Where did 2011 go.

2011 just seems to have been a blur. As I grow older life seems to go faster. Seasons come and go and best laid plans get pushed aside. Some of the years planned images for one reason or another are still to be shot, mainly due though to the unusually dreary weather we have endured here in the north of Scotland.

Frozen Planet series has finished in a blaze of controversy  whipped up no doubt by the media press trying to sell papers. Most of you will already know the story, the press calling the BBC for filming new-born polar bear cubs in captive conditions. Filming in this manner is not a new thing and if any thing is more open now than it has ever been. For me this excellent series, made headway into presenting and informing, bringing the frozen worlds of north and south into the living rooms of many who will never see the beauty, feel the extreme cold, or smell the crystal clear air.

Climate change is now only denied by the few, however there are still many that believe that human intervention is not to blame. That I personally doubt, but apportioning blame is both pointless and futile. Understanding the problem and finding a solution however is vitally important, as our world population is set to increase. With the world climate change summit eventually coming to an agreement and with many small but none the less important schemes in which to capture carbon, on the rise. I believe in that whilst not being able to stop climate change we can at least slow its rate.

Bears are have to spend more time in the water to move around make life harder and using up vital energy whilst swimming

Key to that in what seems to be a taboo subject (at least by governments) is our ability to control Population. At current trends this is set to increase by another 3 billion people worldwide during the next 18 years.

The U.K. alone is set to increase to 70 million during that time. The sustainable development group Forum For The Future in a report said, Britain would struggle to handle such growth. This large increase in population would be ‘catastrophic’ and put unsustainable pressure on housing, schools and hospitals as well as natural resources. If we fail to tackle the problem soon, then the longer its left the harder the task will be.

Of course there are some that say that nature will do the job for us, and that we will reach the point, when we are not able to provide life’s basic essentials for a large part of the world’s population, but do we really want to go down that route.

I am optimistic that we are not that stupid but only time will tell.

I’ll leave it there before being accused of going off on a rant, (who shouted to late)  but I wonder who we will apportion blame to, when explaining to our grandkids in 20 or 30 years time.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.