Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for September 3, 2007

Senator Inhofe Claims Consensus Media-Driven

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According to Senator James Inhofe of the US Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, the “global warming consensus” continues to melt away:

“We are witnessing an international awakening of scientists who are speaking out in opposition to former Vice President Al Gore, the United Nations, and the media-driven “consensus” on man-made global warming. In May, I released a report detailing scientists who were former believers in catastrophic man-made climate change but who have recently reversed themselves and are now skeptics.

“I will also be releasing a list of the hundreds of scientists, many of them affiliated with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process, who have spoken out recently to oppose climate alarmism. It is ironic that the media’s climate hysteria grows louder as the latest scientific reports grow less and less alarming. Even the alarmist UN has cut sea level rise estimates in half since 2001 and has reduced man’s estimated impact on the climate by 25%. Meanwhile, a separate UN report found that cow emissions are more damaging to the planet than all of the CO2 emissions from cars and trucks.

“The New York Times is now debunking aspects of climate alarmism. An April 23, 2006, article in the Times by Andrew Revkin stated: “few scientists agree with the idea that the recent spate of potent hurricanes, European heat waves, African drought and other weather extremes are, in essence, our fault (a result of manmade emissions). There is more than enough natural variability in nature to mask a direct connection, [scientists] say.” The Times is essentially conceding that no recent weather events are outside of natural climate variability. So all the climate doomsayers have to back up their claims of climate fears are unproven computer models. Of course, you can’t prove a prediction of the climate in 2100 wrong today.

Read the rest of the article in the latest issue of Power magazine here. Click on ‘Commentary.’

Aerosol-Abatement Strategies to Reduce AGW

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“Stephen Schwartz knows as much about the effects of aerosols on climate change as anyone in the world, and he’s worried. He believes climate change is so massive an economic issue that we face costs “in the trillions if not quadrillions of dollars.” He thinks a Herculean effort and great sacrifice is required to get the world down to zero net increase in carbon dioxide concentrations, an effort he compares to that which the Allies undertook in their all-out war against Nazi Germany and Japan .

“Recall World War II, where everyone was making a sacrifice: gas rationing, tire rationing, no new car production, food rationing,” he explains. “I don’t think the people of the world are ready or prepared to make such a level of personal sacrifice. Perhaps when the consequences of climate change become more apparent that will change. But by that time, there will be irreversible changes in climate.”

“Few scientists speak with more conviction, or lay out the potential consequences of inaction more starkly. Yet Stephen Schwartz, senior scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, chief scientist of the Atmospheric Science Program of the United Stated Department of Energy, and author of the study some credit with spurring acid rain legislation in the 1990s, is also Al Gore’s worst nightmare. He knows the science on global warming is not settled, as Gore claims. He knows society has antidotes to carbon dioxide — aerosols — that could postpone the day of reckoning far into the future. And although he dreads a reliance on the aerosols, he knows respected scientists are pursuing aerosol-abatement strategies, and that they could be cost effective and environmentally benign.

Read the rest of the article by Lawrence Solomon in The Financial Post here.

Frogs and Snakes

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When Stoney Creek treefrogs (Litoria lesueuri) mate, hundreds of males congregate around three or four females. In contrast to their normal olive drab, the much smaller and more numerous males display their state of excitement by becoming brilliant bright yellow.

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I have never seen any any nocturnal snakes avail themselves of these veritable smorgasborgs; perhaps the treefrogs are poisonous. The Keelback or Freshwater Snake (Tropidonophis mairii) however, is diurnal and can tolerate the toxins of young cane toads (Bufo marinas) and also Stoney Creek treefrogs, if captured during the day.

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In this media release from Sydney University, strategic behaviour of frogs and snakes reveals an unexpected sophistication:

When dinner is dangerous

Normally, when a snake meets a frog it is the frog that must fear for its life. But in the tropics of Australia there are several frog species that can turn the tables on their attacker.

The marbled frog produces a strong glue when bitten by a snake, making the frog difficult to handle. Dahl’s aquatic frog uses a different tactic, producing a potent poison that can kill a snake attempting to swallow it.

In a recent article in The American Naturalist Ben Phillips and Richards Shine from the University of Sydney show that one species of Australian snake has developed an ingenious trick for dealing with these dangerous prey items. The northern death adder is a highly venomous front-fanged snake native to the same floodplains inhabited by these dangerous frogs. By examining snake feeding behaviour, Phillips and Shine found that death adders not only know that these frog species are dangerous, but they recognize which species they are attacking and deal with them appropriately.

How do the snakes deal with these toxic prey? The answer is simple: by biting and then waiting. The adders simply bite then eat non-toxic frogs, but dangerous frogs are bitten, envenomated and then released. By waiting for the toxic frogs to die, and then waiting for the toxin to degrade, predatory snakes can effectively dodge the toxic frog bullet.

Intriguingly, the snakes recognize which kind of prey they are dealing with: the glue of marbled frogs takes about ten minutes to lose potency and so snakes wait about 12 minutes after biting this frog before eating it. The toxin in Dahl’s aquatic frog takes longer (about 30 minutes) to lose potency. Thus, adders delay swallowing for 30-40 minutes after biting and releasing these frogs.

In evolutionary terms, the snake’s strategy of “bite, release, and wait” is unbeatable by the frogs. Although prey often evolve ways of overcoming predator tactics, the frogs can’t do so in this case – because the snake’s strategy only becomes effective after the frog has died. Natural selection ceases to operate on an individual after that individual’s death, so frogs will probably never evolve toxins that last longer in response to the snake’s tactic. Thus, this waiting strategy is likely to be stable and unbeatable over evolutionary time.

“The common assumption is that snakes are pretty stupid, and to them a frog is a frog. But here we see a snake that effectively discriminates between frog species and then deals with each species in an appropriate manner. If dinner can kill you, you have to be careful,” said Dr Phillips.

Mossman Sugar Trials

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It has been my observation that the little-known prehensile-tailed rat (Pogonomys mollipilosus) loves the sweet gel around the seeds of cocoa beans and I have wondered how cocoa can be protected from their adverse economic enthusiasms.

The notion may well come to a head, with Mossman Agricultural Services helping to develop a cocoa industry with a $199,000 Sugar Industry Innovation Fund grant. In partnership with Cocoa Australia and Mossman Central Mill, the project seeks to diversify the income stream for the mill, by manufacturing sugar-based products needed for cocoa and chocolate production. Part of the grant will be used to help establish a cocoa processing factory.

Plummeting world sugar prices have encouraged the development of value-adding in Mossman Mill, through organic chocolate production and also the world’s first batch of low glycemic-index (GI) sugar, which could help people with diabetes.

Damage Mitigation Permits are processed by Queensland’s Environmental Protection Agency, after non-lethal strategies have shown to be unsuccessful, but the little-known prehensile-tailed rat has not been previously identified as a pest and neither has it been listed for its vulnerabilities.