A temporary railway station opened today in flood-hit Workington to reconnect both sides of the River Derwent after recent flooding damaged road bridges and effectively split the Cumbrian town in two, causing problems with travel and freight access.
Construction on the new temporary railway station ‘Workington North’ began last week.
Until now the quickest way from south to north Workington—and the only way over the river—has been via train which next stops at Flimby four miles away.
Record downpours ten days ago flooded 1,300 homes and caused extensive damage to local infrastructure.
The army is building a new footbridge across the River Derwent to open on Saturday 5 Dec. The 80m long prefabricated steel bridge is being constructed by 200 Royal Engineers from Tidworth, Wiltshire. This is the first time Territorial Army personnel have been included in such a project.
While extreme weather events such as those seen over the past few weeks are expected to become more frequent as climate change gathers momentum, a range of environmental groups are this week seeking to put forward their agenda ahead of next week’s climate change negotiations at Copenhagen in December. Amongst them The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) warned today that zoos and aquariums will become the last places on Earth to see species such as polar bears and coral if negotiations fail in Copenhagen.
Over 200 zoos belonging to the WAZA have signed a petition calling on governments to set targets of atmospheric carbon dioxide below 350ppm to avoid the possibility of mass extinction.
Scientists and conservationists, including Sir David Attenborough, agreed at a crisis meeting in July 2009 that coral reefs undergo irreversible damage beyond the 350ppm boundary.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) economics and climate change team release a report on Tuesday that estimates the global carbon budget for 2000-2050 needed to meet the 2oC trajectory.
The report ranks the achievement of G20 nations to date and their distance to go against carbon reduction targets.
Against these estimates PwC says one fifth of the global carbon budget for the first half of the century was used in just eight years, and the rate of carbon intensity reduction now needed is four times the annual rate achieved between 2000-2008. The report includes updates following announcements from China and the US in November, and estimates the current overall global carbon debt.
We certainly need to get serious about combatting climate change – and quickly. I hope that everyone reading this will consider joining me and attending “The Wave” march in London (also in Glasgow) this Saturday (5th Dec). Starts from Grosvenor Square at midday. I’m 54 and it’s the first time I’ve been on a march but we really do need to persuade the governments attending the Copenhagen talks to come back with a good deal for the planet. See stopclimatechaos.org/the-wave for more details.
Much credit to the a Army for getting on with the footbridge. But, what is really needed is a road bridge – like the Bailey Bridges of WW2. These, well a vastly updated version, are made by Mabey and Johnson in the UK (search the web and you will see a road bridge) – they quickly deliver them around the world during times of natural disasters. So, we make the solution here in the UK, and this does not have to be a temporary fix. Thus the real solution to the problem that benights the folk of Workington or Cockermouth is in a stockyard about 300 miles to the south – just waiting for some joined up government action to implement. – David Brearley – Consultant.
Unfortunately virtually all economies are based upon the idea of “growth”, where growth equates to greater consumption – of everything. Add to this the steady increase in world population, plus the natural aspiration of those in poorer countries to emulate those in richer ones, then we have the inevitable result presently revealing itself to us.
In order to arrest this trend, the initiative must come from those countries whose per capita consumption is greatest. Simply preaching from a guilded palace is not enough. We in the rich countries must face the inevitable – we are not as rich as our lifestyles and government policies would have us believe. Neither is recycling the panacea – we should use less and develop properly repairable products. Not only would this preserve resources, it would also provide satisfying employment. I am only just beginning, but I will stop for now. Sermons tend to be ignored!!
Is it the pretext of “health and safety” issues stopping the use ? Probably the handrail is not high enough to prevent a car from going over the side ? I dont know the true reason – but David’s comments seem to make sense ………
Can some one shed light as to why these bridges have not been used in this instance?
Copenhagen is a pretty pointless affair – Why? Very simple CO2 reductions are at best linear, and population growth is exponential! i.e. Whatever can be practically cut, the contribution of CO2 from population growth will exceed it.
If the link of manmade CO2 to global warming is true, despite some sources reporting a drop in temperatures since 2000, then a reduction of CO2 is not the simple answer, population reduction is. A sustainable world population is thought to be in the order of about 20% of current.
A population reduction will happen, the only choice we have is, do we do it or do we let nature do it for us!