Will the Great River Rhine freeze over this month?

The Rhine is the longest river within Germany and is known for its beauty, with medieval castles and lovely wine villages along its banks. The river begins in Switzerland. Passing through the city of Basel, it forms the border between Germany and France, flows into Germany and the Netherlands and ends in the North Sea.

When rivers freeze, water turns dark, swirls thick; moves slow before hardening into ice. Though some rivers tend to freeze over easily, some do not. It all depends on the kinetic energy (KE) of the moving water. The higher its (KE), the more unlikely it freezes. The Rhine is one such river. 

Instances of the Rhine freezing over is accordingly far and between but when it does, it could be dramatic. In the year AD 406, the Dark Ages began with a cold snap when the Rhine River froze over, allowing barbarians to cross the bridge of ice from ancient Germany into Roman territory. When they reached Rome, the barbarians looted and burned the city, wiping out centuries of learning and civilization. Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). In 1781, he wrote in chapter 30 of his famous Hstory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:

‘On the last day of the year, in a season when the waters of the Rhine were most probably frozen, they entered without opposition the defenceless provinces of Gaul.’

The worst flood ever registered occurred in February 1784. After an extremely long and cold winter the temperature jumped deep down. The Rhine river had frozen over and the thaw as well as the breaking open ice provided firmly for a record water level of 13,55 m. That was ten meters above the normal level!

Now Piers Corbyn, Weather Action say that the possibility of the Rhine freezing in parts is high during this month as model forecasts all indicate an extremely cold Western Europe. Piers Corbyn observed:

"Our long range Euromaps regional detail and pressure scenario forecast shows the super-cold in Europe is very likely to continue which means the Rhine is likely to follow some other frozen-over rivers in Germany and freeze over in places. This last happened in 1962-63”

And if this happens, climate sceptics have another reason to click our champagne glasses

Accuweather:Newest Snowstorm Blanketing Europe

Courtesy: Accuweather

The latest in a series of major winter storms will dump heavy snow in areas from the Balkan Peninsula and Italy to North Africa early in the week.

Some of these same areas have already received deep, even immobilizing, accumulations of snow following last week's series of storms, which disrupted transportation infrastructure over a wide area. 

Snow has contributed to the weather-related death toll, since late January, of at least 300 people, most of them dying of cold exposure.

About 70,000 people in Serbia were still cut off in snow-bound villages, according to many recent reports. Some mountain areas in Algeria also remained isolated. 

Further disruptions to transportation by road, rail and air will take place. 

Through Tuesday, heaviest new falls of snow will hit eastern and southern Italy to the mountains and inland valleys of Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. 

By Wednesday, a fresh foot of snow will cover some of these regions.

Hills above the coast in eastern Algeria and nearby Tunisia will also get new falls of snow.

Although the Mediterranean storm will weaken markedly Wednesday and Thursday, a new storm could form over the northwestern Mediterranean Sea late in the week, leading to even more falls of disruptive snow.

Europe turns a full circle: The slogan 'Save the Arctic' gives way for "Save Us from the Arctic!"

Don't go by a little warmth around, the chill is expected to return in a few days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted colder day temperatures for the next three days over north-west India, including Delhi. 

The maximum temperatures in the Capital will remain below normal by two to four degree Celsius while minimum temperatures will shoot up above the normal. But minimum temperatures are expected to fall even lower to 4°C on Wednesday and Thursday. The expected fall in temperatures is due to a western disturbance which is likely to cause snowfall over J&K and Himachal Pradesh. Uttarakhand is also expected to receive snowfall.

If you think this is cold, then think again. In Ukraine temperatures are near minus 40 deg C. Death toll in Europe's deep freeze has crossed 420.  From Save the Arctic Europeans are praying save us from the Arctic!

More than 420 people killed in Europe cold wave

Courtesy: M&C

Belgrade - A cold wave sweeping across Europe has killed more than 420 people since late January, many of them homeless, and weather reports on Monday forecast more snow and frigid temperatures for the week.

The snow has thrown transportation out of gear, blocked arterial roads and cut off remote villages in many areas. 

Four more people froze to death in Ukraine, which so far has the most victims in eastern Europe at 135. About 2,000 people were hospitalized for treatment from exposure to the -30 degrees Celsius temperatures. 

