A Czech Mystery

Some years ago, we went to Prague for a few days and visited the Národní technické muzeum v Praze (National Technical Museum in Prague). Among the displays were some beautifully restored classical cars.

But something was wrong. The Czech Republic is a landlocked country situated in the middle of Europe but these cars had right hand steering wheels. They were designed for driving on the left hand side of the road.

Sherlock and Doctor Watson immediately investigated. Little grey cells went into overdrive, Kojak sucked a lollipop – sorry, I got carried away there.

We asked a museum attendant. This was more difficult than it sounds.  Our Czech was limited to the few phrases needed to get around. His English was nearly as non-existent. It took some time, a little German, some pointing at our phrase book, and a lot of gesticulation to get the answer. 

According to him, after the Nazis invaded in 1939, Hitler decreed that Czechoslovakia should drive on the right – NOW!  That made sense and we knew that the same thing had happened in Austria.

There the matter rested till last Saturday when The Guardian published a review of a book about China. To illustrate the book, a picture of the Caiyunba Bridge over the Yangtze was shown, with one, lonely car in view – definitely driving on the left, though China drives on the right. Closer examination (and a flurry of googling) showed that the car was on a slip road and the photo was probably taken in 2007 when the bridge was opened.

That led us back to the Czech issue of changing the flow of traffic from left to right. We discovered an article on Wikipedia which claimed that the Czech government had planned to change to driving on the right‘within a reasonable time’ as early as 1925 and had just not got around to it.  H’mm!  No sources given. In fact the article had a header saying that citations were needed.

More searches revealed quotes from the Wikipedia article, often lifted verbatim (plagiarism is rife on the web) and nothing with authoritative sources.

Short of contacting the Czech Embassy, who may not know as the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia in the period we are talking about, it remains one of the many little niggling mysteries which constantly plague our inquisitive minds.

Unless you know the answer?

Climate Change – the trouble with statistics

Climate Change
I’m not a Scientist but I live on this planet and have grandchildren whose quality of life will be affected by the decisions being made now. I’m also cautious about statistics, having worked with the slippery things for too many years to take anything for granted. GIGO rules every time.

Scientists don’t know (and may never know) all the questions to get the right answers. I’ll accept that. Perhaps the situation is driven, not by human intervention but by a natural cycle which is inevitable? Can we afford to ignore the possible consequences either way?

No. Definitely, NO.

But I do worry when the following occur.
We are getting all our information third, or even fourth hand – even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The benchmark IPCC report of 2007 claimed to incorporate the latest research into the impact of global warming. A central statement was that the world's glaciers are melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

The Times Online published an article in January 2010, claiming that the suggestion that Himalayan Glaciers would melt by 2035 is ‘likely to be retracted’.

Glaciers near K2, Pakistan.  Photo by Finavon, licensed under Creative Commons

. According to The Times, the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a 2005 report from the World Wild Life Fund - which was based on an an article in the New Scientist, published in 1999. The New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with an Indian scientist.

Research – what research?

In the same vein :
The Dutch Government has asked the IPCC to correct a claim that 50% of Holland is under sea level. The correct figure is 26%.

A ‘major’ study by the BBC claims to have run a ‘full global climate prediction model’ – starting in 1960 and running to 2000. They then extrapolated to give a prediction for temperatures up to 2070.  At least they had the decency to say their study shows how temperatures could change.

I could go on but this is enough to make the point. With reporting like this, it is hardly surprising that many people are unwilling to accept the reality of climate change.

Climate change or global warming is a hot (sorry for the pun) and worrying topic. Perhaps the situation will stabilise or reverse? In the growing confusion and squabbling among scientists, I’m left with my observational experience.

I moved to the north of England 28 years ago. I made some rather sad mistakes in the garden. I tried to ripen tomatoes out of doors, everything was about two weeks behind the south of England in the spring and summer was a couple of weeks shorter. Grow Canna out of doors?  Palm Trees flowering? No chance.

Now, despite the cold, plants which would have died in the winter when I arrived in God’s Own County are surviving. The palm trees and Canna are not dead (I checked yesterday).
It’s more a matter of confusion. The Hellebores have few flowers – but they started flowering in October. The Winter Jasmine has been flowering since September.

I don’t want to take a chance. This may be a natural cycle. It may be manmade.

Whichever, I want a future for my grandchildren.

Japanese Knotweed, A tasty snack for Psyllids – we hope.

The news in the UK yesterday was as depressing as ever, Apart from the real news of disasters, wars and crime, it includes political ramblings (yawn), the Oscars (yawn again), and the tenth anniversary of the London Eye (where did those years go?).  One item did catch my eye, though.  Japanese knotweed was introduced into many countries as an ornamental plant in the 19th century – though no botanist seems to want to take credit for it. Now it is illegal in the UK to spread the dratted plant and is classified as controlled waste. It will burst through, tarmac, concrete and undermine buildings. 

There have even been cases where a mortgage has been refused where Japanese knotweed is found in the garden. It grows at the rate of more than a metre a month and its roots can go down 3 metres (9.8 ft). Herbicides need repeated applications over several years and the strongest of these have been withdrawn from sale because of health risks.

Now, for the first time, a biological control is to be tried – a tiny insect which, the scientists hope, will only eat the target plant. The UK lags behind other countries in introducing biological controls.  Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US have tackled 100 weeds between them with complete or partial success in half the programmes. Like most non-scientists, the idea of introducing another alien species makes me nervous but, if we don’t find an answer, it is estimated that the UK faces a cost of £13.5bn ($20.4bn; 15€) by the turn of the century (according to the BBC).

So chomp away, little psyllids, but please make sure to follow the diet recommended by the scientists.

On a more cheerful note, I walked over to All Souls Graveyard, where the nasty plant had almost obliterated everything except the trees, to see the current state of the site. I found that the Council’s efforts over the past few years have worked and the area is recovering. Local residents have planted bulbs and large clumps of snowdrops are thriving.  A good news story at last. Though it won't make the headlines.

The first photo is licensed under Wikipedia Commons Germany
The second one is licensed under  Wikipedia Commons Netherlands. It was taken at Beekbergen (The Netherlands). A few years ago, this place was still Knotweed-free