Floods, Buds and Bugs

Of course, in the UK we cant imagine what flooding on the scale of a Haiti, a Nepal, a Bihar or a Bangladesh flood is actually like but increasingly flooding is a major issue here too.

Today, the UK’s environment minister, Elliot Morley, released a consultation paper outlining a new 20 year strategy to defend Britain against the effects of flooding such as that which occurred in 2000.

The Guardian reports,

Mr Morley said: “Climate change means we may well see more and worse flooding in the future…”

the consultation suggests ways to deal with the expected changes in our climate over the coming years,

Solutions range from bolstering sea and river walls to creating saltmarsh buffer zones in coastal areas and wetlands near rivers to act as flood storage areas should they burst their banks.

(That’s starting to sound like Bangladesh!)

Furthermore, recent reports in the UK suggest that there are changes occurring in what can grow and live in this country, soon hundreds of thousands of Parrots will be flocking wildly around the south of England. Exotic crops and plants are now growing in fields and gardens that wouldn’t have survived the colder winters of yesteryear. And there are certain types of bugs which shouldn’t survive those winters but now thrive in several self-sustaining colonies, again in the south.

I was at an early evening garden ‘do’ about a week ago down in London when I felt something delicately creeping along my arm. I looked down and to my surprise saw a mosquito carefully selecting a vantage point from which it could siphon off some of my blood. Now having lived in Bangladesh at various points in my life I was certainly no stranger to these pesky little vampires dining out on my sweetened bideshi heart juice but here? … in the UK!!??

Upon questioning, several Londoners revealed that this is not at all strange these days in the south of England. Well, at least there’s no risk of Malaria here… at least, I don’t think there is?!

[UPDATE: 03/08/04 - West Nile Virus detected in the British Isles for the first time - blame those darned mossies!]

[UPDATE: 04/08/04 - We had floods in the UK yesterday! and Londoners experienced today what the Dhakaites did just a week ago (but not on the same scale I must add)]

[UPDATE: 19/08/04 - However the residents of flooded out Boscastle may disagree!]

Floods

Rezwan, over at The 3rd World View, writes from flood ravaged Dhaka,

…Rich and poor alike are effected and they need food and water purifiers and some shelters. The day-laborers are the worst victims who seldom has proper housing facilities. Most of the flood shelters are running without any help or monitoring from the government. So far people the situation has not gone out of hand of the local people. But I wonder for how long they can sustain without proper and planned action from the government. There is an influx of flood effected destitutes across all dry parts of the city. I have personally helped a couple of them, but really that will not save them from misery. In fact collective efforts of government and NGOs as well as help from the non-effected are needed to establish more shelters equipped with food, medicine, cloth and other survival gears. Rehabilitation and repairing of the infrastructure damages would be another huge task when the water subsides…

(full article…)

But disasters (whether man-made as in Sudan or natural as in South Asia) are affecting millions of people all over the world right now, so if you’d like to help those who are being hit the hardest wherever they are then you may want to make a donation to The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, or, (if you’re in the UK), The British Red Cross.

Night Sight

Streatham in the Gloaming

Somewhere near Streatham Common…