Thursday 15 January 2009

Bird-strike



As was widely predicted the UK government ignored the advice of science and went with the urgings of panicky economists to authorise a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow.

Whoops - a synchronicitous error on my part. When I titled this post I hadn't heard about the US airways jet crash landing into the Hudson River after succumbing to a .....bird strike.

3 comments:

susan said...

Canada geese, like mosquitoes, poison ivy, raccoons, and coyotes, are on the increase in our contemporary world. I've watched them go from "endangered" in my childhood to everywhere underfoot (even in the city) recently. They're gorgeous but a menace. On the whole, I am strongly in favor of nature, but their increase is exponential and remarkable. I'm not taking sides on this, but like grey squirrels in the UK, they are a problem. What happens when their population which now appears to be in the millions moves towards trillions?

Anonymous said...

susan said...
On the whole, I am strongly in favor of nature

Uh huh. How exactly would you be "against nature"? Suicidal? Denying that the universe actually exists?

susan said...

Blundered on my sloppy American-style English there - good point. What I really meant was interfering with animal populations. The geese in their potential billions are a vexing problem. We also have them marching down the sidewalk locally, which I enjoy - they are beautiful.

We have a similar problem in New Jersey, where the deer march around my parent's house in the dozens. Multiple cases of lyme disease as well. To some extent these problems are side symptoms of our interfering with "nature".

You could say the geese are a lot like humans, optimizing to a destructive level.

All this is a side issue, I was just fiddling with an irritant topic that I can't get my head around.