Wildlife Suffering From Climate Change–National Trust
By Paul Homewood
Justin Rowlatt has also been trumpeting the National Trust’s latest extreme weather claims:
Wildlife across the UK is increasingly suffering the impacts of extreme weather events and natural disasters, says the National Trust as it publishes its annual reckoning of UK wildlife "winners and losers".
The conservation charity also warns some of the landscapes it cares for are being altered forever as climate change makes some forms of extreme weather the new normal.
It points to the very dry spring that saw wildfires devastate parts of National Trust estates in the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland and Marsden Moor in Yorkshire.
The fires destroyed habitats for a range of threatened species including golden plover and Irish hare.
Meanwhile our warmer, wetter winters have accelerated the spread of diseases such as ash dieback, causing significant loss of trees, the charity says.
This year’s settled and warm autumn led to a spectacular show of colour but that was brought to an abrupt end when Storm Arwen ripped through the north of the country in November causing widespread destruction.
It uprooted thousands of trees on National Trust land in the Lake District and destroyed hundreds of irreplaceable trees and plants at its Bodnant Garden in Wales.
At Wallington in Northumberland, where gusts reached 98mph, more than half of the 250-year-old oak and beech trees were uprooted.
"These extreme events are putting even more pressure on Britain’s wildlife", warns Ben McCarthy, head of nature conservation at the trust.
He says more than half of UK species are already in decline and 15% of wildlife species are under threat of extinction.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59757497
Let’s examine his three claims:
Wildfires
Rainfall in spring as a whole was close to average this year in England. Moreover there are no long term trends either up or down, which makes a nonsense of Rowlatt’s assertion that the fires were climate related, or that weather is getting more extreme.
Northern Ireland is similar.
Ash Dieback
The claim that “warmer, wetter winters” are accelerating ash dieback is simply not true.
Ash dieback is a highly destructive disease of ash trees , especially the United Kingdom’s native ash species, common ash. It is caused by a fungus named Hymenoscyphus fraxineus , which is of eastern Asian origin.
It has been spreading rapidly across Europe since its introduction there about 30 years ago. It has been present in the UK probably since about 2005. It was first spotted in East Anglia and Kent, and has been spreading north and west since.
Winter temperatures and rainfall have nothing to do with this spread at all, as the disease thrives in all climates, warm, cold, wet and dry.
Storms
Despite Rowlatt’s implication that storms are getting more severe, the Met Office data shows the opposite.
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.7285
We have known for a long time that the National Trust has been infiltrated by the far left, and every year we see climate propaganda like this published by them.
Justin Rowlatt clearly thinks it is his job to publicise this propaganda, without any need to check his facts first.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Does NT not have any stats on wildfires being set by XR arsonists – in pursuit of their Marxist/Green goals?
Justin Rowlatt talking to himself. “Facts? Why on earth check these? They might get in the way of my wacko beliefs and that would never do. I’d have to give up my nice salary and benefits”
Well, ash dieback’s definitely reached S Yorks, but it doesn’t matter, as the diseased trees near me will soon be ripped up in the name of “sustainable development”.
Diseases, windthrow, fire, etc. are common occurrences in forests through the ages.
The American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was almost wiped out by the chestnut blight. Native trees are able to survive from root suckers long enough to produce nuts, so forestry scientists have produced a blight resistant strain. The problem is how to reintroduce them into the forests. I found during my work in Pennsylvania, that the American chestnut had actually been replaced by the chestnut oak (Quercus prinus or Q. montana as those in need of publications have been messing) which looks remarkably like the chestnut.
Gypsy moth did a number on the oak species in the Eastern United States. However, it seems to have waned. Many oaks have survived and are reproducing.
There has been the Dutch elm disease which took them out earlier and now the emerald ash borer. I lost my large Fraxinus america to that disease several years ago.
Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, is a staple of the forest edges. In May the areas look as though they have white lace petticoats. Along came the anthrax which killed a number of them, including an old one in my yard. However, they are also coming back.
In most cases, the surviving species build up resistance to the pests or pathogens and make a comeback. Climate has little or nothing to do with this process.
Here is a climate result. During the glacial periods, the northern balsam fir (Abies balsamea) moved back and forth into the unglaciated Southern Appalachians. During the interglacial the southern Abies fraseri moved north again. The two met in the West Virginia mountain valleys and hybridized to form Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis, the Canaan fir which was found in Canaan Valley, Tucker County (in WV, Canaan is pronounced “cuh-nane”). Although this year I had to be content w/ a Fraser fir, I am going to have a Canaan fir for next year’s Christmas tree.
