Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for July 2007

Is Ecology, Geography Under Another Name?

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Hello Jen,

Is ‘Ecology’ simply ‘Geography’ under another Name?* As any ecology textbook will tell, the e-word dates back to the 1880s.

However, in recent decades it has captured the news-media, politics, and academe. But is it simply old wine in new bottles? Geography has long been concerned with the landscape effects of interactions between humans, vegetation, animals, and the non-living elements such as air, soil, and water. Some geography teachers complain that their discipline is being neglected, in favour of more trendy versions (IAG Newsletter No. 57, p.17).

A fast growing area of ecology is ‘landscape ecology’, which brings history into play to understand landscapes. Have we come full circle, back to geography (maps) and history (chaps)? Am I missing something? Is scale an essential difference, with geography broad, and ecology detailed? Is there, perhaps, a quasi-religious tendency in ecology, whereas geography looks at the plain facts? Do ecologists tend to dislike humans? Is one discipline a subset of the other? Are they both actually disciplines? I hope some incisive minds out there will sort this out.

Regards
Davey Gam Esq.

Expert Comment on Fourth IPCC Climate Change Report

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Hi Jennifer,

I have devoted the best part of the last 20 years to reading, commenting and preparing objections to the many voluminous science reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Besides the actual comments as an “Expert Reviewer” I have published numerous articles in a variety of Journals, many of them in New Zealand, and a book “The Greenhouse Delusion: a Critique of ‘Climate Change 2001′”, currently still available from the publishers at

http://www.multi-science.co.uk/greendelu.htm

I visit the local University library about once a month and monitor “Nature” “Science” Journal of Geophysical Research”, “Geophysical Research Letters”, Journal of Climate” and copy signficant articles. I receive several daily or weekly Email summaries of publications and I monitor all the most useful websites. I possess a large library of photocopies, pamphlets and books which is tending to get out of hand. I maintain contact with a large number of local and international correspondents. I have lectured frequently, both locally and internationally.

I have written many pages of comments on the various IPCC Reports and most of them have been ignored. I assumed that they would never see the light of day. Owing to a change of location of the head office of IPCC to the USA it has become subject to an Official Information Act, and largely owing to the efforts of Steve McIntyre of

http://www.climateaudit.org/

They have now published all the comments on the current 4th IPCC WGI (Science) Report at

http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Comments/wg1-commentFrameset.html

They are rather tedious to wade through but they show at once that many of the scientists listed as supposed supporters of the report have serious doubts about it. A friend of mine, John McLean, has done a summary of the names of the reviewers and the number of comments they made.

I was rather surprised to find that I made far more comments than anybody else, 1,878 of them, 16% of the total. You will find that nearly all of them were rejected, allegedly, because “I gave no reason for them” The reasons were usually obvious, and when I elaborated them, they still claimed I had not given any.

It is difficult to understand any of the comments if you do not have the full report. The very few comments made by most of the reviewers suggest that there may be very few actual people who ever read the report itself all the way through except those who write it.

The “Summary for Policymakers” might get a few readers, but the main purpose of the report is to provide a spurious scientific backup for the absurd claims of the worldwide environmentalist lobby that it has been established scientifically that increases in carbon dioxide are harmful to the climate. It just does not matter that this ain’t so.

Cheers,
Vincent Gray
New Zealand

“The urge to save humanity is always a false
front for the urge to rule it”:
H. L. Mencken

Fellow Blogger Launches Re-election Campaign: A Note from Andrew Bartlett

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Queensland Democrat Senator, Andrew Bartlett, and I don’t agree on a lot…

Except the power of the internet, the importance of free speech and that the Australian environment is unique and precious.

Anyway, Andrew recently sent me a note including comment that:

“While most people assume the [federal] election will not be called before mid-September at the earliest, it can be called from July onwards, so we’re getting out there early to show we’re ready and rolling.”

In particular, Andrew’s campaign launch is happening this Sunday 8th July. It will be starting from 11am, in the Gardens Theatre at QUT Gardens Point campus, 2 George St in Brisbane City. It should all be over by around 12.30.

You can read Andrew’s web diary at http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog
His homepage is at http://www.andrewbartlett.com

Australian Enviroment Foundation Conference: Melbourne 8th and 9th September

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Hi Jennifer,

The Australian Environment Foundation’s second conference will be held in Melbourne on September 8th and 9th 2007 with the theme “People and their Place in the Environment”.

You can download conference details and the registration form here:
http://aefweb.info/data/Website%20flyer%20&%20Registration%20Ver1.pdf

Registration closes on July 30th.

Topics covered will include global warming, nuclear power, water, forestry, GM crops, environmental impact assessment and wildlife management. Speakers include:

Conference speakers:
Don Burke, Chairman of AEF,
Professor Augie Auer, Climatologist – Climate change from a meteorological perspective
Professor Bob Carter, Marine geologist and environmental scientist – Real Facts and Figures about Global Warming. An analysis of the facts of climate change in balanced context.
Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation – Peoples future energy needs and the environment
George Warne, CEO of Murray Irrigation – Irrigation farmers place in the environment
Gary Featherston, President of the Institute of Foresters Aust. – Impacts on water from forest management
Calton Frame, Resource Manager Gunns Ltd – The environmental assessment process for the proposed pulp mill at Bell Bay
Professor Rick Roush, Dean of the Faculty of Land & Food Resources at Melbourne University – GM crops: Reducing risks to people and the environment
Dr Grahame Webb, principal, Wildlife Management Int. – Conservation through sustainable use
Professor Aynsley Kellow, Head of the School of Political Governance, University of Tasmania – Social and Political implications of environmentalism

Regards,
Max Rheese
Australian Environment Foundation

White Whale Belongs to Fastest Growing Population in the World

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A population of humpback whales migrates each year from the Southern Ocean to Great Barrier Reef Waters. It passes just to the east of where I live, in Brisbane, and most years* it includes the world’s only known white humpback – Migaloo.

Migaloo passed us by just last week and Dr Noad, who counts whales, reported that the population is the fastest growing whale population in the world. And he claims to have the the longest and most consistent series of whale surveys in the world.

Read the complete article here: http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=12363

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* In 2003 Migaloo went up the west coast of Australia – perhaps by mistake.