Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

jennifer

How Many Koalas Burnt Alive on Kangaroo Island?

By

Bushfires have been burning out of control on Kangaroo Island, off the southern coast of Australia, not far from the city of Adelaide. The island is known for its wildlife in particular its very large population of koalas.

kangaroo_TMO_2007346.jpg
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on December 12, 2007. Red outlines mark areas where the satellite sensor detected scorching conditions associated with wildfires.

The bushfires in Flinders Chase National Park had burnt 11,000 hectares (about 27,000 acres) on December 12, and fires the previous week more than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of the island.

So, how many koalas have been burnt so far?

The image and information on the fires was sourced from the NASA Earth Observatory newsletter: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17860

Liberalism after the [Australian] Howard Government

By

The latest IPA Review is now out and many of the articles from this issue are part of a feature ‘What next: Liberalism after the Howard Governmet’ and can be downloaded from the IPA’s website.

The feature includes a longish piece by me entitled ‘John Howard, Environmentalist’.

I beginning by suggesting that the story of John Howard the environmentalist is a story of deference to professed expertise and include reference to his various ‘achievements’ in this area including the banning of broad-scale tree clearing in western Queensland, the banning of fishing over large areas of the Great Barrier Reef, the EPBC legislation, and the $10 billion national water plan. This plan included the buy back of many more gigalitres than ever proposed by the then Labor opposition.

I conclude by suggesting that John Howard will, nevertheless, probably be remembered as simply the Prime Minister who refused to ratify Kyoto and ‘save the world from global warming’. I suggest part of his government’s problem was that they never had their own plan or ideas for the environment.

Before commenting you may want to read the piece at http://ipa.org.au/publications/publisting_detail.asp?pubid=731

Sending Warships May Breach Antarctic Treaty: A Note from Ann Novek

By

Dear Jennifer,

Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and many Australians have urged the new Rudd government to send the Navy to the country’s self proclaimed Antarctic territory , which is not recognised by other nations and which include a Whale Sanctuary to stop Japanese whaling.

The Austraslian Prime Minister will decide this week, whether to send the Navy and the long range aircraft or not to gather evidence for a case in the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Japan’s Fisheries Agency is confident of a victory with the Minister stating in an ABC radio interview : “We will not tolerate any moves to obstruct our research whaling program, which is approved under an international treaty. In light of these treaties, denying international whaling authorised by the international community is unacceptable.”

Australian international law specialist, Don Rothwell warned that naval patrols would breach the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which deemed Antarctica to be a demilitarised zone, and possibly spark an international incident.

Greenpeace urges Forum Island Country governments party to CITES to make a formal protest about Japan’s killing of humpbacks under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) claiming “The Japanese government is breaching this international treaty on trade in endangered species with their plans to import humpback whale meat into Japan.”

According to the same report in www.scoop.co.nz, “The CITES Secretariat has the power to pressure Japan to not kill any humpbacks through issuing a written caution to Japan; sending public notification through the Secretariat to all Parties of the issue; notifying Japan that it is in non-compliance and request a compliance action plan, and finally recommend a suspension of trade with Japan in CITES listed species.”

Cheers,
Ann
In Sweden

UN Climate Change Conference Ends

By

Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia’s Environment Minister, closed the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in Bali yesterday with comment that,

“We have a Roadmap!

I am delighted to say that we have finally achieved the breakthrough the world has been waiting for: the Bali Roadmap!

Distinguished delegates,

The decisions we have taken in Bali together create the world’s road map to a secure climate future. The governments assembled here have responded decisively in the face of new scientific evidence and significant advances in our thinking to collectively envision, and chart, a new climate-secure course for humanity.

The Bali Roadmap consists of a number of forward-looking decisions adopted today. These decisions represent various tracks that are essential to reaching a secure climate future.

At this meeting we have launched a new negotiation process, designed to tackle climate change, with the aim of completing this by 2009.

We have also addressed the AWG negotiations, setting a 2009 deadline, firmly launched the Adaptation Fund, and defined the scope and content of the Art. 9 review of the Kyoto Protocol – all of these on the Kyoto track. Similarly we have charted a course forward on reducing emissions from deforestation and on technology transfer, including an exciting new strategic programme.”

For information on these initiatives and the rest of the speech by Mr Witoelar, please click here: http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php

Happy Christmas

By

Paul has gone off to his wife’s Christmas party for the weekend, the infamous TV soapy ‘Neighbors’ has finished for the year in Australia, and I’ve started receiving e-cards including this one from Haldun:

“As the year 007 is coming to an end, I wish you and all your bloggers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for managing such an informative and enjoyable blog.”

And John wrote: “I took the trouble of running a ruler over your Blog. The good people at “The Blog Readability Test”, reckons your J.M.Blog is high school reading level. Not bad, not bad at all, for a blog that is scientific but also PR, I reckon that’s a pretty good score. Here’s the link, http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx

So, perhaps its time to relax a bit, enjoy this Christmas period and say thank you for reading and contributing to this little blog spot over the last year.

Burleigh Jan07 020 (copy).jpg
My mother, and a regular reader of this blog, sitting on the beach at Burleigh Heads in January 2007. This is where my family will be heading again for some of this Christmas period.

(And keep checking in to the blog, we aren’t going away.)

How Many Scientists Really Subscribe to the IPCC Climate Crisis?

By

“It’s an assertion repeated by politicians and climate campaigners the world over – ‘2,500 scientists of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agree that humans are causing a climate crisis’.

“But it’s not true. And, for the first time ever, the public can now see the extent to which they have been misled. As lies go, it’s a whopper. Here’s the real situation…

Read more here: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/968