After last Wednesday's lecture Mike Wiseman convened the first meeting of one of the first groups of its kind in the UK. In future the group will meet on the Third Wednesday of the month in the Grove Theatre. In an introductory presentation he outlined the issues of Climate Change and particularly the need for our way of living to become sustainable. He expected future sessions to be discussion based and hoped that we would prepare ourselves for the next session.
There was nevertheless a spirited discussion with few of us having prepared. Some of the problems were highlighted including the need to curb the growth of population which Mike said on current trajectories would rise from over 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050. A frightening prospect in itself, especially when considering that 85% of the world are very poor (income of 1$ a day in many cases) and yet as their people become educated they will inevitably seek our standards of living, with all that implies in meat and dairy production, heating ever more living space per person, cars and air travel.
Nor in my opinion, that of an atheist, does it help that society is pushing sick people to a life beyond dignity or meaning. My mother celebrated her 90th birthday by playing her weekly game of badminton at the Leisure Centre with the 'Over 50 Club'. She still had the hand control and timing of the pianist and made winner after winner with her wicked drop shots. But within a couple of years dementia was striking harder and she spent her last four years without memory, short or long term. Joan was first alerted when mum asked 'Tell me, did ... I ... have a husband?' A fond childhood memory from the war years is of her saying, time after time, aloud to herself, 'I love dearly'.
If the developed world does not cut back drastically on its carbon footprint there will be disaster arising from the struggle for resources, not least water. Strange to think that excess water causing sea levels to rise and flood low lying land is another side to the story. It worries me that the worst my kids have seen is the recession of the early 80's, which made it so difficult for school leavers to find jobs. I often think my life has been spent at the high point in terms of prosperity on this island.
We are often inclined to think of China as the problem, but they have achieved far more than any other country by their strict, some in the group would say brutal, enforcement of a one child policy. The implications hit us hard on our visit when we realised that two sets of grandparents share a single grandchild. A four to one population rate reduction in two generations.
It was nice to hear Mike admit that the planet maybe entering an orbit which would result in global warming anyway. After all in geological timescales there have been far bigger changes in say sea level than is being predicted for 2050, and they didn't have a human cause.
I probably gave the group the opinion that I was less than sympathetic to the cause, but I was only trying to emphasise the need to be honest (scientific/numerate) in evaluating the solutions. It's nice to think I can help by not digging my garden and releasing CO2, but I don't think that would make a lot of difference. In fact we in the UK represent only 1% of the earth's population, doing only a little each is necessary - small changes do accumulate - but it's just a drop in the ocean. It's a far larger problem than that. I personally go along with the Stern Report which said, as I recall, that the world temperature rise in 200 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution was only a small fraction of one degree, but there were reasons for expecting it to accelerate and increase several degrees in the next fifty years. How is this temperature measured? That being so, the report concluded we need to address the problem because the cost of acting now is cheaper and infinitely preferable to facing disaster in a few decades.
Exactly what will drive that dramatic acceleration I do not understand. But part of it is undoubtedly due the potential loss of the polar icecaps. To melt ice requires enormous heat inputs to provide the latent heat needed for the state change to water, but once ice melts its reflective effect (which transmits the heat back to space) will be lost as well, an
d that much more heat will be available to increase the temperature of the earth. But in industry I have seen too many mathematical models of complex systems fail to predict what was about to happen. But in a worst case scenario the big ocean currents, which are driven by the heat of the tropics and the cold sink of the polar regions, could fail. If we lost the Gulf Stream then we would revert to the normal temperature for our latitude,so the UK would have winters like the frozen north of Canada.
The view was correctly stated that the argument as to what extent global warming was natural or a consequence of human activity was clouding the picture, and too often being used as an excuse for inaction.
For my part I definitely don't buy into the consumer society. I have never forgotten 'waste not want not', which was ingrained into our generation. I hate shopping, so does Joan. We have a well insulated house and low gas/electricity costs for its size As an electrical engineer I reluctantly believe the only realistic solution to a producing bulk electricity with a lowering of carbon emissions is nuclear power (don't forget that's how the sun does it!!). As a world travellers we move around using scheduled local buses (plus a couple of long haul flight per year!!!), and even went vegetarian in India.
All that makes me feel good for I can argue that I'm doing my part. But come off it Brian, You have a very comfortable style of living. Yes, I am still part of the problem, I'm not even going to convert to vegetarianism, I love beef (even raw beef) and cheese. It adds up to nothing if 9 billion people live like me. But I'm not going to give up my comforts until forced to, nor is realistic to think the other 99% of the world won't want to live like us in the UK. But that is not an argument for doing nothing. Let's not be dinosaurs. We in the developed world must show the way and going nuclear would make a big impact, and big problems need big solutions. Let us also hope that the models are exaggerating the rate of deterioration, and we have a little more time to go till doomsday.
Just Musing
I'm in a good mood because I watch BBC 4 like some friends listen to Radio Four. Did you see that wonderful series on Wild China? It registers so vividly with us because of our travels there. Tonight I watched a program on Les Paul. Very special to me because the very first record I ever bought (age 12?) was Whispering, a demonstration of his melodic jazzy guitar playing. When I look back many things in my past make me shudder, but I'm delighted to recall my early taste in music.
