Hi all,

next week sees the launch of a new and we-hope-you-think improved Manchester Climate Monthly.  Well, a slight rejig.  Okay, the same old mix of tpyos, calendars, interviews, reviews etc….  And an agony aunt column, a monthly “movement-building” page and so on.

“MCFly- giving you PMT every week of the year.”

One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to give busy people something specific and not-too-time-consuming to do.  Every Wednesday – starting on Weds 2nd January – we will publish a short(ish) and eminently do-able thing that folks can do around “green”/social justice/resourcefulness/democracy issues in Manchester.

Arwa Aburawa and Marc Hudson

Coming up this week

Thursday 3, 10.30am – 1pm The Transport for Greater Manchester Committee (TfGMC) is holding its annual Budget Briefing for 2013/14 in the Banqueting Room of Manchester Town Hall. To reserve a place at the briefing, please email budgetupdate@tfgm.com or telephone 0161 244 1000.

Stories you may have missed on the MCFly website

• Periodical Review: Peace News Dec 2012/Jan 2013
• Video: Staggering animation of Man’s “relationship” with Nature. Think “Wall-E” mashed up by William Burroughs…
• Upcoming Event: TfGM’s habit of announcing consultations at last minute – can we Budge It?
• MCFly to academics – “On your bike.” No, wait….
• Not-news flash: Academics in “laughable jargon” shocker
• Comment is useful – Guardian readers on south west UK flooding
• Film Review: “Chasing Ice” @CornerhouseMcr in #Manchester – #climate and #weare(damp)toast …

Things to read

Manchester-based
202020 Vision – make Manchester a City fit for Cycling

Things to read while the algae grows in your fur

Time to Face the Facts: Our Level of Consumption is Pathological (George Monbiot)

http://www.alternet.org/environment/time-face-facts-our-level-consumption-pathological

Permaculture Helps Us Remember Who We Are (from YES! magazine)

Climate Risks Have Been Underestimated for the Last 20 Years
Daily Climate / By Glenn Scherer
“We’re underestimating the fact that climate change is rearing its head,” said Kevin Trenberth, head of the climate analysis section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and a lead author of key sections of the 2001 and 2007 IPCC reports. “And we’re underestimating the role of humans, and this means we’re underestimating what it means for the future and what we should be planning for.”

Food Glorious Food?
In the early spring of 2012, U.S. farmers were on their way to planting some 96 million acres in corn, the most in 75 years. A warm early spring got the crop off to a great start. Analysts were predicting the largest corn harvest on record.

The United States is the leading producer and exporter of corn, the world’s feedgrain. At home, corn accounts for four-fifths of the U.S. grain harvest. Internationally, the U.S. corn crop exceeds China’s rice and wheat harvests combined. Among the big three grains – corn, wheat, and rice – corn is now the leader, with production well above that of wheat and nearly double that of rice.

The corn plant is as sensitive as it is productive. Thirsty and fast-growing, it is vulnerable to both extreme heat and drought. At elevated temperatures, the corn plant, which is normally so productive, goes into thermal shock.