British actor and voice actor William Morgan Sheppard has died aged 86.
He is best-known for his work on Star Trek across the years, playing the Rura Penth commandant in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the chief Vulcan Science Council minister in 2009’s Star Trek, Data’s “grandfather” Ira Graves in The Next Generation episode “The Schizoid Man,” and as Quatai in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Bliss.”
He appeared in the opening episode of series six of Doctor Who, in an episode titled “The Impossible Astronaut”. In it, he played the older version of the character Canton Everett Delaware III, while his son, Mark Sheppard, played the younger version.
The two also starred as older and younger versions of the same character on NCIS.
In a statement posted on Instagram, his son said: “We went to spend some time with my father today. Though he couldn’t speak, we held hands, he laughed and was so happy to see us. We left and came home.
“A good day. He was rushed to hospital and passed at 6:30pm, my mother by his side. I am so grateful that he didn’t have to suffer any longer. Thank you for all your kind thoughts, love and prayers.”
Born in 1932, Sheppard graduated from RADA (the Royal Academy Drama of Art) in 1958, before serving 12 years as an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearing in Broadway productions of Marat/Sade and Sherlock Holmes.
Other roles include Blank Reg on the TV series Max Headroom and Confederate general Isaac Trimble in the films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals.
He also played two different roles on the series Babylon 5, the soul hunter in the episode of the same name and Narn war leader G’Sten, an uncle of main character G’Kar, in “The Long Twilight Struggle”.
I have seen William Morgan Sheppard in so much, going back to Max Headroom. So many parts in Star Trek.
I hadn't realised that Mark Sheppard (Badger from Firefly) was his son.
William Morgan Sheppard was one of the best That Guys. He had such a distinctive voice and grizzled face that you couldn't help but recognize him in all the bajillion films and shows he had been in. I'm pretty sure the voice actor for Dr. Gero for DBZ Abridged based his performance on Sheppard.
Real shame about Hardy, I'm going to miss his Radio 4 appearances. He had a wonderful intelligence and subtlety to his humour while still cutting brutally deep with his satirical observations, never one to pull a punch in that regard. 57 is no age these days, far too young.
I'm bummed about Clive Swift even though I'm not even British. I've enjoyed Keeping Up Appearances for a long time. Swift played the hen-pecked husband very well.
Deepest apologies if this doesn't belong in here, but 15 years into its 90-day mission the Mars exploration robot Opportunity has finally expired. It got us lots of good pictures and scientific data about Mars in the course of its mission, and has hopefully deepened humanity's understanding of the universe.
Technically it has been unresponsive since last summer, but as of today NASA finally pronounced its mission ended.
"Rovers are people too", and all that.
For a lot of people who work on these projects, and others who use the data, this will be the end of a stage of their work, like losing a member of the team.
Opportunity's last words to NASA were “my battery is low and it's getting dark.”
What you may not have heard is NASA's last words TO Opportunity: as a final transmission to the rover, they played Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You."
reminded one of the end of Silent Running, which absolutely slew me as a child.
reds8n wrote: Opportunity's last words to NASA were “my battery is low and it's getting dark.”
What you may not have heard is NASA's last words TO Opportunity: as a final transmission to the rover, they played Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You."
reminded one of the end of Silent Running, which absolutely slew me as a child.
reds8n wrote: Opportunity's last words to NASA were “my battery is low and it's getting dark.”
What you may not have heard is NASA's last words TO Opportunity: as a final transmission to the rover, they played Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You."
reminded one of the end of Silent Running, which absolutely slew me as a child.
Actually I just read that a couple of days ago on Facebook. And the comparison to that song from Silent Running is very apt.
I'm a huge metal fan, yet I've always loved the Monkees. Lots of great music that even to this day doesn't sound dated or old-peopleish. I kinda grew up with their reruns before I got hooked on the Transformers.
Sad to report, but it seems Mark Hollis, singer of Talk-Talk has passed away. Reports thin on the ground, nothing on the BBC but the Grauniad is reporting it so I think it is genuine.
If you haven't heard of Talk-Talk, go to Youtube immediately, do not pass go, do not collect £200
Gutted. I remember My cousin listening to them when I was younger, and telling her what I thought about the racket they were making. She said something like 'you'll get it when your a bit older'. I did.
