# The Environment Thread



## SirRumpole (24 April 2016)

Starting this off because there doesn't appear to be a general thread regarding environmental issues.

Condamine River set on fire after Greens MP lights bubbling methane gas, blames fracking

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-...ling-methane-gas-set-alight-greens-mp/7352578


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## Wysiwyg (24 April 2016)

If the methane gas leaching out from the river bed has just begun then that CSG operation should be shut down immediately. Bloody unacceptable.   Any impact should be fined immediately.


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## Smurf1976 (24 April 2016)

I don't recall the exact details but a river catching fire in the US sometime circa 1970 was one of the key incidents that saw the rise of the environmental movement generally. Rivers on fire certainly aren't a good look, and any average person can understand that it's not something that ought to be happening.

Methane is also a potent greenhouse gas, far worse than CO2, so setting it on fire is actually a good thing in that regard. Well, it's better than just letting it straight into the atmosphere at least.

Methane leaks from the gas industry are contentious and somewhat uncertain. Suffice to say that some studies suggest that even brown coal might actually be better environmentally than gas once the leaks are taken into account. Gas emits less CO2 certainly, but even a small amount of CH4 (methane) leakage offsets that completely. It's a certainty that leaks are occurring both at the production end and in pipelines, what's uncertain is the quantity but it's definitely not zero.

There's also a safety issue here. Someone's on a boat and the engine backfires, they're having a BBQ or someone lights a cigarette. Boom! 

Anyway, thinking outside the box there's an opportunity here. Set it on fire permanently and promote it as a tourist attraction to come and see the river on fire.


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## SirRumpole (24 April 2016)

Smurf1976 said:


> I don't recall the exact details but a river catching fire in the US sometime circa 1970 was one of the key incidents that saw the rise of the environmental movement generally. Rivers on fire certainly aren't a good look, and any average person can understand that it's not something that ought to be happening.
> 
> Methane is also a potent greenhouse gas, far worse than CO2, so setting it on fire is actually a good thing in that regard. Well, it's better than just letting it straight into the atmosphere at least.
> 
> ...




Can you suggest a cause unrelated to CSG industry ?

Decaying vegetation may cause "swamp gas" in still water or marshes, but I don't know if it could happen in flowing rivers. It seems unusual that the appearance of methane coincides with fracking in the area.


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## luutzu (24 April 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Can you suggest a cause unrelated to CSG industry ?
> 
> Decaying vegetation may cause "swamp gas" in still water or marshes, but I don't know if it could happen in flowing rivers. It seems unusual that the appearance of methane coincides with fracking in the area.




Soon they'll be able to lit up water from their tap.

Let's hope the drought in Australia won't be so tough that these geniuses will get innovative and buy somewhat-treated sewage water for their fracking - like they're doing in parts of the US.


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## Smurf1976 (24 April 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Can you suggest a cause unrelated to CSG industry ?




Could just be a natural seep even if the ultimate source is coal seam gas.

There's plenty of places in the world where (generally small) amounts of oil or gas naturally bubble to the surface. Perhaps the best known in the developed world is the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, a natural seep of oil and gas (LA itself sits on an oil field and there's ongoing production in the urban area - plenty of oil wells disguised around LA (and others not disguised)) but that's by no means the only such example.

There's plenty of reports that suggest that even in ancient times there was an awareness of oil and gas seeps. Gas catching fire and oil forming small lakes on the surface. Indeed the presence of those lead to the "discovery" of quite a number of major oil fields in more modern times since if there's something coming to the surface then it's a no brainer to start drilling there. 

All that said, if the river wasn't bubbling before and it's bubbling now meanwhile someone has been extracting natural gas nearby then I think a reasonable person would conclude that the gas in the river is most likely a consequence of the gas industry nearby. The onus would certainly seem to be on the gas company to prove otherwise at least in terms of the court of public opinion.

My personal opinion on gas, having looked at all things energy rather a lot  over the years, is that I'm not convinced that it's really a better way to generate power than using coal although it does have advantages for direct use (on account of efficiency). It's better in some ways certainly but there are serious doubts about other aspects. That said, it does seem to beat oil - truly horrid stuff once you look at everything that's involved with the extraction, transport, refining and use of it globally.


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## Smurf1976 (24 April 2016)

luutzu said:


> Soon they'll be able to lit up water from their tap.




Consider it a bonus. No need to pay for hot water if you can simply light up the shower and the water gets hot as it comes out. Brilliant idea!

Just need to be careful to stand back to avoid being toasted and also to not burn the house down but they're minor problems really. :

Seriously, sometime in the future people will be wondering why we were so dumb as to mess up the planet. Why, exactly, do we always need to do what's cheapest in the short term (even if it costs more in the long term)?


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## ghotib (25 April 2016)

Smurf1976 said:


> I don't recall the exact details but a river catching fire in the US sometime circa 1970 was one of the key incidents that saw the rise of the environmental movement generally. Rivers on fire certainly aren't a good look, and any average person can understand that it's not something that ought to be happening.




Just in case this elusive memory is keeping someone else awake...

My first thought was that you were thinking of Love Canal, but when I finally managed to recall the name and look it up I discovered that Love Canal didn't catch fire, it just poisoned a small town  https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.

That reference led to the story of the Cuyahoga River fire  http://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63#.Vx2sxj9VjV0. Does this sound like the one your were thinking of Smurf? I think I hadn't heard of it before.


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## McLovin (26 April 2016)

Smurf1976 said:


> There's plenty of places in the world where (generally small) amounts of oil or gas naturally bubble to the surface. Perhaps the best known in the developed world is the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, a natural seep of oil and gas (LA itself sits on an oil field and there's ongoing production in the urban area - plenty of oil wells disguised around LA (and others not disguised)) but that's by no means the only such example.




The funny thing about the pump jacks and derricks in LA is they blend in very well with the general ugliness of the place to the point you stop noticing them.


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## Smurf1976 (26 April 2016)

ghotib said:


> That reference led to the story of the Cuyahoga River fire  http://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63#.Vx2sxj9VjV0. Does this sound like the one your were thinking of Smurf?




That's it. One of the "trigger" events that all happened to occur around the same time and which helped give rise to what became environmentalism.

I've always thought it somewhat interesting that environmental thinking emerged in many countries at about the same time. It's not as though we had the sort of communications or even frequency of international travel back then that we have now, but still that thinking did spring up in many places at about the same time.

In Australia the flooding of Lake Pedder (Tas) and construction of Newport D power station (Melbourne metro area) brought about a similar surge in public concern over the environment in the early 1970's which then followed with concern about uranium mines, other dams, sand mining, logging, urban air pollution and so on not too long afterward.


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## Ijustnewit (26 April 2016)

Things are really starting to go  rotten in Tasmania , Salmon farms finding it to warm to grow fish the dams and power situation . And now the beef and wool / sheep industry will be lucky to hang on , also crops are now failing as well.
It's no surprise Hobart set to smash April temperature records with 26c days still pumping out day after day and not a drop of rain either. It's incredible that Hobart will have a hotter April that if the same temperatures occurred in any November it would go close to breaking the November records as well . Dam levels are now at 13% and the great news is May is looking just as warm as well .
Some news on the big dry , article from weatherzone below

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/...-are-destocking-and-buying-costly-feed/496011


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## explod (26 April 2016)

This is a very good and informative thread,  watch it close and thumbs up to you all. 

Seem to get bogged down trying to reason with others on that other thread LOL. 

We are entering worrying times.


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## Smurf1976 (26 April 2016)

Ijustnewit said:


> Things are really starting to go  rotten in Tasmania




They say that every cloud has a silver lining (we've got some clouds on the way and Hydro's ready with the silver iodide....) but I also see real potential here with this burning river caper. :

Thinking about it rationally, we've got a gas supply system on the western shore of Hobart but not on the eastern shore. 

So Smurf's grand plan is a pipeline under the river. That brings gas to the eastern shore and enables people to keep warm and cook dinner lest we run out of electricity.

Next step is to "accidentally" poke a few holes along the pipe. Far easier than the hole in Basslink and no need to spend a few months trying to find it since the gas bubbles will be rather obvious. As part of that we get Walshy involved and arrange the holes so as to be artistic in some way.

Then we turn the gas on and send someone out in a small dinghy in the middle of the night armed with a box of matches...

All this ought to fix a few problems all at once really.

1. Supplies gas to the eastern shore. 

2. Using gas saves electricity that we're just a tad short on right now with the dams all of 12.8% full as of today.

3. The artistic aspect replaces the lights that Walshy seems rather fond of putting up in the middle of Winter and saves enough power to run a city or two.

4. We can then boast to Victorians that those flare towers outside Crown casino are pretty lame in comparison to our river of fire.

5. With sensible placement of the holes in the gas pipe the flames will provide a useful navigation aid. The fuel tankers in particular will be very careful to make sure they stay on course. 

6. In the event that a fuel tanker does go off course it will explode well before it reaches the bridge, thus providing valuable protection for critical transport infrastructure. You can never be too careful with things like that.

7. Heat from the flames will ensure we never have a problem with fog. 

8. In Summer the Regatta will be somewhat more exciting with this new feature of the river. Could also add an element of excitement to the wooden boat festival.

9. We can then start running a ferry service across the river with the opportunity to toast marshmallows on the way to work increasing patronage.

10. With proven experience at putting holes in power cables, gas pipes and budgets, that ought to give Tassie a good chance at winning the tender for anything that needs a hole in it. Pipes, tunnels, socks, anything really.

:

Back to more serious environmental matters, something that worries me a bit is that known toxic materials are still not being well handled in many cases. Asbestos, coal tar (especially emulsions) and so on. Cover it up or dump it in the nearest river still happens all too often even in developed countries such as Australia. We know it's silly but we're still doing things like that it seems. Not good. 

Having some knowledge of what's at the old rail yards site in Hobart, the potential to get that one wrong concerns me. There's some pretty nasty stuff under there and I can only hope it's dealt with sensibly with the redevelopment.


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## ghotib (26 April 2016)

Smurf1976 said:


> They say that every cloud has a silver lining (we've got some clouds on the way and Hydro's ready with the silver iodide....) but I also see real potential here with this burning river caper.




And Smurf celebrates his new role as Roving Ambassador for Clean Green Tasmania 



> Back to more serious environmental matters, something that worries me a bit is that known toxic materials are still not being well handled in many cases. Asbestos, coal tar (especially emulsions) and so on. Cover it up or dump it in the nearest river still happens all too often even in developed countries such as Australia. We know it's silly but we're still doing things like that it seems. Not good.
> 
> Having some knowledge of what's at the old rail yards site in Hobart, the potential to get that one wrong concerns me. There's some pretty nasty stuff under there and I can only hope it's dealt with sensibly with the redevelopment.



Sometimes it seems that hope is the only thing left. It's not hard to foresee some painful results of inadequate mine rehabilitation in our future if the current flurry of coal mine selloffs isn't checked.


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## Smurf1976 (27 April 2016)

ghotib said:


> It's not hard to foresee some painful results of inadequate mine rehabilitation in our future if the current flurry of coal mine selloffs isn't checked.




Indeed although at least coal isn't as bad as, say, lead or something like that.

Back to the rail yards site in Hobart, there's no shortage of nasties in the ground there given the length of time it operated and the lack of regard for the environment back in the 1800's.

Just about everyone in Hobart would be familiar with the old gas works site and the coolstore across the road. What most probably don't realise is that the gas works was a lot bigger than the few buildings which remain and that 3 separate gas production plants operated there over the period 1854 - 1978.

First was the horizontal retorts (using coal as feedstock) which ran from 1854 - 1924 and located near where the remaining buildings are and into where part of Davey St now runs.

Second came the vertical retorts (1924 - 1964) and that was right where the cold store is now located. 

Third was the naptha cracking plant which ran 1964 - 1978.

The first two plants, which operated for a total of 110 years, produced rather a lot of nasty waste and there's massive contamination of the ground due to that. First there's the coal tar tanks still in place, then there's the various leaks and spillages of coal tar and other things over the years, then there's the leakage of gas itself and suffice to say that the soil under that cold store is _incredibly_ contaminated with gas. 

There was a burst water main out in the street a few years ago and it flushed out so much gas from a small area of ground as to pose a hazard. And that was just a water leak under a small section of the footpath out the front. There's going to be a lot more gas trapped in the soil at the rest of the site that's for sure. 

Now, as has been found with the abandoned gas pipes, town gas left in situ turns rather nasty after a long enough period. Incidents during roadworks etc have been known to put the workers in hospital and Workplace Standards sees it as a major issue. No prizes for guessing that the same issues are likely to exist with the soil where the works once stood.

The naptha reforming plant was nearby although to my knowledge that didn't make too much of a mess. At least it didn't compared to the previous facilities.

Also at the site are all the things you'd expect to find at a place that's had steam and then diesel trains based there for well over a century. All sorts of oils, asbestos and so on. Plenty of that there.

I'm a little worried that there was a recent public announcement to the effect that they've found the cleanup will cost less than previously thought. Hmm....


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## SirRumpole (27 April 2016)

When I was working for a water authority in the 80's stream water in the Hunter area used to regularly disappear into the underground coal mines.

It was a very sensitive subject at the time as the mines were funding the collection of data from those streams.


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## SirRumpole (28 April 2016)

Fracking debate: Environmentalists question independence of CSIRO researcher

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-...vironmentalists-question-independence/7367994


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## basilio (28 April 2016)

Lots of places around the world in extreme drought conditions.  Combination of climate change and El Nino.  Two extreme situations bear a look.


> * Indian drought 'affecting 330 million people' after two weak monsoons*
> 
> Government says quarter of the population suffering, as NGO asks supreme court to order Modi government to do more to help
> People from the drought-affected districts of Maharashtra collect water from a tank in Mumbai.
> ...




http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ht-affecting-330-million-people-weak-monsoons


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## basilio (28 April 2016)

In Venezuela a drought has crippled the hydroelectric schemes and the country is on 2 day working weeks.



> *Venezuela introduces two-day week to deal with energy crisis*
> 
> 27 April 2016
> From the section Latin America & Caribbean
> ...



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36145184


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## noco (28 April 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> When I was working for a water authority in the 80's stream water in the Hunter area used to regularly disappear into the underground coal mines.
> 
> It was a very sensitive subject at the time as the mines were funding the collection of data from those streams.




When - I - was - working - on - the- nurses- quarters at the Roma hospital in 1950 for 3 months  the smell of gas in the town water was absolutely putrid.....You just did not drink it let alone having to shower under it......Gas has been seeping into the water for years...ask any of the oldies living in Roma and long before fracking.....The Americans drilled one hole on hospital hill in Roma and immediately sealed it off....It was reported at the time they had discovered either oil or gas.

*Gas seeps pose no risk to public safety, energy company says

A 2013 report by scientific analysis firm Norwest Corporation outlined several "scenarios" that could be contributing to the bubbling in the river.

These included natural events such as drought and the recharging of aquifers after floods.

Human activity such as CSG operations and water bore drilling were other possible contributing factors.

Professor Damian Barrett, the CSIRO's lead researcher into unconventional gas, has been monitoring the Condamine gas seeps.

"The isotopic signature is telling us it's coming from coal at that point in the landscape but coal is quite close to the surface and there's a naturally existing small fault line, which cuts the river at that point," he said.

He said research over the past 12 months showed the rate of the flow was increasing.

Origin Energy, which operates CSG wells in the district, has also been monitoring the bubbling.

"We're aware of concerns regarding bubbling of the Condamine River, in particular, recent videos demonstrating that this naturally occurring gas is flammable when ignited," a statement from the company said.

"We understand that this can be worrying, however, the seeps pose no risk to the environment, or to public safety, providing people show common sense and act responsibly around them.

"Ongoing research has identified several scenarios that could be contributing to the seeps including the natural geology and faults (formed tens-of-millions of years ago), natural events such as drought and flood cycles as well as some human activity, which includes water bores and coal seam gas operations."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-...ling-methane-gas-set-alight-greens-mp/7352578*


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## SirRumpole (28 April 2016)

> Gas seeps pose no risk to public safety, energy company says




Vested interests again, they would say that.


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## noco (28 April 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Vested interests again, they would say that.




Well, it posed no threat in 1950.

That report was not by Origin Energy....Suggest you read the report a little more in detail.

*A 2013 report by scientific analysis firm Norwest Corporation outlined several "scenarios" that could be contributing to the bubbling in the river.

These included natural events such as drought and the recharging of aquifers after floods.

Human activity such as CSG operations and water bore drilling were other possible contributing factors.

Professor Damian Barrett, the CSIRO's lead researcher into unconventional gas, has been monitoring the Condamine gas seeps.

"The isotopic signature is telling us it's coming from coal at that point in the landscape but coal is quite close to the surface and there's a naturally existing small fault line, which cuts the river at that point," he said.*


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## orr (28 April 2016)

Can anybody in Queensland give me a first hand update on the unfolding consequences of the reported coral bleaching to the Great Barrier Reef...stop 
93% effected overall i'm hearing and 50% death rates north of Cooktown...stop 
Very little info coming out of the local media... stop
urgently await reply ...stop


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## noco (28 April 2016)

orr said:


> Can anybody in Queensland give me a first hand update on the unfolding consequences of the reported coral bleaching to the Great Barrier Reef...stop
> 93% effected overall i'm hearing and 50% death rates north of Cooktown...stop
> Very little info coming out of the local media... stop
> urgently await reply ...stop




What you are currently hearing is Green propaganda......I believe very soon you will get the truth.


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## SirRumpole (29 April 2016)

orr said:


> Can anybody in Queensland give me a first hand update on the unfolding consequences of the reported coral bleaching to the Great Barrier Reef...stop
> 93% effected overall i'm hearing and 50% death rates north of Cooktown...stop
> Very little info coming out of the local media... stop
> urgently await reply ...stop




Interesting question regarding lack of information.

Election coming up, I would say Greg Hunt has ordered his department not to talk to the media, and same with CSIRO.

David Attenborough probably would have rattled a few chains with his latest series on the reef though.


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## Tisme (29 April 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Interesting question regarding lack of information.
> 
> Election coming up, I would say Greg Hunt has ordered his department not to talk to the media, and same with CSIRO.
> 
> David Attenborough probably would have rattled a few chains with his latest series on the reef though.




QLD : home of Courier Mail = LNP Rag= Deliberate Misinformation = Mortal Enemy of ALP = Conceals truth= Distorts facts to protect LNP = Attack dog = Compromises govt employees= Chokes real news feed.


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## qldfrog (29 April 2016)

Tisme said:


> QLD : home of Courier Mail = LNP Rag= Deliberate Misinformation = Mortal Enemy of ALP = Conceals truth= Distorts facts to protect LNP = Attack dog = Compromises govt employees= Chokes real news feed.



as if the courrier mail had been a great advocate of Abbot or the current PM..
it is just news targetted to the readers: sport first then current affairs....


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## Tisme (29 April 2016)

qldfrog said:


> as if the courrier mail had been a great advocate of Abbot or the current PM..
> it is just news targetted to the readers: sport first then current affairs....




