Antinuclear

Emergency experts issue climate warning 

April 11, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

March was the hottest month ever recorded in Australia

SBS News,  3 Apr 19, March was the hottest on record for Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology says, but a wet end to the month saved it from being the driest.   Australia has sweltered through its hottest March on record.

The national mean temperature was 27.7C, making it 2.13C above average according to The Bureau of Meteorology’s monthly climate report.

It was particularly warm in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, both of which posted their hottest March on record, while it was among the six warmest for NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

In Rabbit Flat, northwest of Alice Springs, temperatures reached at least 39C for 115 straight days between December 1 and March 25 – smashing the previous record of 106 days at Marble Bar in WA in 1921-22.

A “vigorous trough” and cold front across southern Australia cooled temperatures down towards the end of the month, the report said….https://www.sbs.com.au/news/march-was-the-hottest-month-ever-recorded-in-australia

April 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

Shorten’s climate policy would hit more big polluters harder and set electric car target

The Conversation    Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra April 1, 2019   A Shorten government would add about 100 high polluters to those subject to an emissions cap, and drastically slash the present cap’s level, under the opposition’s climate policy released on Monday.

Labor would aim for a new threshold under a revamp of the existing safeguards mechanism of 25,000 tonnes of direct carbon dioxide pollution annually, which would be phased in after consultation with industry.

This would be a major reduction from the current cap of 100,000 tonnes. About 140 to 160 polluters come under the existing cap.

The safeguards mechanism was established by the Coalition government to cap pollution for the biggest polluters by setting limits or “baselines” for facilities covered. But Labor says it has been ineffective.

On transport, the policy sets an ambitious target of having electric vehicles form 50% of new car sales by 2030. The government fleet would have an electric vehicle target of 50% of new purchases and leases of passenger vehicles by 2025.

The climate change policy covers industry, transport and agriculture, with the proposed measures for the electricity sector, including an in-principle commitment to a national energy guarantee (NEG) and subsidies for batteries, already announced.

The agriculture sector would not be covered by the expanded safeguards policy.

The government’s emissions reduction fund – recently allocated a further A$2 billion over a decade and renamed – would be scrapped if Labor wins the May election………

The opposition has committed itself to a 45% economy-wide reduction in emissions relative to 2005 levels by 2030, compared with the government’s commitment to a reduction of 26-28%.

Labor’s policy confirms that it would not use Australia’s credits from the expiring Kyoto Protocol to help meet its Paris target, saying this course is “fake action on climate change”. Bill Shorten said on Sunday: “It’s only the Australian Liberal Party and the Ukraine proposing to use these carryover credits that I am aware of.”

Labor says it would “work in partnership with business to help bring down pollution.”

“Labor’s approach isn’t about punishing polluters. It’s about partnering with industry to find real, practical solutions to cut pollution, in a way that protects and grows industry and jobs.”…….. https://theconversation.com/shortens-climate-policy-would-hit-more-big-polluters-harder-and-set-electric-car-target-114561

April 1, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

Poll shows Australians increasingly see climate change as human-caused

A record share of Australians say humans cause climate change: poll   Brisbane Times, By Matt Wade, April 1, 2019 More Australians than ever believe human activity is entirely or mainly responsible for climate change, new polling shows.

But only 13 per cent say the Morrison government is doing a good job tackling climate change.

A survey by social research firm Ipsos shows 46 per cent of Australians now agree climate change is “entirely or mainly” caused by human activity. That is the highest share since Ipsos began asking the question in an annual survey of Australians’ attitudes to climate change in 2010.

Another 33 per cent say climate change is “partly caused by human activity and partly caused by natural processes” while 11 per cent said it is “entirely or mainly” caused by natural processes only.

Only 4 per cent say “there is no such thing as climate change” – a share that has remained steady for the past decade.

The survey found a record 65 per cent say climate change is already affecting Australia and is not just a challenge for the future.

April 1, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

The Stop the Adani Convoy: An Interview With Bob Brown

Scroll down the page to Read PaulGregoire‘s interview with BobBrown: www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-stop-the-adani-convoy-an-interview-with-bob-brown/

By Paul Gregoire   22/03/2019

“Adani announced last November that it plans to go ahead with a self-funded and scaled-down version of the overwhelmingly opposed Carmichael thermal coal mine in the central Queensland Galilee Basin.

This is following the Indian mining giant’s inability to secure any private sector investment both here and overseas, after environmentalists successfully pressured financial institutions into boycotting the Adani project.

At present, the terminally-delayed mine still needs to receive two environmental clearances. One relating to the endangered black-throated finch from the state government. And the other is from the federal government in regard to the groundwater impact the mine would have.