I was lucky enough to see them live a couple of times. One of the best live acts around.
Skinnereal wrote: Fat of the Land has been wearing out in my car's CD player for the past few months.
It's time to turn it up a bit for a day or 2.
Probably gonna do the same here. Saw in a Guardian article that he apparently committed suicide. Absolutely not passing judgement, but I do hope that further reports shed more light into the situation (a la, Robin Williams and the issues we really didn't know about)
He was quite an unlucky individual by all accounts. Survived several near-fatal car accidents, ended up having the lower part of his leg amputated due to illness, suffered from drug addiction and financial ruin too.
Aw man, that's too bad. RIP to the original Chewie.
Funny thing is he was just a hospital orderly that happened to be very tall, and he ended up becoming one of the most iconic characters in science fiction just by wearing a furry suit.
American animator Christopher Reccardi, best known for his work in multiple roles for hit series such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, died May 2 at age 54. The news was shared on Facebook by friend and Ren & Stimpy colleague William Wray, who wrote that Reccari — an avid surfer — “died doing what he loved.”
Jim Fowler, who hosted Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins, (initially assistant host, then took over when Marlin passed) has himself passed at 89 years
I remember many a saturday watching that show and the gentlemanly hell Marlin would put Jim thru.. "over there is a crocodile, very dangerous .. Jim, go dangle a chicken in front of it"
Not sure how famous he is outside Sweden, but Swedish author Sven Lindqvist passed away yesterday. I can strongly recommend his Exterminate all the Brutes for anyone interested in the evolution of colonialism and genocide leading up to the Holocaust. I haven't read his History of Bombing, but it's supposed to be good as well. He certainly had a way with words at least.
In real news, Mr. I.M. Pei, a modernist architect (Kennedy Library, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and most famously, the Pyramids at the Louvre) passed away yesterday.
In not so real news: Grump Cat of internet meme fame died today (or late late last night)
AlmightyWalrus wrote: Not sure how famous he is outside Sweden, but Swedish author Sven Lindqvist passed away yesterday. I can strongly recommend his Exterminate all the Brutes for anyone interested in the evolution of colonialism and genocide leading up to the Holocaust. I haven't read his History of Bombing, but it's supposed to be good as well. He certainly had a way with words at least.
Indeed, he is well worthr reading and its always sad when a good author passes away
Ensis Ferrae wrote: Just saw on FB and confirmed elsewhere that former F-1 driver Niki Lauda passed away.
I know not many race fans/petrol-heads on this forum, but he was still quite well known.
This one was sad for me, I'm a big fan of his and his comeback to racing after that horror crash was amazing. 3 World Drivers Championships to his name is no small feat.
If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge death. I’ve enjoyed a lot of his moments on screen. It seems VERY odd to type this, but...RIP, Rip.
Automatically Appended Next Post: If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge death. I’ve enjoyed a lot of his moments on screen. It seems VERY odd to type this, but...RIP, Rip.
Must have been missed, but a few days ago David Hedison, famous for starring in TV's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the original The Fly movie, and a couple of James Bond movies (as Felix Leiter) passed away at age 92.
ZergSmasher wrote: Must have been missed, but a few days ago David Hedison, famous for starring in TV's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the original The Fly movie, and a couple of James Bond movies (as Felix Leiter) passed away at age 92.
Bummer. Up until the Daniel Craig Bond films, Hedison was the only actor to play Felix Leiter twice. And I used to watch Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea all the time when I had days off from school. I was surprised to find out he was still alive, only to become saddened at the fact that he wasn't alive anymore.
One of the greast and moving soliloquies in cinema history which he ad-libbed and added the now famous metaphor that the scence gets its name from. Seems to always get dusty everytime I watch it.
Very sad news to hear that Rutger Hauer has left us.
The thing that puts a smile on my face is when he was recommended for the part of Blade Runner due to his performance in Turkish Delight, and then turns up to the set - dressed in a very peculiar manner for the time( something about Elton John sunglasses? ) leaving the Director and crew thinking "omg what have we done?"...
...and then together they made cinema history, and Rutger delivering the performance of an entire generation.
