SYDNEY – Australia plans to build the world’s largest solar power station with an output of 1000 megawatts in a A$1.4 billion (US$1.05 billion) investment … The plant would have three times the generating capacity of the current biggest solar-powered electricity plant, which is in California. Read more here.
Archives for May 2009
An Opportunity for Ordinary Australians to Oppose the ETS
IT would be difficult to justify an emissions trading scheme (ETS) that imposed large costs for purely symbolic benefit during a period of prosperity – it is absurd to consider as much during a financial crisis.
Given the outcry the Rudd government in Australia has decided to postpone introduction of its proposed ETS by one year. That’s good news.
But the enabling legislation is still going to parliament this June and every vote will count in the Senate.
Send the Senators in your state an eCard to let them know how you feel.
You can choose from one of three different cards at http://www.ListenToUs.org.au .
******************
This campaign is an initiative of the Australian Environment Foundation.
Flow of Deep Water South from Greenland More ‘Diffuse’ than Previously Thought
WE live on one planet and all its oceans are connected with meridional overturning circulation (MOC) facilitating the mixing of waters across the globe.
In the apocalyptic movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ the melting of the polar icecaps disrupts a component of this system, the North Atlantic current, and so North America freezes over with US citizens pouring into Mexico to escape the freezing conditions.
New findings, published late last week in the journal Nature don’t dispute MOC, but suggest that the southern flow of deep water from Greenland may not follow as neat a path as assumed – including by the scientist in the Hollywood blockbuster. In particular rather than the deep water moving as a conveyor belt – yes that is the term that had been used to describe the flow of water southwards – it may be more diffuse.
One of the authors of the new paper in Nature, Amy Bower, has described it as “A swath in the wide-open, turbulent interior of the North Atlantic” rather than a conveyor belt.
In the media release accompanying the publication of the findings, another author Susan Lozier, suggests this means it is going to be more difficult to measure climate signals in the deep ocean.
[Read more…] about Flow of Deep Water South from Greenland More ‘Diffuse’ than Previously Thought
Comparing Global Temperatures
THERE are four official global temperature data sets and there has been much debate and discussion as to which best represents change in global temperature.
Tom Quirk has analysed variations within and between these data sets and concludes there is 1. Substantial general agreement between the data sets, 2. Substantial short-term variation in global temperature in all data sets and 3. No data set shows a significant measurable rise in global temperature over the twelve year period since 1997.
Climate Change in Mississippi
INSTEAD of rising temperatures, the annual average temperature in Mississippi has declined over the past century. Instead of an increasing frequency of drought, the state’s moisture conditions have improved over the long run. Instead of failing crops, the state’s agricultural yields have been increasing. Natural cycles in the regional climate can largely explain changes in patterns of hurricane activity.
These are some of the findings in a new report entitled ‘Observed Climate Change and Negligible Global Effects of Greenhouse-gas Emission Limits in the State of Mississippi’ recently published by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
‘Jellyfish’ Sequest Carbon
Swarming by millions in ‘hot spots’ and also dying by millions like salps, Pyrosoma atlanticum may be transporting tons of carbon per year from the ocean surface to the deep sea. Read more here.
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.
