Climate change research

Holme Fen Posts, Holme Fen Nature Reserve

An interesting presentation to Cambridgeshire county councillors and staff yesterday about climate change and the size of Cambridgeshire’s carbon footprint, by some postgraduate students from CUSPE, the Cambridge University Science & Policy Exchange.

The county council is currently working on a climate change strategy to support its recent declaration of a climate emergency, and I’m one of five councillors on a working group supporting officers in drafting this strategy.

Two standout points from the presentation we heard.

  1. The need to increase capacity to distribute energy through the grid, for all those electric vehicles, and for domestic use by households which will no longer be on gas or oil; and the need to decentralise energy production.
  2. The importance of peatland – three per cent of the earth’s surface, but the largest natural terrestrial carbon store. Draining and agriculture have released large amounts of carbon over hundreds of years, and restoration of peatlands needs to be considered as a priority.

The image above is of Holme Fen Posts, Holme Fen Nature Reserve, and shows posts marking the original level of the peatland before drainage.

Image © Copyright JThomas and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

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