Monthly Archives: February 2009

Bushfires and climate change

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Bushfires and climate change – Rooted

Are more bushfires a symptom of climate change? The ongoing blazes in New South Wales and Victoria have again brought this question to the fore, and it comes as no surprise that many scientists believe in a link between climate change and an increased likelihood of bushfires. Of course, nobody can point to any one blaze and say “that fire is the result of climate change”; mother nature will invariably deliver natural disasters without compunction. Furthermore, bushfires have always been an important part to many Australian ecosystems, so to attribute all future blazes to global warming would be specious.
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But it’s not just more bushfires that Australia might have to brace for. It’s commonly held that climate change will result in an increase in all sorts of extreme weather events. You could take a tour of Australia for a few examples. Floods in Queensland, fires in Victoria and New South Wales and drought throughout much of the country; some would say that’s pretty strong evidence that climate change is already taking its toll. Others, however, would argue that these events are nothing new in Australia and provide no evidence for climate change, and even the claim that there has been a global trend toward more extreme weather events is hotly debated.

What we should not forget in this is what is the best economic decision in this scenario considering that we have scarce resources. Bushfires, river murray, financial crisis, infrastructure for Australia?

Victorian fires – an opportunity to invest in green technology

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Fires the deadly inevitability of climate change | theage.com.au

The Prime Minister weeps on television at the tragedy of Saturday’s events. He looks around uncomprehendingly, unable to find words, unable to find meaning.

But there are words. There is meaning. This is climate change. This is what the scientists told us would happen. All the climatic events of the past 10 years have been leading inexorably to this.

Yet this is just the beginning, the beginning of something that will truly, if unaddressed, overwhelm us.

As the events of Saturday showed, the consequences of climate change will make the financial crisis look like a garden party.

But there is a synchronicity here that must not be missed. The extraordinary economic measures for which the financial crisis is calling provide a perfect opportunity to fund the energy revolution for which the crisis of climate change is calling.

If the Government does not seize this opportunity, if it persists in its self-serving refusal to name the truths of climate change, then the terrifying world into which we were plunged, momentarily, on Saturday, will become the world that we will have to inhabit.

There is an opportunity here to think about the future of Australia and how the stimulus package can create jobs in Australia in the areas which can help solve climate change issues.

Depending on the technologies, if not directly, helping with the issues at home, it will be a good export market and will help other countries.

A Brave New World

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Wise words from Taran

All around, dust and ashes. From death there is rebirth. For something to be created, something has to be destroyed. It doesn’t have to be violent – in fact, it shouldn’t be violent – but sometimes the system becomes turbulent and even violent when the order of things falls too far from reality. It’s time to get back to reality. To be pragmatic. To be rational. To build. To create. To inhale the dust and ashes and breathe out the Phoenix. And that requires a foundation. A foundation of a strong work ethic, of living within one’s means, of mitigating risk and choosing the right risks to take. Part intelligence, part wisdom, mostly intuition.

The world has changed. And I can’t help but be a little happy about it. A little happy because this is the sort of environment where I am at my best, thriving on what others call chaos but what is really a new order to be understood, studied and acted upon. And it’s a new order that, should we decide to, we can affect.

A foundation. As solid or weak as we make it for ourselves and those around us.

via Foundation: A Brave New World | OpenDepth.

Greening a bit of the stimulus

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This totally makes sense. Why not green the massive infrastructure program?

THE Greens have begun pressing for the thousands of new school buildings and public houses planned under Kevin Rudd’s $42 billion economic stimulus package to include green features like solar hot water systems and ceiling insulation.

via Bob Brown wants Kevin Rudd to make houses, schools greener | The Australian.

Sweden changes course on nuclear power

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This is the right decision.

The Swedish government agreed to scrap a three-decade ban on building new nuclear reactors, saying it needs to avoid producing more greenhouse gases.

Sweden is a leader on renewable energy but is struggling to develop alternative source like hydropower and wind to meet its growing energy demands.

If Parliament approves scrapping the ban, Sweden would join a growing list of countries rethinking nuclear power as a source of energy amid concerns over global warming and the reliability of energy suppliers such as Russia.

Britain, France and Poland are planning new reactors and Finland is currently building Europe’s first new atomic plant in over a decade.