Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

People

Postscript

By

Update August 1, 2010 – There will be a federal election in Australian on August 21, 2010.  Neither of the major parties has a serious climate change policy.   ‘Least-worst climate policy?’ by Jennifer Marohasy at Quadrant Online.

Update June 21, 2010 – I am back publishing in the peer-reviewed literature.  First article for a while:  ‘Accessing environmental information relating to climate change: a case study under UK freedom of information legislation’, by John Abbot and Jennifer Marohasy, Environmental Law and Management, Issue 1, Volume 22 [2010]. 

Update December 12th, 2009 –  Jennifer Marohasy is no longer regularly posting at this weblog.   But occasionally posts information from friends at the community thread [ https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/category/community/ ].   Dr Marohasy is still writing for The Land and some of her columns for this and other newspapers can be read at her website [ https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/articles.php ].

Dr Marohasy was publically documenting discrepancies – including incomplete data sets being used by top UK climate scientists that spuriously support the case for global warming – before the now infamous emails from the Climate Research Centre in the UK were leaked.  She gives informative and entertaining talks on global warming and other environmental issues [ https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/display/speaker.html ].

[Read more…] about Postscript

Lance Endersbee (1925-2009): Civil Engineer, Academic, Scientific Sceptic, Mentor

By

Lance_Experience Curve CO2 and SST with 21 moving average 12May09I NEVER met Professor Endersbee, but we corresponded by email.

He contacted me about six years ago when I was working on the Murray River and water issues. He expressed concern about Australia’s great artesian basin and over extraction of what he considered a finite resource.

We later corresponded over climate change issue. Lance believed we must try harder to understand the causes of natural climate change instead of assuming anthropogenic global warming. He was particularly interested in the oceans as a source of carbon dioxide. On June 24, 2009 he wrote:

“The relationship between CO2 and ocean temperature is ordained by the solubility relationship.   I attach [see above] a chart showing my experience curve for the only reliable temperature records we have. It is difficult to argue against a correlation of 0.99.   [Read more…] about Lance Endersbee (1925-2009): Civil Engineer, Academic, Scientific Sceptic, Mentor

Bjorn Lomborg Not Sceptical Enough

By

Lomborg deserves his reputation as The Skeptical Environmentalist – his books poke holes in many dogmas society holds dear, often through the use of statistics. But I find he’s not skeptical enough. While he has expended great effort over many years questioning proposed solutions to climate change, he has yet to apply skeptical thinking to the very premise that manmade climate change even belongs on his list of global challenges.  Read more here.

Who’s a Climate Scientist?

By

“PROMINENT scientists with long publications records, such as Bob Carter, are routinely described by the media as not being climate scientists and really not reputable scientists at all if they aren’t on the alarmist bandwagon.  On the other hand, lawyers expressing alarmist views are described as prominent scientists. 

“And the scientists regularly put forward in the media as the world’s leading climate experts often turn out to be computer modelers with little or no background in climate science…

Read more from Myron Ebell here.

And of course Graeme Pearman who many in Australia assume to be a climate scientist, actually trained as a biologist and has a PhD in carbon budgeting. 

As an example of the bias, consider this interview by ABC Journalist Sabra Lane.

Australian Liberal Party Dumps Climate Sceptic, And

By

Fieldings chart

I GATHER Malcolm Turnbull, the leader of Australia’s right of centre party, the Australian Liberal Party, is planning to instruct his senators to support the Emissions Trading Scheme when the Australian federal parliament next sits… ostensibly because business wants certainty.

And last Saturday, the only member of that party that has spoken out against the consensus position on anthropogenic global warming, Dennis Jensen, appears to have lost Liberal Party pre-selection for his seat of Tangney in Western Australia.  He was the only sitting member to be challenged. [Read more…] about Australian Liberal Party Dumps Climate Sceptic, And

What to Take Bushwalking?

By

duffy bushwalk 051 blogA 19 year-old British tourist who went for a walk in rugged terrain not far from where I live in the Blue Mountains ended up lost for 12 days.

He claims to have survived the freezing conditions by sleeping in a log and eating leaves and seed.

His story has resulted in lots of advice in mainstream media articles about how to survive in the bush with some experts commenting that he should have taken his mobile phone, four litres of water, eaten insects rather than plants, worn a beanie and the list goes on. But I’m yet to read a story that explains the value of a compass.

I regularly bushwalk in the area and always take my compass, tucked in my camera bag. I’ve been temporarily lost before, not in the Jamieson Valley, but regularly when I did field work in the riverine forests of south west Madagascar. Without reference to a compass it is difficult to maintain a direction in forested areas.

Media reports explain that the 17 year-old Australian bushwalker who died in the same region a few years ago didn’t have a map. But I haven’t been able to determine from these same reports whether or not he had a compass. It would seem to me that a map, without a compass, would be of limited use.  [Read more…] about What to Take Bushwalking?