Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Paul

Controversial Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT): A Note from Ann Novek

By

One week ago I was captured by a headline in a Swedish tabloid paper, “Dolphins saved my life.” This statement was made by a farmer’s partner, who suffered from depression and had participated in a swim with the dolphins program in Florida.

I became very curious about the issue, since the statement was made by a farmer’s partner, who was surrounded by animals every day. It made me wonder if dolphins had superior abilities/ properties than other animals to cure humans.

Animals have since ancient times been known to possess therapeutic properties. Already 12, 000 years ago, a skeleton was found of a human in Israel, holding a puppy. And in the Ninth century, in Belgium, animals were incorporated in treatment of the handicapped.

Health Benefits of Animal-Assisted Interventions

Recently there have been developed dolphin assisted therapy programs (DAT). DAT is a controversial therapy that involves close interaction with dolphins, usually through swimming with the animals, and is promoted as a treatment or respite from illness and disability.

Dolphin Assisted Therapy

However, serious criticism has arisen lately re: DAT- programs.

Excerpt from mainstream media:

“People suffering from chronic mental or physical disabilities should not resort to a dolphin “healing” experience, warn two researchers from Emory University”

“Dolphin -assisted therapy is not a valid treatment for any disorder, says Marino, a leading dolphin and whale researcher.”

Dolphin therapy a dangerous fad?

Another paper, the Free Lance Star states:

“So, if you’re considering DAT, consider instead a domesticated beast such as a dog. Or a trip to the seashore, where wild dolphins may let you have a look at them, on their own terms.”

According to the paper there are at least 3 drawbacks with the DAT – programs:

1) There’s no scientific evidence that DAT-programs work.

2) They exploit the hopes of chronically ill people.

3) The ethical issue with the captivity industry (taking dolphins from the wild and keeping animals in cramped conditions).

There are expensive DAT programs to treat people with diagnoses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, emotional distress, phobias, depressions, autism and cerebral palsy.

However, it seems that even cows have therapeutic properties, in the US, farm life and farm animals are used successfully to treat drug addicts:

Farm life raises addicts’ hopes

Cheers,
Ann Novek
Sweden

Walkies in the Spring Snow

By

I awoke at 7am on Sunday 6th April and looked out of the bedroom window to see the picturesque scene of a blanket of snow.

Looking out towards the river from the front of our house:

P4060495.JPG

Our cars covered in snow:

pug.honda.jpg

Our 12 year old Border Collie during his Sunday morning walk. He likes snow, but hasn’t seen it too often during his lifetime:

P4060497.JPG

Another biscuit please, dad!

P4060498.JPG

WMO: Global Temperatures in 2008 will be Lower than in 2007

By

Global temperatures this year will be lower than in 2007 due to the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.

The World Meteorological Organisation’s secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer.

This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.

But experts have also forecast a record high temperature within five years, probably associated with another episode of El Nino.

BBC website: Global temperatures ‘to decrease’

UPDATE – The Ministry of Truth have now changed the BBC headline to:

Global warming ‘dips this year’

AND the text has been changed too, including the removal of, “probably associated with another episode of El Nino.”

Whaling: Rune has Resigned from the High North Alliance.

By

Our friend Rune Frövik, Secretary of the High North Alliance, has resigned according to a Norwegian newspaper, Fiskeribladet.

The charismatic Rune has had many fights with Greenpeace and participated in CITES and IWC meetings. Rune has as well been kind enough to participated here on Jen’s blog. We remember him in the hot and interesting discussion on sustainable Norwegian whaling with Dr. Peter Corkeron:

https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001142.html#comments

The High North Alliance (HNA) was established in 1991 as an organisation for whalers and sealers in the North Atlantic. HNA had its “golden period” during the years when Norway wanted full scale whaling activity and possibilities to export whale meat. It’s calmer now in the office that is situated in the Lofoten Islands.

“There are still many challenges”, states the new to be Secretary, Laila Jusnes.

The paper doesn’t state the reason for Rune’s resignment , but I heard he owns a little whale meat processing factory in northern Norway.

I wish Rune good luck for the future (but not killing whales!).

Ann Novek,
Sweden

IPCC Underestimate the CO2 Challenge

By

Climate policy expert Roger Pielke Jr, climatologist Tom Wigley, and economist Christopher Green lay out in a commentary article published in Nature why they think that the emission scenarios the IPCC produced nearly a decade ago, which are still widely used, are overly optimistic. They note that most of the IPCC’s ‘business as usual’ emission scenarios assume a certain amount of ‘spontaneous’ technological change. The size of this assumed change is unrealistic, they argue, and deceives policy-makers and the public about the crucial role policy must have in encouraging the development of technologies to prevent dangerous climate change.

Read the Nature News article, ‘Climate challenge underestimated?’ Technology will not automatically come to our aid, experts warn.

The full paper is here (subscription required).

There is also correspondence from Gwyn Prins (of Prins and Rayner):

Radical rethink is needed on climate-change policy

Excerpt:

SIR — The irreconcilable differences
between David S. Reay’s Book Review of
The Hot Topic (Nature 452, 31; 2008) and
mine, expressed in Nature Reports Climate
Change (see www.nature.com/climate/
2008/0804/full/climate.2008.23.html),
go to the heart of why there is now a crisis
in climate policy. Reay seems to believe
that agreement with a normative agenda
precludes the need for rigorous evaluation
of evidence or of proposed policy actions,
and so falls into the same traps as Gabrielle
Walker and David King, the authors
whom he praises.

These authors have no doubt that the
Kyoto Protocol is the road to follow. They
consider that anyone, particularly an
American, who doesn’t agree is wrong —
and perhaps even corrupt.

However, the Kyoto approach is broken……..

Climate Audit: IPCC Review Editors Comments Online

By

IPCC Review Editors have an extremely important function under IPCC procedures. In prior discussion of the Replies by WG1 Chapter Authors to Review Comments, we noted their unresponsiveness on issues that we were familiar with e.g. the deletion of the inconvenient post-1960 Briffa reconstruction results, the handling of the HS dispute. When the IPCC WG1 (grudgingly) placed the WG1 Review Comments and Replies online- url here they did not place the Review Editor comments online, despite the importance of review editors. Through the diligent efforts of David Holland, the IPCC WG1 and WG2 Review Editor comments have now been obtained and are now online for the first time here – at this point, another Climate Audit exclusive.

When you examine these review comments, as I urge you to do, please remember that this is supposed to be the most carefully reviewed document in human history, where entire stadiums of scientists have carefully weighed each word. Compare that impression to the actual review editor comments, which as you will see do not rise above a form letter for 64 of 69 Review Editor comments discussed here.

Read the rest of the entry here.

There is a very good letter from David Holland to Prof John Mitchell here.