In Poland, nine people have died since Sunday, bringing the death toll from late January to 61, the Interior Ministry said. Officials urged citizens to check heaters as some people have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Moscow's municipal authorities said one man died from exposure overnight Monday, raising the death toll in the city to 63. Russian meteorologists said starting Wednesday, night temperatures were forecast to drop below -30 Celsius in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported. 

Serbia's 10th victim froze to death in his unheated home in a village near Cuprija, 120 kilometres south-east of Belgrade, reported B92 online Monday, a day after the authorities declared a nationwide emergency situation because of the persistent snowfall and deep freeze. 

The death toll in Croatia rose to five on Sunday night, when a man was found frozen in front of his home in Sibenik district. All the other victims were elderly people in remote areas. Heavy snowfall had made about 100 villages inaccessible. 

Most buses from Zagreb to cities on the Adriatic coast scheduled for Monday were cancelled.  Czech authorities said three more homeless people froze to death in Prague, two men died in fires caused by their heaters and another was suffocated by carbon monoxide from a faulty heater. 

In the Balkans, five additional people died in Romania since Sunday, the Health Ministry said in Bucharest. Most of the victims were either homeless or those who could not afford to pay for heating at home. Romania has so far reported 39 deaths. 

After the blizzards, Bulgaria was hit by torrential rain and floods. At least five people drowned in the south, national radio reported, and the army sent rescue helicopters to the area. 

Hungary's toll climbed to 12 at the weekend, the disaster protection agency said Monday according to the MTI news agency. 

Many attempted to work their way through the deep freeze. Czech gravediggers had to use a jackhammer on the frozen soil to get ready for a funeral. 

In the central Siberian city of Yekaterinburg, Indian circus elephants were being served spirits daily, with each receiving three bottles of vodka or three bottles of sweet wine mixed with water, said Natalia Kazantseva, a spokeswoman for the Limbo Limbo circus.

She said that members of a Tanzanian acrobat group received gifts of hand-knitted woollen socks and mittens. The cold spell has spread beyond the European mainland. At the weekend, children in Algiers saw their first snow and Palma de Mallorca recorded its lowest temperature since 1972, of -5.7 Celsius.

Romania Saves Children As Europe’s Deep Freeze Deepens

Courtesy: Newsblind.com

Nine Romanian children had been taken into treatment following a baby died within an unheated home, joining a minimum of 189 other people killed with a Siberian entrance which increased its hold more than Eastern European countries on Friday and distribute further western. Temps plummeted to minus 37 Celsius (minus 35 Fahrenheit) in north Slovakia and save workers made through snowfall on hill roads to save stranded bus travelers in the Balkans.

In Romania, 80 % of the Danube River had been frozen over preventing ships sailing towards the Black Sea; however the greatest concern was for children within the European Union’s 2nd poorest nation.

Child safety officers in the town of Iasi took three women into care following a four-month-old child died in an unheated home where temps dipped as little as minus 20C (minus 4 F).

As much as 15,000 children in Iasi might be at risk from the cold along with a further 6 children have been taken into treatment, the spokesperson said. The cold click has so far killed 24 folks Romania and 11 in nearby Bulgaria. Europe said the supply of Euro gas fell further with a Eastern Western states in addition to Italy, Greece as well as Austria, but said hello was not yet dealing with an emergency. All EU says have obtained additional gas using their company sources.

In Ukraine 101 individuals have now passed away – a further 38 previously 24 hours – and grocery stores are short of food as trucks find it difficult to make shipping. Eight more have left in Poland because Thursday. Clare Nulls, speaker for the U.N.’s World Meteorological Company (WMO), told journalists that Europe’s unseasonably comfortable December as well as January meant this could not be a record breaking winter season.

Europe's homeless dying in arctic conditions: Video

North Africa dumped by snow! Video

What would a Liitle Ice Age look like? Look at these photos!

 

Worse on the way for frozen Europe

Courtesy: AdelaideNow.com

Entire villages were cut off in parts of eastern Europe yesterday, trapping thousands, while road, air and rail links were severed and gas consumption shot up during what has been the severest winter in decades in some regions.

In Ukraine, tens of thousands headed to shelters to escape the freeze that emergency services said has killed 63 people - most of them frozen to death in the streets, some succumbing to hypothermia later in hospitals.

