Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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What to Listen to, Read, and Action This Week

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1.  Travelling along the Murray River 

Arrived at the Lower Lakes late yesterday, the Goolwa barrage is still there. 

This morning I went for a walk over the Richard Peninsula sand dunes to Goolwa Beach.  Photographs here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=92134&id=1615313209

And lots more of the trip at my Facebook, for example, images of a boat trip along Gunbower Creek…  Note the black water coming out of the Gunbower Creek merging with the brown waters of the Murray. 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91780&id=1615313209&l=8664cbb9bf

2. ‘Goodbye Kyoto’ by Fred Singer at American Thinker http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/good_bye_kyoto.html

3.  Some great articles at Quadrant Online  http://www.quadrant.org.au/

4.  Protests are being organised against the Carbon Tax  

From http://jamesboard.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/no-carbon-tax-rally/#more-5958

“The rally was an enjoyable success. A crowd of around 600 gathered at Julia Gillard’s electoral office in Werribee to protest against Julia Gillard’s Carbon Dioxide Tax. Media from ABC/SBS TV and Radio were in attendance to record the scenes of the angry crowd, fired up but very well behaved. Police directed traffic on the old Princess Hwy but smiled a lot and talked amongst the crowd. The masses listened to Rally organisers speak on behalf of the people. Senator’s and MP’s made speeches condemning Gillard as a liar and marked the occasion as, “Only the Beginning”, of the Australian peoples uprising against the Government, on the introduction of a Carbon Tax.

“Most notable was a great speech by protest organiser Tony Hooper and Senator Mitch Fifield who stirred the crowd into a roar, chanting “Gillard and her Tax must go!”

For more information on rallies…

Stop Gillard’s carbon tax page  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_113660108709587#!/pages/Stop-Gillards-Carbon-Tax/197122506973202

Revolt against the carbon tax page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_113660108709587

Petition against the carbon tax page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Gillards-Carbon-Tax/197122506973202?sk=app_4949752878

4.  Consider this an open thread.  Let other readers of this blog know what you are watching, listening to, and reading, this week by way of a comment.

5.  And consider donating to the continued operation of this blog.   There is an orange button at the top right hand corner of this page.   Much thanks to those who have made a donation recently.  This blog is about community, and access to information.  Information that is not politically correct or even fashionable…  But hopefully well considered.

Moon above Tokyo at time of Earthquake

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JUPITER and Saturn are currently straddling the earth and the moon was over Tokyo and closer to the earth than usual at about the time of the massive earthquake.  Standing on the moon it would have looked something like this (see image).  Those who take an interest in such issues would say that the gravitational pulls on that part of the Earth would have been considerable at the time of the earthquake. 

From Ken Ring:

“The planets very much affect the earth, indirectly, by having an effect on the Sun. Some planets are very large. If the Sun was a basketball the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn would be the size of grapeftuits, and the Earth would be, on that scale, the size of a peppercorn.

“Jupiter and Saturn cause extra tides on the Sun when they get on either side of the Sun (as with Moon – Earth-Sun when the moon is full) and when these gas giants get on the same side as the Sun, (as with Earth -Moon – Sun when the moon is new). These greater solar tides become sunspot activity and solar flares and can be understood as akin to the increase in tides caused by the Moon when it too gets alongside Earth or opposite Earth.

“At the moment we have Jupiter and Saturn on either side of the Sun and creating a tug of war with Earth in the middle. That started last September.”

http://www.predictweather.co.nz/

And

http://eprints.usq.edu.au/4795/1/Wilson_Carter_Waite_Author’s_version.pdf

[Images via Alan Siddons – thanks Alan.]

UPDATE …  More from Alan Siddons

If the moon were directly overhead in Tokyo, for instance, the two positions would be the same. As it is, you can see that the moon was several degrees south and east at the moment. Here’s a more concrete demonstration, then.

This fish eye depiction is of Toyko’s view-point at the time (click on image for a larger view). I removed the atmosphere so you could see other planets. The spot where all the lines converge is zenith, 90°, so the moon was nearly overhead — at 66° 10’, to be more precise.

Recycling of Heat in the Atmosphere is Impossible: A Note from Nasif S. Nahle

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Introduction

Key diagrams on the Earth’s energy budget depicts an exchange of energy between the surface and the atmosphere and their subsystems considering each system as if they were blackbodies with emissivities and absorptivities of 100% 1, 2.

This kind of analyses shows a strange “multiplication” of the heat transferred from the surface to the atmosphere and from the atmosphere to the surface which is unexplainable from a scientific viewpoint. The authors of those diagrams adduce that such increase of energy in the atmosphere obeys to a “recycling” of the heat coming from the surface by the atmosphere 1, 2, as if the atmosphere-surface were a furnace or a thermos and the heat was a substance.

Such “recycling” of heat by the atmosphere does not occur in the real world for the reasons that I will expose later in this note.

[Read more…] about Recycling of Heat in the Atmosphere is Impossible: A Note from Nasif S. Nahle

Can Earthquakes Be Forecast?

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A very strong 8.9 magnitude earthquake has hit Japan and tsunami warnings have been issued across the Pacific.

New Zealander, Ken Ring, forecast the recent devastating earthquake in Christchurch and forecast an increased likelihood of earthquakes between September 2010 and May 2011 because of the increased gravitational pull on the earth given the current alignment of Jupiter and Saturn.

I would link to Mr Ring’s website but it appears to be down tonight.

Black Water Kills Tens of Thousands of Murray Cod

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Yesterday, Wakool farmer John Lolicato told me about recent fish kills in the southern Riverina.   Click here to listen to our conversation: WS450079   

The fish kills were caused by black water with tens of thousands of Murray Cod dying over the last four years.  

The enormous (1.4 metre long) Murray Cod being held up by two farmers is just one of many large fish found floating in the Lower Wakool River following a black water event last year.

The Wakool is an anabranch of the Murray, click on the map for a better and larger view.

Rice Suits the Murray Darling Basin

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 MANY environmentalists don’t believe we should be growing rice in Australia.   I disagree.   Rice suits a land of drought or flooding rains.  Unlike almonds, grapes and other perennial crops, rice doesn’t need water every year.  It’s an annual crop that can be planted only when there is an excess of water.

I visited Wakool rice farmer John Lolicato today and he showed me his rice crop. 

John is a third generation rice grower in the Wakool District.  His grandfather began growing tomatoes, later they tried millet, tobacco and even cotton.  

The family has found that the climate and heavy clay soils suit rice.   

John didn’t grow rice during the recent drought because while he had a water licence, he didn’t have a water allocation.  

The extreme variability of rainfall at Wakool is managed by government issuing irrigation licenses which are subject to seasonal allocations.  When water is short, allocations are minimal or zero. 

While it is fashionable to claim there is “over-allocation” in the Murray Darling Basin the reality is that when water is scarce during drought, government limits the amount of water for agriculture.

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More photographs here of John and my good friend Catherine amongst the rice.