I must admit I cancelled my subscription some time ago, but I doubt Christopher Dore has changed his strong affiliation with the LNP? If I went back for 12 months and looked at the front page and the next two inside would I find Labor featured in a sensationalist negative manner more than the LNP in a frustrated with party direction manner?


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## SirRumpole (29 April 2016)

Talk about killing the messenger

Tour operator refuses to take Greens senators to Barrier Reef, fears bad publicity for tourism

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-...s-senators-barrier-reef-bad-publicity/7370336


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## qldfrog (29 April 2016)

Tisme said:


> I must admit I cancelled my subscription some time ago, but I doubt Christopher Dore has changed his strong affiliation with the LNP? If I went back for 12 months and looked at the front page and the next two inside would I find Labor featured in a sensationalist negative manner more than the LNP in a frustrated with party direction manner?




Just have a look at the pictures they have for Malcolm or T Abbot; even as an ALP member, you will have to admit these are chosen;
Pause:
I just went but could only find Morrison, no picture from either leaders ALP/LNP tonight on their website, BrisbaneTime is the same...

I hate that, be it for Shorten or Abbot/MT, the level of propaganda, inept arguments, and now debt has reached 424 billions, and still no change in reforms whereas we have the only PM I had a slight hope could change things, outside of the two idiotic party lines...
not better here than in the US, or europe, democraties turned into a power sharing game between two lobbied rotten gangs


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## SirRumpole (8 May 2016)

Here is someone I really admire.

The former digger at the front of Africa's war on poachers

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/progr...oldier-leading-africas-poaching-fight/7375456


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## SirRumpole (14 May 2016)

Could be a big problem for Labor in Queensland.

Land clearing laws spark backlash from Queensland farmers as Labor pledges federal takeover

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-14/land-clearing-laws-create-tension-in-queensland/7408022


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## wayneL (14 May 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Talk about killing the messenger
> 
> Tour operator refuses to take Greens senators to Barrier Reef, fears bad publicity for tourism
> 
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-...s-senators-barrier-reef-bad-publicity/7370336



Did you read the article?

More like killing the propagandist.


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## SirRumpole (14 May 2016)

wayneL said:


> Did you read the article?
> 
> More like killing the propagandist.




So if someone refused to take Barnaby Joyce or Greg Hunt to the reef, what would that be ?


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## SirRumpole (2 June 2016)

Fight to save Great Barrier Reef could cost billions, secret government modelling estimates

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-02/great-barrier-reef-pollution-fight-could-cost-billions/7469740


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## SirRumpole (27 July 2016)

Green bonds the new black in the market as environmental financing surges


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-...he-bonds-market-environmental-finance/7664414


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## noco (23 October 2016)

Will somebody tell Hillary Clinton to keep her powdered nose out of Australian AFFAIRS......Here is evidence of a fellow named Hepburn who is one of Clintons activists trying to stop the Adami coal project.....


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...l/news-story/bdfd85e60ae09ce095ca4871198eb4b4


*The leader of a foreign-funded, highly orchestrated group of Australian activists working to stop the $16 billion Adani coalmine in Queensland has confirmed links with the Hillary Clinton 2016 Presidential campaign and warned a Clinton administration will “embarrass” the Turnbull Government over coal.

John Hepburn, the executive director of The Sunrise Project, confirmed today the revelations of the foreign-funded campaign against the Adani project by influencing indigenous land owners and environmental legal challenges exposed in briefings to Hillary Clinton’s campaign director.

Mr Hepburn said the revelations via WikiLeaks in The Australian about the previously secret US funding and links with John Podesta, the Clination campaign chairman and former counsellor to Barack Obama, was a warning for the Turnbull government.

“That a major US philanthropist has been emailing the senior adviser to the likely next US President, about the expansion of coal mining in Australia, highlights a major diplomatic risk for the Turnbull government,” Mr Hepburn said in a statement responding to the revelations.

Mr Hepburn said the risk was “that a Clinton administration will hold a mirror to Australia’s climate inaction and pursuit of new coal reserves”.

“It is no surprise that the ongoing expansion of coal mining in Australia is on the radar of Clinton’s most senior adviser. While the world is ratifying the Paris Climate agreement in record time, Australia is becoming a global embarrassment for being the first developed country to go backwards on climate policy and fast-tracking the approval of new coal mines,” Mr Hepburn said.

Foreign funds for Adani lawsuitsOMore: Foreign funds for Adani lawsuits

“With the UN Climate Conference in Marrakesh only weeks away, this leak adds to the wider pattern of international concern over Australia’s failure to meet our international obligations and dogged commitment to give special treatment to the coal industry while the rest of the world rapidly shifts to clean energy,” he said.

“Of course we and other environmental groups are fighting tooth and nail to stop the Adani project,” Mr Hepburn said.

Another group identified as part of the US-funded campaign against coal mining in Australia, GetUp!, confirmed the global campaign and said the Adani mine “had too much power of the major parties” in Australia.

The Sunrise Project, the lead environmental group in the campaign to stop coalmining in Australia, is funded from the multimillion-dollar US Sandler Foundation and boasts in its secret briefings passed on to Mr Podesta that it is trying to hide its funding sources from the Australian parliament.

The previously secret briefings, released by WikiLeaks as part of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails, say Sunrise tailored its advice to indigenous communities in northern Queensland, and that the “whole Galilee Basin fossil fuel industrial complex is in its death throes”.

As part of a chain of emails being forwarded from Australia to progressive US foundations funding environmental challenges to industry worldwide, it is also disclosed that an associated group, Human Rights Watch, offered to help the environmental lobby keep its tax-*exempt charity status because “the mining companies seem to own the Liberals (in Australia) and they play very dirty”.

Human Rights Watch chief executive Ken Roth, who *attacked the Coalition’s offshore refugee processing on Nauru before the election in July, also discloses that his group received “charitable status by special parliamentary bill” in the “waning days of the Labor government”.

The Adani mine development, which it is claimed will create 10,000 jobs in construction in Queensland and cheap electric power to tens of millions of poor Indians, has been delayed for at least seven years by various legal challenges, including against a rail line to the coast and the development of a port at Abbot Point.

In a celebratory email to the Sandler Foundation in August last year after a decision against the Adani mine, Sunrise Project director John Hepburn, a former Greenpeace activist and one of the authors of the strategy to block coalmining in Australia, thanks the foundation for support. “Without your support none of this would have happened,” he said.

He added he was going to buy a “few bottles of bubbly” for a celebration with “our colleagues at GetUp!!!!, Greenpeace, 350.org, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Mackay Conservation Group, Market Forces and the brilliant and tireless Sunrise team”.

Mr Hepburn’s email to the foundation mocked the coal industry for the claim “there is some kind of foreign-funded and tightly orchestrated conspiracy to systemically destroy the Australian coal industry”.

“I seriously don’t know where they get these wacky ideas from!” he said. “Shudder to think that environmentalists would use environmental laws to protect the environment!”

Adani Australia chief executive Jeyakumar Janakaraj yesterday told The Weekend Australian the leaked emails were “evidence that these are broader well-funded activist campaigns as part of a wider anti-coal campaign that is being financially backed and influenced a long way from workers in Australia and those suffering energy poverty in India”.

“The leaks show, however, that the anti-coal campaign is not about the merits of the approval process at all; it’s about activists motivated to stop jobs and investment,” he said.

In a note on the August briefing the Sandler Foundation sent to Mr Podesta, who has not denied the accuracy of the WikiLeaks material, it is written that “our high tolerance for risk on this project (opposing Adani) is paying off!”

Mr Podesta was counsellor to Barack Obama when the US President outraged the Queensland and then Abbott governments on his visit to Brisbane in 2014 for the G20 summit and talked about the danger to the Great Barrier Reef — a key argument used by the groups against Adani.

The email also discloses that the Sunrise Project helped the Environmental Defenders Office — which has mounted various challenges against coal companies — find “private donor funding”.

When he was prime minister Tony Abbott said the campaign against the Adani mine was sabotaging thousands of Australian jobs and denying affordable power to millions in India. In August this year federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan welcomed the latest Federal Court decision in Adani’s favour and called on green groups to stop “grandstanding”.*

Note how this Hepburn wants to pop the Champaign to celebrate with his colleagues GETUP and Green Peace.....Not forgetting of course GETUP is an off shoot of the Green/Labor left wing socialist coalition.....Bill Shorten is a foundation member of GETUP  and a past board member.


----------



## Tisme (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> Will somebody tell Hillary Clinton to keep her powdered nose out of Australian AFFAIRS......Here is evidence of a fellow named Hepburn who is one of Clintons activists trying to stop the Adami coal project.....
> 
> 
> .




For some reason I thought the state Labor Govt and  Federal Lib Govt had given the green light for Adami, but Adami are still looking for a funding source?


----------



## noco (23 October 2016)

Tisme said:


> For some reason I thought the state Labor Govt and  Federal Lib Govt had given the green light for Adami, but Adami are still looking for a funding source?




It was stated they were trying to stop the Adami project but they have obviously failed.

Do you have a link or information that the Indians are still looking for funding?


----------



## SirRumpole (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> It was stated they were trying to stop the Adami project but they have obviously failed.
> 
> Do you have a link or information that the Indians are still looking for funding?




A simple search for "Adani mine" would give you all the info you need if you bothered, but start off with this



> The situation with finance is even worse. A long list of banks and other funding sources have announced they won’t finance the project, or have pulled out of announced and existing finance arrangements.
> 
> The list includes the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (formerly a big lender to Adani), NAB, the Queensland Treasury and global banks, including Standard Chartered (another former big lender), Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays, as well as BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. The US and Korean Export-Import banks and the State Bank of India have been touted as possible sources, but appear to have backed away.
> 
> https://theconversation.com/adani-should-bow-out-gracefully-from-its-carmichael-coal-mine-64608


----------



## noco (23 October 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> A simple search for "Adani mine" would give you all the info you need if you bothered, but start off with this




Actually I had already carried out more research than you care to name some time ago.

There are lots of "IFS and BUTS" about this project and its viability on todays market price of $60 per tonne and financial backers have moved away for this reason but Adani does have other resources from India.

I believe Adani may hang out until 2019 when coal prices are expected to increase to $88 per tonne....I think their break even point is around $54 per tonne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmichael_coal_mine


----------



## SirRumpole (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> Actually I had already carried out more research than you care to name some time ago.




So why did you need to ask someone else for a link ?


----------



## noco (23 October 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> So why did you need to ask someone else for a link ?




To get them off their lazy back side and do some research for themselves.


----------



## SirRumpole (23 October 2016)

Let's hope more cities follow Adelaide's lead/


Adelaide City Council 'leads the way' with rollout of 40 electric car charging stations in 2017


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-...out-40-electric-car-charging-stations/7958074


----------



## noco (23 October 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> Let's hope more cities follow Adelaide's lead/
> 
> 
> Adelaide City Council 'leads the way' with rollout of 40 electric car charging stations in 2017
> ...




Not much point in having those charging stations if they keep running out of power...If the wind don't blow or the Sun don't shine.

What do you reckon Sunshine?


----------



## SirRumpole (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> What do you reckon Sunshine?




I could say something about bags of wind, but maybe I shouldn't.


----------



## noco (23 October 2016)

SirRumpole said:


> I could say something about bags of wind, but maybe I shouldn't.




Go for your life Sunshine..

There are plenty of bags of wind in Canberra on both political sides....They don't need wind mills down there and many politicians have certain places that the never sees the Sun.


----------



## Tisme (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> It was stated they were trying to stop the Adami project but they have obviously failed.
> 
> Do you have a link or information that the Indians are still looking for funding?




I don't make a point of finding links from television news broadcasts. I'm sure you can find what you are looking for somewhere on the net.


----------



## explod (23 October 2016)

noco said:


> Not much point in having those charging stations if they keep running out of power...If the wind don't blow or the Sun don't shine.
> 
> What do you reckon Sunshine?






> Perth Wave Energy Project - Australian Renewable Energy Agency ...
> arena.gov.au/project/perth-wave-energy-project/
> This project is the world's first commercial-scale wave energy array that is ... created by the CETO Units can be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant, ... The power produced by the Perth Wave Energy Project is clean renewable ...




Wind, solar and wave is where we are headed.


----------



## Tisme (26 October 2016)

Here you go, this is the progressive brain at work:


----------



## SirRumpole (26 October 2016)

Tisme said:


> Here you go, this is the progressive brain at work:
> 
> View attachment 68561




He's right !! Useless bl**dy things, we should tear them all down.


----------



## qldfrog (26 October 2016)

Tisme said:


> Here you go, this is the progressive brain at work:
> 
> View attachment 68561




astonishing, what the west deserves for crap education and TV brainwash of the people I supposed.


----------



## CanOz (26 October 2016)

Well the guy said he's a butcher...lol


----------



## bellenuit (26 October 2016)

.... and on doing a little research.

From his Twitter profile:




What does Prof Brian Cox say:






And to see more from Vix Comic

https://twitter.com/vizcomic


----------



## pixel (26 October 2016)

bellenuit said:


> .... and on doing a little research.
> 
> From his Twitter profile:
> 
> ...




LMAO What a hoot! That's twits tweeting for ya :
Surely, everyone with two functioning brain cells would've "got" the joke.
But if it matches people's prejudice, anything will be lapped up as Gospel.
remember the fading curtains used as argument against Daylight Saving?


----------



## Tisme (26 October 2016)

bellenuit said:


> .... and on doing a little research.
> 
> From his Twitter profile:
> 
> ...




That's not good news to hear Adrian must have lost his job, but good on Vix for picking it up running with it.


----------



## explod (27 October 2016)

So we have an expedition to Antartica to check glacial dissipation and scientists looking at the barrier reef, bla bla blah.

A bit like "jobs and growth. jobs and growth" but FGS, no substance, no action, no answers.

Time to stop all burning, forest cutting???  cummoorn some of you bright posters on this thread.  Can we save the environment for human survival.


----------



## wayneL (24 June 2017)

Here ya go Plod:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends-of-the-world/529545/



> *Earth Is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction*
> “As scientists we have a responsibility to be accurate about such comparisons.PETER BRANNEN
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## explod (24 June 2017)

wayneL said:


> Here ya go Plod:
> https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends-of-the-world/529545/



He assumes and anyone at variance,  he states,  does not know anything.  Where is the peak of ignorance? 

Have you read "The Sixth Extinction"  yourself Wayne


----------



## basilio (17 December 2017)

*What is happening in Salmon Farming ?*

Well worth a read to the end.

* Salmon farming in crisis: 'We are seeing a chemical arms race in the seas' *
Rare only 40 years ago, farmed salmon is now taken for granted in our kitchens. But the growth of the industry has come at great cost




The salmon farming industry has grown at breakneck speed since the 1970s. Photograph: Alamy

John Vidal

Saturday 1 April 2017 21.00 AEDT   Last modified on Tuesday 28 November 2017 13.44 AEDT


*Shares*
13k
 
* Comments*
 456 
Every day, salmon farmers across the world walk into steel cages – in the seas off Scotland or Norway or Iceland – and throw in food. Lots of food; they must feed tens of thousands of fish before the day is over. They must also check if there are problems, and there is one particular problem they are coming across more and more often. Six months ago, I met one of these salmon farmers, on the Isle of Skye. He looked at me and held out a palm – in it was a small, ugly-looking creature, all articulated shell and tentacles: a sea louse. He could crush it between his fingers, but said he was impressed that this parasite, which lives by attaching itself to a fish and eating its blood and skin, was threatening not just his own job, but could potentially wipe out a global multibillion-dollar industry that feeds millions of people.

“For a wee creature, it is impressive. But what can we do?” he asks. “Sometimes it seems nature is against us and we are fighting a losing battle. They are everywhere now, and just a few can kill a fish. When I started in fish farming 30 years ago, there were barely any. Now they are causing great problems.”

Lepeophtheirus salmonis, or the common salmon louse, now infests nearly half of Scotland’s salmon farms. Last year lice killed thousands of tonnes of farmed fish, caused skin lesions and secondary infections in millions more, and cost the Scottish industry alone around £300m in trying to control them.

Scotland has some of the worst lice infestations in the world, and last year saw production fall for the first time in years. But in the past few weeks it has become clear that the lice problem is growing worldwide and is far more resistant than the industry thought. Norway produced 60,000 tonnes less than expected last year because of lice, and Canada and a dozen other countries were all hit badly. Together, it is estimated that companies across the world must spend more than £1bn a year on trying to eradicate lice, and the viruses and diseases they bring.

As a result of the lice infestations, the global price of salmon has soared, and world production fallen. Earlier this year freedom of information [FoI] requests of the Scottish government showed that 45 lochs had been badly polluted by the antibiotics and pesticides used to control lice – and that more and more toxic chemicals were being used.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/01/is-farming-salmon-bad-for-the-environment


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## basilio (1 March 2018)

How simple and obvious is this action ?  Who makes this compostable, biodegradable packaging ?

* First plastic-free aisle is an example for other supermarkets to follow *
There is no logic in wrapping perishable food in indestructible plastic, say campaigners hailing today’s launch in Amsterdam

Letters

Wed 28 Feb 2018 01.00 EST   Last modified on Wed 28 Feb 2018 06.13 EST





The plastic-free aisle at Ekoplaza supermarket in Amsterdam. The food is wrapped in a compostable biomaterial made from trees and leaves. Photograph: PR
Today the world’s first plastic-free aisle was launched in Amsterdam by environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet and Dutch supermarket Ekoplaza. The aisle enables shoppers to choose from 700 everyday products that are free from plastic packaging. Before the end of the year, Ekoplaza plans to roll the plastic-free aisle out across each of its 74 stores.

Plastic packaging has no place in food and drink. There is no logical basis for wrapping something as perishable as food with something as indestructible as plastic. With recycled plastics today accounting for just 6% of total plastics demand in Europe, it’s clear that we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic problem. Food and drink plastic packaging does not belong in a circular economy given that it is difficult to reclaim, is easily contaminated, and all too often proves valueless.

The grocery retail sector accounts for more than 40% of all plastic packaging. Plastic-free aisles make sound commercial sense, with a Populus poll last year revealing that 91% of Britons back the measure.

Plastic has replaced so many forms of packaging that consumers wanting to reduce their plastic footprint at the moment find it impossible to do so.

We agree with A Plastic Planet that a plastic-free aisle will help consumers to reduce their own single-use plastic mountain. We call on supermarkets across Europe to follow Ekoplaza’s example without delay.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...s-an-example-for-other-supermarkets-to-follow


----------



## basilio (1 March 2018)

To answer my own query.

 
*Compostable and edible packaging: the companies waging war on plastic *
A new generation of manufacturers and scientists is working to tackle the global plastic waste crisis head on
https://www.theguardian.com/sustain...cean-pollution-compost-snact-tipa-nestle-usda


----------



## SirRumpole (1 March 2018)

So they are going to cut down trees to make packaging ?

Doesn't sound a great idea to me.


----------



## basilio (1 March 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> So they are going to cut down trees to make packaging ?
> 
> Doesn't sound a great idea to me.




Or maybe grow tons of bamboo or other fast growing biomass that takes in CO2 , holds it in the material and then releases it back into the soil ?  I suggest that is the desired route.