Nine more people died in Poland as the mercury dropped to minus 32C in some parts, bringing the country's toll to 29 since the fearsome spell of cold weather started last week, police said. The Met Office in London warned that the cold snap was set to continue in many areas, with more snow expected in Kiev overnight, though the temperatures could rise off their recent lows. Berlin had snow yesterday with temperatures hitting minus 10C overnight, the Met Office forecast. Snow was also forecast in many parts of Britain over the weekend.

Homeless people in the region are at highest risk, warned the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"Although we expect harsh winters in this part of the world, this current freeze has come towards the end of a mild winter," said Zlatko Kovac, IFRC representative for Belarus and Ukraine. "Homeless people have been caught unawares and unprepared. They don't follow long-range forecasts and are extremely vulnerable."

Red Cross Societies have helped with hot meals, warm clothing and blankets. The organisation said it had released more than $123,236 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to boost the aid effort.

Russian gas giant Gazprom, meanwhile, said it had boosted deliveries to Europe, while several European countries reported drops in Russian supplies, with operators in Austria and Slovakia both reporting falls of 30 per cent. Ukraine - the transit point for most Russian gas headed to Europe - denied it was taking a greater than usual share of the gas.

Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine have sought help in more than 2000 temporary shelters as temperatures fell to minus 33C in the Carpathians and minus 27C in the capital Kiev.

"I am unemployed. I have somewhere to live but nothing to eat. I ate here and it was good - bread with a slice of fat and an onion as well as porridge," said Olexander Shemnikov after visiting a shelter in Kiev.

In Romania, eight people died overnight, bringing the country's overall toll to 22, the health ministry said. Schools remained closed in some parts. In Bulgaria, at least 10 people have died, according to media.

With parts of the Danube river freezing, authorities moved some vessels to ports farther away to protect them from advancing ice.

In the Bulgarian capital Sofia, some residents found their money frozen as automated teller machines stopped functioning, according to local media.

200 cold deaths in Europe; Temperatures to drop in India next week

Temperatures have plunged to new lows in Europe where a week-long cold snap has now claimed more than 220 lives as forecasters warned that the big freeze would tighten its grip over the weekend. Read more here.

 A Jet stream anomaly caused a deadly cold snap in Europe, described the worst in several decades has taken nearly 200 lives leaving thousands trapped.  Many of the dead from one of the harshest European winter in decades are homeless. Meanwhile, the same Jet stream anomaly caused temperatures further north near the Arctic Circle and the US to be much warmer than normal. Countries from Italy to Ukraine on one hand and on the other hand, upto to Greece and Turkey on the East struggled to cope with temperatures that reached record lows in some places.

UKRAINE: Tens of thousands of people have headed to shelters trying to escape the freeze that the emergencies ministry said has now killed nearly 100 people. Most of them literally froze to death on the street, with only a handful making it to hospital before succumbing to hypothermia, the ministry said. Shivering and hungry, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have sought help in the more than 2,000 temporary shelters set up by the authorities to help the poor survive the fearsome spell of cold weather. 

ROMANIA:  Many people died overnight because of the cold, bringing the overall toll to 22, the health ministry said. Schools remained closed in some parts of the country as temperatures reached minus 31 degrees Celsius.

BULGARIA:  Mercury dipped to lows not seen in a century.

LATVIA: 10 people have died around the capital Riga alone, with no figures available for the rest of the country.

LITHUANIA: A 55-year-old homeless man found in the ruins of an abandoned house in the port city of Klaipeda became the ninth victim of the chill.

ITALY: hundreds of people were trapped overnight on trains as freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls in the centre and north caused widespread disruptions on roads, railways and at airports. 

SICILY: The cold has so far killed an infant in and a 76-year-old pensioner in Parma during what forecasters say is the coldest weather in Italy in 27 years. 

AUSTRIA: An 83-year-old woman was found frozen to death in the woods after apparently slipping on her daily walk and not managing to get up again, becoming the country's second victim of the cold snap, officials said. In Serbia, the cold has killed six people and trapped some 11,500 others, mostly in remote mountain villages inaccessible by road. 

SERBIA:  Homeless people unable to secure one of the 140 spots in the capital's sole shelter took refuge in trolley buses and trams. 

FRANCE: Several regions have been placed under "deep cold" watch; authorities banned trucks on several major highways where the risk of snowfall and ice remained high.

