Much of Australia might simply become too hot and dry for human habitation
 Australians ‘may become climate refugees’ as global temperatures soar: US expert, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-may-become-climate-refugees-as-global-temperatures-soar-us-expertA visiting US climatologist says it’s “conceivable that much of Australia simply becomes too hot and dry for human habitation”. As global temperatures soar, Australia could become so hot and dry that the country’s residents could become climate refugees, US climatologist and geophysicist Michael Mann says. Australia is in the midst of one of its worst fire seasons on record, with bushfires burning since September and claiming nearly 30 lives, killing more than a billion animals and razing forests and farmland the size of Bulgaria. Some fires were so monstrous that they created their own weather pattern causing dry lightning and fire tornadoes as a three-year drought left woods tinder-dry. “It is conceivable that much of Australia simply becomes too hot and dry for human habitation,” Dr Mann, who is director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told Reuters. “In that case, yes, unfortunately, we could well see Australians join the ranks of the world’s climate refugees.” Climate refugees, or environmental migrants, are people forced to abandon their homes due to change in climate patterns or extreme weather events. Dr Mann, the recipient of last year’s Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, is on a sabbatical in Australia where he is studying climate change. The co-founder of the award-winning science website RealClimate.org said the brown skies over Sydney in recent days were a result of human-caused climate change led by record heat and unprecedented drought. The remarks resonate with his peers who published a review of 57 scientific papers suggesting clear links. Climate change has led to an increase in the frequency and severity of what scientists call “fire weather” – periods with a high fire risk due to some combination of higher temperatures, low humidity, low rainfall and strong winds, the review found. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly said his government would “meet and beat” a 26 per cent global emissions reduction target agreed in Paris, albeit with a caveat that such goals should not come at the cost of jobs and the economy. Dr Mann, the author of four books including The Madhouse Effect, said Australia could still “easily achieve” the target by shifting towards renewable energy. “It’s possible to grow the economy, create jobs, and preserve the environment at the same time. These are things that all Australians could embrace,” he said. “They just need a government that’s willing to act on their behalf rather than on behalf of a handful of coal barons.”
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The prosecution of Julian Assange – a travesty of justice
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The international witch-hunt of Julian Assange, World Socialist Website, Eric London and Thomas Scripps, 14 January 2020 The prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court is a travesty of justice that will forever stain the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and Ecuador, as well as all the individuals involved.Appearing alongside Assange in court Monday morning, Assange’s attorneys revealed that they had been given only two hours to meet with their client at Belmarsh prison to review what lawyer Gareth Peirce called “volumes” worth of evidence.
Expressing the practiced cynicism of British class justice, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said this was “not an unreasonable position,” citing a lack of space in the prison interview room. With the bang of her gavel, Baraitser sent Assange back to his dungeon at Belmarsh, where he awaits his February extradition hearing under conditions UN Rapporteur Nils Meltzer has called “torture.” At this stage in the near decade-long international witch-hunt of Assange, nobody should be surprised by such shameless lawlessness on the part of the world’s most powerful governments. Ever since Swedish, British and American prosecutors conspired in 2010 to issue a warrant for Assange’s arrest in connection with an investigation into bogus sexual misconduct allegations, these “advanced democracies” have trampled on their own laws and traditions, subjecting the journalist to a pseudo-legal process that would have been deemed unfair even by the standards of the Middle Ages. Monday’s mockery of justice is an escalation of the attack on Assange’s right to counsel. It takes place after the Spanish newspaper El País published a detailed account of how a security firm, UC Global, secretly spied on Assange’s privileged discussions with his lawyers and fed the illegally obtained surveillance to the CIA. UC Global also shared footage from cameras it installed throughout the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange was forced to seek refuge from 2012 to 2019 to avoid US extradition. El País’ reporting showed that UC Global recorded every word Assange spoke and live-streamed these conversations to the CIA. o 2019 to avoid US extradition. El País’ reporting showed that UC Global recorded every word Assange spoke and live-streamed these conversations to the CIA. Despite the support of a criminally compliant media, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the US and British governments to downplay the profoundly anti-democratic precedents they intend to set through the Assange prosecution. In an opinion article published Monday in the Hill, titled “Will alleged CIA misbehavior set Julian Assange free?” American attorney James Goodale wrote a scathing attack on the CIA’s spying on Assange’s privileged attorney-client communications. Goodale is among the most prominent and well respected attorneys in the US, best known for representing the New York Times when the newspaper was sued by the Nixon administration for publishing the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The Pentagon Papers were leaked by RAND Corporation analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who has also called for the release of Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The Pentagon Papers revealed how the US government for years lied to the public in expanding the Vietnam War, which led to the deaths of 55,000 US soldiers and 3 million Vietnamese people. Their publication triggered an explosion of public anger and fueled anti-war protests. Goodale wrote: “Can anything be more offensive to a ‘sense of justice’ than an unlimited surveillance, particularly of lawyer-client conversations, livestreamed to the opposing party in a criminal case? The alleged streaming unmasked the strategy of Assange’s lawyers, giving the government an advantage that is impossible to remove. Short of dismissing Assange’s indictment with prejudice, the government will always have an advantage that can never be matched by the defense.” Goodale explained that “the Daniel Ellsberg case may be instructive.” Ellsberg, like Assange, was prosecuted under the Espionage Act for leaking documents to the Times and the Washington Post. During the trial, Nixon’s “plumbers” broke into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist and wiretapped his phone. In that case, Judge William Matthew Byrne ruled that the surveillance had “incurably infected the prosecution” and dismissed the charges, setting Ellsberg free. Goodale wrote that “for similar reasons, the case against Assange should be dismissed.”……https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/pers-j14.html |
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Australia’s fire-driven storms are pumping smoke into the stratosphere
Blazes across the country in the past few weeks have been so intense they have generated their own weather. They create rising air mixed with ash and smoke that results in thunderstorm clouds above the fires called pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCbs).
Some of these are strong enough and rise high enough to have channelled smoke into the stratosphere, a plume of which has crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an eastward direction. NASA says this plume has now made a full circuit around the Earth. There were at least 20 pyroCbs between 28 and 31 December, and more on 4 January, some of which injected smoke into the stratosphere.
The scale of the smoke in the stratosphere has now been calculated by David Peterson at the US Naval Research Laboratory, who is presenting his preliminary findings to the American Meteorological Society at a meeting in Boston later today.
“It’s very likely on a volcanic scale,” he says. “The big thing here is really the impact that this is having on the stratosphere.” Although not of the scale of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the largest in modern history, the effect is similar to a more moderate eruption, Peterson says.
In 2017, Peterson found that Canadian wildfires put as much smoke as a volcano into the stratosphere. He is now working to apply the same technique to the Australian fires and thunderstorms. “At this point I can tell you that this event is one of the largest, it’s very near the top. I can’t say for sure if it’s the biggest,” he says, in terms of the amount of smoke injected into the stratosphere.
While it is well known that a volcanic eruption can put enough aerosols into the atmosphere to have a cooling effect, the different chemistry of pyroCbs means the impacts of the fires on global temperatures aren’t yet entirely clear.
They may have a warming or cooling effect, and it isn’t known how long the smoke will persist at heights of between around 10 and 50 kilometres high, which is roughly where the stratosphere starts and finishes. Peterson says the biggest question is what role proyCbs are playing in the climate system. Some of the smoke plumes are also getting high enough to affect the ozone layer.
We may have answers to some of these unknowns soon though, thanks to NASA flying a plane earlier this year through the upper level of a pyroCb generated by US wildfires. “It wasn’t as massive as these Australia plumes but fortunately at an altitude the aircraft could get to it,” says Peterson. The resulting direct observations of the chemistry will, along with satellite measurements, help unlock the answers.
Alan Robock at Rutgers University in New Jersey says any potential cooling effect from the bushfire smoke is unlikely to be huge at a global level, but could cause cooling of several degrees Celsius at a local level. If the Australian pyroCbs produce twice as much smoke as those from Canada in 2017, “it still would not be a large or long-lasting impact on climate,” he says.
However, the smoke can persist in the stratosphere for half a year or longer, as at such heights it can be heated by the sun and lofted even further up, prolonging its lifetime.
“This is the same process we have modelled in our studies of the climatic consequences of nuclear war in which much more smoke from burning cities and industrial areas would be lofted into the stratosphere and last for years,” says Robock. As such, analysis of the smoke from the bushfires could help improve simulations of the impact of nuclear Armageddon.
