Climate Weirding
Local permaculturist TIM REDFERN has observed how, as the seasons go out of kilter, so too do the plants.
Over the last three years I’ve been working in a series of gardens including my own. It’s been a trip observing how the seasons have altered and comparing thoughts with other growers. They have changed – dramatically. They have skewed. It’s less global warming (although that is arguably the cause) but more Climate Weirding, which even the most sceptical and dubious have to admit is factually evident and happening as I write. You only need to drive out of Hastings to the flooded flats and (more bizarrely) flooded hilltops to see that something is not right.
Permaculture in Hastings
During this time, I have been putting my permaculture learnings into practice working with different clients and various plots with various degrees of success. In terms of scale, the plots range from small, terraced ‘all you can eat’ raised beds with natural habitat for wildlife, to semi-wilded formal gardens and a two-acre plot of lovingly unkempt, regenerated formal garden.
The big thing I have observed is that we are getting rainfall or temperatures that don’t correspond to the season. Plus we’ve haven’t had prolonged periods of winter frost, which means that what is usually subdued or killed is starting to affect the delicate natural balance.
Sure, plants still die back: that is the nature of temperate annuals and perennials – it’s how they respond to the seasons. But as the seasonal climates get out of kilter, so do the plants. They weaken, become more susceptible to blight, attempt to blossom at the wrong time and whither. Random hot and cold spells mean plants don’t know which way to turn. I have observed plants come and go and then come back in two seasons, then wilt and perish because they don’t know what to do with themselves.
Because of Climate Weirding we are getting more rain – largely caused by the planet’s warming. For the scientific evidence you need only look at NASA’s website to see that the last ten years have consecutively been the warmest since records began. The Meteorological Office also says the last four years have consecutively been the hottest on record.
Warmer air creates more condensation which in turn leads to more, bigger and therefore heavier rainfall, which in turn devastates crops and plants and creates flash floods and potholes. The latter in particular demonstrate that we don’t have the infrastructure for what is happening. It’s an elementary cause and effect thing, more heat equals more evaporation, which creates more profound condensation and bigger raindrops.
I remember when I lived in the USA, there were storm drains on every street because of their more extreme rain and seasonal climates, which was a treat to witness when I was there. But now I see us contending with similar weather here, climates which match patterns previously only witnessed further south.
There’s too much green for the depths of winter, and it’s not right. Instead of dying of exposure for good reason as nature intended, critters, bugs and diseases should be suppressed by the cold and kept in check. Now, instead come microclimates which allow these unwanted pests to propagate and incubate and hatch. And I should not be swatting mosquitoes while enjoying my porridge in January.
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