Very interesting, Joan. Perhaps way off topic but I can add some tales to this. I am in Eastern WV and surrounded by the oak forest you mention, which is protected National Forest. I used to maintain trails therein and during the Gypsy moth attack it sounded like rain but it was caterpillar droppings!
I am not far from Canaan Valley WV, which is a wonder. Above it lies Dolly Sods which at 4,000 feet is an alpine wilderness. This is the height of land between the Atlantic and Mississippi watersheds. I did a lot of research there on beaver behavior.
Unlike our simple earth dams, theirs are complex structures. This plus a lot of other wildlife observation led me to formulate a theory of animal behavior according to which instincts are inherited expert knowledge. My theory is articulated at length here: http://horsecognition.blogspot.com/
which is mostly about critters other than horses.
Lots of bird stuff, for example. My favorite is that baby birds know when and how to hide. My method is to ask what a robot would have to “see and know” in order to do what the animal does. Turns out animals lead complex lives that we do not understand.
Will go read at your post. Thanks.
My place reference in the comment below is to the same Longitude as Canaan Valley but 150 miles north.
I am afraid my write up is about 30,000 words, written over four years. Bit of a book actually.
I practically grew up on Dolly Sods. We camped and picnicked there when I was a child. We picked blueberries and cranberries. My MA thesis (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) was “The Flora of Alder Run Bog, Tucker County, West Virginia” in 1969. Earl Core was a family friend and my mentor as an undergraduate.
Perhaps you can answer what happened to the beaver on Dolly Sods. There was a large dam at Alder Run Bog (near the campground/picnic area) that was there all my life until the late 1970’s when a storm took it out. The beaver never returned. Several years ago I introduced the area to a graduate student from the Univ. of Arkansas. I even met her one rainy June day to go over the bog w/ her. The changes are immense due to the lowered water table. She told me that the pond was out at Fisher Spring also. Need the beaver back.
You might consider coming to the WV Wildflower Pilgrimage held over Mother’s Day Weekend. Go to the DNR website. I have been a botanical leader for 39 years and do a tour on both Friday (Fernow Federal Experimental Forest) and Saturday (Dolly Sods). There are many tours from which to choose on each day. The headquarters is Blackwater Falls State Park. 2020 was cancelled. Last year it was at Canaan as Blackwater lodge was undergoing renovation. I did not go as they said we had to wear a mask except when putting a spoon in our mouth at meals and even in our own car. I said, “nuts to that”. I hope sanity has returned this year.
Ironically, our green ashes – F. pennsylvanica – are doing quite well around here.
Maybe it is the “warmer climate”. Hee, hee.
We have both Fraxinus americana and pennsylvanica here.
EVERYTHING has been infiltrated by the “far Left” there is no getting away with it, these ignorant morons what to scare the rest of us into running “off the edge of our planet”! and leave them to destroy it as they want ! Why anybody gives these people oxygen is beyond me !!!!
Justin “Liar, liar, pants on fire” Rowlatt. He has gone far in the BBC for someone with no relevant qualifications (the usual waste of space PPE).
Remember that Cordellia Rowlatt, sister of Justin Rowlatt, is an XR nutter.
A definite family resemblance, nutterwise.
The most important weather extreme for wildlife, the one never mentioned on the BBC, is winter coldwaves, now drastically better in recent decades than before:
Yes that gap between 1990 and 2010 is very obvious and drives much if the increase in average temperatures.
Swedish wildlife is also laughing at their equivalent of the BBC (Greta Broadcasting Corporation?):
I note from the headline foto “Wildfire raging in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland, April 2021”, Not a lot of “rage” on display in that foto taken at night of course to make it look worse. IF this is all about “the science” why does the BBC need to sex it up with provocative and emotional language? It is clear they are incapable of just telling the news anymore. Also it is clear they actively provide themselves as a channel for any climate porn from any source promoting any thing which supports the marxism masquerading as a religion. And they do promote absolutely any tenuous poorly researched garbage and when challenged say “we are just reporting the news. It is profoundly clear that they only quote from one side of the argument. That makes them guilty.
When was the last time you heard the BBC TELLING GOOD NEWS for example about the year on year record food harvest which is feeding the exponentially growing human population explosion in S America and Africa which they also seem to have a problem reporting about?
