Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for January 2012

Climate Update: Ole Humlum

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Dear all.

Please find below a link which will take you directly to a monthly newsletter (ca. 1.3 MB) with meteorological information updated to December 2011:
http://www.climate4you.com/Text/Climate4you_December_2011.pdf

All temperatures in this newsletter are shown in degrees Celsius.

Previous (since March 2009) issues of the newsletter, diagrams and additional material are available on http://www.climate4you.com/

All the best, yours sincerely,
Ole Humlum

Ole Humlum, Professor of Physical Geography
Department of Physical Geography, Institute of Geosciences
University of Oslo, Norway

The Musselroe Wind Farm Travesty: Keith H.

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Hi Jennifer.

Following is a request for help!

Tonyfromoz kindly did an excellent article titled Wind Power Australia – The Musselroe Wind Farm Travesty in Tasmania

http://papundits.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/wind-power-australia-the-musselroe-wind-farm-travesty-in-tasmania/

It is a very good summary of the situation from both the viability and value claims for the energy and the obvious hypocrisy of The Greens, other environmentalists and groups.

I am trying to raise world awareness of the devastation that is about to be unleashed at Musselroe Bay, already a designated Conservation area and one of the most environmentally fragile environments in Tasmania. Together with the nearby Mt.William National Park, home to many species of native wildlife, plants, endangered birdlife including wedgetail eagles, and in the path of at least three migratory bird species including the legendary mutton bird, the whole area encompasses some of the most naturally beautiful places on Earth.
A documented template of what is about to happen was recorded by those locals who unsuccessfully opposed the Cefn Croes wind development, the largest onshore windfarm in Wales. They made a photographic record of the whole environmentally disastrous venture there.

Google “Cefn Croes campaign website” and check the photo gallery.

Tasmania is the current home of both Bob Brown, who led the successful “Save the Franklin” campaign and Christine Milne, the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens. In a further twist, the Tasmanian Greens supported Labor after a “hung” election and Greens Leader Nick McKim and his partner Cassie O’Oconnor were rewarded with Cabinet posts. Cassie, who is Minister for Climate Change gained much of her public profile in the successful “Save Ralphs Bay” campaign.

What an incredible irony that these four prominent Greens are cheerleaders in a push that will destroy the Musselroe Bay Conservation area. Whilst celebrities and various leading environmental protestors flocked to Tasmania from all over the world to “Save the Franklin”, they are now conspicuously absent and silent while this travesty proceeds. Nothing could demonstrate more clearly the political and ideological selectiveness they use to decide whether they support or oppose desecration of pristine areas!

You may feel it worthwhile doing an article or commenting in some way but any help would be appreciated. As usual, our MSM are silent on any downsides of the development.

Best wishes to all,
Keith H.

Ron Paul for US President

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RON Paul for President is not exactly what Daniel Kogoy, a Greens Councillor for Leichardt in Sydney, is suggesting in an article published today at On Line Opinion. But the article does explain some of the reasons why I would vote for Ron Paul…

“Debate raging between Left, Greens and Progressives on whether or not to support Libertarian Republican outsider Dr Ron Paul’s bid to win the Republican nomination for President.

Really, it is a no brainer, of course the left should be supporting Dr Ron Paul’s bid to win the Republican nomination and many are – see Blue Republican movement. All the other candidates are openly saying that the United States should bomb Iran, whose key allies include China and Russia. All of the other Republican candidates would do nothing to address Wall Street’s crimes. All the other candidates would happily attack civil liberties further.

Obama has done nothing to address Wall Street’s crimes. His administration is full of people from Wall Street and Goldman Sachs is his largest donor. Civil liberties have been further decimated, and tensions with Iran have been raised to dangerously high levels.

Read more here:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=13140

Talking Turkey, But Not About the Barrages

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ONCE upon a time there was a turkey that lived in a pen. Every morning a farmer brought food and water and talked to the turkey with soothing words.

The turkey thought it was special and would always be looked after.

Then one Christmas Eve, the farmer came with an axe instead of food.

Many organisations in rural Australia behave like turkeys. They are happily taking money from government believing they will keep getting fed. Of course government is handing out a lot of money at the moment.

In return, organisations might complain publicly just a bit about government. But mostly these organisations keep sending their representatives off to meetings and their leaders happily sit down with Ministers who feed them soothing words.