Legendary game designed Richard H Berg passed away yesterday.
He designed Conquistador, Blackbeard, War of the Ring (the SPI wargame), Successors, Terrible Swift Sword, Simple GBoH, and the quick playing, always have space for - Campaign for North Africa.
This one was a long time coming. She lasted a lot longer than the doctors thought she would, though, or so I've gathered since I saw stuff about her having less than a year to live, like, 3 years ago.
You might not have heard of him, but you heard his work and collaborations.
My wife and had the privileged of working with him, and his wife at the time, on a Arabic drumming workshop in the Detroit area. He was a nice fellow, had fun debating with him, and he always picked up the tab wherever we went. We always had an open door to come visit him whenever we wanted and occasionally would receive holiday cards from him. He also wasn't afraid to give approval or criticism of how dancers have used his songs. Luckily for us, he approved how we would use his songs an felt they best represented the feeling of them.
In Jazz circles he was known as Sultan of Swing.
It was Hossams version of Khosara that was sampled for Jay-Z's Big Pimpin
Daniel Johnston, whose guileless, homemade recordings inspired dozens of musicians from Kurt Cobain to Lana Del Rey, has died at the age of 58.
The songwriter and artist "passed away of natural causes" at his home in Texas, said his family in a statement.
He was mourned online by those he inspired, including musician Beck and film star Elijah Wood, who called him "a gentle, beautiful treasure".
Producer Jack Antonoff praised the way Johnston had "shared fearlessly".
Born in California in 1961 and raised in West Virginia, Johnston became known as a songwriter after moving to Austin, Texas.
His reputation in the city grew after he started handing out cassette tapes of his no-frills home recordings to people in the street.
A cult figure on the local music scene, he gained wider exposure when MTV filmed a program on the Austin music scene in 1985 for its series The Cutting Edge.
Johnston's performance brought him almost overnight acclaim, and his early home recordings received a belated vinyl release on the indie label Homestead.
He was never an accomplished player, and his pinched, high tenor vocals ensured he would never be a mainstream star - but the aching emotional sincerity of songs Life In Vain and True Love Will Find You In The End, earned him a fiercely loyal fanbase.
Kurt Cobain once described him as "the best songwriter on earth," and famously wore one of Johnston's t-shirts to the 1992 MTV Awards.
Other musicians that have covered Johnston's songs include Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens and Yo La Tengo.
In 2013, Lana Del Rey and rapper Mac Miller each contributed $10,000 to fund a short film about the singer, with Del Rey recording a version of his song about heartbreak, Some Things Last A Long Time for the soundtrack.
Johnston was also known as an artist and comic-book writer, and his magic marker cartoon drawings were an inspiration for The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening.
In 1993, he was asked to turn Jeremiah the Innocent, the alien frog featured on the cover of his album Hi, How Are You, into a mural in Austin.
In 2006, his artwork was featured in a major exhibition at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art.
Fans have been laying flowers at the foot of Johnston's mural following news of his death
But Johnston was plagued by mental health problems, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, that hindered his career and endangered his life - including one incident where he attempted to crash a plane being piloted by his father.
A harrowing documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, released in 2005, showed how fragile he had become, while bringing his music and story to a new audience.
"It sure was embarrassing," Johnston reflected in an interview with the Austin Chronicle. "Every terrible dilemma, every fabled mistake. Nothing I can do about it now, though. I wish they'd added a laugh track to it, because it sure is funny".
Johnston's own musical output had slowed in recent years and, following a farewell tour in 2017, he was largely confined to the family home.
'Prolific output'
His brother, Dick Johnston, told the New York Times he had been treated for kidney issues shortly before his death.
"He was still productive, writing songs and drawing, and was just annoyed by his health more than anything," he said. "It was just one thing after another."
In a statement posted on Facebook, Johnston's family remembered him as "a friend to all".
"Although he struggled with mental health issues for much of his adult life, Daniel triumphed over his illness through his prolific output of art and songs.
"He inspired countless fans, artists, and songwriters with his message that no matter how dark the day that "the sun shines down on me" and "true love will find you in the end."