----------



## SirRumpole (9 March 2018)

Great victory for environmentalists, NSW Land clearing laws quashed.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-...clearing-law-quashed-in-court-invalid/9531640


----------



## basilio (11 March 2018)

*Did you know ?  *Once-upon-a-time.. it was the Republicians in the US who were  leaders in protecting the environment !! Or so it appears. 

*Environmental Protection Was Once a Top Priority of Republicans*

*As delivered on the Senate floor*
Mr. President, I rise today for the seventy-sixth time to urge my colleagues that it is time for us to wake up to the growing threats of climate change.  Not a single state remains unaffected by the unprecedented changes we are already seeing, driven by the excessive carbon pollution that we continue to dump into our oceans and atmosphere. 

Yet in Washington, our Republican colleagues either parrot the polluter line that climate change is just a hoax, or stay silent. No one will step forward.

Mr. President, it was not always this way.  Environmental protection was once a top priority of the Republican Party. Seems remarkable now, but it’s true.  In the early 1970s, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act were all passed with broad bipartisan support, and signed by a Republican President.  In the 1980s and 1990s, bipartisan majorities voted to strengthen those laws, led by Rhode Island’s Republican Senator, John Chafee – who served as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and whose seat I now have the honor to hold.

Conservation and stewardship were once fundamental principles of American conservatism.  From seminal thinkers of the conservative movement to great Republican leaders of the twentieth century, the conservative ideal included a commitment to interests of future generations.

Today, under a relentless barrage of unlimited corporate spending in our elections, much and perhaps most of it by polluters, the interests of future generations have taken a back seat to the interests of the oil companies and coal barons.  The disastrous _Citizens United_ Supreme Court decision let polluters cast their dark shadow over Republicans in Congress who might otherwise work with Democrats on curbing their carbon pollution. 

[Edmund Burke chart]

Edmund Burke, an Irish-born Member of the British Parliament, is considered by many the father of modern conservatism.  Sir Winston Churchill called him “a foremost apostle of Liberty.”  Burke was a staunch defender of our American Colonies and his statue stands here in Washington today.  His 1790 conservative manifesto, _Reflections on the Revolution in France_, cautioned that we are but “temporary possessors” of our society.  If individuals are “unmindful of what they have received from their ancestors, or of what is due to their posterity,” he wrote, “[n]o one generation could link with another.  Men would become little better than flies of a summer.”

In our case, flies of a carbon-fueled summer.

[Russell Kirk chart]

Russell Kirk was a Distinguished Scholar at the Heritage Foundation, who none other than President Ronald Reagan dubbed “the prophet of American conservatism.”  He wrote a 1970 piece for the _Baltimore Sun_, “Conservation Activism is a Healthy Sign.”

“Nothing,” Kirk wrote, “is more conservative than conservation.”

The noted essayist and Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry—known for what _The American Conservative_ magazine called his “unshakable devotion to the land, to localism, and to the dignity of traditional life,” wrote in 1993:  “Our destruction of nature is not just bad stewardship, or stupid economics, or a betrayal of family responsibility; it is the most horrid blasphemy.”

(Berry would also remind us in this chamber that “[w]hether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is a party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes.”)

https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/n...ection-was-once-a-top-priority-of-republicans


----------



## luutzu (11 March 2018)

basilio said:


> *Did you know ?  *Once-upon-a-time.. it was the Republicians in the US who were  leaders in protecting the environment !! Or so it appears.
> 
> *Environmental Protection Was Once a Top Priority of Republicans*
> 
> ...




Howard Zinn and Chris Hedges, not at the same time, said that it wasn't really a party or a politician that ever does anything... it's the people, the activists, that rises up and demanded it. 

I think it was Zinn who said that all it take is about 1% of the population to organise and demand change, and it'll happen. 

Hence the war on unions, social solidarity; the gutting of education; the defunding of public (everything)... It's not so much because the ruling elite needs the money, though it doesn't hurt either... it's to drive a wedge between citizens/plebs... It's to make resources scarce that one group envy or fight another over scraps.

That and free TV, plenty of sports and other circuses.

Though what they fail to remember is that, like Rome, the plebs need both bread and circuses. 

Without bread... can't really pay attention to circuses. Then the focus is back on union organising, worker strikes shutting down en entire school system, transits other other public works.


----------



## Tisme (16 July 2018)

After listening to ABC radio the other day, a story how sea walls are being destroyed in China for factories, high rise, etc, I recalled an OzGeo article last year about the same thing. 

This is the online version :  http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/05/migratory-shorebirds


----------



## SirRumpole (16 July 2018)

Tisme said:


> After listening to ABC radio the other day, a story how sea walls are being destroyed in China for factories, high rise, etc, I recalled an OzGeo article last year about the same thing.
> 
> This is the online version :  http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/05/migratory-shorebirds




It seems that sea walls are being *built *to reclaim estuaries from the sea so that the land can be used for other things, thus destroying the wildlife there.

Just another example of the human predators destroying the environment that we as well as other species depend on.


----------



## Smurf1976 (16 July 2018)

basilio said:


> A new generation of manufacturers and scientists is working to tackle the global plastic waste crisis head on



If they're using something made from wood then I can't see a major drama with that but before supermarkets get rid of plastic I'd rather they got rid of non-recyclable metals use in packaging.

That's a borderline crime against future generations in my view to be wasting resources in that way. I mean seriously, foil lined chip packets? What was wrong with just plain plastic like they used to be? 

Plastic has issues but it's not the worst thing around that's for sure.


----------



## Gringotts Bank (17 July 2018)

Amazing display of whales and dolphins just off the coast at Sunshine Beach happening now, in front of the surf club.


----------



## sptrawler (7 August 2018)

I was chatting with a mate of mine, who is a recycling technician(garbo), he was saying the banning of single use plastic bags was madness.
He said the cheap bags broke down really quickly, now people are using the better quality ones as bin liners and they don't break down at all.
I wonder if any Government Dept is monitoring the effect of the ban ?
My wife has always taken her own bags shopping, so it doesn't effect my personally, but maybe the ban will cause more environmental problems than it will cure.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-...many-landfill-coles-woolworths-shops/10081496


----------



## basilio (7 August 2018)

One of the most noted environmentalists in the US is Wendell Berry. He is both a hands on farmer and prolific writer. 

One of his more astute essays was called "Solving for Pattern" . Essentially "How do we come up with solutions to problems that alleviate more than one issue and don't create their own forseeable future problems"

Well worth a read and think as we attempt to tackle a raft of inter related issues.

*Solving for Pattern *
*by Wendell Berry *
*Chapter 9 in *
The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural
(North Point Press,
1981). Originally
published in the Rodale Press periodical
The New Farm
.
Our dilemma in agriculture now is that the industrial methods that have so spectacularly solved some of the problems of food production have been accompanied by “side effects” so damaging as to threaten the survival of farming. Perhaps the best clue to the nature and gravity of this dilemma is that it is not limited to agriculture. My immediate concern here is with the irony of agricultural methods that destroy,
first, the health of the soil and, finally, the health of humancommunities. But I could just as easily be talking about sanitation systems that pollute, school systems that graduate illiterate students, medical cures that cause disease, or nuclear armaments that explode in the midst of the people they are meant to protect. This is a kind of surprise that is characteristic of our time: the cure proves incurable; security results in the evacuation of a neighborhood or a town. It is only when it is understood that our ag ricultural dilemma is characteristic not of our agriculture but of our time that we can begin to understand why these surprises happen, and to work out standard s of judgment that may prevent them.

To the problems of farming, then, as to other problems of our time, there appear to be three kinds
of solutions: 

http://ceadserv1.nku.edu/longa/haiti/kids/history/Berry_Solving_for_Pattern.pdf


----------



## cynic (7 August 2018)

sptrawler said:


> I was chatting with a mate of mine, who is a recycling technician(garbo), he was saying the banning of single use plastic bags was madness.
> He said the cheap bags broke down really quickly, now people are using the better quality ones as bin liners and they don't break down at all.
> I wonder if any Government Dept is monitoring the effect of the ban ?
> My wife has always taken her own bags shopping, so it doesn't effect my personally, but maybe the ban will cause more environmental problems than it will cure.
> ...



My local supermarket is now giving away their more durable plastic bags by discounting the $0.15 charge. I suspect they're worried that people might shop elsewhere unless they do so. Certainly a great example of mankind meeting destiny on the path taken to avoid it.


----------



## moXJO (7 August 2018)

Aldi plastic bags that you put fruit in have biodegradable written all over them.


----------



## basilio (7 August 2018)

sptrawler said:


> I was chatting with a mate of mine, who is a recycling technician(garbo), he was saying the banning of single use plastic bags was madness.
> He said the cheap bags broke down really quickly, now people are using the better quality ones as bin liners and they don't break down at all.
> I wonder if any Government Dept is monitoring the effect of the ban ?
> My wife has always taken her own bags shopping, so it doesn't effect my personally, but maybe the ban will cause more environmental problems than it will cure.
> ...




This should only be .01% of how we resolve the problems caused by plastics in our environment. Plastics in our food chain, eco systems, oceans are causing catastrophic problems which are getting worse  every day.


----------



## Smurf1976 (7 August 2018)

Plastic is like many things.

From an environmental perspective its invention is a truly brilliant thing, in that it is vastly superior to the alternatives, if used sensibly. In so many ways it leaves metals and timber for dead and that's just on environmental grounds. Far less CO2 emissions for a start.

It is however an outright disaster if used inappropriately and especially if dumped in waterways or the ocean where it causes serious damage to wildlife.

How to stop dumb animals, and by that I mean humans, doing silly things is the real problem not plastic itself.


----------



## SirRumpole (7 August 2018)

Speaking of plastic...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-07/australian-native-bees-help-worlds-plastic-pollution/10025664


----------



## basilio (18 August 2018)

As Australian farmers deal with another drought and the ongoing effects of global warming it's worth looking at a farmer who has taken a more conservative and highly profitable approach to his farm

*How a farmer went from 'the moron approach' to a farm full of water*
Blake Foden18 August 2018 — 12:00am

Send via Email
*Talking points*

Martin Royds has 14 weirs on his Braidwood farm that remain almost full despite the drought
He also had a new dam dug just two weeks ago. It immediately started to fill with groundwater
Mr Royds takes a holistic management approach to farming. A new analysis shows his profits are 230 per cent above average
Martin Royds used to take what he now calls "the moron approach" to farming.

"I used to go out and spray and kill everything," the Braidwood farmer says.

Braidwood farmer Martin Royds beside his new dam, dug two weeks ago, which immediately started to fill up with groundwater.

Photo: Karleen Minney
"When you look at the way Australian farmers developed, it was fighting the land, fighting droughts, fighting fires, fighting weeds.

"I’ve now realised that if we work with it, the land will work with you and it really gets a lot easier."

These are not times any farmer, including Mr Royds, would describe as easy.

But the holistic management approaches he has taken on his 457-hectare farm, Jillamatong, mean his costs of production are minimal, allowing him to cope better than most with the drought that has hit NSW and the ACT hard.

Mr Royds has not sprayed chemicals on his property for nearly 30 years.

Martin Royds beside a contour channel that extends from one of his 14 weirs, which remain almost full despite the drought.

Photo: Karleen Minney
One of the biggest changes he's made is the construction of 14 weirs along a four-metre deep erosion gully, which was taking water and fertile soil off his farm and out to sea.

For just $10,000, he was able to "put a plug" in the erosion gully with the weirs, which remarkably remain almost full at a time when farm dams across eastern Australia are drying out in the middle of winter.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/na...-to-a-farm-full-of-water-20180817-p4zy23.html


----------



## SirRumpole (18 August 2018)

basilio said:


> For just $10,000, he was able to "put a plug" in the erosion gully with the weirs, which remarkably remain almost full at a time when farm dams across eastern Australia are drying out in the middle of winter.




The thought that immediately comes to mind is why is he filling dams with groundwater which then evaporates instead of irrigating directly from groundwater ?


----------



## basilio (18 August 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> The thought that immediately comes to mind is why is he filling dams with groundwater which then evaporates instead of irrigating directly from groundwater ?




Not seeing the whole picture Rumpy. The model this farmer is working on is retaining water on his farm and letting it seep into the ground.  That is the point of the  contour weirs.
The sub soil mositure is critical for pasture growth and/or cereals.

I believe it's called keyline design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyline_design


----------



## explod (18 August 2018)

On this Bas;

"Back from the Brink: How Australia's Landscape Can Be Saved
Book by Peter Andrews"

Read this a few years back now.  There are some great solutions out there bt a certain dogma insists that "you can't shift the goal posts"

Party time now


----------



## SirRumpole (18 August 2018)

basilio said:


> Not seeing the whole picture Rumpy. The model this farmer is working on is retaining water on his farm and letting it seep into the ground.  That is the point of the  contour weirs.
> The sub soil mositure is critical for pasture growth and/or cereals.
> 
> I believe it's called keyline design.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyline_design




Sounds good.

I reckon drought assistance could be made conditional on farmers adopting methods like this. Then they may not need drought assistance !


----------



## SirRumpole (15 September 2018)

Doctors support bio diversity.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-...ife-support-species-extinct-shearman/10230188


----------



## SirRumpole (19 September 2018)

Deforestation could contribute to drought scientists say.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/...8-09-15/trees-make-rain-ease-drought/10236572


----------



## basilio (23 October 2018)

*What will be the effects on human health through eating plastic?  Looks like we are going to find out.*
 
* Microplastics found in human stools for the first time *
Study suggests the tiny particles may be widespread in the human food chain

Microplastics have been found in human stools for the first time, according to a study suggesting the tiny particles may be widespread in the human food chain.

The small study examined eight participants from Europe, Japan and Russia. All of their stool samples were found to contain microplastic particles.

Up to nine different plastics were found out of 10 varieties tested for, in particles of sizes ranging from 50 to 500 micrometres. Polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were the plastics most commonly found.

On average, 20 particles of microplastic were found in each 10g of excreta. Microplastics are defined as particles of less than 5mm, with some created for use in products such as cosmetics but also by the breaking down of larger pieces of plastic, often in the sea.

Based on this study, the authors estimated that “more than 50% of the world population might have microplastics in their stools”, though they stressed the need for larger-scale studies to confirm this.

The Environment Agency Austria conducted the tests using a new procedure the researchers said shed fresh light on the extent of microplastics in the food chain. Samples from the eight subjects were sent to a laboratory in Vienna where they were analysed using a Fourier-transform infrared microspectrometer.

Philipp Schwabl, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna who led the study, said: “*This is the first study of its kind and confirms what we have long suspected, that plastics ultimately reach the human gut. Of particular concern is what this means to us, and especially patients with gastrointestinal diseases.”*
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...tics-found-in-human-stools-for-the-first-time


----------



## SirRumpole (29 October 2018)

Ways to prevent drought.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10...ias-drought-natural-sequence-farming/10312844


----------



## explod (29 October 2018)

Great this is finally coming to light SirRump.   My Brother handed me "Back from the Brink" by Peter Andrews some 5 years back now.  Excellent approach but has taken a long time to hit the mainstream.  Hope the show tonight gets plenty of attention.


----------



## SirRumpole (31 October 2018)

Very disturbing report.



*More than half the world's vertebrates have disappeared since 1970; WWF sounds warning*



https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-10-30/wwf-species-loss-living-planet/10434956

--


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (31 October 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> Very disturbing report.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




As long as we have crocodiles and cockroaches we have the basis of a new phylologeny.

Now they are survivors. 

Humans will do ok as well. 

Whenever I see a statement such as "_More than half the world's vertebrates have disappeared since 1970; WWF sounds warning" my immediate reaction is to call _*bull****.*

Go to https://callingbullshit.org/syllabus.html
for an explanation.

gg


----------



## SirRumpole (31 October 2018)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> Whenever I see a statement such as "_More than half the world's vertebrates have disappeared since 1970; WWF sounds warning" my immediate reaction is to call _*bull****.*




Probably over reach in that statement I agree.

But loss of habitat due to land clearing and other human activities can't be denied.


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (31 October 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> Probably over reach in that statement I agree.
> 
> But loss of habitat due to land clearing and other human activities can't be denied.




Certainly agree Rumpole.

gg


----------



## explod (4 November 2018)

Displacement effect from higher temperatures kicking in up north now:-

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/...il&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-4d63e0dc13-327892201

"Greenhouse gases are increasingly disrupting the jet stream, a powerful river of winds that steers weather systems in the Northern Hemisphere. That's causing more frequent summer droughts, floods and wildfires, a new study says..."


----------



## Darc Knight (4 November 2018)

I'm one of those people who don't know what to think on Global Warming. You have the Right, calling it all a hoax, then Studies like the above come out.


----------



## Ann (4 November 2018)

Darc Knight said:


> I'm one of those people who don't know what to think on Global Warming. You have the Right, calling it all a hoax, then Studies like the above come out.




The problem DK is that a lot of studies are done by environmentalists with an agenda. There is little to no independant studies done by disinterested parties which will gain any air time as there is a green agenda at play with a lot of money behind it. Anyone who has an opposing view will be quickly discredited and silenced. It is like drawing a chart. If I have a belief in a stock or commodity I can draw you a chart "proving" it will go up, this is why charts can fail, bias. I like to chart stuff of little or no interest to me as I have no bias one way or the other and tend to get the potential outcome fairly correct most of the time. The science of "no bias" is sadly lacking in this whole non-debate. There is no debate as dissenting views are never allowed to be aired. Any dissenting view is howled down immediately. This tells me there is pressure put on those with any legitimate argument against the the whole "science" of global warming.  I have a lot more to say on this subject but now is not the time.


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## SirRumpole (4 November 2018)

Ann said:


> The problem DK is that a lot of studies are done by environmentalists with an agenda. There is little to no independant studies done by disinterested parties which will gain any air time as there is a green agenda at play with a lot of money behind it.





I wouldn't call NASA environmentalists with an agenda.


----------



## Ann (4 November 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> I wouldn't call NASA environmentalists with an agenda.



Why not Sir Rumpy? You really should read more on this subject but as I said before, this is not the time, however not to shirk your reference. Please note the last sentence of the quote.

This is a quote from NASA ...

"But global warming became the dominant popular term in June 1988, when NASA scientist James E. Hansen had testified to Congress about climate, specifically referring to global warming. He said: "global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and the observed warming."4 Hansen's testimony was very widely reported in popular and business media, and after that popular use of the term global warming exploded. Global change never gained traction in either the scientific literature or the popular media.

https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/articles/whats-name-global-warming-vs-climate-change


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## SirRumpole (4 November 2018)

Ann said:


> Global change never gained traction in either the scientific literature or the popular media.




Neither did Galileo in his time. 

Anyway, I think that sentence is about the nomenclature rather than the fact of climate change / global warming.

From NASA's site.

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/


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## Ann (4 November 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> Neither did Galileo in his time.



 Galileo faced problems that would be familiar with today’s scientists, including finding funding, and dealing with publishing pressure. Any Scientist with opposing views to accepted climate change views is in the same boat as Galileo.


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## Ann (4 November 2018)

I will address this whole subject at a later stage, not now and not on this thread.


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## basilio (4 November 2018)

Ann said:


> Why not Sir Rumpy? You really should read more on this subject but as I said before, this is not the time, however not to shirk your reference. Please note the last sentence of the quote.
> 
> This is a quote from NASA ...
> 
> ...




If you are  using that  reference as part of your reading Ann you should be gaining a clear and sufficient understanding of the additional warming effect of the CO2 and other greenhouse gases humans have pumped into the atmosphere.

There are plenty of opportunities to research this topic. The people who have the most to say are not environmentalists but climate scientists whose expertise is this area.

The book I have given a referance for is as accessible and accurate as anything else.
http://www.globalwarmingprimer.com/primer/


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## SirRumpole (4 November 2018)

Ann said:


> I will address this whole subject at a later stage, not now and not on this thread.




This is our climate change thread fyi.

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/threads/is-global-warming-becoming-unstoppable.23768/


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## Ann (4 November 2018)

SirRumpole said:


> This is our climate change thread fyi.




It is Sir Rumpy and that is one of my reasons for not commenting any further. I always feel it appropriate to respect other peoples' threads and what they are wanting to say..


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## Smurf1976 (5 November 2018)

The point being made here also has massive relevance to business and investing.

Very often people see what they want to see regardless of the truth.

Also very often people do what is profitable for themselves regardless of consequence. Yes that includes people employed to run businesses - not uncommon to find that in hindsight they put personal profit first and the business second.

There are genuine people in society yes but those who aren’t are a bit like rain. They’re common enough that you can’t avoid them and often you won’t know it’s about to happen until it does.


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## basilio (5 November 2018)

A (very) novel way to approach sustainability questions.

*“We do not care about planet Earth,” four French scientists declared in February in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. If humans are exhausting the planet’s resources, they wrote, it’s Earth that needs to adapt—not us. The authors issued a warning: “Should planet Earth stick with its hardline ideological stance ... we will seek a second planet.”
*
Scientific Life -   *"A Final Warning to Planet Earth"*
Guillaume Chapron, 1,5, * Harold Levrel, 2,5, * Yves Meinard, 3,5,* and Franck Courchamp 4,5,*

http://www.economy4humanity.org/commons/library/1-s2.0-S0169534718300028-main.pdf


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## explod (5 November 2018)

In other words get f..d.

And we are...............and gutted with humour now entering the circle.

But as said, just party


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## basilio (5 November 2018)

explod said:


> In other words get f..d.
> 
> And we are...............and gutted with humour now entering the circle.
> 
> But as said, just party




Hope you didn't take the Final Warning too seriously Explod.. Check out the story and you can see there is  a fair bit of provactive denialism trolling .  

Lets be real.   Scientists have been calling for immediate action to "save our world" for ages. The  general  political response has been to ignore every call to action and talk about "more practical priorities" .


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## basilio (23 January 2019)

David Attenborough gave Davos both barrels  in his presentations.

Firstly made it crystal clear that the global warming has to addressed immediately and overwhelmingly if humanity is going to survive. (He was that blunt..)

Secondly he noted the wider issue of environmental damage being caused by humanity which are also destroying the ecosytems in which we live.
 
* David Attenborough and Prince William take world leaders to task on environment *

Davos 2019: broadcaster tells prince that humans have power to exterminate whole ecosystems ‘without even noticing’
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...iam-take-world-leaders-to-task-on-environment

* David Attenborough tells Davos: ‘The Garden of Eden is no more’ *
Human activity has created a new era yet climate change can be stopped, says naturalist

Graeme Wearden in Davos

Tue 22 Jan 2019 06.19 AEDT   Last modified on Tue 22 Jan 2019 20.46 AEDT

Shares
27,608


2:22
'The Garden of Eden is no more', David Attenborough warns Davos summit – video
Sir David Attenborough has warned that “the Garden of Eden is no more”, as he urged political and business leaders from around the world to make a renewed push to tackle climate change before the damage is irreparable.

Speaking at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the 92-year-old naturalist and broadcaster warned that human activity has taken the world into a new era, threatening to undermine civilisation.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ugh-tells-davos-the-garden-of-eden-is-no-more


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## basilio (30 January 2019)

How protecting the environment "works" in England. 
George makes many interesting points apart from the obvious in the first paragraphs.

* Worse than plastic waste: the burning tyres choking India *





George Monbiot
The British government is already flouting its own rules, allowing scrap tyres to be sent abroad for burning – what will happen post-Brexit?
 
 @GeorgeMonbiot 
Wed 30 Jan 2019 17.00 AEDT

Shares
8




‘Every month, thousands of tonnes of used tyres leave our ports on a passage to India.’ Illustration: Sébastien Thibault/The Guardian
What we see is not the economy. What we see is the tiny fragment of economic life we are supposed to see: the products and services we buy. The rest – the mines, plantations, factories and dumps required to deliver and remove them – are kept as far from our minds as possible. Given the scale of global extraction and waste disposal, it is a remarkable feat of perception management.

The recent enthusiasm for plastic pr0n – footage of the disgusting waste pouring into the sea – is a rare reminder that we are still living in a material world. But it has had no meaningful effect on government policy. When China banned imports of plastic waste a year ago, you might have hoped that the UK government would invest heavily in waste reduction and domestic recycling. Instead, it has sought new outlets for our filth. Among the lucky recipients are Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, none of which have adequate disposal systems – as I write, our plastic is doubtless flooding into their seas. There’s a term for this practice: waste colonialism.

Our plastic exports are bad enough. But something even worse is happening that we don’t see at all. Every month, thousands of tonnes of used tyres leave our ports on a passage to India. There they are baked in pyrolysis plants, to make a dirty industrial fuel. While some of these plants meet Indian regulations, hundreds – perhaps thousands – are pouring toxins into the air, as officials look the other way. When tyre pyrolysis is done badly, it can produce a hideous mix: heavy metals, benzene, dioxins, furans and other persistent organic chemicals, some of which are highly carcinogenic. Videos of tyre pyrolysis in India show black smoke leaking from the baking chamber, and workers in T-shirts, without masks or other protective equipment, cleaning tarry residues out of the pipes and flasks. I can only imagine what their life expectancy might be.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...an-plastic-burning-tyres-india-george-monbiot


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## wayneL (30 January 2019)

Sheeit

Kudos to the Moonbat for shifting some focus on other environmental stuff. 

Dunno whether he's on target here or not,  but this is where we should be focused imo.


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## explod (30 January 2019)

Ahh well, and then we have this"-

Climate change a hoax ?

http://humansarefree.com/2016/09/ov...yPt5OtfM3_k5lXCIloD6RVE_tWaqQAAKk8V9KzFu5Q97U

Have another drink


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## basilio (30 January 2019)

explod said:


> Ahh well, and then we have this"-
> 
> Climate change a hoax ?
> 
> ...




Well thanks for that Explod. Certainly has "opened my eyes to the truth". 
Check out the home page for another 100 special brain twisters. xxxxxxxx crackers. 
http://humansarefree.com/?m=0


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## Joules MM1 (30 January 2019)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...&gwh=946C17627D9530821B97E0D7AF903B48&gwt=pay

*If the Earth Is Warming,
Why Is It So Cold Outside?*
By KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS  JAN. 28, 2019

"The answer lies in the difference between local weather and climate.

Climate refers to how the atmosphere acts over a long period of time, while weather describes what’s happening on a much shorter time scale. The climate can be thought of, in a way, as the sum of long periods of weather." etc etc

https://www.climate.gov/news-featur...-thumb-cold-things-warming-faster-warm-things

* "Colder places are warming faster than warmer places*
This rule of thumb is really dominated by the fact that the arctic is the fastest-warming large region on the planet. The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world. This “Arctic amplification” is driven by a handful of factors; the largest of these is the retreat of seasonal snow and ice. As the white stuff goes away, it exposes darker surfaces and land cover underneath; this introduces an additional warming effect across the region." etc etc





"Even on a day when it is colder than average where you live, the world as a whole is frequently warmer than average, which you can see for yourself on..."
https://climatereanalyzer.org/wx/DailySummary/#t2anom






Some recent cold spells have been caused by a dreaded weather system called the polar vortex. There’s growing evidence to suggest that the polar vortex is appearing outside the Arctic more frequently, because of changes in the jet stream that are attributed to the warming atmosphere. These changes help frigid air escape from the Arctic and swoop southward.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/climate/polar-vortex-2019.html


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## Joules MM1 (30 January 2019)

*NESTA-US*‏ @*NESTA_US* 14h14 hours ago
What is a Polar Vortex? Great discussion for students — how hot air rising, cold air sinking, effects areas on a macro level, causing Chicago to have Temps near Antarctica levels https://www.noaa.gov/infographic/science-behind-polar-vortex … @*NOAA* #*polarvortex2019* #*weather* #*EarthScience* #*STEM* #*NGSS*


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## basilio (30 January 2019)

Joules your just full of it mate.
What in God's names has science and NASA pictures of the earth got to do with peoples *God Given Right *to be certain of their OWN Facts.
I can show you a thousand websites like Humans are Free that will prove CC is all a Jewish, commie, One World, Chinese hoax.

Really I could. And there are plenty of people on ASF who will defend to the death the right to believe in these facts.


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## Joules MM1 (30 January 2019)

basilio said:


> Joules your just full of it mate.
> What in God's names has science and NASA pictures of the earth got to do with peoples *God Given Right *to be certain of their OWN Facts.
> I can show you a thousand websites like Humans are Free that will prove CC is all a Jewish, commie, One World, Chinese hoax.
> 
> Really I could. And there are plenty of people on ASF who will defend to the death the right to believe in these facts.




that's the way ..... i knew buying the extra sized bowl of popcorn would pay divvies
(my first reply was "oh, there's chill in here....to ...."jeez it's hot in here" ...but either way i'd never win!)


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## Joules MM1 (31 January 2019)

Arctic air is plunging into North America. The culprit is a familiar one: the polar vortex. https://go.nasa.gov/2Wtmb43  #*PolarVortex* #NASA


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## Joules MM1 (31 January 2019)

oh, this is tops !

https://earth.google.com/web/@0,0,-...wYjAzMzRmMTFlOGExOWYzZGI0OWJkZGQ5YTQiBXBhbmVs




#*PolarVortex* alert. The temperatures on this data layer are updated every *15 minutes*: https://g.co/earth/temperature …


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## Joules MM1 (1 February 2019)

*Dan Satterfield*‏ @*wildweatherdan* Jan 30

2 things about the cold you may not know: 
1. The Arctic airmass makes the Polar Vortex, not the other way around. Oh, and it's in Canada not Wisconsin. The Polar Vortex hit no one since it is over 6 miles high. 
2. The Wind Chill is NOT how cold it feels. It measures heat loss.


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## Joules MM1 (1 February 2019)

https://twitter.com/i/moments/1091103060154183680






 *Peter Hannam*‏Verified account @*p_hannam*
And to be clear January 2019 was Australia’s hottest single month on record (data goes back to 1910).

11:54 AM - 31 Jan 2019





https://www.smh.com.au/environment/...stralia-turns-deep-purple-20130108-2ce33.html

*Temperatures off the charts as Australia turns deep purple*


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## Ann (1 February 2019)

Seriously you people are clutching at straws, this is really, really old news coming back from 2013 and it is close to central Australia for goodness sake. Why is Hannam saying this is current for 2019? This is all just cow pats and stooged. This is all so unethical.


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## basilio (4 February 2019)

Ann said:


> Seriously you people are clutching at straws, this is really, really old news coming back from 2013 and it is close to central Australia for goodness sake. Why is Hannam saying this is current for 2019? This is all just cow pats and stooged. This is all so unethical.



I think you have misunderstood the post Ann.
Yes the particular graph as from Jan 2013 when it was also incredibly hot. But in fact this January was *hotter again.* Another challenging Australian temperature record.

They just used that particular graph because it highlighted the arrival of a new colour in the heat range used by the BOM to show even more extreme temperatures. 
We are seeing this new colour with even greater frequency today.


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## Ann (4 February 2019)

basilio said:


> They just used that particular graph because it highlighted the arrival of a new colour in the heat range used by the BOM to show even more extreme temperatures.
> We are seeing this new colour with even greater frequency today.




That 2013 temperature chart was a* projected mock-up aka projection* and it had a warning from the BOM

"Aaron Coutts-Smith, the bureau's NSW head of climate monitoring, though, cautioned that the 50-degree reading is the result of just one of the bureau's models. "The indications are, from the South Australian office, that we are not looking at getting any where near that (50 degree level)."

Now let's look at this _shocking _(sarcasm folks) January result from the BOM.







As an aside to the thinking public reading this, these dodgy sites that people are putting up with what appears to be correct information may be a clever ploy of the GW party platform to discredit factual information by dressing it up to appear as though it is information from fringe nutters. Note the lightweight links they all have. It is the old linking trick, give true info and then make it look like a fringe element thereby attempting to make the information lose credibility. 
The thing is I think it is backfiring. Gullible folks will accept the information is true, because they are the sort of links they read and believe all the time, the thinking group will question the site but probably not the info. This is in fact a great way to create increasing doubt about GW in the public's mind. No Bas I am not going to debate you about this as it is only my thoughts which may or may not be true. Just putting it out there for anyone intelligent to mull over for themselves.


----------



## basilio (4 February 2019)

Ann the  climate facts from the BOM are that the Australian Dec and Jan 2019  results are the hottest monthly figures ever. And this just breaks the records of the past couple of years.

This is an ongoing pattern of increasing temperatures both by day and night. It has reached the stage where they needed to use  new colour to show predicted temperatures above 50C. Yes it didn't quite make it  in 2013. So what .. 49.5C is still  trashing all records and cooking everything in sight. The overall increase in temperatures is absolutely clear.

I don't quite understand what you are saying with regard to "dodgy sites". 

Cheers.

______________________________________
Some further figures from the BOM report

Many of the most notable records include sites which observed record-long runs of consecutive hot days:

Birdsville (Qld.) had 10 consecutive days over 45 °C
Alice Springs Airport (NT) had 16 days in a row above 42 °C
Cloncurry (Qld.) had 43 consecutive days over 40 °C - a State record for Queensland
Camooweal(Qld.) had 40 consecutive days over 40 °C
Walungurru (NT) had 27 consecutive days above 40 °C
Bourke Airport (NSW) had 21 consecutive days above 40 °C - a State record for New South Wales


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## Ann (4 February 2019)

basilio said:


> Many of the most notable records include sites which observed record-long runs of consecutive hot days:
> 
> Birdsville (Qld.) had 10 consecutive days over 45 °C
> Alice Springs Airport (NT) had 16 days in a row above 42 °C
> ...





This is just saying there are more hot days grouped together other than spread out. The real story is there is really no temperature change. There are two record highs one for day and one for night and two record lows which I find astounding in summer that _anywhere _in Australia in summer would experience record lows.


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## explod (4 February 2019)

Grey Power Climate Protectors
8 hrs
"Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk abou..."
All good, nothing to see here, just party


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## Smurf1976 (4 February 2019)

I'm no meteorologist but I can see what's going on around me. In just the past 8 months alone:

Hobart CBD has been flooded.

Sydney had a significant flood event.

Adelaide has set a new all time temperature record as have numerous country towns in several states. Port Augusta, a not insignificant town (population ~14K), was one of these with 49.5 degrees recorded by the BOM.

Adelaide and Hobart have both experienced their driest January on record.

Large parts of mainland Australia have been affected by drought.

Considerable damage has been caused by fires in Tasmania with efforts by firefighters from Victoria, NSW, SA and NZ in addition to local authorities trying to get the situation under control. This is in addition to the more "normal" occurrence of fires in other states notably Victoria.

Now we have floods in Queensland.

One or two events could be dismissed as just normal weather variation but as with anything, if problems starts happening far more than you'd reasonably expect then it's wise to consider that there may well be some underlying issue as the ultimate cause.


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## wayneL (6 February 2019)

Just a suggestion. Can we keep this thread for non climate environmental issues? Plenty of other threads for climate.


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## qldfrog (6 February 2019)

Tend to agree, plenty of other threads to read the guardian


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## basilio (8 February 2019)

Consequences of  over use of bore water in Perth.
*Sea water sucked 1 kilometre inland as Kwinana bores placed under intense pressure*

Groundwater bores are designed to draw fresh water out of the ground, but the pressure on bores has been so intense in some locations along Perth's south coast that the bores have begun pulling up salt water instead.

Key points:

Tests show salinity levels in freshwater bores along the coast are increasing
Once salt water moves into freshwater stores, it's hard to reverse the damage
Water supplies to homes, market gardens and industry are under threat
 
A Department of Water and Environmental Regulation report has found the amount of groundwater being extracted in the Kwinana industrial area was causing sea water from deeper underground to rise up and take its place.

Effectively it meant the sea water was being sucked back under the land, and once salt water moved into stores of fresh water the damage was difficult to reverse.

The department claimed the issue of sea water turning bores salty was the biggest problem facing groundwater users — residents, market gardeners and industry — along the coast.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12...ling-up-salt-water-off-kwinana-coast/10594444


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## explod (8 February 2019)

The Environment is now uppermost:-

"
*In an Australian first, the NSW Land and Environment Court this morning rejected the Rocky Hill coal mine near Gloucester, on social and climate change grounds.*

The court has effectively ruled that coal – just like tobacco and asbestos – is bad for us.

Significantly,* the court ruled that a new coal mine would increase greenhouse gas pollution *when what is needed to meet the Paris Climate Agreement commitments “is a rapid and deep decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.”

The chief judge of the court announced that the proposed mine was “*in the wrong place, at the wrong time,”* and we couldn’t agree more. In fact, there is no place for _any_ new fossil fuel projects.

*Our own Climate Councillor, Prof Will Steffen, gave expert evidence in the hearing*, providing compelling statements about the climate change implications of the mine. This is the first time in Australian legal history that a court has considered the global carbon budget, climate impacts and the Paris climate targets.

As Will testified, “Most of the world’s existing fossil fuel reserves – coal, oil and gas – must be left in the ground, unburned, if the Paris accord climate targets are to be met.”

This outcome is a game-changer and a huge win for Groundswell Gloucester and the Environmental Defenders Office of NSW who argued on their behalf. *Today, the law now confirms what the science has been saying for a long time.*

As Will explained today, “This landmark decision sends a clear message to the fossil fuel industry that it cannot continue to expand if we are serious about tackling climate change.”


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## Smurf1976 (8 February 2019)

basilio said:


> Consequences of  over use of bore water in Perth.



Which is itself a consequence of the other two elephants in the room.

Runoff into WA's dams has greatly reduced.

Population growth.

It used to be that all Perth's water was from surface runoff stored in dams. Then they added some bores to supplement the supply. Then more and more bores. Then came the desal. Meanwhile the runoff has greatly diminished and the vast majority of Perth's water today is from bores + desal.


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## basilio (8 February 2019)

Smurf1976 said:


> It used to be that all Perth's water was from surface runoff stored in dams.



Be interesting to see how much run off into Perth dams has been affected by CC as well.


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## qldfrog (8 February 2019)

basilio said:


> Be interesting to see how much run off into Perth dams has been affected by CC as well.



