On Saturday I climbed to the very top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Archives for November 2008
Britian Embarrassed by New Coal Mines
Britain is poised to expand its coal mining industry, despite fears that the move will lead to a rise in climate change emissions and harm communities and the environment. Read more here.
Since Kyoto was Ratified
According to Joseph D’Aleo: “Since Kyoto was ratified emissions worldwide increased 18.0%, emissions from countries that signed the treaty increased 21.1%, emissions from non-signers increased 10.0% and emissions from the U.S. increased 6.6%.”
Indonesia’s Climate Follows the Sun
CARBON dioxide is not an air pollutant. It is plant food. All life on Earth depends on it. It is natural. It forms the bubbles in bread, champagne, and Coca-Cola. You breathe it out, and plants breathe it in.
The Earth contains a lot of CO2, but the atmosphere contains so little that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) rightly calls CO2 a “trace gas”. A scientific mystery is why the air does not hold more CO2 than it does. Half a billion years ago, there was almost 20 times today’s CO2 concentration.
Most farmers would prefer to grow crops under much-higher concentrations of CO2 than today’s 385 parts per million—less than 1/25 of 1 percent of the atmosphere. To feed the world, low CO2 concentration is not such a great idea. High concentrations are better, and they cause no harm. Experiments have shown that even delicate plants such as orchids thrive at CO2 concentrations of 10,000 ppm.
That is why U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia has declared that if CO2 is to be labeled an “air pollutant”, then so must Frisbees and flatulence.
First Photographs of Trapped Whales
On Saturday I reported that 200 whales are trapped in ice in the Canadian Arctic.
Today I received photographs of one of the groups of Narwhal trapped in one of the 11 open holes.
The photographs were taken by Brian Koonoo.
Climate Activist Seeks Damage in The Hague
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
According to Mitchell Anderson writing at Desmog a class action lawsuit was filed last week in the ICC against national governments refusing to act on reducing carbon emissions. The suit was filed by climate activist Danny Bloom who is asking for “US$1 billion dollars in damages on behalf of future generations of human beings on Earth – if there are any”.
Are you thinking this is sure to go nowhere?
Well, remember in September a UK jury cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damages accepting defence arguments that they had a “lawful excuse” when they vandalised the chimney stack because the carbon dioxide emissions from the Kingsnorth power plant are harmful to the environment of the Hoo Peninsula. Under the UK’s Criminal Damage Act 1971 damage is condoned if it will prevent even greater damage.
Furthermore, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr James Hansen, flew to the UK to be an expert witness in the trial in support of the activists.
Based on past form, Dr Hansen and many other high profile scientists with impeccable credentials will be lining up to support Mr Bloom.
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.