Our knowledge of pyroCbs is at an early stage. These thunderstorms and the smoke they put into the stratosphere have only been detectable via satellite instruments since the early 2000s, and previously were thought to be the result of volcanic eruptions, until analysis traced them back to wildfires.
World Economic Forum focusses on climate change, Australia snubs the Forum
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Australia snubs Davos session on Australian fires https://www.politico.eu/article/australia-snubs-davos-session-australian-fires/
A new report, meanwhile, found that the Top 5 global risks are all climate-related. By RYAN HEATH 1/15/20 That marks “the first time in the survey’s history that one category has occupied all five of the top spots,” according to Børge Brende, the WEF’s president.
The WEF surveyed 1,047 members of its networks — 44 percent were from climate-conscious Europe — and asked them to rate 30 possible risks. The organization is so alarmed at governments and companies failing to heed its climate warnings that it decided to invite climate activist Greta Thunberg back to its stage next week, and has begun sharing her slap-downs of global leaders through its official channels. While the WEF survey was concluded October 22, before the worst of the Australian fire season, those fires have brought the three biggest overall risks identified by the WEF to the world’s attention: extreme weather, climate policy failure and biodiversity loss. The fires have decimated an area twice the size of Belgium and killed millions of animals, putting Australia in the Davos firing line next week. There’s only one problem: Canberra isn’t playing ball. The WEF session on the Australian fires doesn’t include any Australian speakers.
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Australian Nuclear Technology and Science Organisation, (ANSTO), jumps on the bushfire propaganda bandwagon
Today, 15 January, there was a ’round table” meeting, (I think in Canberra) of “top scientists” on the urgent need to develop new bushfire adaptation and mitigation techniques.
And guess who’s at the top of the list in these TOP SCIENTISTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE. Why, none other than The Australian Nuclear Technology and Science Organisation, (ANSTO)
Of course, ANSTO is prominent in promoting the lie that nuclear power is the solution to climate change. They’ve put in submissions to parliamentary inquiries, You can bet that they’ve got one in now, to the Victorian Inquiry (submissions close 28 February.) One must admire the timing of the nuclear lobby’s manipulations, and the speed with which they are jumping on the bushfire-fix bandwagon.
New short films show the shocking impact of nuclear waste plan on the Kimba community
The stories of Kimba farming families and local townspeople opposed to the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in the district have had their story documented in a message to wider Australia.
Port Pirie filmmaker Kim Mavromatis has released a series of mini-documentaries over the past three months telling the stories of communities impacted by the four-year process to determine whether the facility had broad community support at Kimba or Hawker.
Mr Mavromatis said he had been following the debate around both the waste facility and the SA nuclear fuel cycle process, and he believed the communities involved were only given one side of the story throughout consultation.
“At the end of the day… the government weren’t doing the right thing by the people,” he said.
He said as a member of the Port Pirie community he had also been concerned that his community, which could potentially see the waste transported through their town or port, had not had the same opportunity for consultation as the Kimba and Hawker communities who late last year participated in community ballots to measure support for the proposal.
In one of Mr Mavromatis’s videos, Kimba locals and members of the No Radioactive Waste Facility for Kimba District group spoke about why they remained opposed to the proposal, and the impact the years of uncertainty and community debate has had on them personally.
Among those featured were neighbours of the proposed sites.
Secretary of the group Toni Scott said through the years they had discussed ways of getting their message out to a wider audience, and while it was difficult for many to tell their story there were still many people across the wider Eyre Peninsula and the state who needed to know what was going on as a final decision looms.
“We’re at the stage now where we really want to create as much awareness as we can,” she said.
“We’re hoping people can relate to it.”
Many of the interviewees featured are visibly emotional in the film, which Mrs Scott said was an unintentional outcome of individuals being encouraged to share their stories openly.
“Those raw emotions just came out… I think it’s important for people to see that and realise how affected members of our community actually are,” she said.
Mr Mavromatis said it was “shocking” to see first-hand the impact on the community.
“It’s their livelihood, it’s their future, it’s their kids’ future and it’s permanent,” he said.
The filmmaker has also created a documentary about the impact of the process on the Barngarla people, who in an independent ballot last year voted 0% in favour of the facility.
Mr Mavromatis said the lack of genuine engagement with the traditional owners, who are native title holders of areas neighbouring both proposed sites, was a “total disgrace.”
A rally is planned for Kimba on February 2, with Kimba community members encouraging the wider state to join them.
“We are asking people from Eyre Peninsula and SA to join us in a peaceful protest so the minister (Resources minister Matthew Canavan) can get the message that Kimba is not the right place and farming land is not the right place,” Mrs Scott said.
The video series can be found at vimeo.com/mav17557967.
Scandalous that the Australian government plans a nuclear waste dump on our precious, scarce, agricultural land
earth would you think Agricultural farmland is a good place to dump radioactive nuclear waste ?????? ARPANSA (the regulator) don’t think so – they state in their own guidelines and Site Selection Criteria, that the proposed Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dumps should not be placed on Agricultural land, in the immediate vicinity of land with significant Natural Resources, or Outdoor Recreational use???Bureau of Meteorology chart shows how temperatures have soared in Australia over the past century
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Key points:
A chart produced by the bureau and updated with 2019 figures (shown above) displays a stark transformation over the past century. It shows the anomaly of mean temperature for each calendar year from 1910 to 2019, compared to the average over the standard reference period of 1961–1990. The colours range from dark blue (more than 3 degrees Celsius below average), through blues and greens (below average), yellow and orange (above average), and then brown (more than 3C above average). “Australia’s climate has warmed by more than a degree since 1910, which means very warm years like 2019 are now more likely to occur,” said Karl Braganza, the bureau’s head of climate monitoring.
Dr Braganza said alongside warmer temperatures, we were also seeing a trend in recent decades towards drier winter and spring seasons in some parts of the country. Andrew Watkins, manager of long-range forecasting at the bureau, said the hot 2019 — which had an average mean temperature 1.52C above average — was front of mind for many. “It was the talking point of all last year,” he said. “All the states and territories were in the top handfuls of temperature. Hot everywhere, pretty much. “Almost by definition if they’re records they are unusual.” The bureau has also produced another chart showing rainfall in each year since 1900. [on original]…..https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-14/bureau-of-meteorology-chart-shows-how-temperatures-soared/11857404
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Coalition right wing unhappy, as moderate Liberals seize on PM Morrison’s comments about cutting emissions.
Coalition MPs split over Scott Morrison’s apparent shift on climate policy, Moderate Liberals seize on PM’s comments to argue the government will do more to cut emissions but conservatives push back, Guardian Sarah Martin 13 Jan 2020 Chief political correspondent Moderate Liberals have seized on Scott Morrison’s apparent shift on climate change policy to argue the government will do more to cut emissions, as some conservatives push back against any “symbolism” that could damage the economy.
In a sign of the challenge facing the prime minister as he seeks to “evolve” climate change policy, government MPs have split over the prime minister’s comments on the weekend that the Coalition wanted to reduce emissions “even further” than current commitments.
While saying Australia’s 2030 emission reduction targets remain government policy, Morrison said he wanted to do “better” and would only rely on the use of carryover credits from the Kyoto protocol if needed.
Australia is the only country relying on carryover credits to meet its Paris 2030 target of 26% to 28% of 2005 levels by 2030, which critics say do not represent the cuts required to limit global warming to as close to 1.5C as possible.
Katie Allen, the Liberal MP for the Victorian seat of Higgins, welcomed Morrison’s remarks, telling her constituents that she would be a “strong voice” in the party room for stronger action on climate change…….
The self-styled modern Liberal MP Tim Wilson also endorsed Morrison’s comments, saying the commitment at the last election to “cut emissions, but not jobs” was a baseline for action.
“The prime minister has rightly identified there’ll be more evolution of policy to cut emissions, but not jobs, and I look forward to contributing to that important evolution,” Wilson told Guardian Australia.
Dave Sharma, the MP for Malcolm Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth, said he was “pleased to hear” Morrison’s comments on the importance of responding to climate change and promoted the government’s plan to “continue to evolve our policies with a view to reducing our emissions further”…..
But as moderates welcomed the shift, conservative MPs were warning against a change in policy.
The Queensland Nationals MP Llew O’Brien told the Courier Mail that if Australia went beyond its current commitments, it would be “pure symbolism at the expense of the economy”.
The former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also issued a thinly veiled warning that the government risked a backlash in the bush if it moved to ramp up emission reduction targets……..
The divide comes as Morrison insists the role of climate change is “not in dispute” within his ranks, despite several MPs denying the role of a warmer planet as an underlying cause of the severe bushfire season.
The Nationals MP George Christensen was the latest to promote his view that climate change was not a factor, telling his supporters on Facebook that climate change is not “a bogey man who can go around lighting bushfires”…..
The Liberal MP Craig Kelly last week caused a storm of controversy after appearing on UK television to argue that there was “no link” between climate change and Australia’s drought.
Following the appearance, Morrison told his MPs that backbenchers should not do any international media interviews. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/13/coalition-mps-split-over-scott-morrisons-apparent-shift-on-climate-policy
Australia can have zero emissions and still profit from minerals, says Ross Garnaut
 Australia can have zero emissions and still profit from minerals, says Ross Garnaut, ABC NEWS BREAKFAST BY PATRICK WOOD 13 Jan 2020 Australia could have avoided the scale of the devastating bushfires, Professor Ross Garnaut has said as he warned the situation would continue to worsen if there wasn’t global action on climate change, something he said didn’t have to come at the expense of the economy.Key points:
The economist said he “strongly endorsed” Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s focus on reducing emissions without damaging the economy, and believed Australian industries could still reap the benefits of the country’s mineral resources in a zero-emissions world. As this bushfire season has claimed lives and thousands of homes, Professor Garnaut has become a focus on the debate around climate change and the Government’s response.That is because in 2008 he conducted a widescale review into the impact of climate change on Australia and its economy, and came to a conclusion: the nation would face a more frequent and intense fire season by 2020. As that prediction comes to pass, the Prime Minister is facing renewed scrutiny on the Government’s climate change policy and whether it will change due to the fires……..
Professor Garnaut said the bushfire crisis could have been avoided if Australia, as part of a global effort, had “done a lot more much earlier”. “The tragedy has been building over a long time,” he said. “Things will continue to get worse … until the world has zero net emissions of greenhouse gases.” In this zero-emissions world, Professor Garnaut argued Australia could be a world leader by processing its minerals locally using renewable energy. “I think the point about avoiding cuts to the economy is a sound one,” he said in response to the Prime Minister’s interview. “The way you make steel in a zero-emissions economy is using renewable energy to make hydrogen, to make steel, instead of using coal.
The way you make aluminium in a zero-emissions world economy is to use renewable energy to turn bauxite and aluminium oxide into aluminium metal. “Australia is by far the biggest exporter of aluminium ores and iron ores, [and] when the world is producing aluminium and iron without emissions, we’ll be the place that’s done. So it will be positive for the economy. “So I strongly endorse the Prime Minister’s focus on getting to zero emissions without damaging our economy. It can do us a lot of good.” Carbon pricing ‘faster and cheaper’The question of how Australia reduces its emissions is still up for debate. He said policies would continue to evolve but did not outline specific plans. Professor Garnaut said putting a price on carbon was a good option, but one he acknowledged was not going to happen with the current Government. “We would have got to low emissions much more cheaply if we’d had an economy-wide carbon price, but you can get there without a carbon price,” he said. “For the time being we have to make progress without a carbon price. We can do that. “We would make faster and cheaper progress later on if later we adopted a carbon price.”He said the current fires could also prompt a shift in the way the country tackled climate change. “My reading of the complex electoral arithmetic of the last election is that on balance the electorate was favouring stronger action on climate change,” he said. “Not in every place. The coal-producing areas in the Hunter Valley and up the Queensland coast were very nervous. “We have to show those communities that there are alternatives … [that] those places can do very well in the zero-emissions economy of the future. “But we’ve actually got to develop the programs that have them doing very well.” https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-13/ross-garnaut-on-bushfires-scott-morrison-climate-change/11861846 |
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It is a big MISTAKE to equate COAL MINING with jobs
It is a big MISTAKE to equate COAL MINING with jobs
1. Australian Tourism employs 10 times more Australians than does mining
2. There are job vacancies in the setting up and maintaining renewables
3. Australia has an opportunity to Lead the World manufacturing and building the equipment and technological infrastructures and components required to set up renewable and sustainable community and economy e.g.. Let’s build Australian Made solar panels instead of importing them
4. Build our own iron ore processing plants run by green hydrogen/hydro/wind/solar/ To make aluminium Keeping profits and jobs in Australia
5. Build sustainable industry, farming, tourism, land management, water management and houses, towns and cities, Leed the world in recycling and green energy transport solutions Manufacture electric cars, buses, commercial vehicles There are so many jobs to be had and created in zero emissions
The world would flock here and pay us to advise and share our sustainable progressive technology and solutions
6. Eco tourism would not only create even more jobs for Austalians boosting the industries that benefit ie. restaurants, bakeries, farmers etc The tourism industry would bring even more billions of $$$$ into Australia
When traditional Aboriginal owners are included in the vote, support for Kimba nuclear waste dump drops to 43%
“Barngarla Speak Out” : vimeo.com/382855709
“SAVE SA Farmland – Kimba, Eyre Peninsula” : vimeo.com/381938156
Climate protests in London, Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm target Australian government
Climate action protesters angry over Australia’s bushfires rally across Europe https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/scott-morrison-labelled-laughing-stock-europe-climate-protests/11859988 BY EUROPE CORRESPONDENT BRIDGET BRENNAN AND ROSCOE WHALAN IN LONDON
Thousands of people have taken part in demonstrations across Europe, taking aim at what they say is the Australian Government’s lack of action on climate change during the bushfire crisis.
