News from Elsewhere

Scientists say temperatures globally at highest level since start of human civilisation

Damian Carrington Wed 27 Jan 2021
The planet is now hotter than it has been for at least 12,000 years, a period spanning the entire development of human civilisation, according to new research.
The analysis of ocean surface temperatures shows human-driven climate change has put the world in “uncharted territory”, the scientists say. The planet may even be at its warmest for 125,000 years, although data from that period is less certain.
The research, published in the journal Nature, reached these conclusions by solving a longstanding puzzle dubbed the “Holocene temperature conundrum”. Climate models have indicated continuous warming since the last ice age ended 12,000 years ago and the Holocene period bega

Charity urges councils to back safe cycling infrastructure to provide cheap transport option

Young people are being hit hardest by the removal of pop-up cycle lanes, says Cycling UK. Highlighting that people aged under 25 are likely to be particularly affected by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the national cycling charity is calling on local councils to support safe cycle routes.
According to a YouGov survey commissioned by Cycling UK, 71% of 18-24 year olds – and 77% of students – say that the UK should make it easier for people to cycle by building more segregated cycle lanes, compared to 55 per cent of those aged 55-plus.

It’s time private cars were placed at the bottom of the transport hierarchy, writes Jon Burke.
19/11/2020

Britain will ban petrol and diesel vehicle sales from 2030 as part of a 10-point plan for a “green industrial revolution” to be unveiled Wednesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of…communities,” the late heroine of human-scale cities, Jane Jacobs, once declared.
This sentiment – with which I wholeheartedly agree – is clearly shared. Following the prime minister’s announcement that no new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be sold in the UK beyond 2030, I tweeted that Hackney would be ready to respond with one of the largest electric vehicle charging programmes in the UK.
But outraged Twitter followers were quick to remind me that “electric vehicles will not save us!”.
The uncomfortable truth is, when it comes to the motor vehicle, we cannot live with them, but we cannot – entirely – live without them.
Environmentalists are right to be sceptical of the latest government announcement. Not only will no single measure address the major challenge of our ballooning land transport emissions, but this specific one will have limited impact on the UK’s ability to hit the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “higher confidence” 2030 target of 45% fewer global warming emissions than 2010. 
It will also, manifestly, not address many other problems arising from our growing addiction to cars. But, environmentalists would be wrong to presume that the proposal is entirely without merit.

Simon Macmichael
Wed, Jan 27, 2021
Trips up almost a quarter in outlying boroughs as people switch to two wheels for essential local journeys and exercise

The number of cycling trips in Outer London has risen by almost a quarter during the coronavirus pandemic as people switched to two wheels for essential local journeys and exercise, with Transport for London (TfL) saying that there is evidence that the type of journey being undertaken by bike is changing, including for accessing local high streets.
Journeys by bike in Outer London were up by 22 per cent and in Inner London by 7 per cent in autumn last year compared to the previous count in spring 2019, says TfL, which said that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that last year’s annual exercise could not be carried out at the usual time.

School Streets could be rapidly rolled out across the UK as “the barriers to do so are low”, states a new study. Research for campaign group Mums for Lungs estimates that the roll-out of School Streets in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol would cut exposure to air pollution and road danger for 1.25 million primary and secondary students. The study found that School Streets – where through traffic outside schools is banned during drop-off and pick-up times – would reduce car mileage by over 71 million km per year in the four cities. 

This, however, is less than 1% of the total number of peak hour car trips per year in the four cities, so wider measures such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and Clean Air Zones are also needed, revealed research of schemes in the four cities, carried out by the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy and Transport for Quality of Life.

Large UK study found small pollution rise associated with more cases of age-related macular degeneration

Damian Carrington Enviroment editor
Small increases in air pollution are linked to an increased risk of irreversible sight loss from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a large UK study has found.
Previous work had already found a link between dirty air and glaucoma and a link to cataracts is suspected. The scientists said the eyes have a particularly high flow of blood, potentially making them very vulnerable to the damage caused by tiny particles that are breathed in and then flow around the body.

24 January 2021
The mayor of London should be granted powers to implement a ‘London vehicle ownership duty’ that would replace Vehicle Excise Duty, says capital business group London First and consultant Arup. 
The proposal is one of four ideas suggested in a report looking at how TfL could reduce its long-term circa £2bn a year funding gap (LTT 08 Jan). 
“Replacing VED for all vehicles registered in London would allow the level of tax to be set by the mayor”