News from Elsewhere

In March 2004 Ireland made history by becoming the first country in the world to introduce a comprehensive ban on smoking, resulting in the act of smoking being prohibited in pubs, clubs, restaurants and in workplaces.Importantly, this also changed how smoking was reported on in the media, with the conversation shifting to a scientific focus on the health implications.

Three dedicated carriages for bikes are being introduced on one of Scotland’s most scenic rail routes in a scheme which ScotRail says is a UK first.
The Highland Explorer carriages will be in operation along the West Highland line from Glasgow to Oban from Monday.
They can accommodate up to 20 bikes and bulky gear including rucksacks and ski bags.
There are spaces for ordinary bikes, a limited number of tandem cycles and an e-bike charging socket.
The route takes passengers through Loch Lomond and the Trossachs to Oban.

They’ve arrived!

Glasgow City Council have revealed its plans to build a city-wide network of active travel infrastructure for all parts of Glasgow.

Released as part of a new strategy to promote active travel, the plans will add 270km of high quality cycleways and improved footways along main roads in Glasgow.
Councillor Anna Richardson, City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, said: “Safety is the number one reason for people being discouraged from using active travel and in particular, cycling.  The existing network is expanding and the Spaces for People project helped show the appetite for change. By creating a network of cycle lanes and associated footways that reaches into every corner of the city we will maximise the opportunity for active travel to be the first choice for everyday journeys.

Richmond Council has commissioned an independent assessment to review the levels of air pollution in Richmond upon Thames since the implementation of the 20mph scheme in late 2019 and early 2020. The assessment has now shown that levels have dropped since the lower speed limit was introduced.
The assessment took place in three locations, Queens Road, St Margaret’s Road and Petersham Road, and measured nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels before the implementation of the scheme and once the scheme had been established. 

There is a box labelled “climate”, in which politicians discuss the climate crisis. There is a box named “biodiversity”, in which they discuss the biodiversity crisis. There are other boxes, such as pollution, deforestation, overfishing and soil loss, gathering dust in our planet’s lost property department. But they all contain aspects of one crisis that we have divided up to make it comprehensible. The categories the human brain creates to make sense of its surroundings are not, as Immanuel Kant observed, the “thing-in-itself”. They describe artefacts of our perceptions rather than the world.
Nature recognises no such divisions. As Earth systems are assaulted by everything at once, each source of stress compounds the others.