CC does not need to be involved when pupation and usage growth as fast as they do in Australia


----------



## qldfrog (8 February 2019)

About Gloucester mine and to put things in perspective  In its whole life 16year or so, the mine was expected to deliver 21 million tons coal. So bit above 1/10th of yearly India import. 
China burns yearly 4 billions tons of coal or the equivalent of 200 of Gloucester whole life production along 16 years
Not that I favour these small  mines but we are really playing Don quixote. 
I have a melanoma, let's apply sunscreen ...


----------



## basilio (27 February 2019)

*Collapse of Bogong Moths in the Alps. *

What does it mean for the rest of the eco-system ?  Check it out
*Decline in bogong moth numbers could have catastrophic effects in the Australian Alps*
Share
ABC Science

By Jo Khan

Posted about 5 hours ago



Bogong moths are a vital part of the Australian Alp ecosystem.
(Supplied: Ajay Narendra)
Millions of bogong moths normally line the walls of caves in the Australian Alps over summer, but for the past two years there have been zero moths in some caves.

*Key points:*

Every year moths travel thousands of kilometres to reach the Snowy Mountains, but they haven't turned up in some places
Scientists say the decline may be caused by drought conditions in their breeding areas and climate change
The disappearance of moths could cause a number of alpine animals such as the endangered mountain pygmy possum to starve
It's a trend that concerns scientists like Eric Warrant.

Every year Professor Warrant returns from Lund University in Sweden to his house — and field laboratory — in Adaminaby in New South Wales to study the moths and their incredible migratory skills.

Last year he was shocked to find two caves he regularly visited had no moths at all. A third, larger cave in the Snowy Mountains had fewer than previous years, but still millions of moths, he said.

When he came back again this year, what he found was "catastrophic".

"I went again to those two caves and found the same thing — no moths. But what was really scary was the bigger cave was also completely empty," Professor Warrant said.

"We're talking about caves that normally would have tens of millions of moths in each, easily.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-02-27/bogong-moth-decline-in-australian-alps/10850036


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## basilio (27 February 2019)

This is scary.... and depressing.  Plastics are everywhere.
* World's deepest waters becoming 'ultimate sink' for plastic waste *
Scientists say it is likely no marine ecosystems are left that are not affected by pollution

Jonathan Watts

 @jonathanwatts 
Wed 27 Feb 2019 11.01 AEDT   Last modified on Wed 27 Feb 2019 11.03 AEDT

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A plastic bag floats over a reef in the ocean. Photograph: Matt Paul/Getty Images
The world’s deepest ocean trenches are becoming “the ultimate sink” for plastic waste, according to a study that reveals contamination of animals even in these dark, remote regions of the planet.

For the first time, scientists found microplastic ingestion by organisms in the Mariana trench and five other areas with a depth of more than 6,000 metres, prompting them to conclude “it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution”.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ds-deepest-waters-ultimate-sink-plastic-waste


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## qldfrog (27 February 2019)

It is sad.but makes sense but once again, as per GW, we should look at where is this coming from.
Why does it seem you are labelled a denier, a fascist when you point to facts.
when you have 2 leaks in a tanks, if one fill a bucket in a day while the second fill that bucket in a sec, i believe the priority is to fix the bigger leak.
I hate the pretence that preventing plastic bags in Woolies in Toowomba or Brisbane, or plastic straws in switzerland will reduce in any significant way plastic in the ocean,  while having a proper garbage collection system in africa, india or asia would make such a big difference.
it is not only plastic going straight to sea but nutriments, chemicals, etc
Why are all priorities so wrong.
As a side note, I believe that co2 emission in china increased by around 7pc this year, with chinese co2 higher than europe and usa together...but i should eat less free range beef.
We need to wake up and save the planet, and that might mean tariffs and trade barriers, not just selfdestroying  extra taxes or burden on the west.and when i say west only a few countries there


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## qldfrog (28 February 2019)

my apologies, was CO2 INCREASE last year was 6% India and 4.7%china alone, the west not even emitting 30pc of the world CO2.


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## basilio (3 March 2019)

School children will striking around the world on March 15th  in an effort to make all governments treat the CC crisis seriously.
This is their letter.

* Climate crisis and a betrayed generation *
Activists behind recent youth-led climate protests say their views are being ignored in the debate about global warming

Letters

Fri 1 Mar 2019 23.00 AEDT   Last modified on Fri 1 Mar 2019 23.46 AEDT

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Belgian students at a climate demonstration in Antwerp on Thursday. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/EPA
We, the young, are deeply concerned about our future. Humanity is currently causing the sixth mass extinction of species and the global climate system is at the brink of a catastrophic crisis. Its devastating impacts are already felt by millions of people around the globe. Yet we are far from reaching the goals of the Paris agreement.

Young people make up more than half of the global population. Our generation grew up with the climate crisis and we will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. Despite that fact, most of us are not included in the local and global decision-making process. We are the voiceless future of humanity.

We will no longer accept this injustice. We demand justice for all past, current and future victims of the climate crisis, and so we are rising up. Thousands of us have taken to the streets in the past weeks all around the world. Now we will make our voices heard. On 15 March, we will protest on every continent.

We finally need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It is the biggest threat in human history and we will not accept the world’s decision-makers’ inaction that threatens our entire civilisation. We will not accept a life in fear and devastation. We have the right to live our dreams and hopes. Climate change is already happening. People did die, are dying and will die because of it, but we can and will stop this madness.

We, the young, have started to move. We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not. United we will rise until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision-makers take responsibility and solve this crisis.

You have failed us in the past. If you continue failing us in the future, we, the young people, will make change happen by ourselves. The youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.
*The global coordination group of the youth-led climate strike
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-change-strikers-open-letter-to-world-leaders
*


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## basilio (6 March 2019)

How changes to the environment affect have massive effects on our agriculture. Article offers n excellent detailed explanation of why olive trees are in trouble in Italy.
Start stocking up now!
 
* Italy sees 57% drop in olive harvest as result of climate change, scientist says *
Extreme weather blamed for plunge in country’s olive harvest – the worst in 25 years – that could leave the country dependent on imports by April
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...nd-on-olive-imports-from-april-scientist-says


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## basilio (10 March 2019)

How to farm with the Environment rather than against it.

*Regenerative agriculture finds solid backing as decades of success show renewal*
Share

NSW Country Hour


By David Claughton and Olivia Ralph

Updated earlier today at 09:19
First posted earlier today at 06:00



A study of regenerative agriculture has found the method can improve biodiversity and farmer wellbeing.
(ABC Rural)
Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott has experienced the immense toll of drought on his cattle, his business and his wellbeing, but he has found a way through it all.

Fifteen years ago, reeling from the effects of the Millennium drought, he attended a workshop on regenerative agriculture that radically changed the way he farmed and, he believes, saved his life.

"I was doing a really good job of killing a lot of stuff to try and grow food, which is kind of crazy," Mr Arnott said.




Regenerative farmer Charlie Arnott explains some of the principles to the local Landcare group.
(ABC Rural)
He had been farming conventionally using pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, but the course taught him how to partner with nature instead of trying to control it.

It has turned around his farm's capacity to deal with drought and he currently has plenty of water and grass for his livestock even as the drought in NSW intensifies.

"We haven't fed for 15 years [because] we measure how much grass we have, we know how many animals we have to eat that grass and a very simple calculation gives us the amount of time that that grass is available before it runs out," Mr Arnott said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130


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## qldfrog (12 March 2019)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03...-contract-cancelled-by-wa-government/10891934
In cases like that, i would not mind the gov taking over if it makes financial sense
A sad news


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## qldfrog (13 March 2019)

https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/where-is-the-plastic-in-the-ocean-coming-from-try-asia
Interesting to find the origin of the plastic in the ocean, for people who really care and do not want to see counter productive measures like the increase of overall plastic usage in Australia after the plastic bag ban in supermarkets
Stop #trend #policies, use brain, target roots of problems


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## Smurf1976 (13 March 2019)

qldfrog said:


> Stop #trend #policies, use brain, target roots of problems



That logic ought to be applied to everything really.

Trouble is, it requires acknowledging what the problems really are.


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## qldfrog (13 March 2019)

Fully agree, be it global warming, plastic pesticide use, veganism but also and outside this thread the whole economic status of this country,
But no fashionable battlefront, can be boring, not pretty or a bbq talk..so not much chances
And too many $interest from mining lobby to Greenpeace,big business, Greens, Unionsi
i hope to be wrong but i  do not expect changes unless maybe and only maybe an economic shock therapy
People starving or sleeping in the street get somewhat more focussed and less keen on swallowing their daily fake news..sometimes..
or they turn to the next dangerous ideology..
and our far left is ready


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## basilio (14 March 2019)

Singapore prides itself on being one of the greenest places in Asia.
And yet a significant part of it's greenness comes from mining millions of tons of sand from Cambodia and destroying its mangrove swamps which feed millions of people.

Powerful story
*When Your Land Is Stolen From Beneath Your Feet*

*.*..Nearly two decades following the dissolution of the regime, thousands of Cambodian families are experiencing a new wave of displacement. By talking with locals on the island of Koh Sralau, Mam found out that since 2007, the government of Cambodia has granted several private companies concessions to mine the country’s coastal mangrove forests. Each year, millions of metric tons of Cambodian sand are shipped to Singapore to expand that island nation’s landmass; Singapore has imported more than 80 million tons of sand so far. According to Mam, “The people and all the living creatures that depend on these forests for their livelihood are forced to cope with this massive loss.” In addition to displacing those who live and work on that land, Cambodia is also destroying its only natural barrier against erosion, rising sea levels, tsunamis, and hurricanes_._


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## Bill M (14 March 2019)

So these 2 signs today. Didn't know where to upload them and then saw this thread.


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## wayneL (14 March 2019)

basilio said:


> Singapore prides itself on being one of the greenest places in Asia.
> And yet a significant part of it's greenness comes from mining millions of tons of sand from Cambodia and destroying its mangrove swamps which feed millions of people.
> 
> Powerful story
> ...




This story has dozens of parallels bas. Often a purportedly green narrative has an underlying environmental cost, elsewhere,  that goes unreported. 

We really need to consider environmental impacts _in toto._


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## Smurf1976 (14 March 2019)

wayneL said:


> Often a purportedly green narrative has an underlying environmental cost, elsewhere,  that goes unreported.
> 
> We really need to consider environmental impacts _in toto._



Very true.

Efficient but short lived consumer gadgets are my pet hate. You're not saving the planet just by using slightly less power if what should have lasted decades is junk within five years.


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## qldfrog (14 March 2019)

On that same idea, due to red tape i have to install a fire fighting dedicated tank on my property, 50m from a permanent spring fed dam.
I doubt that tank will ever be used even if we have a fire.200kg of plastic.thrown away in 20y 
Or imagine the energy cost if i go metal or cement tank....

A lightweight bag just recently banned is 0.6g
So my tank is the equivalent of 333,000 former bags 
At 8 bag per shopping weekly..i think it is accurate from my memory, i could shop weekly for 800years before breaking even.
All that for a costly piece of mandatory garbage due to nanny state and regulation obsession.
If you remember well, the USSR was a champion of waste..resources,time,people and we are definitively going that way.
Socialism/globalism to use that term loosely is also an enemy of the environment as it fight common sense for ideological purpose.
We need a serious wake up call and the end of fake news, not talking Trump here, or a more intelligent public


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## basilio (7 May 2019)

There is more than one Very Serious Problem facing us.
* Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life *
Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report

Jonathan Watts Global environment editor

 
 @jonathanwatts 
Mon 6 May 2019 11.59 BST   Last modified on Mon 6 May 2019 22.05 BST

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Forest clearance in Indonesia. Scientists have warned of the impact of deforestation on animals. Photograph: Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace
Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, the world’s leading scientists have warned, as they announced the results of the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken.

From coral reefs flickering out beneath the oceans to rainforests desiccating into savannahs, nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10m years, according to the UN global assessment report.

The biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half their area and a million species are at risk of extinction – all largely as a result of human actions, said the study, compiled over three years by more than 450 scientists and diplomats.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...gent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report


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## qldfrog (9 May 2019)

Global warming strikes again:
We are doomed
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05...-river-system-left-to-run-its-course/11035506


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## rederob (10 May 2019)

qldfrog said:


> Global warming strikes again:
> We are doomed
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05...-river-system-left-to-run-its-course/11035506



Not that some here would know, but a simple reality of global warming - and a fact of basic physics - is that warmer air will carry more water, so when it does rain, more frequent flooding will occur.


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## explod (17 May 2019)

Ice losses are rapidly spreading deep into the interior of the Antarctic, new analysis of satellite data shows.

The warming of the Southern Ocean is resulting in glaciers sliding into the sea increasingly rapidly, with ice now being lost five times faster than in the 1990s. The West Antarctic ice sheet was stable in 1992 but up to a quarter of its expanse is now thinning. More than 100 metres of ice thickness has been lost in the worst-hit places.

A complete loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet would drive global sea levels up by about five metres, drowning coastal cities around the world. The current losses are doubling every decade, the scientists said, and sea level rise are now running at the extreme end of projections made just a few years ago.

The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, compared 800m satellite measurements of ice sheet height from 1992 to 2017 with weather information. This distinguished short-term changes owing to varying snowfall from long-term changes owing to climate.

Play Video
0:14
 Map of satellite data shows how glacier ice thinning has spread deep into Antarctica – video
“From a standing start in the 1990s, thinning has spread inland progressively over the past 25 years – that is rapid in glaciological terms,” said Prof Andy Shepherd, of Leeds University in the UK, who led the study. “The speed of drawing down ice from an ice sheet used to be spoken of in geological timescales, but that has now been replaced by people’s lifetimes.”


He said the thinning of some ice streams had extended 300 miles inland along their 600-mile length. “More than 50% of the Pine Island and Thwaites glacier basins have been affected by thinning in the past 25 years. We are past halfway and that is a worry.”

Researchers already knew that ice was being lost from West Antarctica, but the new work pinpoints where it is happening and how rapidly. This will enable more accurate projections to be made of sea level rises and may aid preparations for these rises.

In the recent past, snow falling on to Antarctica’s glaciers balanced the ice lost as icebergs calved off into the ocean. But now the glaciers are flowing faster than snow can replenish them.

“Along a 3,000km [1,850-mile] stretch of West Antarctica, the water in front of the glaciers is too hot,” he said. This causes melting of the underside of the glaciers where they grind against the seabed. The melting lessens the friction and allows the glaciers then to slide more quickly into the ocean and therefore become thinner.

“In parts of Antarctica, the ice sheet has thinned by extraordinary amounts,” Shepherd said.

Separate research published in January found that ice loss from the entire Antarctic continent had increased six-fold since the 1980s, with the biggest losses in the west. The new study indicates West Antarctica has caused 5mm of sea level rise since 1992, consistent with the January study’s findings.

The expansion of the oceans as they warm and the vast melting in Greenland are the main current causes of the rising oceans, but Antarctica is the biggest store of ice. The East Antarctic ice sheet contains enough ice to raise sea levels by about 60 metres. It had been considered stable, but research in December found even this stronghold was showing signs of melting.

Without rapid cuts in the carbon emissions driving global warming, the melting and rising sea level will continue for thousands of years.

“Before we had useful satellite measurements from space, most glaciologists thought the polar ice sheets were pretty isolated from climate change and didn’t change rapidly at all,” Shepherd said. “Now we know that is not true.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ets-spreading-inland-rapidly-study?CMP=share_


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## chiff (17 May 2019)

I have often thought what the increasing number of hobby farms does to flora and fauna.Local governments love them ,no doubt,for the rates.But they intrude into the more natural areas-a threat to bio-diversity.


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## qldfrog (17 May 2019)

chiff said:


> I have often thought what the increasing number of hobby farms does to flora and fauna.Local governments love them ,no doubt,for the rates.But they intrude into the more natural areas-a threat to bio-diversity.



how could it be Hobby farmer have a couple of cow/horse, do replant, are active in landcare and land for wildlife?? where are you? and what do you call hobby farmers?
5 acres lots are not hobby farms, that's subdivision and urban sprawl in the making, and so is indeed bad for the environment with 2 dogs per lot wiping out koalas and wallabies..here in SE Qld, 
but hobby farmers are a plus, they do not need land to produce $ so do not overstock or rape the land in pure desperation; Interested to understand where you come from?


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## SirRumpole (18 May 2019)

Good to see farmers getting in touch with the environment rather than destroying it.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05...ive-agriculture-to-fuel-biodiversity/11111066


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## chiff (18 May 2019)

qldfrog said:


> how could it be Hobby farmer have a couple of cow/horse, do replant, are active in landcare and land for wildlife?? where are you? and what do you call hobby farmers?
> 5 acres lots are not hobby farms, that's subdivision and urban sprawl in the making, and so is indeed bad for the environment with 2 dogs per lot wiping out koalas and wallabies..here in SE Qld,
> but hobby farmers are a plus, they do not need land to produce $ so do not overstock or rape the land in pure desperation; Interested to understand where you come from?



Where I am in the Adelaide hills the hobby farms usually take up untouched marginal land,unproductive for farmers.With new roads and constant traffic,dogs,goats etc.Before this these areas supported more native flora and fuana.In some countries the delineation between town and country are very easy to observe...not so where we are.Once animals and birds lose their home range etc they are gone forever.They cannot encroach elsewhere as a rule.Same as clearing native forests.


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## explod (18 May 2019)




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## qldfrog (18 May 2019)

And sure voting here will actually change something.an interesting point
The Green candidate in my seat:
From the green own website
https://greens.org.au/qld/person/benedict-coyne
not a SINGLE reference to the environment, or even surprisingly on the infamous global warming that is so obviously caused by australia CO2 and cow farts
Can anyone imagine that?not even a reference
Outstanding, not even watermelon anymore, just tomato red


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## qldfrog (18 May 2019)

chiff said:


> Where I am in the Adelaide hills the hobby farms usually take up untouched marginal land,unproductive for farmers.With new roads and constant traffic,dogs,goats etc.Before this these areas supported more native flora and fuana.In some countries the delineation between town and country are very easy to observe...not so where we are.Once animals and birds lose their home range etc they are gone forever.They cannot encroach elsewhere as a rule.Same as clearing native forests.



You may have a point in some places, here i see dairy cleared land turning into much more diversified ecosystem, but agree on dogs threat, welost the last wallabies,and soon last koalas to the vegans home schooled antivacs 2 or 3 barking dogs brigades moving in after the usual council bribed illegal but exception provided subdivisions


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## IFocus (18 May 2019)

chiff said:


> Where I am in the Adelaide hills the hobby farms usually take up untouched marginal land,unproductive for farmers.With new roads and constant traffic,dogs,goats etc.Before this these areas supported more native flora and fuana.In some countries the delineation between town and country are very easy to observe...not so where we are.Once animals and birds lose their home range etc they are gone forever.They cannot encroach elsewhere as a rule.Same as clearing native forests.




I live on 5 acres and over the years  normal housing has come to us, your observation are spot on.

We have planted trees and native plants to encourage native animals and birds but foxes, cats and dogs have smashed the wild life, bandicoots sadly wiped out a couple of years ago..


