The deadly power of Mother Nature
IT is with great sadness I read of two recent drownings in the M.E.N.
My brother Frank, aged 17, a recognised pot-holer/caver, and such a strong swimmer, built a home-made canoe back in the 1950s, which he strapped to his wrist to avoid losing it in case it capsized.
With his friend, he ‘shot the weir’ on the River Mersey at Heaton Mersey. When it capsized, his friend, who could not swim, somehow managed to reach the embankment.
They found my brother’s body exactly one week later at the weir in Northenden.
Our family and his friends were devastated, even to this day.
Please, never under-estimate the power of Mother Nature.
Malcolm Maginn, Macclesfield
Greenhouse gas is real
JOHN Douglas (Viewpoints. M.E.N, July 28) denies that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (but is upset when called a climate-change denier).
Almost 200 years ago a French scientist, Joseph Fourier, showed that something was keeping the Earth warmer than it otherwise would be. By the 1860s, Irish scientist John Tyndall had shown that it was ‘carbonic acid,’ what we would now call carbon dioxide.
Mr Douglas is attempting to cast doubt on very settled 19th century physics. He even gets the name of a later Swedish scientist - Svante Arrhenius (not Arrenhuis!) wrong.
We will deal with his ludicrous “evidence” on our website www. climateemergencymanchester.net
Far more serious than this sad distraction is the denial on the part of Manchester council and its fig leaf ‘Climate Change Agency’ that we are falling further and further behind the science-based targets they have kept setting with great fanfare and self-congratulation.
At the 90-minute ‘conference’ last Wednesday they declined to mention they were missing these targets, because the brief meeting was suddenly “about economic recovery”.
Nonetheless, Manchester used a quarter of its 21st century carbon budget in the last two years.
There is precisely no attempt to change course, to do things differently, or to alert people to the scale of our current shortcomings.
There is instead just the same smiling, glib and deeply disingenuous glossy advertising campaigns, continuing a decadelong pattern of gaslighting and bright-siding.
Perhaps, secretly, they are listening to Mr Douglas? Or perhaps they just can’t change course, because to do so would be to admit they had spent the last ten years taking (carbon) credit for austerity which cut their staffing, services and building estate. This, along with less coal and more wind being used to generate electricity nationally has been the main cause of the emissions reductions they boast about.
We urgently need a seventh scrutiny committee to investigate climate policy and its (lack of) implementation. People who live, work or study in Manchester can sign our petition on the council’s website. Everyone can share it. Together, maybe, we can get real action.
Marc Hudson, Climate Emergency Manchester
Save money for the needy
WHY, when the council are constantly pleading poverty are they spending money to open a bridge?
No doubt it will have a lunch and all the trimmings thrown in.
Just take away the barriers – it’s open. The money wasted could help a needy person.
Barrie Thomas, Reddish
Praise where it’s due
AS a care provider we work with local authorities in most areas of the country.
At a time when social care providers and commissioners seem to be forever ‘at odds’ I would just like to put on record how notable Salford council has been in this crisis.
Led by Cath Gormally, director of social care for the Salford Care Organisation, we have been impressed by the part they have played in navigating the pandemic and all its repercussions, by the clear communication that has been given and by the comprehensive package of support offered in pursuit not just of their responsibilities under the Care Act, but also in helping during an incredibly challenging time.
Charlotte Ramsden, strategic director people Salford council, is also worthy of a mention for the way that Salford council has sought to protect the incomes of those having to miss work due to infection or shielding.
All too often people will throw brickbats rather than compliments so a massive thanks from us, as a provider, for their help and kudos for a job well done.