First
I’m, of course, talking about the recent bushfires. Just to recap the main talking points:
The bushfires, while bad, are nothing new because we’ve always had them.
These bushfires are not unprecedented. We’ve had worse.
They should not be politicised by talking about climate change.
They are the result of “greenie” influence and a lack of fuel reduction burns.
They are unprecedented because, in the past, we used to do fuel reduction burning.
They are not the result of climate change because a hotter climate doesn’t cause fires.
Don’t talk about climate change and try to politicise the issue.
Have we mentioned arson?
It’s all the states’ fault for not doing fuel reduction burning because that used to enable the fires to be put out before they’d got out of control.
We’ve always had droughts and fires and floods, so this is nothing new.
Of course, we believe in climate change, but, of course, some people will want more evidence before we do anything like… well, before we do anything.
Who is Matt Kean and why should we listen to someone who’s NSW Environment Minister?So in spite of the clear signals that Scott Morrison is considering that he’s prepared to change Coalition policy on climate change as long as it doesn’t involve anything which will affect jobs… In particular, his job. And so long as somebody can guarantee that this action won’t affect the Surplus, coal exports and ensure that his daughters get to ride on a unicorn, then he’s prepared to take it to the party room.
Then there’s Twiggy
Category: Climate Change
His advice came from Roskam and the IPA. Someone has told him the next election is 2 years away. (ODT)
Australia and the UK beg Iraq to allow the Coalition of the Killing to stay on to fight ISIS after Trump declared their fight has been put on hold despite Trump’s declaration of victory and news he’s now ready to cut and run. These are the world’s self-declared peacekeepers (ODT)
Boris Johnson pleads with Iraq not to kick out UK and US forces | Daily Mail Online
As bushfires rage and the demands for action on climate rise, the gas cartel is developing a suite of enormous fossil fuel projects destined to blow Australia’s commitments to the Paris Agreement to smithereens. Michael West reports on the push to frack new provinces; the propaganda and the reality.
LNP “Normal Weather” Murdochians duck for cover in their denials of Climate Change. (ODT)
via “Get out Now!” Australia’s Climate-Driven Extreme Fire Danger forces 30,000 to Evacuate
Politicising Cricket will it get anybody’s attention? (ODT)
The civil society groups’ joint statement noted that in the final hours of the summit, “it is not too late for developing countries to stand strong, to resolutely refuse the agenda of polluters.”
“From the Amazon to the Arctic, our world is on fire,” the statement read. “Allowing expansion of coal, oil and gas production at this moment of history is throwing gasoline on the fire.”
Andrew Bolt will be pissed for not being noticed alongside his boss and Alan Jones. (ODT)
Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘do-nothings’ who argue fact or fiction on climate science | The New Daily %
But despite the bulk of scientific evidence connecting drought, water shortages, heat waves and bushfires to climate change, Jones manages to consistently link these issues to claims that climate change is “a hoax”, and “there’s no evidence whatsoever to support [it]”.
Since August, Jones hasn’t interviewed any climate scientists, but he has given a platform to climate science denier Christopher Monckton, climate sceptic Peter Ridd and fossil fuel advocate Bjorn Lomborg.
He has also suggested that the government secretly wants the cattle of drought-stricken farmers to die because reduced methane emissions would help it reach its Paris target.
Doing what Big Tobacco has been doing for years (ODT)
“It gives the shrill voices someone with science credentials who they can use to support their claims about bogus science and conspiracy theories and so on.”
Dismissed by James Cook University, climate sceptic Peter Ridd sued for unfair dismissal and won. Now, he’s touring the globe, and being feted for insisting the Great Barrier Reef is fine and the science behind claims to the contrary is broken. By Max Opray.
via Peter Ridd and the climate sceptics | The Saturday Paper
Is this climate change in action?
No fire can be blamed on climate change alone, but Bowman says the rise in higher temperatures, extreme dryness, worsening fire seasons, extreme bursts of fire weather and behaviour and the spread of fire across the country all align with scenarios painted by climate change projections.
Greenhouse gas emissions have a clear impact on rising temperatures and, through that, an indirect link on increased dryness in eastern Australia. A recent study found the extreme temperatures that drove historic 2018 bushfires in northern Queensland were four times more likely to have happened because of human-caused climate change
In short, climate change can and does makes bushfires worse.
via Australia bushfires factcheck: are this year’s fires unprecedented? | Australia news | The Guardian
rather than making room for the others, and helping those floundering around in the sea, Donald Trump beats them with the oars – he unilaterally takes his country out of the Paris climate change Agreement because he thinks that doing so will damage the US economy.This ridiculous assumption is like hogging the set of waves on his surfboard while a monstrous tsunami lurks menacingly on the horizon.
Rinehart’s climate change denialism is well known, and she is reportedly and unsurprisingly amongst those voices that argue that 99% of the Fitzroy River’s water is wasted because it flows into the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Australia was experiencing catastrophic fire conditions across the Eastern seaboard. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the 11 November 2019 was the first day on record that no rain fell anywhere across the entire expanse of this vast continent. The north of Australia, like the rest of the country, is in the grip of drought.
via Water Barons: Gina Rinehart pitches cattle against sawfish – Michael West
The population, science and business are all onside but the LNP isn’t(ODT)
We have truly lost our moral compass, following get-rich-quick cults and ignoring the needs of those who do not have a chance to ‘have a go’!
We waste food while the poor in other countries – and some in our own – are starving.
We have developed a throw-away economy where manufacturers build in obsolescence.
We pollute to the point that some fresh water sources are no longer suitable for consumption.
The rate of loss of species diversity is enormous. No surprise, when we recognise that humankind is the Earth’s most dangerous predator!