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## qldfrog (18 May 2019)

I like the post your experience story, but obviously not the sad changes


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## Ann (19 May 2019)

*Radioactive 'Nuclear Coffin' May Be Leaking Into The Pacific*

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has sounded the alarm over a giant concrete dome built 40 years ago in the Marshall Islands to contain radioactive waste from Cold War-era atomic tests. 







According to Guterres, the dome - which houses approximately 73,000 cubic meters of debris on Runit island, part of the Enewetak Atoll - *may be leaking radioactive material into the Pacific Ocean*, as the porous ground underneath the 18" thick dome was never lined as originally planned. It was constructed in the crater formed by the 18-kt Cactus test. More...


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## basilio (30 May 2019)

The effects of CC on the environment and ecosystems. Interesting read.

*Why Hundreds of Puffins Washed Up Dead on an Alaskan Beach*
This latest mass-mortality event is another sign of the Arctic’s rapidly changing climate.

Lauren Divine first heard that the birds were dying on October 13, 2016, when one of her colleagues stumbled across the corpse of a tufted puffin while walking along a beach on Alaska’s St. Paul Island. The next day: another carcass. Soon, several of the island’s 450 residents started calling in with details of more stranded puffins. Some were already dead. Others were well on their way—emaciated, sick, and unable to fly.


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## basilio (2 June 2019)

This looks like an exceptionally worthwhile business/environment operation.

*Recycling plant gains environmental approval to give end-of-road tyres new life as oil, steel and carbon*

A regional town in central-west New South Wales is set to become a major player in oil production and the renewable fuels market. 
Key points:

20 million tyres are disposed of in Australia every year and end up in landfill
They pose an environmental threat due to pollution and extreme fire danger
A new recycling plant in regional NSW will turn old tyres into oil, steel and carbon
 
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued a licence allowing the first green tyre-recycling plant to operate in the town of Warren, north-west of Dubbo. 

The project aims to solve the current problem of mass waste caused by tyres and offers a new way to create oil, steel and carbon.

The proponent, Green Distillation Technologies, has already partially constructed the plant in Warren, but the project was stalled for years by negotiations with the EPA. 
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-02/recycling-australias-tyre-piles/11169386


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## basilio (14 June 2019)

What is the problem with plastics ?  How serious is billions of tons of plastics in our water, soil, food and now inside us? (rhetorical..)

This is another view. In my view certainly cuts to the chase.
*Recycling Is Like a Band-Aid on Gangrene’*
* Jun 13, 2019 | 755 videos *
*Video by Taylor Hess and Noah Hutton *
The documentary filmmaker Noah Hutton was at a scientific symposium when he first encountered Max Liboiron. “I kept hearing some of the sharpest, smartest critiques of [scientific] status-quo assumptions I’ve ever heard,” Hutton told me. “She engaged with other’s viewpoints totally empathetically, but would then forcefully challenge their assumptions in a way that wasn’t personal. It was completely intoxicating and invigorating, like a voice from the future.”

What was most compelling to Hutton, however, was that Liboiron wasn’t just pondering changes to the scientific method on a theoretical level—she was living them. Her Newfoundland lab, the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), interrogates what Liboiron believes to be systemic problems in science. CLEAR conducts its research on microplastics from a feminist and anti-colonial perspective. This epistemic approach informs the lab’s scientific protocols, ethics, and research designs. Taylor Hess and Hutton’s short documentary _Guts_ is an inside look at the lab, the research it conducts on plastic pollution and sustainability, and the way Liboiron empowers citizens to engage in science at the community level.

*“Every time you decide what question to ask or not ask others, which counting style you use, which statistics you use, how you frame things, where you publish them, who you work with, where you get funding from … all of that is political,” Liboiron says in the film. “Reproducing the status quo is deeply political because the status quo is crappy.”*

Hutton said that while science—and environmental science in particular—is often viewed as a monolithic force for good, sometimes the scientific status quo “lends itself to universalizing, extractive, and colonial tendencies, even if it starts with good intentions.”

Liboiron’s critiques aren’t limited to methodology. In the documentary, she asks a group of well-intentioned recyclers to look closely at their individual consumer behaviors. The data on waste management, she says, suggest that recycling doesn’t do much to mitigate the problem of plastic pollution. “The only mode of attack is to deal with a heavy decrease in the production of plastics, as opposed to dealing with them after they’ve already been created,” she tells the group. “Your consumer behaviors do not matter. Not on the scale of the problem ... It’s the cessation of production that will make the big-scale changes.” She also advocates for removing subsidies from oil.

“When most people think of plastic pollution, they think of plastic bottles floating around in the ocean,” Hess told me. “They don’t think of the hidden world of toxin-bearing microplastics that also float around in the ocean. These microplastics are ingested by ocean-dwelling animals and then passed up the food chain and ‘biomagnified’ to the humans who eat them.” The plastics then become a part of our biome and may pose various health risks, the extent of which researchers are only beginning to understand.

Liboiron has made conducting research on plastic pollution accessible to members of her community—a growing trend often referred to as “citizen science.” “*Max and the CLEAR lab have invented these brilliant, cheeky devices that allow anyone, anywhere, to conduct microplastics testing on their waterways for readily available or cheap materials,” Hess said. In the film, Liboiron explains how her inventions—“equitable tools,” as she calls them—make it possible for rural Newfoundlanders to monitor the level of microplastic contamination in local water sources.*


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## cogs (20 June 2019)

Transparent garbage bins
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04...t-wheelie-bins-to-spark-waste-rethink/9667960
I can see this will be paid for in the future by the clean police (council) issuing fines for dirty bins.


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## basilio (9 July 2019)

Not the final solution on plastics wrapping food  but perhaps a step on the way.

*Corn grower declares war on waste by eliminating millions of single-use plastic trays*
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-07-09/plastic-saved-on-corn/11287164


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## moXJO (9 July 2019)

cogs said:


> Transparent garbage bins
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04...t-wheelie-bins-to-spark-waste-rethink/9667960
> I can see this will be paid for in the future by the clean police (council) issuing fines for dirty bins.



Perhaps if the government regulated packaging more there wouldn't be so much. Or you could always paint your bin.


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## SirRumpole (9 July 2019)

basilio said:


> Not the final solution on plastics wrapping food  but perhaps a step on the way.
> 
> *Corn grower declares war on waste by eliminating millions of single-use plastic trays*
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-07-09/plastic-saved-on-corn/11287164




What are we going to do for plastics when the oil runs out ?


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## basilio (28 July 2019)

This very short video from Harrison Ford looks at the big picture of dealing with CC and highlights how a critical element of the solution is protecting and enhancing our natural ecosystems.


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## basilio (23 August 2019)

The Amazon burns while the climate denying Brazilian President  tries to blame environment groups for the wall to wall fires.
In a very short period of time scientists will be able to show a significant increase in global CO2 as a direct result of these fires and the loss of millions of acres of rainforest. And after that ?

*Brazil says it lacks resources to fight Amazon wildfires as dispute rages over who is to blame*
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08...acks-resources-to-fight-amazon-fires/11440998

* Brazilian minister booed at climate event as outcry grows over Amazon fires *
Political storm over rainforest devastation as Ricardo Salles attends summit 
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...imate-event-as-outcry-grows-over-amazon-fires


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## Knobby22 (23 August 2019)

The new guy based his campaign on Trump and cut the EPA and allowed more logging etc. Probably got a beachfront property.


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## qldfrog (23 August 2019)

SirRumpole said:


> What are we going to do for plastics when the oil runs out ?



use coal...we have hundreds of years of crazy consumptions ahead


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## SirRumpole (23 August 2019)

qldfrog said:


> use coal...we have hundreds of years of crazy consumptions ahead





Is that technically possible ?


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## qldfrog (23 August 2019)

SirRumpole said:


> Is that technically possible ?



yes, petrol is a heaven in term of diversity of the aromatics carbon chains available..not sure of the terms in English and my French last chemistry studies are too many decades ago but in short:
a lot of carbon chain available in petrol: we should not burn it;
Coal can be transformed back into a liquid equivalent, less complex but definitively near enough to be a plastic manufacturing stock feed.From memory, South Africa did it to bypass embargo a few decades ago
as for the quantity of coal available, we have hundreds of years of consumption already known.
Back from the time when C02 concentration was hundreds of time higher in the atmosphere and the then garden of Eden created layers after layers of carbon deposits..
but shhhhh do not spoil a great CO2 is creating climate change and we are doom story
I try to find a few links


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## qldfrog (23 August 2019)

https://www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/developments/coal-to-plastic-technology-could-help-china
and as for reserves of coal cf petrol:
be aware that no one is really looking hard for coal yet..no under the sea search or deep search yet vs oil, so estimates are hundreds of years
https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels#fossil-fuel-reserves
hope it helps, but yes we can flood our seas with dolphin killing plastic bags for generations..


----------



## basilio (28 August 2019)

Is the Amazon "the lungs of the Earth" ? And if it isn't why not just turn it into grasslands and make money? 

A long read but well worth it IMV

*The Amazon Is Not Earth’s Lungs*
Humans could burn every living thing on the planet and still not dent its oxygen supply.

As tongues of flame lapped the planet’s largest tract of rainforest over the past few weeks, it has rightfully inspired the world’s horror. The entire Amazon could be nearing the edge of a desiccating feedback loop, one that could end in catastrophic collapse. This collapse would threaten millions of species, from every branch of the tree of life, each of them—their idiosyncratic splendor, their subjective animal perception of the world—irretrievable once it’s gone. This arson has been tacitly encouraged by a Brazilian administration that is determined to develop the rainforest, over the objections of its indigenous inhabitants and the world at large. Losing the Amazon, beyond representing a planetary historic tragedy beyond measure, would also make meeting the ambitious climate goals of the Paris Agreement all but impossible. World leaders need to marshal all their political and diplomatic might to save it.

The Amazon is a vast ineffable, vital, living wonder. It does not, however, supply the planet with 20 percent of its oxygen.
*
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amazon-fire-earth-has-plenty-oxygen/596923/
*


----------



## bi-polar (30 August 2019)

[QUOTE="

*The Amazon Is Not Earth’s Lungs*

[/QUOTE]
Whaa?   lungs take in oxygen and respirate CO2. That's what Brazil and Russia are doing and Oz will do this summer.  same as cars and China's coal . Where do they get these poets from?

When the population booms to triple today's 8bn then the CO2 will calm everyone down and put out the fires.  No Smoking- you can't.


----------



## Smurf1976 (2 September 2019)

Solving an environmental problem, conserving raw resources and a potentially significant business opportunity:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-dutch-recycler-to-tackle-plastic-trash-piles


----------



## basilio (9 September 2019)

The zombie fungus and other wild life pics. Fascinating story

*The 'zombie fungus' and the climbing dead*





*https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49615571*


----------



## basilio (9 September 2019)

How did we allow the Murry Darling system -* the lifeline of Australia* - to get into this situation?

*Australia launches emergency relocation of fish as largest river system faces collapse *
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...argest-river-system-faces-ecological-collapse


----------



## chiff (10 September 2019)

basilio said:


> How did we allow the Murry Darling system -* the lifeline of Australia* - to get into this situation?
> 
> *Australia launches emergency relocation of fish as largest river system faces collapse *
> https://www.theguardian.com/austral...argest-river-system-faces-ecological-collapse



Corruption.


----------



## chiff (10 September 2019)

Water licences were given out with abandon in NSW.There was no thought about the future.SA stopped giving out water licences in 1967,not so NSW.Water trading meant that licences were transferred to the head of the Barwon-Darling water systems.Water was,and is, taken out for industrial scale farming before it could flow down the Darling.Flood water is allowed to be harvested without licence ,and this happens in the upper catchments especially.As has been said ,water licences  should have stayed with the land they were allocated on,not being able to be transferred upstream .I always suspected that some would steal water that their licences did not cater for,and so it has been demonstrated.Having  lived in the Riverina  for two years ,about ten years back,the attitude that I observed was that rivers were irrigation ditches and environmental flows were not even considered.


----------



## qldfrog (10 September 2019)

With the focus on fires here in qld, i use the sentinel website a lot
I noticed a few days ago you can also see fire elsewhere
Have s look at Borneo
And the fire locations can tell you where the Indonesian side stops
It is terrible, and while we have a focus on brazil...of course, a trump wannabee can only be evil, i have not seen a mention of Borneo
Bye bye urang outangs


----------



## chiff (11 September 2019)

qldfrog said:


> With the focus on fires here in qld, i use the sentinel website a lot
> I noticed a few days ago you can also see fire elsewhere
> Have s look at Borneo
> And the fire locations can tell you where the Indonesian side stops
> ...



Yes warnings in Klang Valley (kuala Lumpur) about air quality from these fires.This has been going on for years from Indonesia.As they say, Indonesia is not a good neighbour.


----------



## bi-polar (11 September 2019)

As the temperature warms ancient peat decomposes into nitrogen for the Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica). Hairgrass is able to absorb that nitrogen up to 160 times faster than their mossy competitors. "Recently, as global temperatures have increased, and Antarctic summers have become longer and warmer, hairgrass has become increasingly widespread." 

Argentina has bases on Antarctic Peninsula but fired a firey:
Argentina’s National Fire Management Service (SNMF) of the Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry director Jorge Barrionuevo has been fired by newly appointed Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández. Fernández fired Barrionuevo and called him “useless”.


----------



## macca (12 September 2019)

chiff said:


> Water licences were given out with abandon in NSW.There was no thought about the future.SA stopped giving out water licences in 1967,not so NSW.Water trading meant that licences were transferred to the head of the Barwon-Darling water systems.Water was,and is, taken out for industrial scale farming before it could flow down the Darling.Flood water is allowed to be harvested without licence ,and this happens in the upper catchments especially.As has been said ,water licences  should have stayed with the land they were allocated on,not being able to be transferred upstream .I always suspected that some would steal water that their licences did not cater for,and so it has been demonstrated.Having  lived in the Riverina  for two years ,about ten years back,the attitude that I observed was that rivers were irrigation ditches and environmental flows were not even considered.




We can also include QLD in this, Cubbie Station springs to mind as an example.

The Warrego River used to be the main source of water in the Upper Darling then it was virtually dammed so that no water reached the Darling.

Obviously, there should have been a federal management authority for the whole system a very long time ago


----------



## Smurf1976 (15 September 2019)

If this becomes popular then investing in trains, not airlines, could be wise:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190909-why-flight-shame-is-making-people-swap-planes-for-trains


----------



## basilio (15 September 2019)

Sobering and terrifying.  Perhaps the first group of Climate Change refugees in  Australia will be people from our own drying country towns. 
*November is 6 weeks away. *

* 'Critical': parts of regional NSW set to run out of water by November *

WaterNSW warns without significant rain, Macquarie River will run dry, wiping out supply to Dubbo, Cobar, Nyngan and Narromine

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ional-nsw-set-to-run-out-of-water-by-november


----------



## bi-polar (15 September 2019)

"The report says there are a number of positives for Australian prices, including demand interest from the world’s single-largest cotton importer China (as it seeks to secure non-US supply), weakness in the Australian dollar and current local drought conditions.
“Rabobank sees short-term basis remaining strong at 1200 points through Q3, but softening later this year ahead of the arrival of Brazil’s predicted six million bale exportable new crop,” he said. Brazil, Aral Sea and Murray-Darling are expected to be major desert tourist attractions, boosting inland NSW towns.


----------



## SirRumpole (15 September 2019)

And on the lighter side...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-15/the-comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2019/11513282


----------



## qldfrog (15 September 2019)

Smurf1976 said:


> If this becomes popular then investing in trains, not airlines, could be wise:
> 
> http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190909-why-flight-shame-is-making-people-swap-planes-for-trains



Only in Europe China or Japan,
 in Australia, even a car trip is faster than train


----------



## basilio (19 September 2019)

Neat pictures, history and current story on what is happening in the Amazon.
*From space, you can clearly see the human impact on the Amazon*
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09...amazon-reveals-human-impact-of-fires/11478580


----------



## SirRumpole (19 September 2019)

qldfrog said:


> Only in Europe China or Japan,
> in Australia, even a car trip is faster than train




Sounds like a job for Top Gear.


----------



## bi-polar (19 September 2019)

Yes they could start here:  David Brown Santasalo has a long standing history in supplying gearboxes for locomotive applications. Our gear engineering, manufacturing and service expertise spans Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) and Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMU) for all applications and operating conditions. You can rest assured you’ll get maximum reliability with a David Brown Santasalo gearbox, as we use more than 285 years of combined gear engineering experience to bring you proven rail products and service support for both freight and passenger vehicles.

*Features & Benefits*

Transmits torque efficiently with minimum losses, low noise and maximum reliability
Full design options including; 
Fully suspended
Semi suspended
Axle hanging
Canon boxes


----------



## basilio (29 September 2019)

Restoring the world one island at a time.

*Welcome to Lady Elliot Island — the postcard-sized gem brought back from the brink*
Share

By Cate Carrigan

Posted about 2 hours ago



Revegetation efforts have changed the face of Lady Elliot Island.
(Supplied: Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort)

_Some really interesting and inspiring engineering solutions in this story. _


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09...-restored-mining/11549832?section=environment


----------



## qldfrog (29 September 2019)

Nice article about someone doing real environmental work and improving the planet
A quick look at the before and after photo and it is obvious how good it went
Well done


----------



## basilio (1 October 2019)

The spread of microplastics..

*Those fancy tea bags? Microplastics in them are macro offenders*
New study finds nylon tea bags leech billions of microplastics into every single cup of tea

https://www.theguardian.com/food/20...lon-microplastics-in-them-are-macro-offenders


----------



## PZ99 (2 October 2019)

LOL > _Woop Woop Woop_ - that's the alarm going off after your disposal cup gets confiscated


----------



## bi-polar (2 October 2019)

So she's writing his policy? Is she Swedish?


----------



## Knobby22 (13 October 2019)

In New Zealand , Auckland , they have 3 rubbish bins on the streets in a group, specifically designed.
One is for plastic/glass, one is for paper, the other general.

The place is very clean, they care much more for the environment. If we tried to do it here would probably be a backlash.

They also have scooters you use an app to use. You are meant to wear a helmet but it is not policed. You can have nice things If You are not a prick about it and don't throw  them in the sea or up a tree.


----------



## basilio (26 October 2019)

I thought this was an amazing story. Also quite heartening in terms of looking for natural solutions to the cane toad problem.
 
* Australian water rats cut cane toads open with 'surgical precision' to feast on their hearts *
Scientists say native rodents in Western Australia have discovered how to kill and eat parts of the poisonous pests
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...h-surgical-precision-to-feast-on-their-hearts


----------



## Macquack (1 November 2019)

Knobby22 said:


> In New Zealand , Auckland , they have 3 rubbish bins on the streets in a group, specifically designed.
> One is for plastic/glass, one is for paper, the other general.
> 
> The place is very clean, they care much more for the environment. If we tried to do it here would probably be a backlash.



Knobby, do you live in Melbourne? Sydney have had the three bin system you described in Auckland for at least a decade.


