This weeks email from the Gardening Telegraph is particularly
interesting as it deals at length with climatic change. I have copied
part of their email below to give a flavour of their weekly
contribution.

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

No, it's not your imagination: spring is actually arriving
earlier almost every year. Climate change in the past 50 years has
brought forward the season by about three weeks, from April to March.

Dr Tim Sparks of the centre for ecology and hydrology in
Cambridge, said no spring had arrived sooner than the season of 2002,
when the first frog-spawn appeared on Dec 10, 2001, and the first
primroses in October. Only a few reports have been received so far, but
spring 2004 is on course to beat 2003, which was also earlier than
average, and could overtake 2002.

Frog-spawn was found in Penzance on Dec 19 and primroses
have been seen in 24 places as far north as Northumberland. Both usually
appear in March. Snowdrops, which typically begin to bloom in February,
have been sighted in 15 parts of the country.

"We are in a period where records are broken constantly," Dr
Sparks said. "The 1990s was the warmest decade on record and plants and
animals have responded. It is undoubted that we have entered a phase of
climate change." Dr Sparks was speaking after the launch last week of
Spring into Science, a campaign run by the British Association for the
Advancement of Science and the Woodland Trust to encourage more people
to report seasonal indicators. In spring these include the first
ladybirds, tree leaves, swallows and bees. The information will help
phenologists studying patterns of the seasons.


a.. If you want to help report the seasons, contact the
association at www.the-ba.net where you can download a free wallchart to
help you monitor the first signs of spring.

Garden chemicals: time to check" Snip.....




Anyone wishing to obtain the Gardening Telegraph weekly email needs to
scroll to the bottom of this site
http://tinyurl.com/3gabw and find 'Click here for your weekly gardening
email'

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

In article ,
Emrys Davies wrote:
This weeks email from the Gardening Telegraph is particularly
interesting as it deals at length with climatic change. I have copied
part of their email below to give a flavour of their weekly
contribution.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Telegraph reader, I suppose.

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

No, it's not your imagination: spring is actually arriving
earlier almost every year. Climate change in the past 50 years has
brought forward the season by about three weeks, from April to March.

It may be news to the Telegraph hacks, but there is a whole month
(called February) that occurs between January and March. Strange,
but true.

Dr Tim Sparks of the centre for ecology and hydrology in
Cambridge, said no spring had arrived sooner than the season of 2002,
when the first frog-spawn appeared on Dec 10, 2001, and the first
primroses in October. Only a few reports have been received so far, but
spring 2004 is on course to beat 2003, which was also earlier than
average, and could overtake 2002.

It might help to know how spring is defined in this context.

Frog-spawn was found in Penzance on Dec 19 and primroses
have been seen in 24 places as far north as Northumberland. Both usually
appear in March. Snowdrops, which typically begin to bloom in February,
have been sighted in 15 parts of the country.

Aw, gee. My 25 year old copy of Clapham, Tutin and Warberg says that
primroses flower from December to May, and snowdrops from January to
March. I can witness this, from the time I lived in the West Country
and the times I have walked in late spring in the colder parts of
the north.

"We are in a period where records are broken constantly," Dr
Sparks said. "The 1990s was the warmest decade on record and plants and
animals have responded. It is undoubted that we have entered a phase of
climate change." Dr Sparks was speaking after the launch last week of
Spring into Science, a campaign run by the British Association for the
Advancement of Science and the Woodland Trust to encourage more people
to report seasonal indicators. In spring these include the first
ladybirds, tree leaves, swallows and bees. The information will help
phenologists studying patterns of the seasons.

That may well be true, but is not shown by the dumbed-down examples
used in that article.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 15 Jan 2004 21:06:53 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Emrys Davies wrote:
This weeks email from the Gardening Telegraph is particularly
interesting as it deals at length with climatic change. I have copied
part of their email below to give a flavour of their weekly
contribution.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Telegraph reader, I suppose.

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.


No, it's not your imagination: spring is actually arriving
earlier almost every year. Climate change in the past 50 years has
brought forward the season by about three weeks, from April to March.

It may be news to the Telegraph hacks, but there is a whole month
(called February) that occurs between January and March. Strange,
but true.

Dr Tim Sparks of the centre for ecology and hydrology in
Cambridge, said no spring had arrived sooner than the season of 2002,
when the first frog-spawn appeared on Dec 10, 2001, and the first
primroses in October. Only a few reports have been received so far, but
spring 2004 is on course to beat 2003, which was also earlier than
average, and could overtake 2002.

