MOST farmers believe climate change is a natural phenomenon and not man-made, senior delegates to a farmers’ conference said today.
NSW Farmers Association (NFA) executive councillors Howard Crozier and Ian McClintock’s comments were applauded by the 60 fellow NFA councillors at their bi-annual meeting in Sydney today.
Read the full article entitled, ”No link’ between drought and climate change’ in The Australian.
An extensive plan to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been announced by Prime Minister John Howard’s main rival in the forthcoming elections.
He announced the A$200m (£90m, US$185.5m) plan while on a glass-bottomed boat tour of the reef in Queensland in the north-east of the country.
Mr Rudd said the bulk of the fund, A$146m (£65.4m), will go towards a water quality grants scheme to encourage landowners to adapt more environmentally-friendly agricultural practices.
Read the rest of ‘Rudd unveils Barrier Reef plan’ on the BBC News Website.
New Zealand scientists have found what appears to be a cure for the disease that is responsible for wiping out many of the world’s frog populations.
Chloramphenicol, currently used as an eye ointment for humans, may be a lifesaver for the amphibians, they say.
The researchers found frogs bathed in the solution became resistant to the killer disease, chytridiomycosis.
The fungal disease has been blamed for the extinction of one-third of the 120 species lost since 1980.
Story from the BBC News website: Frog killer fungus ‘breakthrough’
Every year millions of birds die in oil spills around the world. Here’s the basics of how to clean a seabird:
– The birds suffer from hypothermia and have damages to their internal organs due to toxic oil. They suffer also from dehydration from diarrea.
– Do NOT clean the birds immediately. They need first to be stabilised with fluids and activated charcoal solution.
– It takes about 40 minutes for two people to clean a single bird.
– A good liquid to clean birds with is Dawn’s dishwashing liquid.
– After the cleaning, the birds often loose their appetite and need to be tube-fed with suitable nutrients , fluids and drugs.
– After the cleaning, the birds need a very warm place to rest in.
– After some days they are ready for the warm water pools, and finally for the cold water pools.
– Advanced rehab centers take blood samples from the birds to check if they are healthy enough to be released. The hemoglobin will be destroyed if the birds are too toxicated, causing anemia.
Cheers,
Ann
(in Sweden)
PS You can find more information here http://www.ibrrc.org/oil_affects.html
A delegation of Japanese anti-GM activists recently visited Australia demanding our farmers not grow genetically modified canola and then the Australian Democrats declared “keeping Australia GMO free” a federal election issue.
Today the Australian Oilseeds Federation has responded with a media release:
“The Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) urges recognition of the Australian grains industry’s capacity to deliver choice across the supply chain spectrum with the commercialisation of approved GM canola.
The capacity to deliver choice is built on the comprehensive and world-class protocols and processes that already operate in the Australian grains industry to enable grains and grain products to meet regulatory and customer specifications, and provide confidence to consumers.
Commenting on some recent claims from lobbyists that the Japanese market didn’t want GM canola, President of the Australian Oilseeds Federation, Robert Green, said the opposite is true.
“Japan has purchased GM canola from Canada for many years. Indeed, more than 80% of Japan’s canola imports are from Canada, and this is generally mixed with canola from Australia and from other countries,” he said.
“However, the AOF and the grains industry supply chain do recognise that within some markets there may be customers who prefer non-GM products.”
Mr Green said this is precisely what the Australian grains industry supply chain has considered, addressed and endorsed.
“If customers wish to purchase non-GM grain they can do so with confidence, knowing that the supply chain can be managed to meet their needs.
In August, the industry released a report signed-off by 29 key industry organisations.
Mr Green said this report demonstrates the industry’s capacity to manage canola in the supply chain and move ahead with the commercialisation of the approved GM canola varieties, whilst still ensuring the supply of non-GM canola.
“In endorsing this report, the AOF supports the lifting of the market-based moratoria so that farmers who want access to the approved GM varieties can choose to benefit from the technology, just as their competitors in Canada have been choosing to do for the past decade.”
Mr Green notes that the moratoria are concerned with market and trade considerations, the crux of which is the ability to deliver choice.
“Australia has a global reputation for delivering quality grain and oilseed products that meet customer specifications and requirements, and as such, has the capacity and flexibility within its supply chain to deliver choice and meet market requirements,” he said.
The ‘Delivering market choice with GM canola’ report is available via: www.afaa.com.au or www.australianoilseeds.com
I was interested to hear Australia’s shadow Environment Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, on ABC Radio National yesterday explain that should Labor win government, Australia would sign up to a post Kyoto agreement even if China and the US did not come onboard.
I then heard the Prime Minister, John Howard, phone in to local ABC radio claiming to be ”startled” by this revelation.
Mr Howard went on to explain that this was not responsible policy because Australia would be economically disadvantaged… essentially the same reason the Prime Minister uses for not signing Kyoto.
But the Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has been silent on the issue.
Mr Turnbull also ignored the article, Time to Ditch Kyoto, published in science journal Nature just last Thursday that, while acknowledging that global warming is a real issue, explained in some detail what credible economists have been saying for some time, that the Kyoto Protocol is not a solution.
It is Coalition policy not to sign Kyoto. But such obvious potential life-lines as a major article in Nature supporting Coalition policy are being ignored, including by the Coalition.
Graham Young suggests the problem is Malcolm Turnbull:
“On Kyoto the Liberals have refused to ratify the treaty on the basis that it is mere ineffective symbolism. So you would have thought that they would have jumped on an article in the latest edition of Nature which not only agrees, but suggests the correct solution is to get the 20 largest polluters together to make an agreement, and to spend money on research and development – all Coalition initiatives that have been ridiculed by Labor. Yet they didn’t. Sunday’s papers made it clear why – Environment Minister Turnbull isn’t playing a team game and actually wants to ratify Kyoto…
Read the complete blog post here: http://ambit-gambit.nationalforum.com.au/archives/002493.html
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
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