UK: The Met Office has issued its most serious cold weather alert of the winter so far after overnight temperatures dropped to -9C in parts of the UK, with chilly conditions set to continue into the weekend and some snow forecast.

GREECE: Forget the usual images of Greece basking in hot sunshine reflecting on blue seas, and imagine snow-covered mountains and sub-zero temperatures. Greece is in the grip of arctic weather which has seen temperatures plummet well below zero. The ice on the ground and the snow covered orange trees glimmer in sunlight which belies the freezing condition

TURKEY:  Extreme winter conditions have brought life to a standstill across Turkey. The biggest freeze since 30 years has grounded 180 flights on Tuesday, and on Monday 200 flights were cancelled. The daily life of the European side of Istanbul was mainly paralyzed today and snowfalls are predicted to last until the weekend, with icy temperatures as low as Minus 27° Celsius in Southern Turkey. Meteorology officials have warned that snowfall and blizzards are likely to continue uninterrupted until February 7.

So why this cold burst in February?

In general, the La Niña causes radical Jetstream changes and you can click the arrow in the video to watch Accuweather’s explanation. Moreover, the Arctic Oscillation (AO) which was strongly positive till mid January overwhelmed the La Niña’s cooling effect by keeping the winds spinning fast in the Arctic, not allowing the cold southwards. But for last two weeks, the AO has flipped to its strongly negative mode as shown below which unleashed the arctic blast into Europe.

The cold jet stream dipped in Europe and Asia, but is still bottled up over North America. That's because another weather phenomena, called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is playing oddball by staying positive and keeping the cold away from the rest of North America. About 90 percent of the time, the North Atlantic and Arctic oscillations are in synch. But not this time, so much of the United States is escaping the winter's worst. But this can change soon. The NAO index looks as if it is going to soon flip strongly negative too.

India: Another Western Disturbance underway, temperature to drop early next week

India’s North-West, is right now receiving an active western disturbance (WD) with rough weather implications for not just the higher reaches but also the plains. On Thursday, an India’s Met Office update confirmed the WD located the weather-making westerly system lying over north Pakistan and adjoining Afghanistan. The system would start affecting the western Himalayan region and adjoining plains from Friday onwards.  As it happened mid January, there is as simultaneous wave from exactly the opposite direction (easterly wave) moving across the seawaters of the Bay of Bengal aiming to hit south peninsular India from around the same time today. 

The IMD has forecast heavy rain or snow at one or two places over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on Friday and Saturday. Importantly, the forecast also mentions about the possibility of hailstorms lashing one or two places over Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. A two-day forecast said that rain or snow would break out at a few places over Jammu and Kashmir and at one or two places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Friday and increase thereafter. From early next week, temperatures in India should experience a significant dip.

Snowfall creates havoc in ‘white Istanbul’

Courtesy: Hurriyetdailynews.com

Heavy snowfall paralyzed daily life in Turkey, especially in Istanbul, yesterday as the country’s biggest city experienced its coldest day in the last 33 years.

The state offices in Istanbul were shut down at 3 p.m., while the Trans European Motorway (TEM) was partly closed down due to extreme snowfall on the highway and ensuing traffic accidents. Sea transportation was also disrupted as many ferry trips were canceled.

A total of 71 traffic accidents occurred in Istanbul yesterday before the Daily News went to print, killing one person and injuring 22 others. Istanbul’s Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) announced it increased its alert status to “red,” the highest alert level.

The General Directorate of Meteorology recorded the temperature in Istanbul as minus 8 degrees Celsius in the Çatalca district, making the day the coldest since 1979.

In the eastern province of Kars the temperature was recorded at minus 26.9 degrees yesterday, while temperatures in the capital city Ankara were expected to fall to minus 15 degrees in the next couple of days.

The weather also affected air transportation with 190 flights at Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport canceled. Atatürk Airport Director Celal Özuğur said airline companies had called off the flights but runways had remained open at the airport. The cancelations occurred due to the de-icing of airplanes before take-off, Özuğur said.

AKOM said municipal personnel worked through the night to keep the city’s roads free of snow and ice, while the public transportation authority added 350 extra buses yesterday to compensate.