- Demonstrations organised by Extinction Rebellion were held in London, Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm
- The protesters called for stronger action on climate change in response to the Australian bushfires
- Protesters in London rallied outside Australia House, while protesters chanted outside the Australian embassy in Berlin
Protesters stopped traffic in London and turned out at rallies in Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm to show their support for victims of the disasters.
At the Strand in London, hundreds gathered outside Australia House, where the High Commission of Australia is located, calling for stronger action on climate change as part of a protest organised by Extinction Rebellion.
Anne Coates travelled from Sheffield, north of London, to attend the rally.
She began to cry when she spoke about watching the effect of the disaster on people who had lost relatives and homes.
“It’s just too much for your heart. You just can’t live with it. It just gets worse and worse every day,” she said.”Absolutely devastating to watch it. It’s like hell. And it seems like governments around the world are in a race to drag us down to hell.”
She said Prime Minister Scott Morrison was “a laughing stock around the world”.
“We’re absolutely furious with him. And I don’t know what’s it going to take. Governments should be listening,” she said.
Many people wore koala hats to represent the massive loss of wildlife in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Fi Radford from Bristol carried a sign which said “koalas not coal”.
“We’re here to say to the Australian people, challenge your Government on the evidence they’re giving you,” she said.
“Australia, you are custodians of precious species that exist nowhere else in the world. Overturn your Government, they’re leading you to destruction.”
Among the protesters were some of the tens of thousands of Australians living in London.
Harley McDonald-Eckersall from Melbourne said she had been watching on in horror at what has been unfolding in Australia.“It’s been so horrible being away … Australians are extraordinarily resilient — like our First Nations people who have survived genocide and are still caring for the environment,” she said.
Australian Dylan Berthier said he believed the catastrophic conditions in Australia were a wake-up call for the world.
“I think a crisis of this magnitude is a global crisis. I think world leaders have a responsibility to call on the Australian Government to enact new policy that will actually prevent this from happening in the future,” he said.
In Germany, protesters chanted outside the Australian embassy in Berlin.
One man carried a sign which read “Aloha from Berlin” in reference to Mr Morrison’s maligned trip to Hawaii when the bushfires were burning in December.
The climate action group Extinction Rebellion organised the protests across Europe.
Bushfires ‘a warning to the whole world’: UK politicians
The bushfire emergency has been front-page news in the UK for weeks — and has forced Tourism Australia to temporarily pull its new $15 million advertising campaign, fronted by Kylie Minogue.
When the UK Parliament returned earlier this week, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said what had been happening in Australia should act as a “wake-up call for the world”.
Last year, the Conservative Government in the United Kingdom passed legislation to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 — one of the most ambitious targets set by a major economy.
But many environmental groups have said 2050 is not soon enough.
Labour leadership contender Clive Lewis told the House of Commons: “So as Australia burns, as millions in African states face climate-driven famine, and floods have swept the north of England, will this Government give a damn about this existential threat and act, not posture?”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, who is vying to become the new opposition leader, has criticised the Morrison Government.
“I hope that the horrendous wildfires in Australia, brought on by record temperatures, with such devastating impacts for the human and animal populations in New South Wales, will not just wake up Scott Morrison’s Government to its wilful inaction over climate change, but serve as a warning to the whole world,” she said.
