There are some grim faces at the UN international climate meeting taking place now in Poland. Read more here.
Archives for December 2008
Some Nuts Can be hard to Crack
Spare a thought for this scrub turkey unable to open that nut. I watched the bird struggle with it for quite a while at Alexandra Bay, Noosa National Park, on November 24, 2008.
If only I’d had a parang, I would have opened the nut for the turkey.
I try hard with this blog to open issues in a way accessible to everyone.
I received the following comment from a reader not so long ago:
“I have seen on your blog site where a great deal of healthy debate has raged. This has the benefit of not only giving all a go, but also challenges those commenting to tidy up loose ends of their argument, or cuts off invalid arguments totally. One point that I have noticed is that the comments also help us as readers, to see similar comparisons to our own situation. While we may not agree with a particular persons view on most points even, we are stimulated by other points that draw out ’sleeper’ issues.”
Don’t forget that as well as the main page, this blog has a ‘Community Home’ and a Donation Button.
The IPA Review & Articles by Jennifer Marohasy
I have been a senior fellow with the Melbourne-based Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) for more than five years now. I have written a lot for the magazine, which used to be published by the IPA quarterly, but now comes out every two months. A year’s subscription is not that much – just $33 a year.
Anyway, Nichole Hoskin has made a list of many of the articles I have had published in the ‘Review’ over the years, and here goes:
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘Deceit in the Name of Conservation?’, IPA Review, March 2003, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/Review55-1%20Deciet%20in%20the%20name%20of%20conservation.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘Where’s the Data?’, IPA Review, June 2003, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/Review55-2%20Wheres%20the%20data.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘GM Fish and Chips? Already and Australian Staple!’, IPA Review, September 2003, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/Review553%20GM%20Fish%20and%20ships.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘How Useful are Australia’s Official Environmental Statistics?’ IPA Review, December 2003, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/review554%20How%20useful%20are%20Australias.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘The Taboo Food- Genetically Modified Anything’, IPA Review, March 2004, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/review56-1%20The%20taboo%20food.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘There are Votes in the Murray’, IPA Review, September 2004, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/56-3-%20there%20are%20votes%20in%20the%20murray.pdf
Jennifer Marohasy, ‘Time to Redefine Environmentalism’, IPA Review, December 2004, http://www.ipa.org.au/library/56-4-Time%20to%20Redefine%20Environmentalism.pdf
[Read more…] about The IPA Review & Articles by Jennifer Marohasy
Andrew Bolt on Robyn Williams on Nuance
ABC [Australia’s] Science Show host Robyn Williams says those who contradict him when he makes absurdly alarmist – and false – claims about global warming just don’t understand “nuance”. Read more here.
Cattle Still in the Barmah Forest
ON Monday, the first day of summer here in Australia, residents of the little town of Barmah in northwestern Victoria, drove cattle into their forest in defiance of a government ban. The Department of Sustainability and Environment has threatened legal action, but so far the cattle are still there.
The forest has historically been grazed and the Barmah locals believe this is important to reduce the fire risk.
Clarifying the Role of the Sun and Global Temperatures
YESTERDAY atmospheric scientist, Professor Marvin Geller, explained to Leigh Dayton, science writer at The Australian newspaper, that the sun could not be driving “recent global warming as climate change sceptics claim” because solar radiation has not changed very much since 1978.
But climate change sceptics do not claim there has been recent global warming. They claim there has been a levelling off, or fall in temperatures, over the last 10 years since the 1998 El Nino-driven peak. [Click on the chart for a larger view of global temperature trends.]
As regards the El Nino event of 1998, according to Professor Geller, El Ninos cause a temporary increase in global temperatures, not the steady and consistent upward trend typical of warming from greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
But there has been no “consistent upward trend”.
Indeed, Professor Geller misrepresents the position of global warming sceptics and the available global temperature data.
[Read more…] about Clarifying the Role of the Sun and Global Temperatures
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.