Snowfall was expected to continue today and tomorrow in the Marmara region, before moving to the Aegean region, especially the northwestern province Çanakkale. Officials warned citizens not to leave their houses unless necessary and to use public transportation instead of personal cars.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian man has died of hypothermia after he and other illegal immigrants were stranded on an islet in the middle of Evros River on the Greek border, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

The report said 14 others in the group, from several countries including Syria and Eritrea, were rescued from the Evros River and hospitalized for observation.

Death Freeze Grips Europe, Killing 80

Courtesy: ABC News

The severe cold weather currently gripping Eastern Europe has now spread to Italy and as far south as Turkey. As many as 80 people have died, mainly in Ukraine and Poland, as the death freeze settles over the continent.

Dan Britton, a press officer at Britain’s Met Office, told ABC News the cold weather stems from “a large area of high pressure sitting over Eastern Europe, which has brought about cold temperatures over quite a large area.” The Ukraine has suffered the most fatalities as emergency ministries confirmed 43 people had perished in minus-28 degree temperatures. While hospitals in Ukraine have treated more than 600 people for frostbite and pneumonia, many of the dead were homeless people who were unable to find shelter at night.

As Poland experienced minus-22 degree conditions, seven more deaths have been confirmed. Five were said to be homeless people. Several people have also died in the Baltic states — the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Romania and Bulgaria — where until now temperatures had been well above normal for midwinter. The heavy snow has caused transport chaos across Europe. The German media reported the death of one woman was a result of her losing control of her car on the icy roads.

Heavy-goods vehicles have been barred from the freeways in Central Italy and cargo ships have been warned of ice floes on the Danube. Even some areas of Romania’s Black sea coastline have reportedly frozen over. Forecasters have confirmed that this area of high pressure has come from Siberia.

“These kind of weather conditions occur every 20 to 30 years, last time in 1986 and 1956,”

Jurik Muller of the German Meteorological Service said. With snow now falling in Istanbul and other parts of Turkey, the weather is likely to continue throughout the weekend.

Oxfam's big dilemma: To open or close their swimming pool in their Nairobi guest house???

From time to time, I visit Duncan Green's blog, From Poverty to Power, an official blog of UK charity, Oxfam.  I envy Duncan's writing style, find the content very informative and besides Duncan even permits me to register all my protests against Oxfam's global warming policy obsessions as comments (which is big plus, plus for repeat visits). 

One of his recent posts was a little different: "The great Nairobi guesthouse swimming pool dilemma – cast your vote now……"  Being an official blog of Oxfam, this simply can't be Duncan's personal views alone. Here's the post itself:

Nairobi is a major NGO hub, currently the epicentre of the drought relief effort, and Oxfam’s regional office realized some years ago that we could save a pile of money if we ran our own guesthouse, rather than park the numerous visitors in over-priced hotels. It’s nothing fancy, definitely wouldn’t get many stars, but it’s much more relaxed than a hotel and a brilliant place to meet the kind of people I profiled recently. It’s really rather unique.

But there’s a problem. As a large converted house in a nice part of town, and like most such houses in Nairobi, it has a swimming pool. But the swimming pool is covered over and closed, even though it would be cheap to keep it open. Why? Reputational risk – back in the UK, where swimming pools are luxury items, Oxfam’s big cheeses saw a tabloid scandal in the making and closed it (see right, the blue of the pool is a protective tarpaulin, not water). It didn’t help when some bright spark decided to advertise for a swimming pool attendant on the Oxfam website……

On my recent stay at the guesthouse, I asked everyone I met there and whether African or mzungu, they all said it makes sense to open the pool. Exhausted aid workers arrive hot and dusty from remote areas of East Africa for some R&R, but there’s no chance of a refreshing swim. I need my exercise so had to go running instead – the combination of altitude, hills and choking traffic fumes nearly killed me.

On the other hand there’s no denying that most of our supporters back in the UK, let alone the people we are working to help, are not likely to have access to a pool in their back yard, so why should aid workers get special treatment? (And I have to confess, when I interviewed the members of a sex workers’ collective in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago as they relaxed by their aid-funded organization’s pool, I was rather shocked myself.)

So what do you think? Should Oxfam open the pool and take any bad publicity on the chin, or should we stop whining? It would probably cost about $200-300 a month to keep the pool open – if we could find a way to do it without creating an accounting nightmare, we could probably raise that from contributions from guests, and even have money to spare to plough back into Oxfam programmes. Vote now (see right).

