The tangled web we weave

As we reach the end of 2021, I am reflecting upon a year when the weather has been anything but normal. The previous Winter wasn’t particularly stormy, then Spring was cool and dry, Summer was hot (by our standards!), and Autumn actually lasted longer than 24 hours, with the added bonus of some welcome colour to it. As I write, we’ve already had several storms of this Winter and the early December snows appeared on time. That much, at least, is usual.

The birds which visit the county to breed in Spring and Summer, and those which use Orkney as a pitstop on their journeys to Southern Europe and Africa, are now long gone. Our Winter visitors have arrived: Redwings and Fieldfares tseep-ing and chack-ing their way through the shorter days; Long-tailed Ducks and Little Auks adding a frisson of excitement to our coastal walks; and Whooper Swans, Pink-footed Geese and Barnacle Geese grazing in the fields. Around our shores, the Grey Seal pupping season is now on the wane for this year, there is still the occasional cetacean sightings being reported, and the Fulmars have returned to the cliffs after their usual brief absence.

These phenological happenings of Nature’s calendar are some comfort to us in an uncertain world, we find pleasure in sharing a wildlife moment and mindfulness through sitting and watching the going-on. But we should be aware that this calendar is a finely-tuned, interconnected structure, easily knocked out of whack by a period of unexpected weather, the sudden loss of a foraging site or a safe place to roost. These are the consequences of climate change, habitat loss and uncontrolled development, otherwise known as 'sharing the planet with humans'.

'Sharing'... oh my word! We won't be satisfied until we have the whole pizza, every last crumb, even if the toppings are concrete and micro-plastic, seasoned with radioactive dust. 

The global pandemic has us all wishing for a return to normal, to go back to doing things the usual way, but I think this risks missing the even larger picture of the Anthropocene. If, as a species, we do not get a grip of our overconsumption and live more sustainably, there will no longer be a ‘normal’.

I was impressed by a recent talk in the Orkney Theatre by Doug Allan, the wildlife cameraman. Yes the photography and filming were stunning, yes, the Polar Bear cubs were cute, and yes, the antics of the penguins were lovely to see. But Doug went further. In a career spent largely in the Arctic and Antarctic, he has seen first-hand, perhaps more than any of us, the effects of climate change on the wildlife which he and we adore. His message was simple: we have to change our behaviour for the sake of the planet. We can buy less ‘stuff’, we can recycle more and we can stop throwing plastic into the environment. It isn’t a popular message, not least before the festive season, but if not now, then when?

Santa may exclaim "Ho, ho, ho!", but the carbon footprint of Christmas is way too high, high, high. I don't want to be a Scrooge and mutter "No, no, no!" but consumption needs to be low, low, low (apparently, the cattle in the natal stable can help with this?).

This year, I am trying to reduce the effects of my festive habits. Admittedly, all those bottles are recyclable, but I need to take further steps. So, gifts are more sustainable, old wrapping paper is being re-used and I am attempting to ditch the sticky tape in favour of good old-fashioned string. Perhaps this is what's meant when the future of the planet is described as a knotty problem?