Climate change in Britains backyard
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By Daniel Nelson
Apocalyptic warnings of melting ice-caps? Millions of refugees worldwide made homeless by rising seas? Forget it. If you want to mobilise the middle-classes into action on climate change, warn them of the threat to their gardens and the countrys stately homes. Persuade them to see Exposed climate change in Britains backyard at Hoopers Gallery in London. The exhibition of photographs commissioned by the National Trust hits home hard. Every picture tells a story proclaims the exhibition. But its not true: though the pictures are excellent, the stories they are intended to illustrate need captions. Dramatic storm photographs, for example, are neutral without the information that coastal towns and villages are already feeling the brunt of wild storms, with the effects made worse by rising seas. Fortunately, the text accompanying the photographs is excellent, too informative and to the point. And what points they make: * Increased flooding may force resettlement * There is no longer a permanent winter snowline in Snowdonia. ("Will Snowdon have to be renamed?") * Visitors to Studland beach in Dorset are bringing more shade with them to the beach they also need to be on the lookout for jellyfish and weaver fish basking in the shallows on warm days [and if you have never trodden on a weaver fish you cannot imagine how painful a development that could be] * British cattle breeds suffer in extreme heat. If we continue to have hot summers like 2006 we will have to ask whether we can maintain them. Even this far north, Andrew Poad, property manager at Broomlee Lough, Northumberland is quoted as saying, we may have to switch to Southern European cattle * Some farmers could have to change what they grow altogether The eight photographers show a country where the climate is beginning to change, where exotic new species (such as aeonum, native to the Canary Islands) are taking root and spreading, where beech trees are literally dying of sunburn, where ancient harbours look set to disappear. And, shout it from on high, two favourite pastimes gardening and visiting National Trust properties are in the firing line. For the people who look after our [historic] houses and their contents, climate change means more than rain and damp problems. Insect numbers in our historic houses are booming too. Historically important books, paintings, furniture, tapestries, are all under threat from the insect invasion. It gets worse. Many species of birds - the holiest of British cows - are at risk. At Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, nesting colonies of seabirds face increasing difficulties. Nests, eggs and chicks have already been washed away by the sea. Once word gets out that birds and back gardens are really threatened, politicians will have to act. So congratulations to the National Trust for organising this show, and for arranging for highlights from the exhibition to tour Trust properties around the country. But more should be made of this exhibition. Its good, but its too sterile, too passive, too trapped in a gallery perspective. It needs bolder display. It should be buzzing with school groups. There should be children running around trying to answer quiz questions about how, where and what climate change will strike. It could be a focus for action. * Exposed, Hoopers Gallery, 15 Clerkenwell Close, EC1, until 11 May. Info: 7490 3908/ gallery@hoopersgallery/ Hoopers * National Trust |
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