accountable for the decisions that
they make, rather than using the law to
punish those who are being irresponsible.
But are they right or wrong in this? One thing
that we can be sure of is that we are living
in an age of unpredictability. Before the
pandemic, most people thought that their
lives were going to carry on as normal. That
life expectancy was going to rise and if they
looked after themselves and their health,
then they would live to a ripe old age where
they could enjoy a long retirement.
News & Articles
However, with the pandemic all that changed.
There was a possibility that anyone could
catch Covid and even if someone were to
overcome that, they could end up with long
Covid. Then there was the insecurity with
some jobs, where previously people doing
them had thought they would have those jobs
until they chose to retire. Businesses which
had looked secure were no longer that way.
People whom we thought we would see and
interact with for many years into the future
we no longer had that certainty about. And
as a result, people began to question what
were the really important things in their lives.
People also began to appreciate so many
things that they used to take for granted.
There were some who thought – perhaps
for the first time – what was life really all
about? The result of that was that many
people began to value their family members
and friends even more than they had done
previously. Realising that a life without strong
meaningful relationships was perhaps a life
half lived. Perhaps at the same time they
became less judgemental towards others and
more appreciative of what every relationship
had to offer. Perhaps many of them seriously
considered what they wanted to have
achieved when they looked back over their
lives. Above all, perhaps many people realised
that time was a precious commodity and that
they should ensure that they did not waste a
minute of it.
Ian K
But not all humans.
Don’t lose what you love
to climate chaos!
“It is human activity which is
destroying the biodiversity of
our planet and it is human
activity which is causing
runaway climate change.
In fact, it doesn’t take long to realise that
it’s a minority of us humans who have been
responsible for the vast majority of carbon
emissions.
Those of us living in industrial parts of the
world have burned the coal, driven the cars,
travelled on the planes and consumed the goods
which have released the emissions to such very
dangerous levels.
All the while, others in the global South have
seen none of the benefits but are living with the
consequences every day.
Bangladesh’s carbon emissions amount to 0.5
tonnes per person per year, compared to 5.7
tonnes for each of us in the UK.”
*Traidcraft Exchange.
The climate emergency is here + now in the
global North
Many of our local groups are taking action,
especially on biodiversity, but it needs all
of us to use fewer resources and “stuff”
as we don’t have time to waste! We can
also demand that global businesses and
governments are held accountable for their
severe impact on the earth.
Check your own carbon footprint
https://footprint.wwf.org.uk
Or look at
http://wwf.org.uk/carbon-report-2020
www.climatecafeblair.org.uk
info@climatecafeblair.org.uk
Thank you from Blairgowrie, Rattray and
District Climate Café!
Page 18 BRDT Magazine - Autumn 2021