Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for January 2009

New Report on Corals and Carbon for the Curious

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HAVE you ever wondered what happens when corals grow so tall they are above sea level or whether the Great Barrier Reef could extend its range further south with global warming?

If you are curious you will probably enjoy and learn much from a new 81-page report by Craig D. Idso on global warming and coral reefs [1].

The report doesn’t come to any quick conclusions, but rather, in plain English, explains how corals grow, how they can change and adapt following “coral bleaching” and why it is important to consider real-world observations rather than theoretical predictions.

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Accessing US Senate Webpages

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Hi Jennifer
 
When you put the article about 650 scientists a while back I found I could not access it. I also noticed in the blog others who stated they could not access it either. I also found no US Senate page was accessible. After trying various things and knowing I could access it from work I asked my ISP if they were blocking it. After several days it was determined no they weren’t but on tracing the request it was getting to the senate but there it was being blocked.
 
On finding this I put a polite request to the Senate’s webmaster giving all the detail I had. On not receiving a reply that gave any information I started tonight to check my computer’s configuration more rigorously only to find I can access it without any problems. So if you know anyone else who had problems with this you can suggest they give it another try.
 
Mike O’Ceirin
FLYNN ACT
Australia
 
If Global Warming causes Extreme Weather, at what global temperature did it not happen?

From Gaia to Medea: More Hubris

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THE Gaia hypothesis first proposed by British scientist James Lovelock – the notion that all living things are interlinked as a single self-regulating body – is popular with some scientists and accords with the idea that because human activity has changed the chemical composition of the atmosphere we are likely to be interfering with the climate and upsetting the balance of nature.  

Paleontologist, Peter Ward, rejects the notion of Gaia, and is running a contrarian but equally hubris argument in his new book, ‘The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?’ [1].   Professor Ward suggests because there is no balance of nature mankind will needs to intervene and thus advocates geoengineering solutions including to climate change.  

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Coal is King in China

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China is aiming to increase its coal production by about 30 percent by 2015 to meet its energy needs, the government has announced, in a move likely to fuel concerns over global warming.  Read more here.