August is often a month when people try to take a bit of time to recharge their batteries either at home or away.
Therefore, in this month’s Climate Column we thought we would offer items to choose from depending on whether you want to take time off from negative news and find positive stories, challenge your brain by trying to get to grips with climate data or go out and about.
Positive stories
National news, by its very nature, focuses on the short-term and often on what is going wrong in the world. If you need something more positive, then keep reading local papers such as the Darlington and Stockton Times which cover the positive things people are doing in the local community.
To hear about positive stories from around the world then try the "Happy News" podcast from the BBC World Service which provides a weekly collection of the happiest stories in the world, available free from BBC Sounds or try Positive News (www.positive.news).
Challenge your brain
In order to develop an understanding of what is going on, we would recommend this five minute read from the BBC which covers the role of CO2 and many of the claims raised by those who deny climate change (www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58954530) and a series of pages from the Royal Society which explain the science behind the answers to a number of common questions about climate change (royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/climate-change-evidence-causes/). You can now check the data for yourself with the new Met Office Climate Data portal via climatedataportal.metoffice.gov.uk/. This handy tool allows you to look at things such as sea level and UK temperatures past and future.
If websites aren’t your thing, then there is the relatively short book The Physics of Climate Change by Lawrence M. Krauss. Alternatively try Greenhush, a novel by local author Robert Thorniley exploring climate change through a story of young people leaving home to go to university.
Out and about
If you have something that needs repairing, then bring it along to our Repair Café on Saturday, August 12, between 10am and 12pm in The Globe Community Library, North Road, Stokesley. Whilst watching the repair taking place, have a drink and a chat then go off and explore the market town with its new riverside footpath. If you can’t make it to Stokesley then check out your nearest Repair Café at https://www.repaircafe.org/en/visit/.
As well as running the Repair Café, members of CASaV will be looking after the recycling at Bilsdale Show on Saturday, August 26 and chatting to visitors about waste and other matters climate related. Last year, we helped them develop an environmental policy - the first for an agricultural show? Come and say hello or visit another local show.
If you need to switch off completely why not follow the Bug Trail through Great Ayton by picking up a booklet and trail leaflet from The Discovery Centre, Great Ayton or download the free Bug Trail app from Google Play or Apple App.
See visitgreatayton.com/bug-trail for details.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here