Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for July 2, 2008

Ocean Acidification: Photographs from Bob Halstead and a Note from Floor Anthoni

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Hi Jennifer,

The shallows near Dobu Island off Papua and New Guinea have active underwater fumaroles pumping out virtually pure CO2. The sea grass is extraordinarily lush and healthy and there is very healthy coral reef a few metres away.

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May 2008 in PNG at Dobu Island in the D’Entrecasteaux Group

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May 2008 in PNG at Dobu Island in the D’Entrecasteaux Group

Both photos show bubbles of CO2 which continually flow. I collected samples of gas years ago for a vulcanologist and he reported back to me that it was “virtually pure CO2”.

Unfortunately the water had poor visibility the day I shot the pictures, but it is often clear.

Bob Halstead
www.halsteaddiving.com

And also…

Dear Jennifer,

I have recently updated my article about ocean acidification by reviewing two recent studies.
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/global/acid2.htm

I thought it may interest you.

Dr J Floor Anthoni
Director Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/

New Australian Movie Starring Caroline Marohasy

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Caroline Marohasy, a reader of this weblog and my daughter, makes her debut in a new Australian revenge thriller ‘The Horseman’ that will premier at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

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Caroline Marohasy and Peter Marshall in The Horseman

If you like this genre of movie you can watch the trailer; but be warned there is lots of blood and guts and violence.

A couple of early reviews include:

“The Horseman is a balls to the wall, edgy thriller. A simple, fast paced action movie – the kind people used to make in the 70’s. Think ‘Get Carter’ in ‘Stubbies’ crossed with Tarantino. If you like your movies bold, hard-core and unapologetic, then keep an eye on director Steven Kastrissios”.
– Greg Mclean (Director of Wolf Creek & Rogue)

“I just saw an advance screener of this film and was left breathless. The Horseman is the most compelling Australian film that I have seen since Wolf Creek. It is taut and relentless, grabbing you by the throat in the opening scene and not letting go until the end credits roll. The film’s frenetic pacing and tight narrative structure brings to mind similarly impactual genre classics like Mad Max and Romper Stomper. Indeed, it belongs to that rare type of thrilling Aussie cinema that gets bums on seats and keeps them there! Kastrissios should be congratulated for such an amazing debut. He should also be paid close attention to: I believe he is set to become an important fixture of the Australian cinema scene.
– Dean Bertram (Director, A Night of Horror International Film Festival)

And a note from Caroline, “Australian independent feature films really need grass roots support, and this one is no exception. So you might become a fan at our Facebook site“.


warning – this is a horror revenge movie with lots of ‘blood and guts’

Clive Hamilton Boycotts e-Journal for Publishing ‘Climate Change Denialists’

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Clive Hamilton, Professor of public ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, is leading an attack by left-leaning Australian academics on Graham Young and his e-journal On Line Opinion because it publishes article by so-called ‘climate change denialists’ including Tom Harris and John McLean.

Now is your opportunity to support Graham Young and On Line Opinion by making a donation here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/membership/

You can read Prof Hamilton here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7580

And then perhaps leave a comment here: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=7580

Crying Need for Skepticism: Gerard Henderson

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There is an opinion piece in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald entitled ‘Crying Need for Doubting Peter’ in which Gerard Henderson suggests that even if carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are contributing to global warming it is unclear why a nation like Australia — responsible for only 1 percent of the world’s emissions — should be an international leader in responding to climate change.

Gerard Henderson quotes ABC Radio National Broadcaster Robyn Williams from his interview with Channel 9 TV journalist Adam Shand on Sunday.

You can watch the Channel 9 story — which is probably the first time mainstream Australian TV has given some of Australia’s so-called global warming skeptics a fair hearing — here as Part 1 and Part 2.