The clock is ticking ever closer to Doomsday, and all the wealth, in financial terms, which a few have accumulated, will not save them forever when the air and water are polluted and the temperatures soar out of control! They might end up living lonely lives in luxurious caves!
Government funding cuts and concentration on research that brings in money has not yet quite destroyed the CSIRO. We have plenty of sources of viable plans for action.
via The clock is ticking ever closer to Doomsday – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Key points:
UN chief Antonio Guterres told Asia it is “lagging behind” and said the rollback of coal could help curb rising global temperatures
Australia is the world’s biggest coal exporter
According to the Minerals Council of Australia, most of Australia’s coal production is sold overseas, and mainly to Asia
In a statement, 350 gave the numbers:
From 20th to 27th of September, 1.4 million people took to the streets in Germany, over 1 million in Italy, over 600,000 in Canada, over 500,000 in the United States, 350,000 in Australia and another 350,000 in the United Kingdom, 195,000 in France, 170,000 in New Zealand, 150,000 in Austria, 50,000 in Ireland, 70,000 in Sweden, 42,000 in the Netherlands, 20,000 in Brazil, 21,000 in Finland, 15,000 in Peru, 13,000 in Mexico, 13,000 in India, 10,000 in Denmark, 10,000 in Turkey, 10,000 in Pakistan, 6,000 in Hungary, 5,000 in South Korea, 5,000 in Japan, 5,000 in South Africa, more than 3,500 in Chile, 3,000 in the Pacific, 2,000 in Singapore and much more, since many locations are still striking and the final count is not yet confirmed.
“The week of Global Climate Strikes is on par with the 2003 anti-Iraq war protest as one of the largest coordinated global protests in history,” 350 said.
The event comes at a dramatic crossroads for climate action. Young Americans are more worried about climate change than ever, but federal action to address the phenomenon has only been rolled back since the ascendency of President Donald Trump. Over the past two years, the White House has rolled back or eliminated dozens of the country’s key environmental laws and withdrawn the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
At the same time, scientists have been tolling warning bells loudly. Global carbon emissions — the main driver of climate change — rose to a record high in 2018, which was also the fourth hottest year on record.
via From Sydney To San Francisco, Millions Are Striking For Global Climate Action | HuffPost Australia
It only takes 30% of the population to change a governments policies. In the case of the LNP it was less than 30% of it’s members to hold policies of the moderates back,(ODT)
Despite warnings and scientific advice, our Government hasn’t budged on the issue of climate change so it’s time to strike back, writes David Ritter.
Firefighters in New South Wales and Queensland are gearing up for a week of unseasonably warm weather as they continue to battle blazes across the two states.
We let the Ramsay Center into our Universities, Abbott wanted a Climate denier control center in one who lost his Koch Bro funding, Dr Bjorn Lomborg. What funding doe Murdoch get from the Kocks of this world? (ODT)
“It is much more dangerous to be unaware of whom you’re taking money from, and what kind of politics they support,” Kellie McElhaney, a University of California, Berkeley professor, told McBride. “You sure as heck should have some core values you’re not going to compromise on,” she added.
When there is money of the magnitude that Koch Disruptive Technologies has at its disposal, you should probably bet on the money!
What’s next for Koch Industries? Will Chase Koch be setting up a pavilion at Burning Man?
via Koch Industries, Masters of Far Right-Wing Skullduggery, Target Silicon Valley | The Smirking Chimp
via 
Despite the heavy-handed presentation, if a viewer actually listens to what Ocasio-Cortez is saying, it’s quite clear she’s making a cogent and intelligent case, and understands the actual scientific evidence far better than her detractors.
Thunberg was also greeted by a wave of misogynist nastiness, largely coming from allegedly grown men in both Europe and the United States. The attacks on Thunberg were in the same vein as those on Ocasio-Cortez, accusing her of being too stupid to know what she’s talking about and denying that her voice is one worth honoring. A writer for the conservative Washington Examiner claimed that Thunberg is a victim of “child abuse” and that her mother “pimps their kid out,” explicitly drawing a line between forced sex work and climate activism.
Trump doesn’t even have a head of FEMA (ODT)
When once in 500 year events start happening several times a decade, then Something Big has Changed and they aren’t once in 500 year events any more.
Hurricane Dorian: DeSantis & Trump haven’t curbed CO2 Emissions & Should Resign
Jakarta was designed and influenced by the Dutch experts in water (ODT)
If there ever was an issue where erring on the side of caution is preferable to the alternative, it is global warming. Donald Trump, whether he and his sycophants want to acknowledge it or not, already has blood on his hands created by his racist rhetoric. Will his “grand finale” be a legacy that results in the deaths of millions?
GREED. Too many lifestyles, particularly of the wealthy, are driven not by what they can leave for the future, but how much profit they can make today; therefore, any laws that impede their greed are anathema.
And for those who believe that America’s so-called “leaders” will do what the greedy and corrupt will not: FORGET IT. In addition to Trump seeking to obliterate climate change from the nation’s, and world’s, consciousness, several rulings by America’s corrupt and politicized Supreme Court have ensured that, for decades to come, plutocrats and corporations will be able to buy and sell politicians like trading cards.
– July was the hottest month ever recorded, i.e. the hottest since about 1850 when scientific records began being kept around the world using modern thermometers. So writes Chelsea Harvey at Climate Wire via The Scientific American.
July was more than 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than the late 20th century average. That is huge. Enormous. The surface temperature of the earth includes Antarctica and the oceans (which are deep and cold). To get an average rise of a whole degree means that some places on land are 15 degrees warmer. Some places on land were already 110 F. in July, so adding any increase at all is a severe health risk to people who live there.
