I gather from listening to the BBC 7.00am news on the way to work, that Japan is claiming that the terms of the Kyoto Protocol were loaded against them. The 1990 baseline favoured the likes of the UK and Germany – the Germans closed old, dirty, inefficient industry in the former East Germany, and the UK shut down much of its coal industry. Meanwhile, Japan had made big strides in energy efficiency in the 1980s. The moral of this story is clear – be careful what you sign up to. Even if implemented in full, which it won’t be, the Kyoto Protocol will have no measureable effect on climate. Hence, I now refer to the Kyoto Protocol as the ‘Don Quixote Protocol’ because the ‘fight’ is against an imaginary enemy that turned out to be windmills (wind turbines being the modern equivalent).
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The Truth is Out There: Graham Young responds to Clive Hamilton
Earlier this week, Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, threatened to boycott Australian e-journal On Line Opinion because it publishes article by so-called ‘climate change denialists’. Today, the journal’s Chief Editor, Graham Young, responds:
“The idea that truth is relative has taken over some areas of the humanities through postmodernism, theory and forms of Marxist analysis. That’s the school that Clive Hamilton’s argument on global warming comes from… We instinctively know that things do have objective reality and are not power constructs. That it doesn’t matter how many people say it is true if it isn’t.”
In today’s article Graham Young emphasises the importance of trying to understand the facts-of-the matter rather than as Clive Hamilton does, deferring to authority.
While Clive Hamilton has decided that “there was no way I could pretend to have a comprehensive grasp of climate science … [so] I had to decide not what to believe but whom to believe.”
Graham responds, “How do you decide who to believe if you have abdicated your right to analyse the arguments?”
Again on the subject of the truth Graham writes: “We believe that there is such a thing as the truth, and that it is out there, even if none of us will ever perceive it more than dimly.”
According to Graham one way of discovering the truth is to “welcome lobbyists as well as academics, politicians, activists and citizens. We want to put citizens in touch with decision makers and those with influence, and we don’t differentiate between them because they might have a particular point of view, or draw their paycheck from a particular source.
“Our fundamental tenet is that while there is such a thing as the truth it demands constant mining and refining for it to be discerned, and that it is not our place to tell others what to think. Consenting adults can come to this site [On Line Opinion] and see opposing arguments laid out before them and make-up their own minds. Clive is under-estimating the ability of our average reader.
“An ethical approach to argument avoids ad hominem attacks and concentrates on facts and arguments. It treats its opponent’s arguments with respect, and doesn’t misrepresent them, and it researches its own arguments thoroughly and presents them honestly.”
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Silencing dissent
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7596&page=1
The Sad Demise of On Line Opinion
http://onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7580
Ocean Acidification: Photographs from Bob Halstead and a Note from Floor Anthoni
Hi Jennifer,
The shallows near Dobu Island off Papua and New Guinea have active underwater fumaroles pumping out virtually pure CO2. The sea grass is extraordinarily lush and healthy and there is very healthy coral reef a few metres away.
May 2008 in PNG at Dobu Island in the D’Entrecasteaux Group
May 2008 in PNG at Dobu Island in the D’Entrecasteaux Group
Both photos show bubbles of CO2 which continually flow. I collected samples of gas years ago for a vulcanologist and he reported back to me that it was “virtually pure CO2”.
Unfortunately the water had poor visibility the day I shot the pictures, but it is often clear.
Bob Halstead
www.halsteaddiving.com
And also…
Dear Jennifer,
I have recently updated my article about ocean acidification by reviewing two recent studies.
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/global/acid2.htm
I thought it may interest you.
Dr J Floor Anthoni
Director Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/
New Australian Movie Starring Caroline Marohasy
Caroline Marohasy, a reader of this weblog and my daughter, makes her debut in a new Australian revenge thriller ‘The Horseman’ that will premier at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Caroline Marohasy and Peter Marshall in The Horseman
If you like this genre of movie you can watch the trailer; but be warned there is lots of blood and guts and violence.
A couple of early reviews include:
“The Horseman is a balls to the wall, edgy thriller. A simple, fast paced action movie – the kind people used to make in the 70’s. Think ‘Get Carter’ in ‘Stubbies’ crossed with Tarantino. If you like your movies bold, hard-core and unapologetic, then keep an eye on director Steven Kastrissios”.
– Greg Mclean (Director of Wolf Creek & Rogue)
“I just saw an advance screener of this film and was left breathless. The Horseman is the most compelling Australian film that I have seen since Wolf Creek. It is taut and relentless, grabbing you by the throat in the opening scene and not letting go until the end credits roll. The film’s frenetic pacing and tight narrative structure brings to mind similarly impactual genre classics like Mad Max and Romper Stomper. Indeed, it belongs to that rare type of thrilling Aussie cinema that gets bums on seats and keeps them there! Kastrissios should be congratulated for such an amazing debut. He should also be paid close attention to: I believe he is set to become an important fixture of the Australian cinema scene.
– Dean Bertram (Director, A Night of Horror International Film Festival)
And a note from Caroline, “Australian independent feature films really need grass roots support, and this one is no exception. So you might become a fan at our Facebook site“.
warning – this is a horror revenge movie with lots of ‘blood and guts’
Clive Hamilton Boycotts e-Journal for Publishing ‘Climate Change Denialists’
Clive Hamilton, Professor of public ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, is leading an attack by left-leaning Australian academics on Graham Young and his e-journal On Line Opinion because it publishes article by so-called ‘climate change denialists’ including Tom Harris and John McLean.
Now is your opportunity to support Graham Young and On Line Opinion by making a donation here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/membership/
You can read Prof Hamilton here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7580
And then perhaps leave a comment here: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=7580
Crying Need for Skepticism: Gerard Henderson
There is an opinion piece in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald entitled ‘Crying Need for Doubting Peter’ in which Gerard Henderson suggests that even if carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are contributing to global warming it is unclear why a nation like Australia — responsible for only 1 percent of the world’s emissions — should be an international leader in responding to climate change.
Gerard Henderson quotes ABC Radio National Broadcaster Robyn Williams from his interview with Channel 9 TV journalist Adam Shand on Sunday.
You can watch the Channel 9 story — which is probably the first time mainstream Australian TV has given some of Australia’s so-called global warming skeptics a fair hearing — here as Part 1 and Part 2.
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.