[Note 5/2014: this section was written in 2006-7, and requires updating. In particular it seems to me that we in the UK have become an even more "throw away" society - going for cheap goods rather than quality. That's understandable - it's hard to gauge quality since brand names don't mean so much these days, and economics have been on the down turn. Small cars have got smaller and big cars have got bigger (and more gas guzzling, resource consuming). After some significant damaging weather, there seems to be a little more support to the idea of climate change, and maybe that it's something to do with humans.]

Introduction

Recent years [ed. note ca 2005] have seen increasing environmental awareness in the UK - with many TV programs and extreme weather events, including the occasional tornado. Two of the main issues are climate change due to global warming and over use of the world's non-renewable resources. The recent rapid increase in the earth's average temperature is now generally believed to be caused by mankind (this is termed enhanced global warming).

Some of the many other things which tend to reduce biodiversity and harm life forms include - acid rain, lower atmosphere ozone, land misuse (including individual and government development of green sites to concrete and tarmac), not forgetting land mis-management. Business pressures, demand for cheap goods and rapid industrialisation in developing countries are having a severe negative effect. In spite of all this it is possible for individuals to make positive changes. I hope you may find something interesting in the following pages ...