Key US Climate Change Report. Primary Writing Tremor. Italian Church Paintings.

A ray of light in the murky world of politics. The Trump adminsitration has released the 4 yearly scientific report on climate change without significant changes today. The report, the Fourth National Climate Assessment 2017, available here at https://science2017.globalchange.gov/downloads/CSSR2017_FullReport.pdf , baldly states that it is 95% or more likely that 90% of global warming is man-made.  “A lot of what we’ve been learning over the last four year suggests the possibility that things may have been more serious than we think,” according to Robert Kopp of Rutgers University. Key quotes from the report are:

• Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization. 
• It is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.
• Global average sea levels have risen by about 7–8 inches since 1900. They are expected to continue to rise—by at least several inches in the next 15 years and by 1–4 feet by 2100. A rise of as much as 8 feet by 2100 cannot be ruled out. 
• The global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has now passed 400 parts per million (ppm), a level that last occurred about 3 million years ago, when both global average temperature and sea level were significantly higher than today. 
• The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades will depend primarily on the amount of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) emitted globally.

The neighbours large leaved cherry tree is usually a good indicator of whether we will have an Autumn full of rich reds, yellows and greens. Could global warming be responsible for the less colourful autumn we are experiencing in Milton? One of the factors that can prevent the development of the rich reds is drought and our region has experienced a lower than average rainfall this year.

I traveled to Addenbrookes Hospital by bus today and found myself talking to two regular patients, returning for treatment. The young motorised-wheelchair bound woman was an eternal optimist despite her life threatening condition. NHS shortages were brought sharply into focus by her matter of fact statement that she and her husband, who also needed care, were carers for each other as there were no available care staff to come and give the care and assistance they were entitled to.

Once some of the passengers had got off, I gratefully sank into a free seat next to an older gentleman also travelling to Addenbrookes to have his dressings for a major wound changed. A diabetic, he had lost the sense of pain in his legs and was therefore prone to large injuries without noticing. Whilst most of us would like to avoid pain at all costs, it's absence takes away a vital indicator of danger to our bodies. We got talking about growing vegetables and he left me with this wonderful childhood reminiscence. Carrots are prone to a pest called carrot fly. As a boy, he worked on a farm with horses.  He remembered soaking sacks in paraffin, tying them behind a horse and then dragging the smelly sacks over the carrot plants in a field. Enough of the paraffin scent remained to deter carrot fly.

I got off the bus and wandered to Clinic 12 feeling a bit of a fraud in comparison to the others. I've been suffering an increasing uncontrollable tremor when writing. It makes note taking and fine drawing practically impossible. A friend had warned that a hand tremor was the first sign of his early stage Parkinsons disease. The neurologist wanted to see the tremor in action but we hit a problem. The increasingly computerised NHS meant that he had neither pen nor paper in his office. He had to dash up to the clinic's reception to remedy the situation.

A succession of tests on reflexes, hand and body movements and he gave me a diagnosis that had me laugh out loud. The most likely diagnosis was 'Primary Writing Tremor'! Yes, the condition actually exists. It is one of a family of task related tremors, that is, tremors that only occur with specific actions. Musicians can be afflicted with their own tremors. Writer's tremors can be initiated simply by writing or by certain muscular movements for certain numbers and letters. With me it is a combination of writing above a certain speed and the fine control of creating the letters. Apparently the brain becomes too active in sending signals to the fingers/hand and the conflicting messages generate a tremor of about 5 to 7 Hz.

Medication was possible -  with potential side effects as always. However, relieved that it was not a more debilitating or life threatening illness, I chose not to go down the medicine route. In fact, I had already researched the calligraphy literature and found a different way of writing, from the shoulder, rather than from the hand. I'm still a bit slow, but at least I can write legibly.

The day ended with a visit to a friendly couple in the village who were interested in Church iconography and interior art. I will be using some of the hundreds of photos taken in three churches in Italy on holiday for a talk. For once the internet failed me in providing information on the churches and the paintings I had recorded.

We spent a couple of hours going through my images, zooming in and out and being amazed at the beauty, imagination and sometimes just downright weird paintings. It was good for me as the gloom of the churches and cathedrals hid some of the detail I was now able to see on screen. Their cat found my lap comfortable and supervised most of our interaction, purring, until a lone firework bang had her jump and scurrying off to hide in the kitchen.