Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for November 7, 2011

Dredging a Harbor Won’t Destroy the Great Barrier Reef

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Activist group GetUp! has just launched a campaign to save the Great Barrier Reef from the dredging of Gladstone Harbor.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/coal-seam-gas/great-barrier-reef/dredging-the-reef/take_action

“Millions of cubic metres of sea floor is being removed from the Great Barrier Reef right now. It’s the largest dredging project ever undertaken in Australia, making way for massive new coal seam gas export facilities.

“This massive industrial activity is damaging the Great Barrier Reef and threatens its status as a World Heritage Site. Sign the emergency petition now!”

Over the years the Great Barrier Reef has been going to be destroyed by crown-of-thorns starfish, over-fishing, agricultural run-off, global warming and more. But it’s still a big place running almost the entire length of Queensland and still in mostly pristine condition. And dredging of one little harbor is not going to have any long-term significant impact. In fact Heron Island, just off the coast of Gladstone, is still open for business…

http://www.heronisland.com/Articles.aspx

Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions Up, Australian Carbon Dioxide Emissions Down

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PRELIMINARY estimates of global and national emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion and cement manufacture indicate 2010 was a record year. Australian emissions, however, are down to 99 Teragrams from 108 Teragrams in 2008. As a percentage of world emissions we are now only 1.09 percent, down from 1.24 percent in 2008. The data is from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

According to a media release at the site:

“Globally 9,139 Teragrams of oxidized carbon (Tg-C) were emitted from these sources. A teragram is a million metric tons.

“Converted to carbon dioxide, so as to include the mass of the oxygen molecules, this amounts to over 33.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. The increase alone is about 512 Tg-C, or 5.9%, over the 2009 global estimate.

“Much of the 5.9% global increase from 2009 to 2010 is due to increased emissions from the world’s largest fossil-fuel emitter, the People’s Republic of China, where emissions rose 10% to 2.247 Tg-C.

“Emissions from the United States were 1,498 Tg-C, up by almost 60 Tg-C, or 4%, of the 2009 estimates of 1,438 Tg-C. The record year for the United States was 2007, with estimated emissions of 1,589 Tg-C. The 2010 total is about 94% of that value, reflecting economic conditions.”

Data here: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/perlim_2009_2010_estimates.html

I would like to see data from before 2008 for Australia, to see the longer-term trend for Australia. Does anyone know where I can find it? The biggest savings in Australia appear to be from coal and cement. This accords with data from the National Greenhouse Office which suggest a significant drop in energy generation from black coal.

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Record High 2010 Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Combustion and Cement Manufacture Posted on CDIAC Site. by Tom Boden and T.J. Blasing