To 13 January – Climate and Nuclear News Australia

After days of denial from Iran, President Rouhani on Saturday admitted to “human error” in bringing down the Boeing 737, and the Guards’ aerospace commander General Amirali Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility. Rouhani agreed with Qatar and Pakistani leaders on de-escalation and dialogue as ‘only solution’ to solve the crisis with US. As Europe tries to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, Donald Trump is currently a bigger headache for Europe than Iran is.

The global importance of Australia’s bushfires – climate impacts wildfires, and wildfires impact climate. The concentration of climate-heating greenhouse gases is at a record high. Nations are not meeting their already inadequate climate commitments, and if Trump is re-elected in 2020, America will continue to lead the way in sabotage of action on climate.

A bit of good news – Fukushima Japan Vows to Achieve 100% Renewable Energy Use in 20 Years.

AUSTRALIA

Significant item of the week: Australia needs to talk about, and plan for, our climate-changed future.

CLIMATE.

Massive fires merge across the New South Wales – Victoria border . The impact of bushfires on drinking water, rivers and fish. The vastly different way that bushfires are experienced by Aboriginal people. Australia just had its hottest, driest, year on record – Bureau of Meteorology.

Australia stuck in the climate spiral – producing pollution, burning from pollution. Australia’s $multi-billion climate whammy: Ross Garnaut was right. In 2008, the Garnaut Climate Change Review predicted this bushfire situation. The $billions cost of Australia’s climate disasters. Australia’s costly failure to address global warming risk mitigation.

Thousands protest in Sydney and other cities, against govt inaction on climate change. Climate protests in London, Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm target Australian government.

Dramatic drop in P.M. Scott Morrison’s popularity, over his climate stance. Independent Australia on the Coalition’s toxic denial of climate change. Independent MP Zali Steggall calls on modern Liberals to support her proposed climate change bill. Siemens sticks with Adani contract after intervention from Resources Minister Matt Canavan. Canavan.

The climate science deniers spreading misinformation about Australian bushfires. Murdoch media and climate change denial. Climate change Australia, and the bizarre state of our national political conversation.

NUCLEAR. Transporting nuclear wastes from Lucas Heights to Kimba in the age of bushfires. Pyrphoricity – the spontaneous combustion of uranium and other nuclear materials: the unmentioned bushfire danger. When traditional Aboriginal owners are included in the vote, support for Kimba nuclear waste dump drops to 43%. The risk of road closures, nuclear waste transport accidents. Australia should go all-out for renewable energy, not nuclear – Dr Helen Caldicott.

RENEWABLE ENERGY. Wind, solar and batteries to slash emissions and costs in W.A.’s Esperance

INTERNATIONAL

The idea of a “Nuclear Second Strike”: NOT morally justifiable , NOT ‘acceptable.’

World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2019 dispels the illusion of nuclear power as a fix for climate change.

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – a wasteful distraction from real efforts to combat climate change.

Expensive but necessary – protecting nuclear reactors from cyber threats.

January 13, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews

3 Comments »

I have yet to hear ANYONE of ANY political persuasion refer to the huge amounts of greenhouse gases that are being generated by the bushfires.

Nor am I aware of ANY politician taking climate change seriously to the extent that they have proposed legislation to combat the inevitable effects – such as droughts, floods, bushfires, coastal damage.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

The Federal and SA governments are talking about subsidizing tourism which will result in even more consumption of fossil fuel.

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Comment by Dennis Matthews | January 14, 2020 | Reply
- Great to “hear”” from you again, Dennis. Yes there are articles making this point about the greenhouse gases generated by bushfires. But such articles are thin on the ground.
  This one makes an even more devastating point: that bushfires are not only releasing greenhouse gases, but also affecting the global climate in deeper ways. How Australian Wildfire Emissions May Impact Global Climate
  January 10, 2020 https://www.npr.org/2020/01/10/795366562/how-australian-wildfire-emissions-may-impact-global-climate Otherwise, I agree with you. Except that perhaps tourism activities could be powered by renewable energy.
  
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  Comment by Christina MacPherson | January 14, 2020 | Reply
  - Hi Christina, yes still here. With tourism, I was thinking mainly of transport, which at the moment for tourists is essentially 100% fossil fuels (planes, ferries, cars) and not likely to change in a hurry and the SA Government plans for promoting and subsidizing tourism are for next week or month. The Premier has taken over the Tourism portfolio a day before he left to go overseas drumming up business opportunities in SA – another Morrison / NSW Emergency Services Minister convenient absence when people need and expect him here. It’s what generals do apparently.
    
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    Comment by Dennis Matthews | January 14, 2020

Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items