The singer-songwriter [pictured in his youth] was known for his unfiltered lyrics, which spoke of depression and unrequited love
As news of his death spread, fans laid flowers and cassettes at the foot of his mural in Austin, while musicians and fellow creators spoke of Johnston's impact on their life.
"There are not enough words I can say about the vitality of Daniel Johnston's musical spirit," said musician Zola Jesus. "He was a huge inspiration to me, to follow my creative impulses no matter how messy or simple."
Indie band Death Cab For Cutie, who covered Johnston's song Dream Scream, wrote that their "hearts were heavy".
"His unique songwriting voice, so pure and so direct, spoke to us deeply," they continued. "It is quite safe to say there will never be another like him and thankfully, his music will play on."
David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, tweeted: "My dad introduced me to Daniel Johnston's music and at first I didn't know if it was meant as a joke or something else.
"But once I'd listened to a few songs, I heard the DNA of so many others' work. A unique and special human being. Rest peacefully, Daniel."
"Rest in peace... Living your broken dreams forever," added Avengers star Mark Ruffalo on Twitter. "Thank you for your art."
Johnston's family said plans for a memorial will be announced soon.
ZergSmasher wrote: Apparently Aron Eisenberg, who played Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, has passed today at the age of 50.
A sad day for Trekkies everywhere. RIP to Mr. Eisenberg, and condolences to his surviving family.
I believe it's Lieutenant Nog.
Fair Winds and Following Seas.
Automatically Appended Next Post: No matter how you feel about Guy... Guy's Grocery Games is a fun show to watch.
Which is why it is sad to report that Carl "The Cuban" Ruiz has served his last dish. He went from "Triple D" to competing on "Triple G" to being a Judge there.
Carl "The Cuban" Ruiz has left the kitchen.
Ginger Baker, one of the most innovative and influential drummers in rock music, has died at the age of 80.
A co-founder of Cream, he also played with Blind Faith, Hawkwind and Fela Kuti in a long and varied career.
His style combined the lyricism of jazz with the crude power of rock. One critic said watching him was like witnessing "a human combine harvester".
But he was also a temperamental and argumentative figure, whose behaviour frequently led to on-stage punch-ups.
Baker continued to play around the world despite his failing health
Nicknamed Ginger for his flaming red hair, the musician was born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, south London, shortly before World War Two.
His bricklayer father was killed in action in 1943, and he was brought up in near poverty by his mother, step-father and aunt.
A troubled student, he joined a local gang in his teens and became involved in petty theft. When he tried to quit, gang-members attacked him with a razor.
'Natural time'
His early ambition was to ride in the Tour de France but he was forced to quit the sport when, aged 16, his bicycle got "caught up" with a taxi. Instead, he took up drumming.
"I was always banging on the desks at school," he recalled. "So all the kids kept saying, 'Go on, go and play the drums', and I just sat down and I could play.
"It's a gift from God. You've either got it or you haven't. And I've got it: time. Natural time."
He honed his craft in London's pubs and clubs
The strong legs he'd developed on long bike rides helped him play the double bass drum set-up he favoured and Baker soon talked his way into his first gig.
He played with jazz acts like Terry Lightfoot and Acker Bilk but his style - fragmented and aggressive, but articulate and insistent - was often an odd fit.
Instead, he gravitated towards London's burgeoning blues scene and, in 1962, joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated on the recommendation of Charlie Watts - who was leaving to join the Rolling Stones.
He gained early fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organisation alongside bassist Jack Bruce - but it was their partnership with Eric Clapton in Cream that made all three superstars.
One of rock's first "supergroups", they fused blues and psychedelia to dazzling effect on songs like Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, Badge and I Feel Free. They sold more than 35 million albums and were awarded the world's first ever platinum disc for their LP Wheels of Fire.
Along with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the band expanded the vocabulary of heavy rock, especially during their incendiary live shows, where the three musicians would stretch simple riffs into long, exploratory improvisations.
"It was as if something else had taken over," Baker once said of playing with Cream. "You're not conscious of playing. You're listening to this fantastic sound that you're a part of. And your part is just… happening. It was a gift, and we three had it in abundance."
But the volatility that fuelled their performances was rooted in animosity. Baker and Bruce's arguments were frequent and violent, even driving Clapton to tears on one occasion. Once, Baker attempted to end one of Bruce's solos by bouncing a stick off his snare drum, and into Bruce's head.