It might help to know how spring is defined in this context.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Cambridge academic, I suppose. :-)
--
Martin

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 15 Jan 2004 21:06:53 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Emrys Davies wrote:
This weeks email from the Gardening Telegraph is particularly
interesting as it deals at length with climatic change. I have copied
part of their email below to give a flavour of their weekly
contribution.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Telegraph reader, I suppose.

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.


No, it's not your imagination: spring is actually arriving
earlier almost every year. Climate change in the past 50 years has
brought forward the season by about three weeks, from April to March.

It may be news to the Telegraph hacks, but there is a whole month
(called February) that occurs between January and March. Strange,
but true.

Dr Tim Sparks of the centre for ecology and hydrology in
Cambridge, said no spring had arrived sooner than the season of 2002,
when the first frog-spawn appeared on Dec 10, 2001, and the first
primroses in October. Only a few reports have been received so far, but
spring 2004 is on course to beat 2003, which was also earlier than
average, and could overtake 2002.

It might help to know how spring is defined in this context.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Cambridge academic, I suppose. :-)
--
Martin

On 15 Jan 2004 21:49:15 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

If only they could read :-)
--
Martin

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 15 Jan 2004 21:49:15 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

If only they could read :-)
--
Martin

Subject: Gardening Telegraph weekly email
From: (Nick Maclaren)
Date: 15/01/2004 21:49 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

Really, these days I thought they read the washington post.
....Thinks for a moment...

Actually the person that runs the country probably reads noddy and big ears go
fishing.
--
Rhiannon
http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhiannon_s/
Q: how many witches does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: depends on what you want it changed into!

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in message ...
In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

According to the old joke:-

The Times is read by people who run the country.

The Mirror is read by people who think they run the country.

The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the
country.

The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.

The Financial Times is read by people who own the country.

The Daily Express is read by people who think the country should be
run the way it used to be.

The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think the country is run the
way it used to be.

And the Sun is read by people who don't care who the hell runs the
country as long as she has big tits.

"martin" wrote in message
...
On 15 Jan 2004 21:06:53 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Emrys Davies wrote:
This weeks email from the Gardening Telegraph is particularly
interesting as it deals at length with climatic change. I have copied
part of their email below to give a flavour of their weekly
contribution.

Well, it tells you something about the intelligence of the average
Telegraph reader, I suppose.

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.


No, it's not your imagination: spring is actually arriving
earlier almost every year. Climate change in the past 50 years has
brought forward the season by about three weeks, from April to March.

It may be news to the Telegraph hacks, but there is a whole month
(called February) that occurs between January and March. Strange,
but true.

Dr Tim Sparks of the centre for ecology and hydrology in
Cambridge, said no spring had arrived sooner than the season of 2002,
when the first frog-spawn appeared on Dec 10, 2001, and the first
primroses in October. Only a few reports have been received so far, but
spring 2004 is on course to beat 2003, which was also earlier than
average, and could overtake 2002.

It might help to know how spring is defined in this context.

In any context, spring is defined as starting on the day of the vernal
equinox. That puts it early in the third week of March.
The fact that nature wakes up earlier and earlier in the year is not because
spring arrives earlier, but a consquence of overall global warming.

Franz

"martin" wrote in message
...
On 15 Jan 2004 21:49:15 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

If only they could read :-)
--
Martin

I think they can read fine, It seems to be the arithmetic that's causing
them grief.

--
Martin & Anna Sykes
( Remove x's when replying )
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
snip
The fact that nature wakes up earlier and earlier in the year is not
because
spring arrives earlier, but a consquence of overall global warming.

There is a natural progression with a period of 18000 years if I remember
correctly, caused by a wobble in the earths rotation which mean that the
seasons really are slowly shifting.

--
Martin & Anna Sykes
( Remove x's when replying )
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm

On 16 Jan 2004 12:32:10 GMT, emon (Rhiannon S)
wrote:

Subject: Gardening Telegraph weekly email
From: (Nick Maclaren)
Date: 15/01/2004 21:49 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

Really, these days I thought they read the washington post.
...Thinks for a moment...

Actually the person that runs the country probably reads noddy and big ears go
fishing.

big ears *goes* fishing shirley?


--
Martin

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 15:30:19 -0000, "Martin Sykes"
wrote:



"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On 15 Jan 2004 21:49:15 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
martin wrote:

" What to do in your garden this weekend 17 - 18 January

Ignore the rain - officially it's spring

The Telegraph is read by the people who think that they run the
country.

Worse, much worse, the Telegraph is read by the people who do run the
country.

No, they read the Financial Times. Or the Scotsman :-)

If only they could read :-)
--
Martin

I think they can read fine, It seems to be the arithmetic that's causing
them grief.

Try comparing the recent government press release about the report of
House of Lords sub-committee on pensions and the actual contents of
the report
--
Martin