We orchidiots jump into our cars as often as possible (or so it seems) during the orchid season and visit far flung corners of Britain in the search for something new or unusual. I wondered about my carbon footprint. As I take size 9s I reckon it will be fairly average. 2021 and 2020 have been unusual years what with lockdowns and restrictions, but I have totted up my miles for one month worth of orchid trips and it came to just under 1,000 miles. Naturally other pleasures were undertaken during some of these miles, but essentially this means perhaps at least 4,000 miles by car (at least it is a petrol engine) gadding about the country each year. I have been doing this for the last 11 years, so perhaps 50,000 miles or twice around the equator - just to look at orchids. This does not include foreign holidays where destination and dates hint very heavily that orchids were of prime concern. This map shows places in England and Wales that I have been to or perhaps intend to visit - the orange markers. Consequently I have many more miles to go. Factor in catching up on foreign visits too.

It is now 2021 and we are told climate change is real and we are the cause of it all. Of course it once was the depleted ozone layer that the doom-sayers latched onto, followed by acid rain, then global warming. I do feel that I am under attack each time I switch on the TV and get blamed for my contribution to global warming. Should I be concerned? Should I change my habits of a lifetime? What can I do to help?

In 10 years time, if the current UK government`s plans actually happen we will be forced into electric cars. No doubt onboard GPS will ensure we are also pegged to a maximum speed of the speed limit of the road we are on into the bargain. How those in flats and Edwardian terraces with only on-street parking will charge their cars has not been explained properly yet, nor how many more windfarms and solar energy farms will be need to cope with the demand. Expect your smart meters to cut supply when demand for electricity is high. This will probably mean that on cold winter evenings will be when your ground sourced heating switches itself off. Somehow I feel the UK will escape the benefits of global warming, or it will be too small to be noticeable.

Consequently I look at it like this. In 10 years I will be knocking on in age (if indeed I am still here), so why not make the best of it while I am still able to. Rack up another two circuits equivalent of Planet Earth, and find those orchids, be they on my doorstep or far far away; see Britain whilst doing so. Get on that plane or ferry. I have toyed with the idea of a second car; a Porsche to be precise, in order to wring the most out of motoring while it is still possible to enjoy such activities. Whatever I do to help global warming will not have the slightest effect. Nor would adding up all the miles we orchidiots do. Only when countries like China and India turn off their fossil fuel power stations will there be any effect. They have the land available for wind and solar farms so why do they not use it? Me getting an electric car is not going to have any influence on their power generating plans. Despite the propaganda thrown at us by our media I will not feel at all guilty if I do buy that Porsche.

Meanwhile .....

Climate change seems inevitable whatever from individuals to nations do to slow it down. We will see changes to the orchid flora of Britain, so why not accept that and embrace it. There will be winners and losers. Species like Creeping Lady`s Tresses and Small White Orchid which seem to prefer cooloer conditions will likely be pushed northwards, but we are seeing continental species such as Tongue and Giant orchids (apparently) colonising England. What will be the rainfall pattern in the future. More rainy springs will be to the advantage of the Marsh Orchids but more summer droughts will make later flowering species suffer. I suspect though, that we may see species jockeying to colonise new locations that climate change had made more suitable for them just as it made their old locations less habitable. So just embrace the changes, because they will happen whatever.