Marked for destruction

All along the main road doomed ash trees are tagged with florescent dots and tapes.  They are suffering from ash dieback , a disease that has spread all over Britain in the past few years and now affects around three quarters of the country. Stark bare twigs claw the air from  trees that are still covered with foliage, others are already bald of leaves too early in the autumn.

If you don't know about  it,  or simply don't notice trees,  you may not be aware of this tragedy which cannot be prevented or avoided. There is no remedy. 

It's reckoned that clearing affected trees  from where they could be a danger to human life will cost around 15 billion pounds nationally. The rest will wither and fall in situ, changing the appearance of our landscape for ever -just as Dutch elm disease did in the 1970s. (Other tree species are threatened with diseases too - larch, beech, horse chestnut.)

 George Monbiot, the environmental journalist, in a recent article, blamed  the spread of these pathogens on free trade enabling the unrestricted import of plants and saplings, a situation which is likely to worsen after Brexit. However we might also see the plight of the ash trees as another  facet of the damage we have done to our worldwide environment.

Today George Monbiot  was arrested as one of the climate emergency rebels blocking the streets in London. Whether such actions will make any difference is debatable but large numbers of people, both celebrities and nonentities, are continuing to step out of their comfort zones to voice their fears and challenge the status quo.