All the while, at the behest of environmental groups, Commonwealth and State governments, whether Coalition or Labour, have continued in the past decade or two to enact regulation and legislation that undermines food production.

It’s justified on the basis that environmentalists are the good guys, while farmers exploit natural resources for profit.

In the next few months there is an opportunity for some farm organisations to stop behaving as turkeys and instead bite the hand that has fed them so generously over the last year. It would involve calling the bluff of the Commonwealth Government over the Murray Darling water plan.

Instead of complaining politely about the plan on the basis industry might lose some water, what about rural leaders pointing out the obvious: that the plan will deliver no environmental benefit until something is done about the 7.6 kilometres of concrete barrage that sits across the bottom of the Lower Lakes?

Anyone vaguely familiar with this issue knows that Murray Darling Basin Authority boss Craig Knowles and Water Minister Tony Burke – and even Opposition leader Tony Abbot and Opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce – don’t want the issue of the barrages or the Lower Lakes raised in polite discussion.

It could cost them votes in South Australia. So industry and community leaders leave it well alone.

But with the New Year it’s time for a new approach: it’s time industry leaders took the high moral ground for once and confronted the issue of the barrages that have destroyed the River Murray’s estuary.

And while they are doing the right thing, they should sign the Rivers Need Estuaries petition of the Australian Environment Foundation www.listentous.org.au .

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First published in The Land, page 13, Thursday, January 5, 2012

More Reasons for Arctic Sea Ice Decline

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Decline in the extent of Arctic sea ice may have more to do with changes in circulation patterns of fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean from rivers in Russia than changes in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide according to a new article in Nature:

“FRESHENING in the Canada basin of the Arctic Ocean began in the 1990s and continued to at least the end of 2008. By then, the Arctic Ocean might have gained four times as much fresh water as comprised the Great Salinity Anomaly of the 1970s, raising the spectre of slowing global ocean circulation. Freshening has been attributed to increased sea ice melting and contributions from runoff, but a leading explanation has been a strengthening of the Beaufort High — a characteristic peak in sea level atmospheric pressure, which tends to accelerate an anticyclonic (clockwise) wind pattern causing convergence of fresh surface water. Limited observations have made this explanation difficult to verify, and observations of increasing freshwater content under a weakened Beaufort High suggest that other factors must be affecting freshwater content.

Here we use observations to show that during a time of record reductions in ice extent from 2005 to 2008, the dominant freshwater content changes were an increase in the Canada basin balanced by a decrease in the Eurasian basin.

Observations are drawn from satellite data (sea surface height and ocean-bottom pressure) and in situ data. The freshwater changes were due to a cyclonic (anticlockwise) shift in the ocean pathway of Eurasian runoff forced by strengthening of the west-to-east Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation characterized by an increased Arctic Oscillation index. Our results confirm that runoff is an important influence on the Arctic Ocean and establish that the spatial and temporal manifestations of the runoff pathways are modulated by the Arctic Oscillation, rather than the strength of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre circulation.

*****
From: Changing Arctic Ocean freshwater pathways
By: James Morison, Ron Kwok, Cecilia Peralta-Ferriz, Matt Alkire, Ignatius Rigor, Roger Andersen & Mike Steele
In: Nature 481, 66–70 (05 January 2012) doi:10.1038/nature10705
Link: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v481/n7379/full/nature10705.html

Whale on Menu for Activists?

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THE Australian government is under pressure to secure the release of three Australian activists detained after boarding a Japanese whaling security ship the Shonan Maru No 2. But it is more likely the men will be taken to Japan to face legal action.

Prisoners don’t usually get a lot of choice in what they have for dinner. Minke whale is probably on the menu.

Some people worry about whether a particular food tastes good, others whether it is healthy. Activists are often concerned with the ethics of food production and consumption.

There are two criteria that I consider valid when it comes to ethical food choice: 1. Is the harvest of the animal sustainable, and 2. Is the killing humane.

Whaling by the Japanese is undertaken in accordance with a strict quota system to ensure populations are not depleted and every effort is made to get a quick and painless kill including through the use of a grenade tipped harpoon.

So I had no problems with the ethics of eating free-range, organic whale when I visited Tokyo… and the right cut, properly cooked, tasted like an exceptionally tender eye fillet.

I wonder how whale meat is served to prisoners on the Shonan Maru No. 2?

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Whale on the menu in Tokyo: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/2008/09/eating-whale-in-tokyo/

David’s blog: http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/