There’s the challenge from the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners that’s set to go before the full bench of the Federal Court in May. They claim that the Indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) that’s essential for the mine to go ahead is void.

And now, the Bob Brown Foundation is about to launch the Stop the Adani Convoy, which will depart from Hobart on 17 April and make its way through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, before it arrives in the Galilee area.

History repeats

… Mr Brown expects many Australians will join the Stop the Adani Convoy as it makes its way across the country. And the founder and former leader of the Australian Greens and his fellow protesters will hold a rally, after the convoy rolls into Canberra in early May, right before the federal election. … ”
Scroll down the page to Read More and to Read PaulGregoire‘s interview with BobBrown: www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-stop-the-adani-convoy-an-interview-with-bob-brown/

Bob Brown 
The Stop Adani Convoy 

“The Stop Adani Convoy will travel the length of Australia, holding public meetings and rallies en route to the Galilee Basin, west of Mackay. We will be there in solidarity with the traditional owners of the land who oppose the mine.”

www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/02/09/the-stop-adani-convoy/15496308007421

‘Bigger than Franklin’: Bob Brown to lead anti-Adani road convoy
“His foundation’s “Stop Adani Convoy” plans to travel from Hobart to the coal port of Bowen on the Queensland coast over a fortnight starting from April 17, Mr Brown told the Herald.”
www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/bigger-than-franklin-bob-brown-to-lead-anti-adani-road-convoy-20190206-p50w1o.html

March 25, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

Yes, Virginia, Australia’s carbon emissions DO MATTER!

Yes, Australia’s carbon emissions do have an impact, Independent Australia, By Nicholas Bugeja | 24 March 2019,   Don’t listen to the climate sceptics that say Australia’s emissions are irrelevant to tackling climate change. Our contribution does matter — and it has real consequences for fighting this most urgent threat.

For about the last decade, the vast majorityof Australians have believed in the prevailing climate science. Yet the issue was hardly closed, with conservatives and so-called “climate sceptics” constantly trying to impugn what 97% of scientists accept: that climate change is occurring, is human-induced, and will radically alter weather conditions, the natural environment and the world itself.

Over the past year, however, a seemingly widespread, unassailable consensus has emerged in Australia. Finally. That climate change is a matter of the utmost moral and political urgency. Although this conclusion was reached by scientists roughly 30 years ago, the increase of public consciousness around climate change has proven promising and heartening……..

For Sky News’ Chris Kenny   , those committed to lowering Australia’s emissions – “the kids, and the Greens, and the Labor politicians” – are “just kidding themselves. They know they will hurt us for no environmental gain.”

This kind of rhetoric is deft and manipulative, meant to lull the public into a sense of disempowerment and ineffectuality about Australia’s role in combating the greatest modern threat to humanity and the planet.

What proponents of this view don’t acknowledge is the need for global unity on this issue. Climate change cannot conceivably be stopped if states, like Australia, throw their hands up in defeat. Imagine if every country of a comparable size to Australia remained passive: the Netherlands, Taiwan, Canada. We’d be condemned, most certainly, to a perilous future of climate instability and disaster. Every bit of carbon reduction matters.

To put it another way, there are 24 countries, Australia included, that contribute between 0.5-1.5% of carbon emission in the atmosphere, an aggregate of 21% of all emissions. This is comparable to China’s total emissions, an admittedly big player in the battle to tackle the problem of climate change. As one cooperative unit, these countries can make a real difference in reducing carbon emission. Australia – one of the world’s richest countries – must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

It is true climate change cannot be solved by one individual country. But it certainly won’t be if countries fail to make substantial and swift emission cuts in line with their international obligations. Indeed, it’s the cumulative effect of carbon emissions, that extends across borders and nations, that must be focused and acted upon. Australia’s inertia will only further guarantee that the IPCC’s worrying predictions – of widespread flooding, droughts, heat-related deaths, smaller crop harvests, greater amounts of poverty – come true.

Should Australia continue along its current path, its moral authority on the climate change issue will be utterly diminished. The old adage “practice what you preach” has enormous application here. Those states with the highest carbon footprint – the U.S., China, India, Germany – would hardly accept any appeal Australia might make about emissions cuts. And who could blame them? It’s imperative that Australia takes action – for it to have any moral or diplomatic agency in urging other states to mitigate their emissions.

For its size, Australia’s emissions are staggeringly high. In 2015, we ranked 13th in the world for total carbon emission, ahead of much larger countries: UK, Italy and France, as well as most of Africa. Our emissions per capita were the highest in the OECD, at 16 tonnes for each person. ….. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/yes-australias-carbon-emissions-do-have-an-impact,12499

March 25, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment