Ireland has been importing potato seeds from Scotland for over 150 years but amazingly the EU has banned them following Brexit because they do not comply with "phytosanitary rules". I thought it truly remarkable that the most virus resistant seed available to Ireland since the Great Famine does not comply with EU rules. And we pay the EU for the privilege.
I had a quick look at the objectives of COP26. The main ones are - lower emissions, stop coal, more EVs, more renewables, protect only those ecosystems affected by climate change and printing more money.
The biggest environmental problem in the world today is the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. The leading cause is cattle ranching. Banning the importation of Brazilian beef until the destruction stops would help save the rainforests.
But that is not on the menu at COP26. The modern environmental movement is not fit for purpose.
Temperatures from Met Eireann show that the 2020/21 winter in Ireland was the coldest for eight years. It's perhaps then not a coincidence that this week the Beast from the East returns, begging the question - is a period of global cooling rather than warming on the way ?
What is very striking from looking at these graphs is that the last three winters have been getting progressively colder with the 2020/21 winter colder than the 1981-2010 mean in most cases. Is this a long term trend ? It's too early to say but there are signs that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is beginning a neutral / downward phase :
