Power suppliers in Australia can sleep a little more easily than their peers in the UK. Read more here.
Climate Conference in Amsterdam
The Royal Geological and Mining Society of The Netherlands, together with the Royal Institute of Engineers and the Royal Geographical Society organise a national conference with the title:
CLIMATE CHANGE: Facts, Uncertainties and Myths
Thursday November 20th 2008 at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam
The title already suggests that everybody talks about climate change, but what are the facts? What are the scientific uncertainties and what is nonsense? Should we be concerned like the “climate alarmists”, or can we ignore the problems like many “climate sceptics” seem to be doing? The conference organisers believe that we should do none of that, but we ought to think about it. At this conference, the question of climate change will be tackled from various scientific disciplines. The issues will be considered climatologically, geologically, biologically astronomically and even philosophically. New facts, new interpretations and new insight will be presented.
The subject is hot. The speakers are top-class in their discipline and will present their own research results. The location is first-class and the admission fee is low. The discussions will be lively and enlightening. With great confidence in the success, I invite you to be present at this conference. All information can be found at http://www.kngmg.nl., where you can also register. The flyer can be downloaded at: flyer
See you on November 20th,
Peter de Ruiter, KNGMG President
More from Martin Durkin on Global Warming
Go into a party of lefties in New York and tell them the science on global warming doesn’t stack up. They don’t say, ‘Good Lord, what a relief, I thought we were in for it.’ Instead they get very cross with you. They’re terribly attached to their apocalypse and don’t take kindly to people rocking the boat. Read more here.
Call for Papers on Climate Impacts
Dear Friends,
We are planning to publish a series of papers looking at the economics, politics and impacts of climate change. The CSCCC will release these papers individually throughout 2009, and also use them as basis to write a second Civil Society Report in the lead up to the important United Nations COP-15 (taking place in Copenhagen in December 2009). The call for papers is open to everyone (of course, not all papers will be accepted) so please send the call for papers below to anybody you think might be interested.
The more people receive this call for papers, the more material the CSCCC will be able to publish in 2009.
Best, Caroline
CALL FOR PAPERS ON CLIMATE IMPACTS
The Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change (A coalition of 49 civil society organisations from 37 countries – www.csccc.info) is planning to produce a series of papers on the economics, politics and impacts of climate change during 2009. If you are interested in submitting a paper on any of the subject areas outlined below – or indeed other areas – please contact us on admin/a\csccc.info (replace /a\ with @)
The issues:
Disease
Water availability
Sea level rise
Extreme weather events (i.e. storms, hurricanes, floods, and droughts)
Agriculture
Forestry
Ecosystems and Species
European Union to Ban Lots of Pesticides
The European Union (EU) is developing a new ‘Thematic Strategy for Pesticides’ including a proposed new ‘Sustainable Use Directive’. According to the UK’s Pesticide Safety Directorate the new regulation could outlaw up to 85 percent of pesticides currently used by farmers and render conventional agriculture as it is currently practised unachievable. Professor Sir Colin Berry, Emeritus Professor of Pathology at Queen Mary College, University of London, has described the European Parliament’s document in support of the legislation as “simply an apologia for a position, not a scientific review.”
The proposal will see the EU go from a risk-based assessment of chemicals to a hazard-based one.
Carbon Dioxide as the Innocent Bystander
“We need to consider the very real possibility that carbon dioxide – which is necessary for life on Earth and of which there is precious little in the atmosphere – might well be like the innocent bystander who has been unjustly accused of a crime based upon little more than circumstantial evidence.” 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.