Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Magazine Duped by anti-GM Activist – A Case of More of the Same

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I SUBSCRIBE to a magazine called Quadrant.   It comes out every couple of months and often includes interesting articles by well-known Australian conservatives, libertarians and mavericks on a range of topics from dinning in New York to global warming and it is the only magazine I read that includes pages of poetry. 

When I first took out my subscription to the magazine it was edited by a fellow called Paddy McGuinness – a Veteran Sydney journalist who apparently once worked for a Russian bank in London and for many years was editor of the Australian Financial Review.  In an interview before his death last year, Paddy said that he had been able “to ‘re-establish’ Quadrant as a ‘sceptical and non-ideological’ journal in the conservative spirit of Samuel Johnson, the literary colossus of 18th century England.”

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More on Global Warming and Malaria

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Dear Jennifer,

Prof Paul Reiter has just informed me of a recently published article of his in Malaria Journal that may be of interest to you.

The article is based on the chapter he wrote for the Civil Society Report on Climate Change.

It is freely available at http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/S1/S3.

I would especially recommend reading the ‘Review’ section where Paul Reiter dissects the existing alarmist literature on vector-borne diseases and global warming (what is really a tiny group of individuals who self-reference each other to uphold unjustifiable claims).

Caroline Boin
International Policy Network
www.policynetwork.net
www.sdnetwork.net

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Paul Reiter, 2008, Global warming and malaria: knowing the horse before hitching the cart, Malaria Journal 2008, 7(Suppl 1):S3doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-S1-S3
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/S1/S3

A Cold Snap in a Warming World?

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“A COLD front is sweeping across Europe after gripping swathes of North America last month, but the deep freeze does not mean the threat of global warming has abated, caution scientists.”   [Read more here.]

But at least one cartoonist in Belgium appears to be fed-up with the pronouncements from the warmaholics, inparticular Al Gore.  [Via Anthony Watts.]

29 Years of Global Temperatures Based on Satellite Data

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I have previously written that in not so many years time weather station data will perhaps be collected more for fun, a sense of history and for site-specific information, than for serious regional and global climate statistics.   In the future it will be data from satellites that is recognised as much more reliable for understanding regional and global temperature trends.

There are two internationally recognised temperature data sets based on satellite measurements known by their acronyms RSS (Remote Sensing Systems) and UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville ).  Both are based on information collected by NASA satellites.  

Data from RSS for December 2008 was released yesterday – providing a complete data set for the last 29 years. 

This data does not suggest dramatic global warming.   Neither the warming of the late 20th century, nor the cooling since 1998, is of an unusual rate or magnitude.   

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Chart from meteorologist Anthony Watts and reproduced here with permission.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/06/rss-is-out-for-december-down-slightly/

Annual Australian Climate Statement 2008

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IT came out on Monday.  But I have only just seen it – the climate summary for Australia for 2008.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology could have concluded that last year was the third coolest this century, but instead opted for 14th warmest on record.   Certainly, the available information compiled from thermometer readings suggests the last seven years have been particularly warm relative to the last 100; the Bureau calculating 0.41 degrees C above the standard 1961-1990 average.  

[click on the charts for larger images]

The overall Australian mean rainfall total for 2008 was 466 mm, which is close to the long-term average of 472 mm.    The south east of the country, including parts of the Murray Darling Basin, continued to experience below average rainfall.    

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Annual Australian Climate Statement 2008 issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology on January 5, 2009.  http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_releases/climate/change/20090105.shtml