Blog: Climate

We recently confronted Cuadrilla Chief Executive, Francis Egan, over his plans to frack for shale gas underneath people’s homes in Lancashire. Cuadrilla has announced two new drilling sites in Lancashire, so we decided to pay them a visit and seek their assurance that they would respect the wishes of the Lancashire residents who have come together as part of Greenpeace’s legal block to tell them not to trespass on their land.

All this fracking is enough to drive someone to drink. But now it seems even that's under threat. Some breweries are becoming worried that contaminated water supplies, as a result of fracking, could have "dire consequences" on the production of beer.

Funny how environmental issues can rocket to the top of the news agenda when UK property prices might be affected. Sorry, that probably came across as slightly cynical, but that’s been the pervading atmosphere in the flooding stories for most of the last month.

Sydney Harbour Bridge was barely visible through the smoke and amber coloured sky. Men covered in protective clothing sprayed water at the blazing bush. A row of four ducks swiftly waddled their way out of danger.

That was the first time I had seen my new home, Sydney, for over two months. I couldn’t smell or feel the burning heat from the fires but I witnessed the fires and their destructive paths on the TV, the TV inside my Russian prison cell.