"So I grabbed my double bass," Bruce later recalled, "and demolished him and his kit."
The band eventually split after two years and four albums, with a farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1968.
"Cream came and went almost in the blink of an eye, but left an indelible mark on rock music," wrote Colin Larkin in the Encyclopaedia of Popular Music.
Bands who built on their template included Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin - not that Baker was impressed.
"I don't think Led Zeppelin filled the void that Cream left, but they made a lot of money," he told Forbes.
Following the band's demise, he teamed up with Clapton and Steve Winwood to form Blind Faith, followed by the ambitious 10-piece Air Force, which combined his interests in jazz and Afro-fusion.
While the musicianship was of a high standard, the eclectic mix of jazz, blues, African music and a surfeit of drums - there were three percussionists - was never going to inspire a mass following.
After one studio album and a live concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Air Force, undermined by personnel changes, finally crashed and burned.
The drug-related death of his friend, Jimi Hendrix, persuaded Baker it was time to leave the London music scene and get clean.
He left Britain to live in Nigeria, where he recorded with Fela Kuti and built his own recording studio. He helped Paul McCartney record the classic Wings' album Band On The Run, although their relationship soured over claims that he was never paid.
Financial problems of one sort or another dogged him throughout this period and he eventually lost control of his studio.
Away from music, he took up rally driving and, somewhat incongruously, developed a love of polo, building up a sizeable collection of ponies, despite his tendency to get injured.
"I've had a lot of falls which have wrecked my body," he told the Telegraph in 2013. "They had to take a piece of my hip bone out and screw it into my neck."
In the 1980s, he played with John Lydon's Public Image Ltd, while continuing to form and discard new bands that combined his African and Western musical influences, like African Force and Middle Passage.
While commercial success eluded him, his reputation, particularly with a new generation of drummers, remained high.
"His playing was revolutionary," said Neil Peart, drummer with the Canadian band Rush. "He set the bar for what rock drumming could be."
Cream were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, briefly reuniting to play three songs, then teamed up again in 2005 for a series of concerts in London and New York.
Almost inevitably, the performances ended with Baker and Bruce fighting on stage.
"It's a knife-edge thing for me and Ginger," Bruce said afterward. "Nowadays, we're happily co-existing in different continents... although I was thinking of asking him to move. He's still a bit too close."
Baker had, in fact, headed to South Africa, where he spent the reunion money buying polo ponies and funding a veterinary hospital.
In 2012, he became the subject of a hugely enjoyable documentary - Beware of Mr Baker - which illustrated how his jaw-dropping drumming was neither as wild nor as extraordinary as his personal life.
In the opening scene, the musician was seen attacking director Jay Bulger with a metal cane, declaring: "I'm going to put you in hospital." He later settled down to reflect, cantankerously, on the trail of broken bands, ex-wives and neglected children he'd left in his wake.
Contributors marvelled at his talent, but little else. "He influenced me as a drummer, but not as a person," recalled Free's Simon Kirke, who toured with Cream.
In later years, he was beset by ill health, breaking most of his ribs and subsequently being diagnosed with a degenerative spine condition and the onset of emphysema.
"God is punishing me for my past wickedness by keeping me alive and in as much pain as He can," he told Rolling Stone at the time.
The musician fought osteoarthritis to record his final album, Why?, in 2014. Two years later, he underwent open heart surgery and announced his retirement from touring.
"Just seen doctor… big shock… no more gigs for this old drummer... everything is off," he wrote on his official blog.
"Of all things I never thought it would be my heart."
Baker's death will see him feted as one of rock's most influential musicians, but he scoffed at such accolades, insisting: "Drummers are really nothing more than time-keepers."
He told Rhythm magazine: "It's the drummer's job to make the other guys sound good."
Darn shame about Clive James, a more elegant critic for a more civilised age (and a right clever bugger at all sort of other things too), he will be missed
Automatically Appended Next Post:
SamusDrake wrote: Gary Rhodes harkens back to a time when TV cookery shows were pleasant and positive. RIP Sir.
tru' dat, now they are just all hateful one up personship / peon shaming
It's being reported on social media* that Dorothy Catherine "D. C." Fontana has died (script writer & story editor for Star Trek, Logan's Run, The Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, etc.)