Vote choices: Open the pool; Open the pool but only on if it at least covers its own costs; Keep the pool closed; Don’t waste my time – use the blog for something more high-minded please (and you can choose more than one option).

Perhaps unintentionally, Duncan gives us an insight to the organizational culture of Oxfam. The swimming pool is closed as it poses a "reputational risk" (to read Oxfam is a heavily PR image conscious organization);  "no denying that most of our supporters back in the UK, let alone the people we are working to help, are not likely to have access to a pool in their back yard, so why should aid workers get special treatment?" (to read: staff having guilt trips for sustaining lavish lifestyles)

All these emotional upheavals had been apparently triggered by "some bright spark decided to advertise for a swimming pool attendant on the Oxfam website". That probably why the need for such a post. It is however amazing that Duncan feels only a swimming pool could negatively condition public perception. This is how The Hindu, a leading newspaper group in India, perceived the NGO sector in Kabul:

"People working in these NGOs lead a lavish lifestyle. A look at their offices and their houses, the way they are furnished, the air-conditioned cars they drive, all add to the resentment of the people, as it all comes out of the aid being pumped into the country."

So what difference will one measly swimming pool with an attendant make to changing popular public perceptions of the extravagant lifestyles of these INGO staffers? In fact, in India, fuel guzzling SUVs are even considered a clear Oxfam legacy to the NGO sector. All you need to find a NGO office is to successfully spot the SUVs parked as a clutter outside it. 

Personally, I don't see why anyone should object to good pay scales and working conditions for NGO staff, particularly humanitarian workers who often have to brave security threats; adapt to difficult living conditions; suffer long separation from family to carry out their jobs.  But let me react from a very different level. 

The poor ostensibly is touted by NGOs as their primary constituency. The poor doesn't pass judgement or preach to NGOs how to lead their lives. On the contrary, they aspire to attain the lifestyles of NGO staffers. But the reciprocity of expectations does not exist. NGOs tend to arrogate the right to tell the poor what to aspire and how to lead their lives. 

We see this hypocrisy most lucidly in Oxfam's climate advocacy. The poor they tell us will enjoy a more sustainable life for example by having one solar lantern and using cow dung for cooking. And how about themselves? Well, they are all linked up to the energy grid. They need to. After all refrigerators; air-conditioners; micro-oven; computers; mobiles; stereos; mixies etc  all need power! Agriculture should be sustainable even if yields are less and farmers earn less. is yet another common advocacy refrain.

As for themselves, they need salaries at par or just a tad below the corporate sector for a sustainable livelihood! One of the comments to the post noted that Oxfam is currently recruiting a Communications Director at £ 80,000 p.a. plus perks! And of course this prospective staff will need this entire amount and more. Flaunting one’s green credentials doesn’t come cheap. A hybrid or electric car for example needs at least 3 times the budget of a petrol version of the model.

We all know that Oxfam staff are the high fliers, some competing with Rajendra Pachauri who have already logged flying miles, so extensive, that ordinary mortals even after 10 rebirths cannot aspire to overtake!. A few of them fly around the world to warn the public that aviation fuel is just plain evil! All the same, they advocate for higher taxation on aviation to discourage air travel that in turn will reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. So while it becomes more and more expensive for people, including their supporters to fly, Oxfam staff continues to fly  merrily and in process,  burning up taxpayers money and their supporters donations. 

Oxfam  say they are deeply incensed at high food inflation and increasing number starving people in this planet. And what's their solution? Higher taxation of fossil fuels; use of expensive renewable energy and even introducing a bunker tax  on the shipping industry - all steps that would further accentuate food inflation and global starvation numbers.

So Duncan, if you reading this post, no one will probably grudge an Oxfam staffer taking a dip in your own swimming pool. Boy, you guys even deserve it. Particularly you Duncan for all your excellent posts. We all know besides a donor office could be at times, a real cuckoo's nest. That dip in a pool might be the only saving grace for many of you. But please, please spare us the hypocrisy of your climate change advocacy. Make a living, if you must out of the poverty business. Spend every pound you raise for staff salary and their comforts, if you feel you must. But always remember the key humanitarian principle Do No Harm to communities you profess you serve and who you tout as speaking on their behalf.

The number of comments Duncan's post attracted should be a record of sort. Collectively they might even overshadow the brilliance of the post. So visit Duncan’s blog here and check it out yourself.