There was an interesting intervention in Parliament last week during the endless debates about Brexit when MPs failed once again to indicate any plan that they might back. The intervention in question was the revealing of 12 bare buttocks in the Public Gallery of the House of Commons. A very appropriate gesture you may think, towards the farcical events that have overtaken this institution, a symbol of democratic values that were once the envy of the world. In fact, the demonstration was to highlight climate change. While Brexit drones on, the world at large threatens to burn up as global temperatures continue their inexorable rise. 

A synthesis of nearly 400,000 first flowering records, covering 405 species across the UK, found that British plants are flowering earlier now than at any time in the last 250 years. The flowers that bloom in spring are blooming, on average, 11 days earlier than a century ago. This spring has been no exception, with some daffodils already over before spring officially began. It is lovely to see the carpets of flowers in our public spaces and gardens, a sign that days are becoming longer and the multi colours of summer are on their way. Yet, as we are all too aware, this early awakening has a worrying side.

It is becoming apparent to everyone in the world, apart from a number of residents of a a certain white-coloured house in Washington, that climate change is a major threat to future generations. Fairly tentative predictions about the potential effects of CO2 emissions have now become a flood of statistics showing that world temperatures are rising dramatically particularly in the Arctic where glaciers and sea ice are retreating at an alarming rate. Sea temperatures are on the rise, triggering all sorts of undesirable effects upon our climate and well-being.

The major disaster in Mozambique has now faded from the headlines, as have other scenes of unimaginable destruction caused by major and unusual climate events. Africa has never experienced winds of this level, accompanied by huge rainfall over many days, flooding a huge area of land. Cyclones and tropical storms increase in intensity and wild fires sweep through many parts of the world. 

Whilst certain areas of the world like Europe are beginning to control their emissions, the US and China still continue to grow and the overall rate is increasing by over 2% per annum, on top of already dangerous levels. As we debate withdrawal from co-operation in Europe, and allegedly being in control of our own destiny, the world at large seems incapable of co-operating on this most vital issue. Quite frankly, this does put the Brexit debate into true context. Perhaps it was appropriate after all for the bare buttocked protesters to do so at the time they did. 

My grandson seems quite keen on gardening and at weekends we march out into the garden to do one job or another. He enjoys planting seeds and the bulbs we planted last year are now making a fine spring display. The summer seeds planted a couple of weeks ago are now also beginning to emerge. It's good for kids to enjoy engaging with the natural world as it is easy for city dwellers to become detached.

So, I applaud the actions of our Public Gallery protesters and also school children for taking the occasional Friday off to highlight the issue. Old farts like me might turn a blind eye to climate change, although we should not, but for those with their whole lives to look forward to, let them protest! The time to make changes to save our planet is becoming very short.