Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for September 2009

Temperature Gradients and Spur-winged Plovers

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Keppel Island 018 blogTHE spur-winged plover, Vanellus miles, has a distribution that extends from New Guinea along the east coast of Australia to New Zealand. 

The wader self introduced to New Zealand in the 1930s, and has expanded its range in Australia as well as New Zealand over the last few decades.

Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace suggested the current distribution and abundance of plant and animal species is a consequence of evolution rather than Divine intervention.  Consequent to this is the idea that distributions will change, they are not constant.

While the theory of evolution by natural selection is now accepted by the mainstream as a best explanation for the diversity of life on planet Earth, the very recent preoccupation with temperature and in particular the idea that small changes in temperature may result in the extinction of particular species, does not sit well with their theories on the distribution of the many species with a very broad geographic range; like the spur-winged plover.   [Read more…] about Temperature Gradients and Spur-winged Plovers

Dishonest Egg Labelling

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Yeppoon Jennifer Chicken 003 cropAn analysis of egg industry data has confirmed there are not enough free-range layer hens in Australia to produce the number of eggs labelled free-range.  Read more here.  The picture shows Jennifer nursing a free range chicken.

Not Evil Just Wrong

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HOLLYWOOD loves a movie full of dire predictions about the end of the Earth.   Of course global warming has been all the rage with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth winning an Oscar.  Although I did prefer The Day After Tomorrow in which a climatologist, played by Dennis Quad, tried to save his son in New York from an ice age.

There is a new movie due for release on October 18, Not Evil Just Wrong, which explores society’s interest in Armageddon-type scenarios with a particular focus on the cost, and potential costs, of the policies following concerns about DDT and AGW [anthropogenic global warming].

I was lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of the feature length documentary by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney last week.   [Read more…] about Not Evil Just Wrong

IPCC Climate Modeller: World Might Cool

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Mojib Latif predicts that in the next few years a natural cooling trend will dominate because of cyclical changes to ocean currents and temperatures in the North Atlantic, a feature known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). He told 1,500 climate scientists in Geneve recently: we could be about to enter one or even two decades during which temperatures cool. Read more here.

Marine Cloud Whitening: Best Solution to AGW?

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WASHINGTON, DC – After deliberations into the best responses to global warming, an Expert Panel of five top economists including three Nobel Laureates concluded that greater resources should be spent on research into climate engineering and green energy.

The Expert Panel’s findings highlight the problems with the current political focus on carbon taxes, and underscore the vast promise shown by alternative responses to global warming.

The Expert Panel scrutinized 21 ground-breaking research papers by top climate economists that analyzed the costs and benefits of different responses to global warming, ranging from a focus on black carbon mitigation to climate engineering and varying levels of carbon taxes. Based on an analysis of the new research, they created a prioritized list (overleaf) that outlines the best and worst ways to respond to climate change.

The Expert Panel concluded that the most effective use of resources would be to invest immediately in researching marine cloud whitening technology (where boats spray seawater droplets into clouds above the sea to make them reflect more sunlight back into space, reducing warming).  [Read more…] about Marine Cloud Whitening: Best Solution to AGW?