* It's been shared by David Gerrold and other people who know her / worked with her, so I'm assuming it's not a hoax (and Wikipedia has just updated saying she died yesterday, but doesn't cite source).
Oh no, not Odo! That's a shame. He was one of my favorites on DS9. I'll have to raise a glass to him at Quark's tonight. My condolences to his family and friends.
This really bites. Odo was one of the key people that made DS9 the special show that it was. There will never be another Rene, and there will never be another Chief Odo. :(
Caroll Spinney, performer of Big Bird and Oscar on Sesame Street, has died. He retired from the parts last year, having done them from the very beginning in 1969.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Sadly he was a climate change denier in later life, which somewhat tarnished his memory for me.
He was a sceptic rather than a denier, believing it was part of Earth's natural cycle - "Climate change is happening, it's been happening all the time there has been a climate, and there certainly is a period in recent times when it appears that the temperature is going up and up. But I would show you this one thing out of the paper – strawberries in December, frog spawn in February – not 2007 but 1868 and no one blamed global warming then. I have asked the global warmers how to explain facts like that and they always don't give me an answer. So I am a sceptic."
Sometimes I do wonder if the human element might be overblown considering that "since records began" is only around 100 years or so in many regions and in some less than that. That and its impossibly hard to draw the line on what is human and what is natural for climate change.
That said it is happening and in the end almost all of the climate impacts that humans induce are easily shown to cause other forms of harm to the planet and ourselves. So honestly even if it were all proven to be naturally driven climatic change the ecological, atmospheric and life quality improvements from cleaning up human carbon and other emissions would only be a good thing.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Sadly he was a climate change denier in later life, which somewhat tarnished his memory for me.
He was a sceptic rather than a denier, believing it was part of Earth's natural cycle - "Climate change is happening, it's been happening all the time there has been a climate, and there certainly is a period in recent times when it appears that the temperature is going up and up. But I would show you this one thing out of the paper – strawberries in December, frog spawn in February – not 2007 but 1868 and no one blamed global warming then. I have asked the global warmers how to explain facts like that and they always don't give me an answer. So I am a sceptic."
No, he is certainly a denier. Scientists who specialise in the Earth's natural cycles say it is not the cause. Neither is the Solar cycle to blame. Controlling for these phenomena still leaves a huge increase in global temperature since we have started burning fossil fuels, a huge net loss in ice sheets etc.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Sadly he was a climate change denier in later life, which somewhat tarnished his memory for me.
He was a sceptic rather than a denier, believing it was part of Earth's natural cycle - "Climate change is happening, it's been happening all the time there has been a climate, and there certainly is a period in recent times when it appears that the temperature is going up and up. But I would show you this one thing out of the paper – strawberries in December, frog spawn in February – not 2007 but 1868 and no one blamed global warming then. I have asked the global warmers how to explain facts like that and they always don't give me an answer. So I am a sceptic."
No, he is certainly a denier. Scientists who specialise in the Earth's natural cycles say it is not the cause. Neither is the Solar cycle to blame. Controlling for these phenomena still leaves a huge increase in global temperature since we have started burning fossil fuels, a huge net loss in ice sheets etc.
Just noticed this quote of his ("It (global warming) is not happening at all, but if you get the idea that people's children will die because of CO2 they fall for it."), so I'll walk away from this now.
Overread wrote: Sometimes I do wonder if the human element might be overblown considering that "since records began" is only around 100 years or so in many regions and in some less than that. That and its impossibly hard to draw the line on what is human and what is natural for climate change.
That said it is happening and in the end almost all of the climate impacts that humans induce are easily shown to cause other forms of harm to the planet and ourselves. So honestly even if it were all proven to be naturally driven climatic change the ecological, atmospheric and life quality improvements from cleaning up human carbon and other emissions would only be a good thing.
Fossil fuel usage has only really been a thing for the same sort of time-frame though. The graph here is pretty dramatic.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say that you have been one of the more decent members I've encountered on a forum, and I'm sure I speak for the Dakka community in that our thoughts are with you and your family.
May 2020 be the first step on the road to healing.