Clipmarks | Wadard's clips

Great, Global Warming Swindler Gets Right Royal Bollocking

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:50:14 GMT

clipped by: Wadard

Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society said: "TV companies occasionally commission programmes just to court controversy, but to misrepresent the evidence on an issue as important as global warming was surely irresponsible. 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' was itself a swindle. The programme makers misrepresented the science, the views of some of the scientists featured in the programme and the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"The science of climate change is complex; however the weight of scientific evidence shows that global warming caused by human actions is happening now, and is set to continue. There is certainly a need for ongoing debate on climate change and on what we are going to do to tackle it but this programme made little or no contribution to that debate."

Tags: gl

Poached minke named for a poacher

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:07:19 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: [Origin: 1930–35; < Norw minkehval, allegedly after a crew member of the Norwegian whaling pioneer Svend Foyn (1809–94), named Meincke, who mistook a pod of minkes for blue whales]

Clip Source: globalwarmingwatch.blogspot.com

Japanese whalers are taking the minke

In justifying the hunting the minke whale by Japanese call it as "the cockroach of the sea". So why eat cockroaches and call it research? Ironic how the minke whale was named after an 18th-century poacher, hey? Amazing that Norway had whale conservation laws in the 1700s:

The minke is the smallest of the baleen (filter-feeding) whales and is found throughout the world's oceans, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

The story of this whale's name illustrates its blighted history. Minke was an 18th-century Norwegian whaler, infamous for regularly breaking the rules concerning the sizes (and therefore species) of whales that he was permitted at that time to hunt. Soon all the small whales became
known as "Minke's whales". Eventually, it was formally adopted as the name for this small species.

Labels: Japan, Sea Shepherd, Whale conservation

Tags: whaling

Water Rule #1: Don't logg your catchment

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:31:27 GMT

clipped by: Wadard

Clip Source: globalwarmingwatch.blogspot.com

The clearfelled truth about Melbourne's drought

Within the spectacular giant mountain ash forests of the Central Highlands lie Melbourne’s water catchments, which provide drinking water to over 3 million Victorians. Five of these catchments, which supply 40 per cent of Melbourne’s drinking water are open to clearfell logging.

Several independent studies, including a technical report published in December 2000, have found that clearing and regeneration of these forests has a dramatic effect on water yield.

Research has shown logged areas to suffer a 50 per cent reduced water yield (shown in graph). Young regrowth trees need more water to grow, thus releasing less water into river catchments. It takes 150 years for water yields to regain their pre-logged status.

It is breathtaking that in this time of severe drought our most precious resource is jeopardised by logging and that the Government continues to see fit to threaten the little water we have left.

Labels: Drought, logging

Tags: australia, drought

Rudd the Ratifier clarifys Australia's Kyoto intentions

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:54:17 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: ...to another round of applause at Bali. This time to the high-level Heads of State meeting.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told world leaders in Bali that climate change is the defining challenge of this generation, and says Australia stands ready to respond to the problem.

The community of nations must reach agreement. There is no plan B. There is no other planet any of us can escape to. We only have this one.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addresses the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Photo: Glen McCurtayne

He told delegates at the United Nations climate change conference in Bali today that Australia would commit to "real" and "robust" short and medium term targets to slash greenhouse gases, after the Garnaut review is finished next year.

Mr Rudd received enthusiastic applause as he was introduced at the high-level segment of the Bali talks, after earlier formally handing over the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

"It will require tough choices, and some of these will come at a political price," he said.

Tags: bali climate conference

Global warming deniers get no hearing in Bali

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:02:59 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: Andrew Bolt is apoplectic.

Since the Bali Conference began, he has devoted six posts to bagging it. Here is his latest.

Clip Source: blogs.news.com.au

With 15,000 global warming believers already choking the UN’s conference on how to cut the gases they emitted just getting there, it’s natural a few had to excluded.

And how convenient those exclusions were:

The United Nations has rejected all attempts by a group of dissenting scientists seeking to present information at the climate change conference taking place in Bali, Indonesia.

The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) has been denied the opportunity to present at panel discussions, side events, and exhibits; its members were denied press credentials. The group consists of distinguished scientists from Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The scientists, citing pivotal evidence on climate change published in peer-reviewed journals, have expressed their opposition to the UN’s alarmist theory of anthropogenic global warming.

Tags: global waming

Rudd backs deep 2020 emissions cuts

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:12:50 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: During the election campaign, Kevin Rudd has repeatedly said that Australia would not set its own 2020 target until he received a report from economist Ross Garnaut next year. But when he arrives in Bali next week he will face international expectations from Europe, China and Indonesia to make Australia's position clear whether, having ratified the Kyoto Protocol, it is committed to its own deep cuts:

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

THE Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, signalled his support for developed countries, including Australia, agreeing to making deep cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions in the next 12 years.

In a significant move last night the Australian delegation to the UN climate talks stated it "fully supports" the proposal that developed countries need to cut their greenhouse gas emission by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020.

The public statement came after China and Indonesia demanded at the UN climate change talks in Bali yesterday that developed nations who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol stick to this understanding reached earlier this year.

Last night Australia publicly aligned itself with the nations under the Kyoto Protocol that have agreed to consider these cuts, distancing the new Rudd Government further from the US position. Saying Australia "fully supports" the position, the delegation said Australia was, "happy to proceed on this basis".

Tags: global warming

World's big companies want clear climate outcomes from Bali

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:24:01 GMT

clipped by: Wadard

Clip Source: www.ajc.com

Forty-six of the world's biggest corporations on Friday laid out their "road map" for reducing global warming, putting an emphasis on market-based ways to cut emissions.

"Climate change is a serious threat," said Peter Darbee, chairman and chief executive of PG&E Corp., a San Francisco-based energy company. "The time for all of us to step up is now."

"We're committed to going to Bali and discussing with countries there the way ahead on climate change," Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, said at a briefing Friday in Crawford, Texas.

The Kyoto agreement assigned binding targets for 36 countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. The United States, Australia and many developing countries refused to ratify the treaty, but are participating in discussions over its successor.

Many business and environmental leaders believe the need for global action is growing as economic development spurs the use of fossil fuels

Tags: global wamring

IPCC Synthesis "...abrupt or irreversible climate changes and impacts..."

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:27:26 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: Heart heavy reading with an impact like the doctor telling you that you have a grave problem. More on Global Warming Watch

Clip Source: abc.net.au

Global warming could be irreversible: IPCC

Posted 2 hours 48 minutes ago

The UN's Nobel-winning panel on climate change completed a draft report that said the consequences of global warming could be "irreversible".

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) encapsulates a massive review of the global warming issue, with the goal of guiding policymakers for the next five years.

Human activities "could lead to abrupt or irreversible climate changes and impacts," the agreed text said.

The so-called synthesis report summarises the main points from three massive documents issued this year covering the evidence for climate change; the present and possible future impacts of it; and the options for tackling the peril.

After Saturday, attention will shift to a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, next month.

Governments will try to set down a 'roadmap' for negotiations that will end in a deal to cut carbon emissions and help developing nations adapt to climate change.

Tags: global warming

UK law mandates 60% emissions cuts by 2050

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 04:57:55 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: Good effort by the UK Government under Gordon Brown — becoming the first nation to put carbon emissions into law.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Climate bill's 60% emission cut

The UK will be the first nation to put carbon emissions levels into law

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has committed the UK to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% before 2050 to help tackle global warming.

The Climate Change Bill will make the UK the first country to put carbon emissions reduction targets into law.

An independent committee on climate change will be set up to advise on "five-year carbon budgets" - part of a new commitment to carbon reduction.

While the bill will also enforce reductions of greenhouse gas emissions of between 26% and 32% by 2020, Mr Brown previously said he would consult the new committee to see if bigger reductions were required.

Green campaigners have urged the government to go further.

A report from think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research, the RSPB and WWF on Monday claimed the government's 60% target did not go far enough.

Instead, it claimed Britain could achieve an 80% cut by 2050.

Yearly targets 'needed'

Tags: global warming

Most of world ready to combat global warming. Someone tell the politicians global

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:16:43 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: A major change in how we tackle climate change is around the corner, if a new BBC Poll is on the money...

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Most ready for 'green sacrifices'

The poll suggests the public are more ready than politicians

Most people are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries.

Four out of five people indicated they were prepared to change their lifestyle - even in the US and China, the world's two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.

Opinion was split over tax rises on oil and coal - 44% against, 50% in favour.

Support would rise if the cash was used to boost efficiency and find new energy sources, the poll suggested.

the poll suggests that in many countries people are more willing than their governments to contemplate serious changes to their lifestyles to combat global warming.

Overall, 83% of respondents throughout the world agreed that individuals would definitely or probably have to make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of climate-changing gases they produce.

READ THE FINDINGS

BBC World Service poll results in full [1.40MB]

Tags: global warming

How much scientific abuse can a polar bear?

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:13:43 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: A favourite deceit of AGW sceptics is to present Bjorn Lomberg as a "scientist." He isn't. His PhD is in Political Science — a humanity.

There are different methodologies between those used in "hard" and social sciences. Social sciences don't really use the scientific method. This is clearly demonstrated through out a recent Salon.com interview with Bjorn, and was especially telling in the discussion of Bjorn's use of polar bears.

Here is a response to the writer quoting one expert's opinion (a front-line researcher in polar bears).

"OK. But I've talked to a different expert that's up in Greenland, who works for the Danish government, and he has looked over my chapter, and said that it's OK."

If only all experts were equal.

Bjorn's referencing of another expert is supposed to counter the point, but he never makes a commitment on which has the better data and the better hypothesis — a fundamental step in science.

We will be tested over the next twenty years, so we w

Clip Source: www.desmogblog.com

Bjorn Lomborg's new book attacked by a polar bear

31 Aug 07

It seems there may be a bit of last minute damage control over at the Bjorn Lomborg camp.

A heavy piece of the marketing campaign for Lomborg's new book Cool It was the author's claim that polar bear populations are increasing. Lomborg uses this as evidence of his argument the consequences of global warming are more hype than reality.

And the marketing of Lomborg's contentious claim seemed to be working. That is until Salon.com's Kevin Beger took Lomborg to task over the claim. Beger levels the polar bear claim leaving Lomborg's only defense to say: "OK. But I've talked to a different expert that's up in Greenland, who works for the Danish government, and he has looked over my chapter, and said that it's OK."

Now, Lomborg's book review on Amazon no longer carries any mention of polar bears, but the google entry for Amazon still has the original polar bear claim here for all of us to see.

is too late for a correction.

Tags: global warming

Consumerism: The Musical

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:55:56 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: Encore.... encore...

Clip Source: www.grist.org

[Video]

Tags: consumeris

Car makers abandon petrol for electricity

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:29:07 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: This is a big shift in our energy balance. With car manufacturers desperately trying to "counter a backlash" against the fuel guzzlers, by capitalising on the run away success of Toyota's Prius, they are articulating their solution to emissions problems, a flick pass to the electricity providers. Bob Lutz, GM of Product Planning puts it bluntly, "If people want an electric car, we can deliver it. Now go and get your electricity from a clean source."

The implications are huge. If we plug 'er in, rather than fill 'er up, then what was once a petrol station will become a local area green electricity generator. All because the market demands it.

Oil companies will lose their mainstream passenger vehicle market, but sell their oil to plastics manufacturers, which keeps the carbon sequestered.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

JAPANESE car-makers have led the way on environmentally friendly vehicles but they're about to take frugality to new levels and shift the pollution debate onto electricity providers.

At the opening of the Tokyo motor show yesterday Toyota, Japan's biggest car-maker, unveiled a model that sipped fuel at half the rate of its petrol-electric Prius. There are two catches: it has no doors and you can't buy one. Yet. The 1/X is a concept only but is a pointer to a shift in Toyota's view on "plug-in" hybrid cars that can be charged overnight on a home power point.

Car-makers' increasing dependence on electricity could produce a fundamental shift in the energy debate. At the Detroit motor show in January, the product planning boss of GM, Bob Lutz, told the Herald: "If people want an electric car, we can deliver it. Now go and get your electricity from a clean source."

Tags: cars

Melt opens Northwest Passage to science

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:57:07 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: I'm all for science, but I would have preferred the Northwest Passage frozen.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

On Monday, the Canadian Coast Guard is preparing to send one its research vessels, the Amundsen, through the Northwest Passage with about 40 scientists on board.

Equipped with a remotely operated robot submarine and a sonar system, the ship will undertake a detailed survey of the sea-bed - essential if the waterway is to become more open to commercial shipping.

'Northwest Passage opens'

Sailing the passage

Researchers on board also hope to study the changing patterns of the ice - not only the ice that grows and retreats with the seasons but also the far thicker multi-year ice which drifts with the Arctic currents and poses the most serious threat to any vessels.

A British team on board will study the sediment on the sea-bed to hunt for a chemical record of changes in the ice stretching back for the past thousand years - a vital task to help understand the likely rate of change in the future.

BBC News will join the ship for its journey through the Northwest Passage.

Tags: science

Peak fitness hour

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:34:54 GMT

clipped by: Wadard
clipper's remarks: National Ride to Work was an unmitigated success, given that the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, pledged $30 million over five years to construct 55 kilometres of separated cycle ways.

I am yet to bite the bullet, giving in easily to my partner's argument that the 50km round trip is too far.

I will let loyal blog readers know if and when I change my mind. Anyone a cyclist? Is 50km too much to fit into an intense working day?

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

About 10,000 people pedalled in to work in Sydney during National Ride to Work Day today, Bicycle NSW's Elizabeth Hole said.

"We have contributed to less congestion on the roads today, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and first-time cyclists are every excited they can do this," she said.

Before today, more than 60,000 people nationally were expected to participate in the event.

But organisers today said as many as 75,000 had taken part.

Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore, state MPs, media personalities and police officers joined about 700 cyclists at a Ride to Work Day breakfast in the city.

The breakfast - at Hickson Road, Millers Point - was just one of many that took place as part of Ride to Work Day, which aims to encourage commuters to discover the benefits of cycling to work.

The City of Sydney was spending $30 million over five years to construct 55 kilometres of separated cycleways, Cr Moore said to strong applause from the cyclists.

Tags: global warming