“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
This morning there was a sharp frost bought about by the stumbling jet stream bringing a mass of arctic air in, to sharply remind us that we are still some time away from summer, lest we forget that it still only the start of April.
Just a week previously there were abnormally warm seasonal temperatures and as is the norm the television and weather presenters were eulogising the above average heat, as if oblivious to the current state of the global climatic situation. In these temperate climes we are constantly led to believe that hot is good and that cold is bad. When you have lived somewhere that is nearly always hot the cold is something that does not seem unpleasant, especially when your crops have failed in a drought. Rain is often seen as a blessing and widely welcomed.
Just a few days back there was a quick shower of rain which deposited many surfaces with splodges and a fine layer of reddish coloured dust. A neighbour complained about the car being dirty. This had been carried up here to mid Wales from a warm southern air mass from the northern Sahara desert.
So this morning the frozen arctic air met with last week’s Saharan dust, on the roof of my potting shed and all whilst I was eating my porridge oats for breakfast. I was able to witness a global weather event as the frost melted and begin to wash the Saharan dust from the glass roof onto the ground where it will get absorbed into the soil.
This simple thawing event just showed in a few minutes how interlinked our global climate really is. I doubt whether the thin coating of dust will add any additional flavour to the green beans or lettuce in the vegetable garden this year but my taste buds will be attempting to sense some. Courgettes with a hint of Saharan spice perhaps.
The longer term impacts of these climatic weather events will become more extreme on the path that we are currently headed and will add more than a thin coat of dust into the lives of us all.
The weather in mainland has been a far more brutal which will impact much of the spring growth with effects that might not become evident until sometime in the future. These are all the signs of what is lying in store for us all in one form or another and whilst our maritime temperate climate might lull us into a sense of false security we would be wise to look at the signs of rapid climatic change all around us if we chose to open our eyes.
