Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore. Read more here.
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Bushfire Royal Commission to Focus on the Politically Possible
EARLIER this year the suffering from the Victorian bushfires, and that video of the fire fighter giving a koala a drink of water in a burnt-out forest, captured the imagination of people around the world.
At the time some media outlets blamed the ferocity of the fires on global warming and this assessment was supported by some authorities at reputable institutions including Melbourne University, the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology. Others disagreed and claimed inadequate controlled burning as a key issue.
The Premier of Victoria promised a Royal Commission into the fires and preliminary hearings started this week.
[Read more…] about Bushfire Royal Commission to Focus on the Politically Possible
Kyoto Not Working for the EU
The EU’s emissions trading scheme has so far failed to deliver any reductions in CO2 emissions while at the same time strangling energy-efficiency investment in the electricity sector. Read more here.
Threats of Carbon Trade Wars
The Chinese government has warned that a proposed US border tax on carbon sensitive materials “smells of protectionism” and could spark retaliation from developing countries. Read more here.
Quiet Sun Shouldn’t Baffle Astronomers
THE Sun is the dimmest it has been for nearly a century. There are no sunspots, very few solar flares – and our nearest star is the quietest it has been for a very long time.
That’s according to a BBC report by Pallab Ghosh, which goes on to explain these observations are baffling astronomers … the Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity. At its peak, it has a tumultuous boiling atmosphere that spits out flares and planet-sized chunks of super-hot gas. This is followed by a calmer period… Last year, it was expected that it would have been hotting up after a quiet spell. But instead it hit a 50-year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity.
Defining the Greens (Part 4)
ALL Greens have a deep passionate desire to make sure we live well without doing serious damage to the environment, but apart from that are a motley lot impossible to accurately define.
This is one of the messages that have emerged from my series entitled ‘Defining the Greens’.
But I can’t agree.
In the 70s there was some agreement that protecting the planet required fewer people, less wealth and simpler technology – I’m paraphrasing John Tierney from an article in Monday’s New York Times.
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.
