Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for January 2009

More Birds in New York is Good News – Sorry about the Airbus

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THERE has still been no official confirmation, but it seems likely that the airbus that ditched into the Hudson River last week was brought down by one, two or several Canadian geese.

According to the New York Times:  “The cause is still under investigation,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he said preliminary reports indicated that Flight 1549 was several miles out from La Guardia Airport, at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, when the pilot radioed that there had been a bird strike.”

Lots of praise has been heaped on the pilot for not losing a single passenger.

There has been some discussion in the mainstream media about the problem of geese getting in the way of aircraft and how populations of many bird species, particularly Canadian geese, have increased dramatically in recent years – but no congratulations for this achievement.

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Bob Carter Warns of Likely Global Cooling

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THE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that October in the US was marked by 63 record snowfalls and 115 lowest-ever temperatures.

Over the past few years, similar signs of colder than usual weather have been recorded all over the world, causing many people to question the still fashionable, but now long outdated, global warming alarmism. Yet individual weather events or spells, whether warmings or coolings, tell us nothing necessarily about true climate change.

Nonetheless, by coincidence, growing recognition of a threat of climatic cooling is correct, because since the turn of the 21st century all real world, long-term climate indicators have turned downwards. Global atmospheric temperature reached a peak in 1998, has not warmed since 1995 and, has been cooling since 2002. Some people, still under the thrall of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s disproved projections of warming, seem surprised by this cooling trend, even to the point of denying it. But why?

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To Dump Iron Sulphate in the Southern Ocean, or Not

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YOUR concept of nature is almost certainly going to influence whether you support the idea of a German ship dumping 20 tons of iron sulphate over 300 square kilometres of Southern Ocean to provoke a massive algal bloom for carbon sequestration.

Those who subscribe to the idea that earth systems are delicately balanced are likely to be horrified and may want to send off a letter to the German government as suggested by Climate Ark to stop the experiment.   The ship is already in the Southern Ocean and ready to dump.   

Those, who, like Paleontologist Peter Ward, reject the notion of ‘Gaia’, and subscribe to the ‘The Medea Hypothesis’ that there is no balance of nature are likely to favor geo-engineering solutions including to climate change.   [Gaia versus Medea discussed here.]

I tend to fall into a third category, recognising that natural systems are dynamic and also generally fairly resilient.  I would not advocate large scale geo-engineering unless the problem was well defined and the benefits clearly articulated.   

As regards dumping tons of iron sulphate in the Southern Ocean – if an excess of carbon in the atmosphere really is a problem then it is perhaps justified as part of a mix of potential solutions.  But I am not convinced that the elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing a problem.