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well this is what the Instituton of Engineers (Aust) magazine thinks of this
what's wrong with a bloody big lead sinker - and one last deep dive.Plan for enviro-friendly burials
By Leah MacLennan
Posted 1 hour 1 minute ago
Updated 44 minutes ago
An invention to make burials more environmentally friendly has been developed by a funeral director.
Kevin Hartley is a strong advocate of 'natural burial', or being put in the ground without a coffin.
He has come up with an invention to make burials more natural while still incorporating the elements of a traditional funeral.
The transporter looks like an ordinary high end casket, but just by pulling a few pins and switching a lever the body is lowered into the ground encased in nothing but a shroud.
Mr Hartley says the result is much more environmentally friendly than cremation or coffin burials.
"It [cremation] burns tonnes of fossil fuels, generates in Australia 10.4 million kilograms of co2 every year and it's completely unnecessary," he said. etc
Will 'killer cornflakes' be on our tables?
Rosemary Desmond | May 13, 2008 - 3:25PM
Climate change could lead to "killer cornflakes" with the cereal carrying the most potent liver toxin ever recorded, an environmental health conference has been told.
The effects of the toxins, known as mycotoxins, have been known since the Middle Ages, when rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus was a staple part of the European diet, environmental health researcher Lisa Bricknell from Central Queensland University (CQU) said.
"People started suffering mass hallucinations, manic depression, gangrene, abortions, reduced fertility and painful, convulsive death," Ms Bricknell told the 10th World Congress on Environmental Health in Brisbane today.
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Grain-growing areas of Australia, such as Queensland's Burnett region, could become unviable, and Australia may have to import more maize and maize-based food products to meet demand.
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"While killer cornflakes may not precisely be around the corner, we do have potential for increasing aflatoxin exposure.
"We need to investigate risk management for maize production and we need to undertake careful monitoring of food products coming into our country."
AAP
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/killer-cornflake-fears/2008/05/13/1210444414193.html
North Pole Could Be Ice Free in 2008
You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility.
Just caught the tail end of an SBS news story about the rapid melting of the North Pole.Also I think I heard that Polar Bears are on the endangered species list.WTF are we doing??????
don't worry about it wys
it's all a plot by alarmists
let's get out in our hummers and warm things up a bit
Regardless of the AGW debate, this is unfortunately all too true.Most people don`t really care about the future health of the planet.The cycle is --- born, school, job, car, money, sex, house, die. NEXT.
People focus their attention on absolute rubbish.
Regardless of the AGW debate, this is unfortunately all too true.
Status, ultimately at the expense of our children.
It's a real worry when you realises that most have done 75% of it before they're an adult. Doesn't leave anything to look forward to apart from a mortgage then death...The cycle is --- born, school, job, car, money, sex, house, die. NEXT.
It's a real worry when you realises that most have done 75% of it before they're an adult. Doesn't leave anything to look forward to apart from a mortgage then death...
More rubbish.... when I read this utter, utter, rubbish I just shake my head. Unbelievable....
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23724412-2,00.html
The natural range of Cane Toads extends from the southern United States to tropical South America. They were deliberately introduced from Hawaii to Australia in 1935, to control scarab beetles that were pests of sugar cane.
More rubbish.... when I read this utter, utter, rubbish I just shake my head. Unbelievable....
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23724412-2,00.html
- I'm sure there's a middle road that permits some development (damned site less that we have at the moment I concede) -
The Future Eaters enjoyed strong sales and critical acclaim. .... Fellow activist David Suzuki praised Flannery's "powerful insight into our current destructive path."
In The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change, Flannery outlines the science behind anthropogenic climate change. "With great scientific advances being made every month, this book is necessarily incomplete," Flannery writes, but "That should not, however, be used as an excuse for inaction. We know enough to act wisely."
Concepts outlined in the book include:
That a failure to act on climate change may eventually force the creation of a global carbon dictatorship, which he calls the "Earth Commission for Thermostatic Control", to regulate carbon use across all industries and nations - a level of governmental intrusion that Flannery describes as "very undesirable"[10]; and the establishment of "Geothermia" - a new city at the NSW-South Australia-Queensland border - to take advantage of the location's abundance of natural gas reserves and solar energy.
Flannery argues that such a city could be completely energy self-sufficient, and would be a model for future city development worldwide. Of the city project, Flannery told The Bulletin that "I know it's radical but we have no choice".
The book won international acclaim. Bill Bryson concluded that "It would be hard to imagine a better or more important book." The Weather Makers was honoured in 2006 as 'Book of the Year' at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.[11]
Flannery's work in raising the profile of environmental issues was key to his being named Australian of the Year in 2007. Awarding the prize, Prime Minister John Howard said that the scientist "has encouraged Australians into new ways of thinking about our environmental history and future ecological challenges."[12]
That said, Howard – along with many others – remains unconvinced as to Flannery's proposed solutions. Flannery joined calls for the shutdown of conventional coal burning in Australia in the medium term, on which the country relies for most of its electricity. Flannery claims that conventional coal burning will lose its social license to operate, as has asbestos.[13]
Though Flannery has the ear of South Australian Premier Mike Rann in his role as a climate change advisor. Tim Flannery is a member of the Queensland Climate Change Council established by the Queensland Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara.
In contrast to much of the environment movement, Flannery is also supportive of nuclear power.[14]
More recently, Flannery appears to have changed his view on nuclear power. In May 2007 he was reported to have told a business gathering in Sydney that while nuclear energy does have a role elsewhere in the world, Australia's abundance of renewable resources rule out the need for nuclear power in the near term. He does however feel that Australia should and will have to supply its uranium to those other countries that do not have access to renewables like Australia
the man's a genius (imho)- even Suzuki "praised Flannery's "powerful insight into our current destructive path.""
my money's on Flannery - you blokes can bet on each other
Flannery's work in raising the profile of environmental issues was key to his being named Australian of the Year in 2007. Awarding the prize, Prime Minister John Howard said that the scientist "has encouraged Australians into new ways of thinking about our environmental history and future ecological challenges."[12]
"We need to be ready to start doing it in perhaps five years time if we fail to achieve what we're trying to achieve."
He conceded there were risks to global dimming via sulphur.
"The consequences of doing that are unknown."
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