Earlier this week, outspoken British television presenter Piers Morgan cut short an interview with Liberal MP Craig Kelly on Good Morning Britain.
Climate change and global warming are real and Australia is right now showing the entire world just how devastating it is,” he said.
“And for senior politicians in Australia to still pretend there’s no protection is absolutely disgraceful.”
In an address to Vatican diplomats this week, Pope Francis also criticised climate inaction.
“Many young people have become active in calling the attention of political leaders to the issue of climate change. Care for our common home ought to be a concern of everyone,” he said.
“Sadly, the urgency of this ecological conversion seems not to have been grasped by international politics, where the response to the problems raised by global issues such as climate change remains very weak and a source of grave concern.”
Dramatic drop in P.M. Scott Morrison’s popularity, over his climate stance
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Appearing on Insiders on Sunday morning, Mr Morrison said it was his “intention to meet and beat” Australia’s 2030 commitment to cut emissions 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels. And he left the door slightly ajar to cut more emissions if needed.
It’s a small but significant step considering just weeks ago Mr Morrison said he saw no need to change his climate policies. In another move to show it is helping the environment, the Morrison government will on Monday announce it is pledging $50 million to help protect wildlife and fauna impacted by bushfires. Could it signal that the bushfire disaster has finally woken the government up to do more to acknowledge and fight manmade climate change? Experts aren’t holding their breath. And now the polls indicate the PM has some work to do to persuade voters amid fury over Mr Morrison’s bushfire response. The latest Newspoll figures show Mr Morrison’s approval rating has plunged and Labor leader Anthony Albanese is now the preferred leader. Mr Albanese leads the Liberal leader 43 to 39 per cent, according to the survey results released on Sunday night. Labor is in front 51-49 on a two-party-preferred basis in the poll conducted for The Australian, a significant turnaround from early December when results showed the coalition led 52-48. Support for the Greens rose one point to 12 per cent, while One Nation lost ground, falling one point to four per cent. Meanwhile, scientists say Mr Morrison’s mea culpa on his holiday and hint on climate policy shift are nowhere near the strong response needed to show the government is going to commit to any meaningful change in their climate response. Lesley Hughes, a professor of biology at Macquarie University and a climate councillor at the Climate Council of Australia, said the government’s targets are so “weak” that it means little when the PM promises to meet or beat them. “It’s like saying I want a 20 per cent pass rate on my exam. So we met those targets because they were so low,” Professor Hughes told The New Daily. Meeting the 2030 Paris targets would rely heavily on including emissions reductions from the previous international agreement, the Kyoto protocol. “The best analogy I’ve heard – and it’s not mine – but it’s like saying I got a really good mark on my kindergarten colouring test and I want to use that to pass my university test now,” Professor Hughes said. On top of the targets being criticised as too low, the UN reported last year that Australia was not even on track to meet them. “There has been no improvement in Australia’s climate policy since 2017 and emission levels for 2030 are projected to be well above the target,” the report found. Central to the government’s climate plan is the Emissions Reduction Fund, which was allocated an additional $2 billion to purchase about 100 million tonnes of emissions from businesses between 2021 and 2030. While the framework of the ERF has been praised, the OECD said in a 2019 report it would need to be scaled up to meet the Paris targets. Australia is part of a growing cohort of G20 countries that are falling short. This will have dire consequences for our environment and economy, Professor Hughes said. If we do meet our 26 per cent reduction, it is not enough if you multiply that on a global scale to stop us from getting to three degrees of warming,” she said. “This fire season has been with just one degree of warming. Just imagine three times – what that means. That’s what we’re talking about.” Coal: Australia’s kingOpposition leader Anthony Albanese has said the government is “refusing to act” on climate change, but he has also backed coal exports……. https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/01/13/scott-morrison-insiders-climate-change/ |
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Australia’s costly failure to address global warming risk mitigation
Paul Richards 13 Jan 2020, Failing to address global warming risk mitigation was always going be costly.
The sooner there is something started, the less it will cost.
From this perspective, the cost has already been far too high;
• 27 human deaths and
• 2,000 homes have been destroyed across
• 103,000 sq km [10.3 million hectares] burned out where a
• 1 billion wild mammals, birds and reptiles have perished
Bushfires started in late September 2019, and it will go until early April 2020, and that is just one extreme type of climate change event.
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 