Russia complained about a major Chinese river project on Monday which it says will harm the Russian environment, the latest sign of strained relations between the two countries. Read more here.
News
David Karoly: Sydney was Hot in 1791
Watkin Tench of the Royal Marines detailed a heatwave powered by north-westerly winds that howled for three days… “an immense flight of bats, driven before the wind … dropped dead or in a dying state, unable longer to endure the burning state of the atmosphere”… temperature was 101 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38.3 Celsius. Read more here.
Roll-out of Electric Car Rechargers to Begin in 2011
CANBERRA, Australia 24 July 2009: Better Place Australia, the leading electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and services provider today announced that it has chosen the nation’s capital, Canberra, as the site of its first city-wide roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure in Australia. [Read more…] about Roll-out of Electric Car Rechargers to Begin in 2011
Poachers Exploit Chaos in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s wildlife conservation reputation has taken a knock in the past few years and there are fears the recent surge in the poaching of the black rhino will lead to the animal’s extinction in the country… Part of the problem is obviously the national situation in Zimbabwe where there is reduced law enforcement and part of it is the growing demand for rhino horn, the growing Chinese foot print in Africa… Read more here.
Global Temperature Increase Linked to 1976 Climate Shift in Pacific Ocean
THREE Australasian researchers have shown that natural forces are the dominant influence on climate, in a study just published in the highly-regarded Journal of Geophysical Research. According to this study little or none of the late 20th century global warming and cooling can be attributed to human activity.
The research, by Chris de Freitas, a climate scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, John McLean (Melbourne) and Bob Carter (James Cook University), finds that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a key indicator of global atmospheric temperatures seven months later. As an additional influence, intermittent volcanic activity injects cooling aerosols into the atmosphere and produces significant cooling.
“The surge in global temperatures since 1977 can be attributed to a 1976 climate shift in the Pacific Ocean that made warming El Niño conditions more likely than they were over the previous 30 years and cooling La Niña conditions less likely” says corresponding author de Freitas.
[Read more…] about Global Temperature Increase Linked to 1976 Climate Shift in Pacific Ocean
Excuse India: Says IPCC Boss
India will continue to use coal to meet its energy demands, says Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “You cannot, in a democracy, ignore some of these realities and as it happens with the resources of coal that India has we really don’t have any choice but to use coal in the immediate short term,” he said. The Hindu, 22 July 2009
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.