1. Last Winter 13 million people in the U.K. were unable to heat their homes properly.
2. Despite the current Government `s initiative only one in every hundred homes is properly insulated.
3. A huge amount remains to be done in this area if the elderly are to remain safe from hypothermia.
4. The current scheme of assisted insulation applies to homes with cavity wall insulation. However many older properties do not have any cavity walls to fill and thus remain freezing.
5. More innovative ways of home insulation need to be considered to safeguard the nation in times of harsh winters.
6. Proportionately far more people have died from the cold in our country than from the heat; thousands died from cold induced illness last Winter according to Age Concern.
7. Thus while effective insulation may reduce carbon emissions, it is primarily vital to prevent hypothermia.
8. The debate is ongoing as to whether we may be heading for another ice age or whether the Earth is warming.
9. It is important to consider both of these diametrically opposed options and to be prepared for all eventualities.
10. In 2007 it was reported that 40 per cent of the Arctic ice cap had melted. This caused wide spread alarm about the rapid onset of global warming.
11. However a recent 2010 survey of the Arctic ice has found that all of this melted ice has now reformed and increased.
12. It is important to remember that air pollution has been proven to cool temperatures.
13. The minute sulphur aerosols present in pollution reflect heat back into space.
14. Sulphur aerosols are also widely present in volcanic eruptions.
15. In 1815 there was a huge eruption of the Tambora volcano.
16. The following year was known as the year without a Summer as global temperatures cooled by nearly one degree Celsius.
17. Sulphur aerosols also can contribute to acid rain which can harm trees and crops.
18. Coal fired power stations now have to have a lot of this sulphur emission removed by scrubbers. Ways of removing the Carbon dioxide from power stations are still in their infancy.
19. The Carbon Capture and and Storage methods being investigated by this current Government are very costly and there is also the danger of explosions when the CO2 is pumped underground.
20. I believe a grave error has occurred in delineating carbon dioxide as a major pollutant. This is a very recent categorisation by Labour and I predict that one day it will be considered to have been a mistake. Carbon dioxide is non toxic and essential to all life and crops on our planet.
21. We now have laws to reduce our carbon emissions.
22. The EU directive has stipulated that many of our coal fired power stations must close.
23. This was mainly an initiative instigated by EU MEP s
24. However many experts are now worried that these closures may result in a serious ENERGY GAP.
25. This may result in frequent power cuts in the U. K. in coming years.
26. It is a worrying fact that power cuts cost lives and damage the economy severely. Even with the construction of many more wind turbines there is still a predicted deficit in energy production which is concerning the experts. During this bitterly cold Winter Drax Power Station was working flat out to keep the U. k warm and lit.
27. The EU directive aims to shut down Drax power plant completely.
28. The EU directive was based on the premise that there is an urgent need to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
29. However if the recent trend for colder Winters in the UK and Northern Europe continues then we will be in very serious trouble indeed.
30. There will simply not be enough power generated to keep us warm.
31. This I why Governments now aim to increase and improve on current home insulation schemes to save energy.
32. Historically the Earth has regularly plunged into and out of ice ages.
33. During warm inter glacials global temperatures have been as high as 68 degrees F in centuries past.
34. Currently global temperatures are averaged at 54 degrees F
35. We currently have ice at our ice caps while in previous eras there has been no ice at the poles at all.
36. So in the wide context of our planet` s history we are in a relatively cooler epoch.
37. The respected scientist Milankovitch has produced accurate mathematical models of how ice ages come about.
38. One of the main causes is the variation in solar radiation received .
39. The Earth`s orbit varies over centuries so that we receive gradually more or less solar radiation.
40. The Earth is also like a spinning top , Sometimes its wobble on its axis tilts towards the sun and the planet warms.
41. Other times the Earth wobbles away from the sun and becomes cooler.
42. According to the former chief scientific advisor Sir David King we are heading for another cool period according to the respected Milankovitch model.
43. It may be possible that our presently slightly raised Carbon dioxide emissions are stalling this process.
44. This is what Sir David King , now leading the Oxford 21st century school believes.
45. One has to consider all of the evidence before making hasty decisions to close down our power stations.
During the last ice age Manchester was under a mile of Ice!
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