----------



## Knobby22 (2 November 2019)

Macquack said:


> Knobby, do you live in Melbourne? Sydney have had the three bin system you described in Auckland for at least a decade.



Really? We really should be doing better in Melbourne. 
Derby day today, black and white.


----------



## basilio (26 November 2019)

Absolutely no surprise in what has happened  with the attempts to distort the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. 

The nice point is that the scientific community has called it out.

* Australia's science academy attacks 'cherrypicking' of Great Barrier Reef research *
Senate inquiry told that misrepresentation and selective use of science is dangerous

Graham Readfearn

 
 @readfearn 
Tue 26 Nov 2019 11.54 AEDT   Last modified on Tue 26 Nov 2019 11.58 AEDT

Shares
8




The president of the Australian Academy of Science has warned against the selective use of research to question whether the Great Barrier Reef is being degraded by pollution from farm runoff. Photograph: Alamy
Australia’s peak scientific institution has told an inquiry into the reliability of Great Barrier Reef science that it is “greatly concerned” over a trend to cherrypick and misrepresent scientific evidence.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-cherrypicking-of-great-barrier-reef-research


----------



## basilio (7 December 2019)

Fascinating discovery of a hitherto unknown climatic event.

*Did a million years of rain jump-start dinosaur evolution?*
An extended bout of warm wet weather 232 million years ago may have profoundly altered life on Earth.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03699-7


----------



## qldfrog (12 December 2019)

The sad downhill path of a country
Very very sad news
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12...tape-as-rescuers-claim-access-denied/11792066


----------



## qldfrog (13 December 2019)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-13/koala-plans-taking-years-to-approve-in-nsw/11796118
And another one.while ugly capitalism can be awful for the environment..see China, the state version and socialism is not great either.if you remember the Soviet block environmental nightmares


----------



## qldfrog (13 December 2019)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-13/policeman-apologises-over-wombat-stoning-video/11798576
Shame on a country
And worse, on hiding under a so called cultural pretext.
Paid by my tax dollars, and yours ..be proud!


----------



## basilio (29 December 2019)

Environmental Eco Therapy.  Interesting read.  The rewilding camp looks like a great place for a working holiday..

*I feel born again’: recovering from trauma, one tree at a time *
 Guardian and Observer charity appeal 2019 
 Environment 

Trees for Life, one of four charities chosen for our climate appeal, runs projects that offer ‘eco-therapy’ to its volunteers
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ewilding-camp-brings-peace-for-trauma-victims


----------



## basilio (22 January 2020)

Interesting analysis of why the huge kelp forests that once sustained giant  marine ecosystems are disappearing. 

What is replacing them is so ugly...

*As Oceans Warm, the World’s Kelp Forests Begin to Disappear*

Kelp forests — luxuriant coastal ecosystems that are home to a wide variety of marine biodiversity — are being wiped out from Tasmania to California, replaced by sea urchin barrens that are nearly devoid of life.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-oceans-warm-the-worlds-giant-kelp-forests-begin-to-disappear


----------



## basilio (22 January 2020)

No surprises here but worth a look.
When did countries/factories realise asbestos was a killer ? What did they do about it ?


----------



## basilio (23 January 2020)

How to reforest the desert. Successfully.

Real eye opener in terms of  achieving  climate changing results

*..for demonstrating on a large scale how drylands can be greened at minimal cost, improving the livelihoods of millions of people.*

*https://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/tony-rinaudo/*


----------



## sptrawler (23 January 2020)

basilio said:


> How to reforest the desert. Successfully.
> 
> Real eye opener in terms of  achieving  climate changing results
> 
> ...



On a similar note 'trees', my wife goes ape about the way developers and councils take down native trees and replace them with non native trees, then complain about the lack of native birds and animals. Who dreams up these suburban plans?


----------



## basilio (3 February 2020)

This is a long read but an eye opener.
What you might have feared about The Sopranos  but didn't really want to confirm.
What is the risk in 2020 ? You'll have to read the story to find out...

*'It was like a movie': the high school students who uncovered a toxic waste scandal *
In the 90s, an inspirational teacher and his students uncovered corruption and illegal dumping in their backyard. Nearly 30 years on, is Middletown still at risk?

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-movie-students-uncovered-toxic-waste-scandal


----------



## basilio (7 September 2020)

Restoring the natural environment in teh UK.
How, why, the consequences  and one of the farmers leading the movement.

*'It’s going to be our way now': the guerrilla rewilder shaking up British farming*
Derek Gow is winning over doubters in his bid to reintroduce storks, beavers, wildcats, water voles and much, much more

I am sleeping in a shepherd’s hut 30 metres from a dozen wildcats. It’s an unusual way to spend a Monday night, especially in rural Devon. In the valley are the familiar sounds of dogs barking and foxes shrieking, as well as the unfamiliar sounds of storks clapping their beaks together, a noise that has been absent from Britain for 600 years. Beavers, iron age pigs, mouflon (wild sheep), Heck cattle and Exmoor ponies also live on this 120-hectare farm near Lifton, owned by rewilding specialist and farmer Derek Gow.

This unassuming old dairy farm with its small whitewashed barns is a hub for covert species reintroductions. In 1995, Gow started working with water voles – his first species of interest – after buying a batch from a fish farm in Hampshire. Then he noticed restored wetlands were naturally silting up and realised another keystone species was missing: beavers. Bereft of beavers, ponds require huge amounts of management to keep them open, so in 1997 he drove to Poland to get some.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...rilla-rewilder-shaking-up-british-farming-aoe


----------



## basilio (13 September 2020)

Posted this in The science thread but believe it also deserves a wider view.
Amazing and inspiring.


----------



## bellenuit (13 September 2020)

Interesting. US data, but likely applicable to here. Urban Infill trumps other policies in greenhouse gas reduction.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lest anyone forget, the single most impactful thing we can do to address climate change is build and live in urban infill housing. Very little benefit in switching to an EV. <a href="https://t.co/Bo1m9bosY9">pic.twitter.com/Bo1m9bosY9</a></p>&mdash; Skip Pile (@skip_sf) <a href="">September 11, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


----------



## Smurf1976 (14 September 2020)

bellenuit said:


> the single most impactful thing we can do to address climate change is build and live in urban infill housing. Very little benefit in switching to an EV



I question how that's calculated given that urban infill may at most reduce travel and emissions on a portion of trips whereas an EV powered by renewable energy cuts it far more drastically no matter where they're going to and from.


----------



## bellenuit (15 September 2020)

Smurf1976 said:


> I question how that's calculated given that urban infill may at most reduce travel and emissions on a portion of trips whereas an EV powered by renewable energy cuts it far more drastically no matter where they're going to and from.




I don't have the figures at hand, but I remember posting in some forum or other about micro-mobility (electric bikes etc) that about 80%+ trips were a few kilometres or less. Urban infill would likely have 80%+ at maybe 1 kilometre or less. But the bigger issue I believe is that EVs do nothing to eliminate expenditure on road infrastructure and hence the GHGs used in producing that infrastructure. There is also the issue of servicing say outer suburbs compared to inner city areas. The more people that live close to city centres, the less travel needed by public transport, utilities like postal services, delivery services and a host of others. 

I remember reading also where NYC is one of the most energy efficient areas in the US as it takes less heating and cooling per person to heat or cool multi-storey dwellings than houses in sprawling suburbs or even rural settings beloved of many environmentalists. It should be obvious that an apartment that has only one side facing the environment requires less heating or cooling than a house that is exposed on all sides as well as the roof. Again it is not just the trips made by the resident of each style of location, but all the trips needed by everything needed to service them. 

Another example. I moved from a relatively inner suburb of Perth (Floreat) to a more inner suburb (Subiaco). In Floreat I had to always drive to the local supermarket as walking was at least 30 minutes, in Subiaco I walk everywhere. My car sits in the garage perhaps 4 days a week without ever being used and we have gone from 2 cars to just one.


----------



## basilio (29 September 2020)

This is a  huge deal in terms of tackling plastic pollution.  Bacteria that decompose plastic in quick time.

* New super-enzyme eats plastic bottles six times faster *
Breakthrough that builds on plastic-eating bugs first discovered by Japan in 2016 promises to enable full recycling


A super-enzyme that degrades plastic bottles six times faster than before has been created by scientists and could be used for recycling within a year or two.

The super-enzyme, derived from bacteria that naturally evolved the ability to eat plastic, enables the full recycling of the bottles. Scientists believe combining it with enzymes that break down cotton could also allow mixed-fabric clothing to be recycled. Today, millions of tonnes of such clothing is either dumped in landfill or incinerated.

Plastic pollution has contaminated the whole planet, from the Arctic to the deepest oceans, and people are now known to consume and breathe microplastic particles. It is currently very difficult to break down plastic bottles into their chemical constituents in order to make new ones from old, meaning more new plastic is being created from oil each year.

The super-enzyme was engineered by linking two separate enzymes, both of which were found in the plastic-eating bug discovered at a Japanese waste site in 2016. The researchers revealed an engineered version of the first enzyme in 2018, which started breaking down the plastic in a few days. But the super-enzyme gets to work six times faster.

“When we linked the enzymes, rather unexpectedly, we got a dramatic increase in activity,“ said Prof John McGeehan, at the University of Portsmouth, UK. “This is a trajectory towards trying to make faster enzymes that are more industrially relevant. But it’s also one of those stories about learning from nature, and then bringing it into the lab.”









						New super-enzyme eats plastic bottles six times faster
					

Breakthrough that builds on plastic-eating bugs first discovered by Japan in 2016 promises to enable full recycling




					www.theguardian.com
				












						Scientists create mutant enzyme that recycles plastic bottles in hours
					

Bacterial enzyme originally found in compost can be used to make high-quality new bottles




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## basilio (1 October 2020)

*Global heating warming up 'nights faster than days'*
Effect seen across much of world will have profound consequences, warn scientists

The climate crisis is heating up nights faster than days in many parts of the world, according to the first worldwide assessment of how global heating is differently affecting days and nights.

*The findings have “profound consequences” for wildlife and their ability to adapt to the climate emergency, the researchers said, and for the ability of people to cool off at night during dangerous heatwaves.*

The scientists compared the rises in daytime and night-time temperatures over the 35 years up to 2017. Global heating is increasing both, but they found that over more than half of the world’s land there was a difference of at least 0.25C between the day and night rises.

In two-thirds of those places, nights were warming faster than the days, particularly in Europe, west Africa, western South America and central Asia. But in some places – southern US, Mexico and the Middle East – days were warming faster.








						Global heating warming up 'nights faster than days'
					

Effect seen across much of world will have profound consequences, warn scientists




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## basilio (29 October 2020)

Excellent analysis of how Australia's dams and landscape are coping with a hotter, drier climate.

Check out the pictures of dam areas changing over the years and the maps showing soil moisture.








						After the rains, there are many more zero-day disasters to come
					

The 2017 to 2019 period was the hottest and driest three-year stretch ever recorded for the Murray-Darling Basin, bringing with it a level of water stress that many in the region had never before experienced.




					www.abc.net.au


----------



## basilio (14 November 2020)

Well worth 5 minutes of your day.
I always thoughts humming birds were cool but after seeing this story I'm now completely blown away.


----------



## basilio (4 December 2020)

This is a pretty startling story of creating your own weather.
CC will have a dramatic effect on China as well as Australia and the rest of the world. Maybe directly changing the climate will be the only option left ?









						China says new technology will allow for vast areas of artificial rainfall and hail suppression
					

China reveals plans to expand its experimental weather modification program over the next five years, to cover an area greater than the size of India with artificial rainfall.




					www.abc.net.au


----------



## explod (4 December 2020)

Have a Grandson at Uni doing science and there is discussion about putting up blanket shields in circling in outer space blocking the sun to cool things.  Electric power directed by satellites down to the earth also.

The brains are churning while I party Lol.


----------



## basilio (5 December 2020)

Get your head around this. 









						This Tower Sucks Up Smog and Turns It Into Diamonds
					

In one of the world’s most polluted cities, there’s a futuristic tower that sucks up smog, turns it into clean air, and filters out the smog particles so they can be turned into diamonds.




					getpocket.com


----------



## sptrawler (5 December 2020)

I tend to think in 30 years time, we will be lamenting what ee are doing today, we are improving the air, but denuding the planrt to do it.
Sooner or later, we run out of things we can overcome with technology and finally become extinct.
We cant just keep consuming more and expect there will always be more to give.
It all becomes a  case of diminishing returns IMO.
Just my thoughts.


----------



## basilio (28 December 2020)

Always worth finding a practical, constructive story that could show us a better future.

There may also be some excellent investment opportunities !!








						These photos prove a future with no waste is possible
					

As humans squander the Earth’s resources and throw away unwanted goods, meet the companies and communities offering ways of transforming waste back into reusable products




					www.wired.co.uk


----------



## Smurf1976 (28 December 2020)

basilio said:


> Excellent analysis of how Australia's dams and landscape are coping with a hotter, drier climate.



I could nitpick a few points, some of those dams have repeatedly filled and emptied between 2016 and 2020 as per normal given that they're only minor or at best medium storages, but no argument with the basic point that rainfall is trending down.

To the extent there's an actual problem though, it's not just about inflows but it's also about storage or rather, the lack of it.

Sydney's urban water supply dams spilled repeatedly during the period 2012 - 2016 and spilled again in 2020. To the extent there was concern about running short of water in 2019 and early 2020, that's really only because the storage capacity is inadequate with respect to demand. I say that noting that the required capacity is something that can be properly calculated, it's not someone's "belief" or anything superstitious like that.

In the case of Sydney well either increase storage or cap the population to a level somewhat lower than the present actual population. Or make use of other water sources and don't be afraid to actually operate them.


----------



## SirRumpole (29 December 2020)

sptrawler said:


> I tend to think in 30 years time, we will be lamenting what ee are doing today, we are improving the air, but denuding the planrt to do it.
> Sooner or later, we run out of things we can overcome with technology and finally become extinct.
> We cant just keep consuming more and expect there will always be more to give.
> It all becomes a  case of diminishing returns IMO.
> Just my thoughts.




Population, population. No one (except Dick Smith) gives this more than a cursory thought.

The business lobby with it's demand for more consumers are stuffing the environment, and nothing will be done about it..


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 December 2020)

SirRumpole said:


> Population, population. No one (except Dick Smith) gives this more than a cursory thought.



Part of my reasoning for having a view that consumers should insist on unrestricted water supplies, their right to drive a single occupant vehicle to and from work and to live on a full size block in the suburbs is that the dams, highways and land clearing required to make it work will force the population issue onto the agenda.

So long as we keep going down the track of less per person, all that's really doing is hiding the underlying problem meanwhile the masses are slowly but surely left worse off with congested transport, ridiculously priced land and so on.


----------



## sptrawler (29 December 2020)

Smurf1976 said:


> Part of my reasoning for having a view that consumers should insist on unrestricted water supplies, their right to drive a single occupant vehicle to and from work and to live on a full size block in the suburbs is that the dams, highways and land clearing required to make it work will force the population issue onto the agenda.
> 
> So long as we keep going down the track of less per person,* all that's really doing is hiding the underlying problem meanwhile the masses are slowly but surely left worse off with congested transport, ridiculously priced land and so on*.



Yes it is really ridiculous, even if we change all vehicles over to BEV, it will help clear the air, but with population increase the demand for vehicles increases.
This then means we have to make more generation to charge more vehicles, be it fossil fuel or renewable, we have to dig up more resources to make batteries, we have to find ways of getting rid of the toxic waste from said batteries.
The real problem is, we have to work out a way of stopping humans wanting more, or reduce the amount of humans.
Just my opinion.


----------



## macca (29 December 2020)

I read some where recently that Musk estimates that we will soon need at least double the amount of electricity just to recharge all the cars

This comment may well have already been on ASF before but it was the first time I read it


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## sptrawler (29 December 2020)

macca said:


> I read some where recently that Musk estimates that we will soon need at least double the amount of electricity just to recharge all the cars
> 
> This comment may well have already been on ASF before but it was the first time I read it



Well the thing is, it is highly likely that the majority of cars will become BEV, the issue with that is most people will have similar usage patterns, so most will be charging at the same time and discharging at similar times.
Some will argue that they will be using solar panels on the roof to charge their cars, but at the same time others are saying the solar panels on the rooves are going to replace the power stations, the same roof can't charge the car and run the grid.
It will in reality cause a large increase in required generation, but it will also supply some electrical storage, but as I said earlier eventually we will end up having to cover everywhere with solar/wind farms or embrace nuclear.  OMG I hope i don't get trolled for saying that.😂

Also the amount of renewables required over the immediate future is very high anyway, add to that the push to BEV's and it becomes a huge capital expenditure, which is probably why many are calling for the Government to set targets, then the taxpayer will have to pay for incentives to meet the targets.
If not big generators will have to foot the bill to replace aging infrastructure, which they aren't keen on as will hammer profits, staring to sound like the NBN all over again.
Probably why the media keep hammering the Government to fess up more incentives, another example of business manipulation of the press IMO, it is a shame the media just doesn't tell big business to fork out and replace their own $hit.
 It is also a very good example of why essential services like electricity shouldn't be privatised. 👍
Just my opinion.


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## Smurf1976 (30 December 2020)

macca said:


> I read some where recently that Musk estimates that we will soon need at least double the amount of electricity just to recharge all the cars
> 
> This comment may well have already been on ASF before but it was the first time I read it



As an order of magnitude, if we replaced every present car (petrol, diesel, LPG or otherwise powered) with an electric car then in terms of electricity consumption at the national level we'll be adding the equivalent of another Victoria.

That's not as bad as it might sound - Victoria being the third largest state electrically after NSW (first) and Qld in second place.

On a state by state basis, the approximate increase in electricity consumption (figures are approximate) would be:

Victoria = 24%
SA = 21%
WA (south-west grid only) = 20%
NSW = 18%
Queensland = 15%
Tasmania = 8%

The devil's in the detail however since those figures are average over 24 hours per day / 365 days per year. That is, total consumption. Pretty straightforward to supply if EV's are charged at off-peak times but a major problem if significant numbers of them are charged during the existing peaks.

The major difference between Victoria and Tasmania is best explained by saying that it's far more due to present energy supply than anything to do with transport. Tasmania's per capita electricity consumption is 2.9 times that of Victoria's at present.

It's easily explained by noting the ~95% market share for electric cooking in Tasmanian homes, the 94% market share for electric and electric boosted solar / heat pump hot water and the 67% electric share of the residential space heating market (and it's over 90% in the commercial sector) plus the presence of a number of major industrial users.

In contrast gas is ubiquitous in Victoria to the point that the state has, or at least did some years ago, the highest market penetration in the world with gas supplying significantly more energy to end users than electricity and being overwhelmingly dominant for space heating, cooking and water heating. An unsurprising circumstance given the state government effectively mandates gas in new homes.

Those figures are cars only. Add trucks, buses and light commercial vehicles in actual commercial use and they go up but it's manageable so long as it's actually managed (that being the key - actually managing it).

