Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for February 2011

Aftershocks Continue in New Zealand

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The death toll from the earthquake that devastated the New Zealand city of Christchurch now stands at 75, with more than 300 people missing.

New Zealand has a national monitoring and response system in place for earthquake, volcanic and flood disasters  called GeoNet. 

This website reports:

“The city had been comparatively lucky with both the location and timing of last September’s magnitude 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake; the location of this one within 10 km of the city and at a shallow depth of 5 km during the middle of a working day has resulted in destruction, injuries and deaths.

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Environmental Elements that Cause Illness: A Note from Krista Peterson

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Pesticides, plastics, and VOCs are some of the numerous chemicals that come to mind when we think about pollutants.  However, not all substances that can contaminate our air and water are manmade.   Many materials found in nature can become pollutants if we misuse them.

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What to Listen to, and Read, this Week

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Consider this an open thread.  Let other readers of this blog know what you are listening to, and reading, this week by way of a comment.

And consider donating to the continued operation of this blog.   There is an orange button at the top right hand corner of this page.   

This blog is about community, and access to information.  Information that is not politically correct or even fashionable…  But hopefully well considered.

A Profitable Discharge of the Second Law of Thermodynamics: A Note from Nasif S. Nahle

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Abstract

OSRAM is one of the leading manufacturers of light bulbs in the world. They claim their OSRAM Tungsten light bulb is an “ecological” lamp3 because of a reduction in losses due to thermal radiation.

In particular, they claim that due to a sophisticated coating on the bulb the thermal (infrared) radiation is reflected and the heat emitted from the filament is reflected back to the filament. As a result, the filament is heated further. This means that less electrical energy has to be supplied to the filament.

This is the equivalent argument used by proponents of the man-made global warming hypothesis, that is that a cooler system (the atmosphere) can reflect radiation back and heat up a warmer system (the Earth’s surface).

These claims violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Scientific analysis, not of the misleading marketing blurb from OSRAM, but of the physical Tungsten light bulb, however, show that there is no violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Nature behaves as she always does, even in the case of these artificial devices.

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Interim Findings from Water Inquiry

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‘INDEPENDENT MP Tony Windsor has raised three interim findings from his House of Representatives Murray Darling Basin inquiry, highlighting the potentially detrimental impacts of the “Swiss cheese effect” of water buy backs on irrigation districts.   Mr Windsor, as Chairman of the Regional Australia Committee, which is conducting the inquiry, has written to Water Minister Tony Burke and Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean raising the Committee’s concerns.

‘In doing so, the Committee has asked that more strategic buy back arrangements be considered as a matter of urgency.

‘As well as highlighting the “Swiss cheese effect”, the Committee has also raised unanimous concerns about the impact of the current taxation arrangements on irrigators, resulting from water reform such as grants for investments in water efficiency.

‘Concerns have also been raised about implications of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s consideration of overbank flows in their modelling of water requirements on environmental icon sites and in consultation with stakeholders, opportunities for engineering alternatives.

More here: http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/windsors-mdb-concerns/2078438.aspx 

And via: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_188277774537703&id=189701537728660

Exotic Disease Threatens Australian Eucalyptus

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Exotic diseases represent a significant threat to Australia’s unique fauna and flora.

Dramatic declines in frog numbers in the 1970s were initially blamed on habitat destruction associated with logging.  It was not until twenty years later that the disease Chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was positively identified and is now officially recognized as the cause of four species extinctions.  The disease is thought to have spread from Africa.

The Myrtle rust is an exotic disease from South America with the potential to infest many Australian native plants including Eucalyptus.  The disease was first detected in Australia on the Central Coast of New South Wales in April 2010.   Recently it was found in southeastern Queensland.   In an attempt to stop the spread of the disease it is rumoured some National Parks could be closed to visitors.

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