Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Books

How Abbott Must Recast Coalition Climate Policy

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KEVIN Rudd took over as Australian Prime Minister replacing Julia Gillard on June 26, 2013. Since then, with the announcement by Mr Rudd that he now intends to bring forward the transition from a strict carbon tax to an emissions trading scheme, the politics of climate change and carbon taxing have changed dramatically. If the Opposition, led by Tony Abbott, is to stay competitive, and become relevant, it urgently needs a proper alternative plan to address climate change.

The answer is to introduce a new climate policy based upon preparation for, and adaptation to, all weather and climate related events whether they be of natural or of potentially human causation. Such a policy could be practical, cost-effective and efficacious, which is why it has been recommended by so many independent commentators and expert scientists over the last five years. This adaptive policy is well summarized in the last chapter of Bob Carter’s new book, ‘Taxing Air: Facts and Fallacies About Climate Change’ [1]. Tax Air book

Yes, Professor Carter, like Mr Rudd does believe in climate change and the need for a national climate policy.

The advantage of Carter’s plan, however, over anything that Mr Rudd is currently proposing is that it is open to the possibility of global cooling, as well as global warming.

[Read more…] about How Abbott Must Recast Coalition Climate Policy

Chinese Academy of Science Open to Skepticism

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IN Australia and other so-called developed Western nations there is very little tolerance of contrary opinion when it comes to one of the biggest contested scientific issues of our time – climate change. Indeed the mainstream research community is closed to skeptics and skepticism. Climate Change Reconsidered

Not so in China, however, where on Saturday June 15, 2013 an International Workshop was held in Beijing to launch the publication of a Chinese edition of Climate Change Reconsidered. This is an abridged version of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change’s (NIPCC) 2009 and 2011 reports.
[Read more…] about Chinese Academy of Science Open to Skepticism

Taxing Air: Facts & Fallacies about Climate Change

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IT’S focused on Australia, popular misconceptions about the environment, history, climate and there is more, it’s chock full of cartoons! I’m referring to a new book by scientist Bob Carter [1] and cartoonist John Spooner entitled Taxing Air: Facts & Fallacies about Climate Change. Tax Air book

Some of the big issues address:

Just 8,000 years ago, there was virtually no summer sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Sea-level rise is natural, and declining in rate.

Australian rainfall has not decreased over the last 100 years.

A previous Australian drought lasted 69 years.

By catchment management, the Murray-Darling Basin now contains almost 3 times as much water as it held naturally.

Global air temperature has not increased for the last 16 years, despite an 8% increase in CO2.

Global ocean temperature is also steady or cooling slightly.

Australian territory absorbs up to 20 times the amount of CO2 that we emit.

If you order your copy this week it will be a signed copy.
For more information visit http://www.taxingair.com

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[1] Bob Carter is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers in professional scientific journals. The great majority of these concern interpretations of ancient environments, including paleo-climatic studies. Link to full of list of publications here… http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/new_page_4.htm

Australian Universities: A Portrait of Decline

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Dear Friend,

Despite that salutation, I can’t be found on Facebook nor can you follow me on Twitter, BUT you CAN read my book:

Australian Universities: A Portrait of Decline

which lays bare the corruption of our institutions of higher learning as a result of 20 years of rampant managerialism, baseless education theory and overt government interference.

As part of the education sector, you owe it to yourself and your students to revive the system while there are still signs of life.

Please use the link below to download your FREE digital copy. Feel free to pass this email on to anyone you know who might also be interested.

http://www.australianuniversities.id.au/

Best of Reading.

Sincerely,
Donald Meyers

Holiday Reading: Emma Marris

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Hi Jennifer,

Longtime reader etc etc and I must thankyou for your always interesting blog.

I could find no mention of Emma Marris and her new book ‘The Rambunctious Garden’ on there so I wondered if you were aware of it. I thought it would generate some debate as it has with my group of friends, so I thought I’d pass it on.

The first link is to an article she co-wrote and the second a review of sorts. She is a superb writer and I commend it to you.

Best wishes for the season and the new year!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/opinion/the-age-of-man-is-not-a-disaster.html

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/living-with-natures-original-sin-20111209-1oo3n.html

Regards Ross

How Aborigines Made Australia: Bill Gammage

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A new book, The Biggest Estate on Earth, by historian Bill Gammage explodes the myth that pre-settlement Australia was an untamed wilderness revealing the complex, country-wide systems of land management used by Aboriginal people.

According to the publisher’s website:

“Early Europeans commented again and again that the land looked like a park. With extensive grassy patches and pathways, open woodlands and abundant wildlife, it evoked a country estate in England. Bill Gammage has discovered this was because Aboriginal people managed the land in a far more systematic and scientific fashion than we have ever realised.

“For over a decade, Gammage has examined written and visual records of the Australian landscape. He has uncovered an extraordinarily complex system of land management using fire and the life cycles of native plants to ensure plentiful wildlife and plant foods throughout the year. We know Aboriginal people spent far less time and effort than Europeans in securing food and shelter, and now we know how they did it.

“With details of land-management strategies from around Australia, The Biggest Estate on Earth rewrites the history of this continent, with huge implications for us today. Once Aboriginal people were no longer able to tend their country, it became overgrown and vulnerable to the hugely damaging bushfires we now experience. And what we think of as virgin bush in a national park is nothing of the kind.”

This book must challenge the myth of virgin “remnant” vegetation that currently underpins significant land management legislation in Queensland and NSW.

Bill Gammage is a historian and adjunct professor in the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University.