Our final Lower Fifth Enrichment Lecture was delivered by Dr Lesley Batty, reader in ecological education at the University of Birmingham. She spoke about the vast expanse of the world’s oceans as well as their enormous ecological diversity. There are probably nine million different ocean species, with most of them yet to be discovered! Dr Batty’s most important message was that the world’s oceans are under great threat from human society particularly from oil pollution, global warming, persistent organic pollutants, deep sea trawling, low oxygen levels and plastics. Dr Batty pointed out that every plastic straw takes 200 years to degrade, but plastic coffee pods are the worst offenders taking an incredible 500 years to degrade! It was a thought provoking lecture about the perils of pollution and the damage which is currently taking place due to global warming.
The great Easter Debate: a sweet, chaotic showdown
If you were expecting a serious, well-structured debate at this year’s Easter debate, you were in for a surprise. What unfolded was less of a formal argument and more of a theatrical masterpiece – complete with flying chocolate, wild accusations and a speaker who somehow turned it into a human rights campaign for sugar.
