Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Australian Farmers Finally Benefit from GM Canola

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MONSANTO Australia Ltd has released the final results from a survey of its 2008 Roundup Ready canola growers – that is those farmers who choose to grow genetically modified canola this last season.

Canola is an important crop in Australia, particularly as part of a wheat rotation.  While North American farmers have been growing GM canola for some years, because of bans in Australia following a successful anti-GM campaign spearheaded by Greenpeace, 2008-2009 was the first season for GM canola in Australia.

The results taken from 92 of the 100 growers that delivered GM canola grain, indicate that Roundup Ready canola outperformed alternative herbicide tolerant canola varieties when it came to yield and overall benefits. 100 percent of growers surveyed said they will plant Roundup Ready canola again.

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Italian Authorities Ignored Earthquake Warning

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An Italian scientist, Gioacchino Giuliani, predicted Monday’s earthquake at L’Aquila, Italy, weeks ago but his warning were not taken seriously …  he based his forecast on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas.  Read more here.

Wilkins Ice Shelf Collapse

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GIVEN it is still really cold at the Antarctic, is it really very scientific to blame global warming for the likely collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf? How good is the evidence supporting this hypothesis as the possible cause of the possible shelf collapse, as opposed to say ice growth generating internal stress or undersea volcanic activity?

Uneven Population Growth

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Although the population of the world continues to grow substantially, 79 million a year, the rate of growth has declined by nearly half in the last 40 years – from 2.0 to 1.2 per cent per annum.  It have varied significantly by continent … Read more here.

AGW Activists Wishing for Warmer Weather

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THEY went to the Arctic lamenting global warming, but ever since they got there they have been wishing for warmer weather.

I have been feeling sorry for the three Brits who set off for the North Pole in February.  I’m all for adventurers pushing themselves to their absolute limits but after pulling a 1,000 kg sledge all day, image having to crawling into “a frozen sleeping bag” on “a raft of sea ice” knowing there is a polar bear nearby.  I guess there is always a percentage of us that feel the need to suffer for the common good.

Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and photographer Martin Hartley were dropped somewhere in Canada at the end of February to pull their fully laden sledges more than 1,000 kilometres to the North Pole.  The objective of the adventure is to measure ice thickness and draw attention to the issue of global warming.  I suspect that the latter objective, drawing attention to global warming, is why the team includes the photographer. 

Called the Catlin Expedition, it has run into unusually cold weather with a dip in Arctic temperatures over the last couple of months, but apparently temperatures are now recovering along with the spirits of the adventurers. 

Given the team set off concerned the planet was overheating, they could perhaps be a little happier about the recent unusually cold weather.  

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Notes

Arctic diary: Explorers’ ice quest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7897392.stm

Graph from Anthony Watts, http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/04/04/bad-news-for-catlin-expedition-satellite-data-shows-arctic-cooling-in-feb-march/ .  Click on the image for a better/larger view.