That the new DG has not picked up on any of this wilful bias and that shows that he is just a patsy. He is there to make noises the right noises while the rest of the marxists just go about their usual business unfettered by truth and impartiality.
Some years ago the BBC decided that they would not air the views of any scientist, meteorologist, or expert, no matter how qualified if he or she held the view that there was no such thing as global warming. A decision which would have profound detrimental effects on the decision making of vast numbers of gullible government officials, and so called experts on the subject like the Climate Change Committee who saw the scam as a means for making money .This far reaching decision which was contrary to the BBCs mandate has lead me to believe that they have been totally responsible for spreading the one sided view on global warming across the world. A catastrophic and unlawful decision which has led to such life changing decisions for all of us taken by governments with catastrophic consequences such as banning petrol cars; knocking down vital power stations and bringing the nation to fuel crisis and terrifying millions of low income families who will be unable to pay their energy bills; banning fracking and condemning the use of oil on which our lives depend and continue to depend, and much much more. .After 25 years there is nothing that the GW fanatics can show for their scaremongering, and clearly the public are beginning to see the scam for what it is. The BBC now have to fabricate stories to continue with their unfounded position. Any government worth its name should insist that the opposing view on the subject should be heard loud and clear. Why, if they believe they are right are they afraid of debating what is the most far reaching subject ever to have entered the lives of every person in the world, and why in their ignorance of the science should they believe some scientists and not others? The government should insist that the BBC do their job properly and not be allowed to adjudicate politically on matters on which they are not qualified. They should listen to the views of qualified sceptics and let the public come to their own decisions on the subject rather than the left wing reporters in the unqualified BBC. This would certainly lead to bringing the nations governments to thinking that they have perhaps gone too far in accepting the one sided view of our main broadcaster to the world.
A very perceptive comment George – thank you for this – the BBC of course has no logical response to this and neither does the bulk of other MSM but there are now no (few) journalists who hold the media to account or prepared to face the wrath of group think
40 years ago while at University I strongly made a comment, in the cafeteria, that ‘Clear cutting’ should be banned to save our forests and protect the wildlife . . . A senior in Forest Engineering angrily stepped in and said . . . Clear cutting, in the future, acts as a ‘Fire Stop’ in the forests which aids in fire suppression . . . I guess this lesson has still NOT been learned.
Science and Common Sense, I guess, always takes a back seat to anguish from the left !
I apologise for this off-topic link — https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/demand-for-north-sea-windfall-tax-5f3l8z2p0 — but as a piece of rank hypocrisy this must be in a class of its own.
“ Dale Vince, founder of the renewable energy provider Ecotricity, yesterday called for oil and gas producers which have made large profits from the surge in wholesale prices to help to pay the bill for companies that have collapsed under the strain.”
Perhaps he could start by forgoing some of his subsidies!
Sometimes anguish needs to be Rudely put in it’s place or it becomes the ruling doctrine.
These imported diseases make for sad stories.
RE: Joan Gibson – above
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania when many of the American Chestnuts were still standing but dead long enough that the bark was gone. The area also had Hickory (nut trees) and squirrels used the holes in the Chestnuts as storage areas and nests.
Numerous Chestnuts were carried west of the Rocky, Sierra, and Cascade mountains and have grown to maturity. A few places offer nuts as retail sales.
In Eastern North America, both breeding and genetic programs are being used to create a tree that is resistant to the pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica.
It took about 50 years to move though the forests from New England to the hills in northern Alabama and Mississippi.
https://forestpathology.org/canker/chestnut-blight/
Predatory pets and our wildlife population – Which …
[Search domain conversation.which.co.uk] https://conversation.which.co.uk › home-energy › pets-killing-wildlife-keep-cats-out-of-your-garden
The survey suggests that over five months, British cats killed 57.4 million mammals, 27.1 million birds and 4.8 million reptiles and amphibians. The survey leaves plenty of questions unanswered, but there’s no denying that this is slaughter on a pretty massive scale.
Yes cats are undoubtedly one of the main problems for wildlife in the UK, far more damaging than a small change in an average temperature. In my part of London we now seem to have fewer cats, more foxes and a slight increase in small birds.
Don’t forget the rewilding nutters who want to take things back to the early Middle Ages with wolves, bears etc and who want more raptors such as red kites who not only take young livestock but will also eat other birds.
Yes I’m all in favour of more wildlife but you don’t just introduce apex predators! You have to ensure you have sufficient prey/food at every level first. But these idiots like Monbiot don’t know the first thing about anything. They live in a Groupmind for every issue.
