We were very excited when we realized a lot of changes in the past century from warmer to cooler [global temperature trend] and then back to warmer were all natural, says Anastosios Tsonis, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Read more here.
News
More Palm Oil Plantations in Peatlands
Indonesia needs to squeeze far higher yields from existing palm oil plantations rather than open up more land – but chances are they will do both. Read more here.
Oil Washes Ashore
Up to 100,000 litres of oil leaked into Moreton Bay after the Pacific Adventurer cargo ship was holed on Wednesday morning, and the slicks are now blanketing 60 kilometres of Queensland’s coastline. Read more here.
South Australia’s Water Woes Include Much Politics
I have it on good advice, from the cabbie who drove me to the airport in Canberra recently, that South Australian senator Nick Xenophon is the most powerful politician in Australia.
Mr Xenophon is certainly demanding the attention of the most powerful politician officially, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, by insisting on more water for South Australia in return for the passage of the economic stimulus package.
Now he is backing a possible constitutional challenge by South Australia to remove barriers to water trade in Victoria.
By backing this legal action, he will in effect be supporting the federal bureaucracy against the states – presumably only because he believes it is the federal government that will act in the interests of South Australia.
Given its continual dominance of the national water agenda, it is probably a safe bet.
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Australians: Sign the Petition Against the ETS
Jennifer, I heard you on Radio 2GB which was great [even if China’s population has expanded to 6 billion!] and have posted it here. Max Rheese.
Max, I did mentioned the need to sign the petition, click here. Sorry for confusing the size of the world’s population with China’s! Jennifer Marohasy.
Time for Plan B: Adaptation to Climate Change
The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s plan of prevention has been trialled by combining regulation under the Kyoto Protocol with the dissuasive powers of a carbon dioxide trading system, for instance in Europe. From this trial it is apparent that the CO2 reductions agreed to under Kyoto, even were all to be achieved, will make no measurable difference to future temperature. Also, the experience of early mover countries on carbon dioxide taxation, such as Norway, is that at reasonable tax levels of $15-25/tonne no reduction in emissions is achieved, Norway’s having increased 15% since 1990. Thus Plan A doesn’t work, can’t work and won’t work; it is already a dead parrot.
Meanwhile, Nature has delivered powerful messages recently as to the danger of natural climate change, via Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in USA, and devastating bushfires and floods in Australia in 2009. It is obvious that countries need to be better prepared to understand, cope with and adapt to the damaging effects of these and other natural climatic events and trends. Just like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, major climatic events are unpredictable long in advance and unstoppable once started.
The appropriate response – and climate policy plan B – is to adapt to such events when and as they occur.
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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.