Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for January 29, 2009

So Hot in Southern Australia, and In 1900

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IT has been very hot in southern Australia.  I have been waiting to hear someone blame global warming and it came, but only today, and I’ve only heard it from Climate Change Minister Penny Wong: “The scorching weather across southern Australia proved the accuracy of warnings by climate change scientists.” [1]

Of course it’s been hot before in southern Australia.  Following is text published on January 1, 1900. [2] 

“THE oppressive heat was a major talking point of the vast and drought stricken country of Australia.

“While cyclonic winds have been lashing the coast off Townsville, the temperature today soared to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 C) in Adelaide and Broken Hill, and 104 (40C) in Melbourne.

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No Reporting of Slowing Greenland Glaciers: Shame on the MSM

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SUCH has been the fear of Greenland’s melting glaciers that well known Australian science journalist Robyn Williams has claimed sea levels could rise by 100 metres within the next 100 years. [1]   Mr Williams, and other journalists, have been quick to report on what has become known as the “Greenland Ice Armageddon”. 

Last Friday there was an article in one of the most read science journals, Science, entitled “Galloping Glaciers of Greenland have Reined Themselves In” by Richard A. Kerr.  

Yes, as the title suggests, the article explains that a wide-ranging survey of glacier conditions across south eastern Greenland, indicates that glacier melt has slowed significantly and that it would be wrong to attribute the higher rates of melt prior to 2005 to global warming or to extrapolate the higher melt rates of a few years ago into the future.  [2]

Mr Kerr was reporting on a presentation by glaciologist Tavi Murray at the American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco last December. [3]   The paper by Dr Murray was co-authored by many other members of the group at Swansea University in the UK, a team often quoted by Al Gore and others.

When I read the article last Friday I wondered how Robyn “100 metres” Williams and other journalists in the mainstream media (MSM) might report the story.    To my amazement they have simply ignored it.  [4]

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First Author of ‘Antarctic Warming Paper’ Claims Libel

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THE prestigious journal Nature published an article last Friday explaining that the Antarctic has been generally warming and at about the same rate as the rest of the planet.  [1]  Within the scientific community it had been generally been accepted that as a continent, Antarctica, has been getting colder contrary to most of the rest of the planet.  Publication of the article generated much comment and some disbelief. 

At the official US government’s senate minority web site, Marc Morano published a “comprehensive data round up” of responses to the article mostly seeking to debunk the claim that Antarctica is warming . [2]

First author, Eric Steig, has objected to the article by Mr Morano and requested a formal written apology.  Mr Morano has refused.   Following is the email exchange:

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Overharvesting Frogs?

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 UP to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year … France and the US are the two biggest importers, Indonesia the largest exporter.  Read more here.

It’s Hot in Southern Australia

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Records may tumble over the next few days with temperatures in both Melbourne and Adelaide soaring.  The record for Adelaide is 46. degrees C (114.98 degrees F), set 70 years ago.   Yesterday it topped 45.5 degrees C (113.9 degrees F).