Les Paul like pianist Nat (King) Cole started off in the pre-war jazz scene in Chicago and then moved to New York alongside greats such as the jazz pianist Art Tatum. Nat Cole could sing as well as play, but Les Paul squared the circle by marrying vocalist Mary Ford, and all three became hugely successful popular artists. Rock and Roll signalled the end of them as a popular artists and Les returned to his early roots of Country and Jazz, playing in small clubs. He was still playing well for his 90th birthday celebration.
Do those of you who prefer a different genre remember Segovia the Spaniard who, with the help of composers like Villa Lobos, demonstrated to the world that the acoustic guitar could produce beautiful classical music. Florrie Toft claims the same is true of humble recorders, but they have not yet gained similar international recognition. Anyone who heard the 90 year old Segovia play one of his very last concerts, in the Brangwyn Hall, will not have forgotten the experience. Clearly by then physically an old man, and a little down on technique, his unique guitar voice shone out and left an enraptured audience in tears of wonder.
Perhaps even more astounding is Les Paul's reach, because not only was he a brilliant musician, comparable with say Django Reinhardt, but a brilliant electronic engineer. He designed the first solid wood electric guitar after demonstrating the potential by fixing a finger board to a heavy block of hardwood just wide enough to anchor the strings and mount his own design of electric pick ups. (In early soundings he had favoured the notes made by steel railway lines rather than wood, but his mother convinced him that this was not a practical proposition). The guitar firm Gibson commercialised the ideas in their most famous, widely revered model. Thereafter almost everyone rich and famous, like Jimmy Hendrix and the Beatles, played Les Paul Guitars.
Having cracked the production of an electric guitar he started to use his early training in electrics to cut his own records, moving to a newfangled tape recorder he learnt to superimpose tracks one at a time, painstakingly building up a complete modern style hit recording.A technique which heralded the much logistically simpler parallel multi-track recording of today. Many of the massive hits of Les and Mary Ford were recorded by themselves in their own home.
HAZEL COURT
Chairman Bob, Cecily, Pat Herbert, Jan Phillips, Brian Davies and myself paid a them a much postponed visit. It is a well designed complex of 120 flats for over 55's in the location of the previous Sketty flats. It is jointly owned by the housing charity Family Housing Association and the Welsh Assembly. The attraction for us is the availability of a range of a pleasant modern rooms for hire, for half days and at attractive prices. It is an obvious venue for the activities of our Groups. The attraction is mutual because they want organisations like us to help develop a rich environmentThey will begin with by concentrating on their 200 residents, but once established they intend to open up to the Parklands/Sketty community.
Two rooms stood out. A pleasant quiet room for groups of about 20 which seems likely to be taken up by the revived French Conversation Group and Reading Group 4. Plus the large Craft Room with power sockets all around the walls plus wireless and probably ethernet broadband, It is thus ideal for computer based classes as well as the craft based activities like painting for which it was intended. In addition on the ground floor there is the Main Hall, with a large adjacent patio, which would seat 100 or more in a lecture or would be an ideal location for large social events or dancing. There is also a Hairdressers, a DIY laundry with large machines, a Restaurant with reasonable prices both for snacks and meals, and a Bar - though we did not see one, honest!
The minor drawback is the need to pay 13 weeks rental in advance which means it is only suitable for established groups or those fairly certain of continuity. We were the first organisation to be shown around, although others like Life Long Learning are following, and need to consolidate what we all believed would be a fruitful partnership.
WEDNESDAY LECTURE
Hidden Meanings in Holbein’s ‘The Ambassadors’, reviewed by Virginia Jones
The first lecture in Swansea U3A's 2008/9 season was delivered by Dr. Louise Govier, the daughter of Jill and Roly. Dr. Govier has spoken to the group before and her talk was eagerly anticipated. Her subject was The Ambassadors which was painted in 1533 in oil on wood. It has ben the subject of much scrutiny and discussion over the years, and gave rise to many theories about the occult measages which were hidden within it.
Dr Govier pointed out that this painting was done at a time of great religious and political tension. King Henry V111th’s court was waiting for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and the subsequent break from
So, does the painting refer to the troubled times, both religious and political? It certainly shows two men of status and power, illustrating their wealth and confidence. The room itself also shows great richness and expense.
The many objects in the painting are laid out in two layers – the top layer depicts the tudy of the heavens with the celestial globe, whilst the bottom layer depicts more earthly pursuits as shown by the terrestrial globe, book of arithmetic and so on. – saying also that the men are learned and educated.
However, the painting is also famous as an example of anamorphosis – showing things in a distorted way that can only be seen from a certain angle. The strange shape at the very front of the painting is in fact a skull, if viewed from the side at the correct angle – symbolising perhaps that, despite wealth and status, death is always in front of us. If this is also seen in conjunction with the crucifix at the top left hand corner, then one is also being reminded that the after-life is the REAL focus here.
Dr Govier went on to show us many other symbolic references in the painting – too many to mention here - but suffice to say that the conspiracy theorists have been kept busy over the years with ideas about cabalistic numbers and occult devices.
It is impossible to know if the artist meant all this to be read into the painting but it has generated a great deal of interest over the years.
This talk was a truly memorable one – the speaker was not only very knowledgeable but also erudite and amusing in her delivery. This was an exciting start to the 2008-09 academic year for Swansea U3A and we look forward to a year of equally memorable lectures and events.
No comments:
Post a Comment