Pennsif’s Progress #589 – Hothouse Earth - how can I prep?

in #steempress • 6 years ago (edited)

Last night I read a headline on the BBC :

>> Climate change : 'Hothouse Earth' risks even if CO2 emissions slashed

It made me wonder, and it made me worried.

Some people dispute the science of climate change, many people don't.

Either way, the hard reality is that weather patterns are wobbly, and the climate seems to be taking on a life of its own.

This summer for example has seen heat records broken with abundance across Europe. Even in my usually wet and windy Wales it has been super hot and super dry these past couple of months.

My neighbour came round last night and told me his well has run dry and he is totally out of water. Up on the hills his sheep are braking through fences trying to find water as all the springs that usually provide for them have stopped flowing.

On our homestead we are just hanging on, but our garden and our trees have been hit hard.

Whichever the climate science blows, as a prepper I need to be prepared.

I have a duty to my family, our animals and our homestead to ensure we are not put at any living disadvantage from our ongoing journey to an offgrid state of being.

First stop, water


As we have learnt this summer water is a key point of inflection as the climate makes its twists and turns.

We are not connected to the mains. We have a mountain spring that fills two 5000 litre tanks.

Alongside those we have an old well and a lake. While these give us some resilience it is not foolproof by any means.

I have long had plans to install two more similar tanks just below the first two. If we get another very dry summer next year these new additional tanks will have to move to the top of the investment list.

Having sufficient water is half the story. Getting it to the crops and the fruit trees is the more difficult part.

Hosepipes and watering cans are not an efficient way of distributing water over a large area. Installing some form of drip irrigation system, particularly in the polytunnel is a must.

Then comes winter...


While summers are likely to be hotter and drier, weird weather times will likely bring colder and stormier winter times.

Our house is a 200 year old stone farmhouse. It is not thermally efficient.

We need to continue work on the insulation for one part of our winter prepping.

More importantly we need to resolve our heating dilemma.

Currently we are using oil for our heating. But this is a costly, increasingly unreliable and environmentally inappropriate option.

With 15 acres of woodland some form of wood burning system will be our way to go for heating.

We have one woodstove and one open fire in our house, but we really want to move over to a full-on wood/biomass boiler solution.

We have had the quote for the biomass boiler installation but it is a big one, so we are not sure yet how and when that will come to pass. But it is on the shopping list and when steem moons to $10 I'll be all over it.

And then there is everything else to do !


Prepping for climatic change is a big challenge. Will it come gradually or suddenly and catastropically?

I guess gradual, but if you watch the right movies you might think differentyl.

If it is sudden and catastrophic who knows what will go down. Mass migrations could become the order of the day. Crop failures and food shortages will become commonplace. Electricity brown-outs and power grid failures will be a regular occurrence.

There could be some rough times ahead...

PROJECTS :
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RADIO :

[ images by pixabay.com (1) and @pennsif (2, 3) ]

#climatechange #offgrid #sustainability #water
6 years ago in #steempress by
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     6 years ago 

    Have you a plan for managing your woodland to ensure a continuous supply of wood? I know that wood-burners are notoriously hungry!

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     6 years ago 

    We planted over 10,000 new trees that will soon need thinning out.

    And there were around a thousand mature trees already on the property. We usually lose 3 or 4 of those to storms each winter which will give us a continuous supply.

    Host of The Alternative Lifestyle Show on MSP Waves Radio.

    Founder of the A Dollar A Day charitable giving project.

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       6 years ago 

      Uncomplicated article. I learned a lot of interesting and cognitive. I'm screwed up with you, I'll be glad to reciprocal subscription))

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