Note those figures are approximate only - depends what assumptions are made about what sort of EV's people actually buy, whether distance traveled is the same as with a petrol car or not and so on. Also depends on how you define "car" and whether or not a commercial vehicle, eg a ute, in purely private use as a primarily passenger vehicle is counted as a "car" or not - relevant given there's rather a lot of them. So take the figures as an order of magnitude rather than precise. It depends....

Worth noting that lack of load on the system is a problem in Vic, SA and WA at times whilst too much load is a problem at times in Vic and SA. To the extent that EV charging can be done at times of low demand, the higher load would be a good thing not a bad thing from a technical perspective, especially so in SA where the situation's rather extreme at times (the entire grid-supplied load in SA, including all of Adelaide and the industries at Whyalla, Port Pirie and Olympic Dam as well as country towns etc does at times drop below the consumption of a single factory in Tasmania which says it all really - low load's as much a problem as high load in SA).


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## basilio (30 December 2020)

It's summer again. Bushfire season.
Last year was horrific beyond belief. This year, cross fingers, it may be better with more rain.
But lets not forget what has been happening with a climate that is continually becoming hotter with human caused global warming. (get over it..)

There is an outstanding story on the ABC news site about one families experience of the fires around Mallacoota. Well worth a reflection IMV.









						The secrets we kept to make it through Australia's Black Summer
					

When it comes to her daughters, Cate Tregellas doesn't sugar-coat the truth. But on the most difficult night of their lives, she decided there were some things she didn't want to reveal.




					www.abc.net.au


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## Garpal Gumnut (1 January 2021)

Come on all you lazy "fat" bastards on the General Chat Thread and enter the stock picking competition. 

And post in the thread of your pick. Let us get to 100 entries in the January 2021 Comp.

gg


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## SirRumpole (1 January 2021)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> Come on all you lazy "fat" bastards on the General Chat Thread and enter the stock picking competition.
> 
> And post in the thread of your pick. Let us get to 100 entries in the January 2021 Comp.
> 
> ...




Well I'm just considering buying ETF's and leave the work to someone else.

Single stock picking is too hard for a lazy sod like me.


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## Garpal Gumnut (1 January 2021)

SirRumpole said:


> Well I'm just considering buying ETF's and leave the work to someone else.
> 
> Single stock picking is too hard for a lazy sod like me.



Well just choose an ETF. Any bloody ETF.

And enter the stock competition and post on an ETF thread appropriate to the ETF you have chosen. 

It's not that goddam difficult.

If you need a straw I'll walk you through it via DM.

gg


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## basilio (13 January 2021)

Couple of stories re.  The Environment.
Both highlight what we  know but don't want to take seriously.









						Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption
					

Sobering new report says world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis




					www.theguardian.com
				












						Prince Charles urges businesses to sign Terra Carta pledge to put planet first
					

Magna Carta-style project aims to ‘bring prosperity into harmony with nature’




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (15 January 2021)

Cleaning up  plastic in the oceans.









						Seagrass 'Neptune balls’ sieve millions of plastic particles from water, study finds
					

Researchers counted particles in seaballs that washed up on beaches in Spain




					www.theguardian.com


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## noirua (22 May 2022)

__





						GLOBALink | WOW, the Qilian Moutains!
					

GLOBALink | WOW, the Qilian Moutains!-



					english.news.cn


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## basilio (26 May 2022)

What is happening with microplastics ?  How are they getting into "everything " ?

Another piece of deep research by George Monbiot that is terrifying..

Microplastics in sewage: a toxic combination that is poisoning our land​George Monbiot





Policy failure and lack of enforcement have left Britain’s waterways and farmland vulnerable to ‘forever chemicals’





A digital composite image of plastics found in rivers across the UK.  Photograph: Alex Hyde/Greenpeace/PA
Thu 26 May 2022 06.00 BSTLast modified on Thu 26 May 2022 07.14 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...son-land-britain-waterways-chemicals#comments
361
We have recently woken up to a disgusting issue. Rather than investing properly in new sewage treatment works, water companies in the UK – since they were privatised in 1989 – have handed £72 bn in dividends to their shareholders. Our sewerage system is antiquated and undersized, and routinely bypassed altogether, as companies allow raw human excrement to pour directly into our rivers. They have reduced some of them to stinking, almost lifeless drains.

This is what you get from years of policy failure and the near-collapse of monitoring and enforcement by successive governments. Untreated sewage not only loads our rivers with excessive nutrients, but it’s also the major source of the microplastics that now pollute them. It contains a wide range of other toxins, including PFASs: the “forever chemicals” that were the subject of the movie Dark Waters. This may explain the recent apparent decline in otter populations: after recovering from the organochlorine pesticides used in the 20th century, they are now being hit by new pollutants.




Microplastics found deep in lungs of living people for first time
Read more
But here’s a question scarcely anyone is asking: what happens when our sewerage system works as intended? What happens when the filth is filtered out and the water flowing out of sewage treatment plants is no longer hazardous to life? I stumbled across the answer while researching my book, Regenesis, and I’m still reeling from it. *When the system works as it is meant to, it is likely to be just as harmful as it is when bypassed by unscrupulous water companies. It’s an astonishing and shocking story, but it has hardly been touched by the media.*









						Microplastics in sewage: a toxic combination that is poisoning our land | George Monbiot
					

Policy failure and a lack of enforcement have left our waterways and farmland vulnerable to ‘forever chemicals’, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (3 June 2022)

Regenerating the soil. Fascinating well researched look at how we must restore our soils if we are to have any future as a species.









						The secret world beneath our feet is mind-blowing – and the key to our planet’s future
					

Don’t dismiss soil: its unknowable wonders could ensure the survival of our species




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (4 June 2022)

More practical information about how regneration farming transforms  land within a few  years









						The regenerative farm working to improve soil without fertilisers
					

As the Ukraine war and climate crisis act as a wake-up call for the industry, one UK farm is leading the way




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (4 June 2022)

So much for being worried about particulates coming from ICE motors. Apparently the overwhelming problem is the daily grinding away of car tyres.
And to top it off they are the major source of oceanic plastics pollution 









						Car tyres produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show
					

Toxic particles from tyre wear almost 2,000 times worse than from exhausts as weight of cars increases




					www.theguardian.com
				












						Car tyres are major source of ocean microplastics – study
					

Wind-borne microplastics are a bigger source of ocean pollution than rivers, say scientists




					www.theguardian.com


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## wayneL (6 June 2022)




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## moXJO (6 June 2022)

wayneL said:


>




Apparently it's cellophane.  But it's still funny.


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## basilio (12 June 2022)

Clever way to reduce waste, recycle well and support not for profits community organisation.

GreenChair saving office furniture from landfill, while helping WA charities furnish for free​ABC Radio Perth
 / By Kate Leaver
Posted 21h ago21 hours ago




 Gordon Bateup has saved more than 123,500kg of commercial furniture from landfill.(ABC News: Kate Leaver)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article



After 20 years in the construction industry fitting out corporate offices, Gordon Bateup was sick of seeing perfectly usable office furniture being sent to landfill, simply because it was out of style, or an office block was being demolished.
So he decided to come up with a solution.

"Essentially it is diverting unwanted furniture from demolition projects and de-fits and connecting it to not-for-profits, charities and community groups who need to fit out an office and don't have the budget," he told Tom Baddeley on ABC Radio Perth.
"And it's as simple as that.


> "You sit there and think 'Someone should do something about this' and then I thought, 'Well I'm probably that person because I know the industry and I
> In less than two years, more than 123,500 kilograms of commercial furniture has been saved from landfill in Western Australia through Mr Bateup's project GreenChair.
> 
> About 14,900 items of furniture have gone to 200 WA-based not-for-profit organisations, charities, and community groups in desperate need of office furniture.
> have the network to do it'."






> How Gordon's simple idea saved more than 120,000kg of furniture from landfill
> 
> 
> For two decades, construction worker Gordon Bateup would watch office furniture that was "basically brand new" chucked into landfill because corporations wanted an update — then one day he decided to do something about it.
> ...


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## basilio (24 June 2022)

Another idea way out of left field.  Creating a bionic robot fish that will clean up micro plastics in the ocean and self repair if damaged !!
Seems like the prototypes work.
One question *What happens to real fish that think these look tasty and gobble the up ?*
​Scientists unveil bionic robo-fish to remove microplastics from seas​Tiny self-propelled robo-fish can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics and fix itself if it gets damaged

Researchers at Sichuan University have revealed an innovative solution to track down these pollutants when it comes to water contamination: designing a tiny self-propelled robo-fish that can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics, and fix itself if it gets cut or damaged while on its expedition.

The robo-fish is just 13mm long, and thanks to a light laser system in its tail, swims and flaps around at almost 30mm a second, similar to the speed at which plankton drift around in moving water.









						Scientists unveil bionic robo-fish to remove microplastics from seas
					

Tiny self-propelled robo-fish can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics and fix itself if it gets damaged




					www.theguardian.com


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## sptrawler (25 June 2022)

I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.

There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.









						China’s Leaders Mull Banning Solar Panels From Farmland
					

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals....




					www.iqstock.news
				



China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals.

Three ministries including the National Energy Administration are circulating for comment a draft proposal that would make forests and cultivated farmland off-limits for solar development, industry media Polaris Solar Network reported on its WeChat account, citing a copy of the document.









						Growing Crops Under Solar Panels? Now There’s a Bright Idea
					

In the new scientific (and literal) field of agrivoltaics, researchers are showing how panels can increase yields and reduce water use on a warming planet.




					www.wired.com
				












						Largest Farm to Grow Crops Under Solar Panels Proves To Be A Bumper Crop For Agrivoltaic Land Use — AGRITECTURE
					

This agrivoltaic farm generates enough to power 300 private homes, and grows tomatoes, turnips, carrots, squash, beets, lettuce, kale, chard, and peppers.




					www.agritecture.com


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## SirRumpole (25 June 2022)

sptrawler said:


> I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.
> 
> There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.
> 
> ...




I think we should ban housing estates on farmland.


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## sptrawler (25 June 2022)

SirRumpole said:


> I think we should ban housing estates on farmland.



I don't think we have the same issue China has, even though our population probably eats as much as theirs.😂


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## basilio (25 June 2022)

sptrawler said:


> I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.
> 
> There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.
> 
> ...




Well forests aren't a good fit for solar panels so fair enough. In fact China has had to reforest a lot of land that was heedlessly denuded.

As you pointed out there are excellent examples of solar power/farming synergies. I suspect that intensive rice farming won't be one of those. The Australian examples of sheep and cattle  grazing around solar panels is a proven concept. The other example you raised is also effective.


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## sptrawler (25 June 2022)

basilio said:


> Well forests aren't a good fit for solar panels so fair enough. In fact China has had to reforest a lot of land that was heedlessly denuded.
> 
> As you pointed out there are excellent examples of solar power/farming synergies. I suspect that intensive rice farming won't be one of those. The Australian examples of sheep and cattle  grazing around solar panels is a proven concept. The other example you raised is also effective.



Yes as you suggest it isn't a one answer solution, just another thing that needs managing.


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## sptrawler (25 June 2022)

What worries me a lot, is we seem to be heading down the same path with this solar farm development, as we did with the gas development.
Giving the private sector the rights to the land use, the product it generates and all we expect in return is a pittance in a bit of income tax off the workers and whatever they consume on site.
It is all fine at the moment because we have a huge amount of land, but when a fair amount of it is in foreign ownership and supplying foreign countries with electricity, we at some time in the future may need , it just seems to me that safeguards need to be put in place early.
To me it just has a feeling of a gas like scenario in the making, whether it be because at some stage more renewable farms are stopped because of environmental or for habitat issues or whatever, to be just letting the generation to offshored with minimal return seems like another recipe for disaster.
There should be a clause, that a certain percentage of its generation be reserved for Australian consumption if required now or in the future, it is obvious this could eventually become an issue.
It is like the gas issue, this sort of stuff is hard to fix retrospectively, just dumb short term politics IMO.









						Sun Cable reveals full extent of its giant solar-plus-storage project in Australia
					

Singapore-based Sun Cable has submitted its Environmental Impact Statement to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority. The document reveals the full extent of the project’s enormity, specifically a 17-20 GW solar farm tied to 36-42 GWh of battery energy storage, which is set to...




					www.pv-magazine.com
				




Singapore-based Sun Cable, the company planning on building the world’s biggest solar and battery energy storage project in the Northern Territory (NT) and exporting it to Singapore, has lodged an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Summary revealing the full extent of its enormity.

According to the EIS, the $30 billion-plus Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPL), which already has financial support from Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, is set to generate its renewable energy via a 17-20 GW solar farm with 36-42 GWh of battery energy storage called the Powell Creek Solar Precinct, occupying 12,000 hectares in the NT’s Barkly region









						Legislation increases certainty for $30 billion Sun Cable megaproject
					

The Northern Territory government has doubled down on its support for the world’s biggest solar PV and storage project with parliament passing legislation that will facilitate the $30 billion-plus Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project which is expected to transform the region into a green...




					www.pv-magazine-australia.com
				




“This is another significant milestone, facilitating Sun Cable’s AAPowerLink pathway as we work with the Northern Territory to realise the potential of this world-class solar asset, creating jobs, investment, large-scale green industry development and lower emissions,” the company said in a social media post.

Once operational, the AAPowerLink will supply power to Darwin and to Singapore via a 4,200-kilometre transmission network, including a 750km overhead transmission line from the solar farm to Darwin and a 3,800km submarine cable from Darwin to Singapore. The project is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to power more than 3 million homes a year.

The project, which is anticipated will provide 800MW of renewable energy capacity to the Darwin region from 2026 and up to 15% of Singapore’s electricity needs from 2027, has already secured key approvals with the Australian federal government awarding it Major Project Status while the Indonesian government has approved the submarine transmission cable route.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the $30-plus billion project will deliver an economic and employment bonanza for the Top End.

“Sun Cable’s AAPowerLink will invest $8 billion in Australia, with the majority invested here in the Territory,” she said. “That means more local jobs, more opportunities for local businesses, and a strong and diversified economy.”

Sun Cable has said construction for the project will begin immediately after financial close in October 2023 with commercial operations to commence in 2027.


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## sptrawler (25 June 2022)

This is interesting IMO. I was trying to search for how the new Govt was going to reach the new carbon reduction target.









						Anthony Albanese commits Labor to emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030
					

In opposition leader’s most significant policy announcement to date, Albanese also pledges to boost renewables share of grid to 82%




					www.theguardian.com
				



From the article:
Anthony Albanese will set an emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030 and boost the share of renewables in the national electricity market to 82% if Labor wins the coming federal election.

The ALP leader has unveiled Labor’s most electorally risky policy commitment since the 2019 election defeat, declaring a more ambitious target would spur $76bn in investment and reduce average annual household power bills by $275 in 2025 and $378 in 2030.


Guardian Australia revealed on Friday the shadow cabinet had signed off on a 43% target, which is lower than the 45% medium term target Labor promised at the 2019 election, but higher than the Morrison government’s Abbott-era commitment of a 26-28% cut on 2005 levels.


The primary mechanism Labor will use to reduce emissions faster than current projections will be the Coalition’s existing safeguard mechanism. Improvements to that scheme are expected to deliver emissions reductions of 213Mt by 2030.

In electricity, Labor will significantly upgrade transmission infrastructure to hasten the transition to renewables, invest in solar banks and install 400 community batteries. These measures are projected to see renewables make up 82% of power generation in Australia’s national electricity market by 2030, instead of 68% under current projections.


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## basilio (10 August 2022)

This is pretty unnerving but utterly predictable.









						Backyard eggs might have a deadly secret — sky-high lead levels
					

Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.




					www.abc.net.au


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## sptrawler (10 August 2022)

basilio said:


> This is pretty unnerving but utterly predictable.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Not half as bad as this one, if this gets hold it is ecological armageddon.








						Australia honey bees put in lockdown due to deadly varroa parasite
					

A deadly parasite is detected in the country's bee population which could cause millions of dollars of damage.



					www.bbc.com


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## moXJO (10 August 2022)

sptrawler said:


> Not half as bad as this one, if this gets hold it is ecological armageddon.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I remember posting about this year's ago and how the Australian government was spending something like $125,000 for bio security on this problem to keep it out of Australia. At the time it wasn't here. Seriously underfunded.
What an utter joke.Makes you wonder about the level of idiocy running this country.


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## sptrawler (10 August 2022)

moXJO said:


> I remember posting about this year's ago and how the Australian government was spending something like $125,000 for bio security on this problem to keep it out of Australia. At the time it wasn't here. Seriously underfunded.
> What an utter joke.Makes you wonder about the level of idiocy running this country.



Absolutely, if the bees are decimated, pollination is decimated, crops are decimated. 
We just have to hope the media wind up the troops, they're too ffing dumb to understand otherwise.🤣


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## basilio (11 August 2022)

*Regenerating the environment.*

A very heartening story on how life can be restored to denuded landscapes.  Just knock off the bunnies!!









						From 300,000 rabbits to none: a Southern Ocean island is reborn
					

Invasive species on islands: Macquarie Island, a Unesco world heritage site, was being eaten alive until an ambitious eradication programme restored it




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (4 November 2022)

Learn something new every day.

This piece from George Monbiot starts with  an intriguing new analysis of why the Earth  flourishing ecosystems almost went extinct because of CO2 created global warming 252 million years ago.  









						Fossil fuel burning once caused a mass extinction – now we’re risking another | George Monbiot
					

The Devon coastline reveals that Earth was in a near-lifeless state for up to five million years after the last event, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot




					www.theguardian.com


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## basilio (23 November 2022)

Check this out.

A desalination plant that uses almost no energy to produce fresh water from sea water and doesn't spew out super dense brine.
It is simple, operating and ground breaking.


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## basilio (28 December 2022)

Recognising when you have made a mistake. Wood fires *are* great . But not for ones health or the environment.
As usual some excellent detail and research by George Monbiot.

*Wood burners are incredibly bad for the environment – and flood our homes with toxins, too. I wish I’d known that in 2008*





‘Every time you open the stove door to refuel, your home is flooded with tiny particulates, accompanied by other toxins.’ Photograph: Rolf Bruderer/Getty Images/Blend Images
Tue 27 Dec 2022 23.00 AEDTLast modified on Tue 27 Dec 2022 23.09 AEDT


It’s shame that has stopped me writing about it before. The shame of failing to think for myself and see the bigger picture, which is more or less my job description. Instead, I followed the crowd.

In 2008 I was refitting my house. It was a century old and poorly built. Insulating it and installing efficient appliances was expensive but straightforward, and the decisions I made were generally good ones. But the toughest issue was heating. The technology that had seemed to show most promise a few years before – domestic fuel cells – hadn’t materialised. Domestic heat pumps (which are now more accessible) were extremely expensive and scarcely deployed in the UK. That left only two options: gas or wood. I wanted to unhook myself from fossil fuels. So I went with wood.

At some expense, I fitted three wood burners and the steel flues required to remove the smoke. I would buy the wood locally, from a contractor I knew.








						My burning shame: I fitted my house with three wood-burning stoves | George Monbiot
					

Wood burners are awful for the environment and flood our homes with toxins, too. I wish I’d known that in 2008, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot




					www.theguardian.com


----------