Funny thing is though I do not have a cat my garden is a stomping ground for at least five cats from neighbouring homes. However, I also have lots of slow worms which are allegedly an endangered species and heavily predated upon by cats. I personally find slow worms quite cute but they scare the hell out of most others around here when they see them!
“The survey suggests that over five months, British cats killed 57.4 million mammals, 27.1 million birds and 4.8 million reptiles and amphibians. The survey leaves plenty of questions unanswered, but there’s no denying that this is slaughter on a pretty massive scale”
There is now a commonality about public funded Organisations which clearly follow an agenda which could be attributed to the Common Purpose movement which is claimed to have been based upon Action Centered Leadership . This training scheme was devised at Sandhurst for Army training . It may be coincidence , but the similarity of the views of Quango chiefs in Uk reminds one of the homily , if it walks and talks like a duck!
Here on Anglesey ash dieback did look like it was accelerating this spring, however, the tree guru’s I spoke with made the observation that the dry period we had had been the main reason that the canopy was depleted and made it look like dieback was accelerating, this can happen at any time, in fact the previous summer quite a few trees (oaks, firs) on the rib of rocky ground in our garden lost foliage during a month of dry weather, not dieback. Just crossed the M62 last week and the reservoirs were brimming, a few months earlier the False Broadcasting Corp were predicting drought! Its just the planets wonderful variable weather.
Climate change and cryptocurrency make make Ponzi look like an amateur.
Dr Tim Ball – Historical Climatologist
Book: ‘The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science’
Book: ‘Human Caused Global Warming, the Biggest Deception in History’
https://www.technocracy.news/dr-tim-ball-on-climate-lies-wrapped-in-deception-smothered-with-delusion/
Brilliant thank you for the link . . .
You might like this piece . . . I sent it to over 150 editorialists and journalists . . . NOT even ONE requested data or confirmation of a single piece of information . . . I guess they must have all been co-conspirators with ‘The Big Green Propaganda Machine’ . . . ??
ttps://www.academia.edu/62574334/Tesla_Versus_Toyota_Camry
Or . . .
https://www.academia.edu/64085546/Electric_Cars_The_Untold_Story_
OOPS . . . didn’t come through . . .
https://www.academia.edu/62574334/Tesla_Versus_Toyota_Camry
thank you…….NATIONAL TRUST SUFFERING FROM CLIMATE WARMING!! FROM TREVOR IN NEW ZEALAND. OR SHOULD IT BE…CLIMATE CHANGING??
On Thu, Dec 30, 2021 at 1:49 AM NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT wrote:
> Paul Homewood posted: “By Paul Homewood Justin Rowlatt has also been > trumpeting the National Trust’s latest extreme weather claims: Wildlife > across the UK is increasingly suffering the impacts of extreme weather > events and natural disasters, says the N” >
‘Suffering’ is a journalist (finest kind) word meaning, “If that were me, I’d be suffering.”
Evidence of suffering animals is absent from the article.
Here in the U.S., we get them all the time in advertisements for the national ASPCA. (Local SPCAs do good work.) They show cold and starving dogs. I scream at the TV, “Give them some damn food! Quit filming and help them!”
There are two American chestnuts on my golf course. Probably remnants of an orchard, as there are lots of C. illinoinensis around.
They fruit heavily every year. Unfortunately, one is about 25′ high, and the other 30′. I expect the blight to get them very soon. They usually don’t survive to 30′.
If you want a distraction I suggest you write to your local woodland Trust and ask for their wildfire prevention strategy.
They leave all the dead wood and off cuts lying around they don’t tidy up the undergrowth and then get quite amazed when a careless visitor sets light to the tinderbox.
god, he’s worse than Harrabin! Complaint (again)
So these “extreme events” consist of one winter storm? That in one place uprooted some trees and damaged bizarrely “irreplaceable” plants.
Are we supposed to believe we’ve never before had a storm that uprooted trees?
Back in 1987, down here in darkest Kent, I went 15 days without electricity following the 15th October storm. Interestingly that event was not really that uncommon and the only really different thing was that it occurred in the south of England so was readily televised.
Funny how nobody started claiming it was all due to climate change back then.
And of course this is the usual human-centric nonsense that calls one species a disease and another a treasure. But to nature its all the same.
There is a word for it: speciesism.
Yep, the National trust, it never recovered from the time ghosh became common purpose boss, global warmunist loonytoons is the cause now.
Could ofcom be asked to comment on this