Minister for Hot Air
Angus Taylor’s handling of the latest emissions data is a lesson in spinThe emissions report was eventually released to the general public yesterday, and Taylor appeared on RN Breakfast this morning to continue making the case that up was down and down was up when it comes to Australia’s emissions. Furthermore, what was important, he said, was that the LNG and coal industries were creating jobs and investment opportunities.
Taylor, like his Coalition colleagues, is happy to count the earnings from resource companies, but refuses to calculate the cost of rising emissions and the effects of climate change on every other sector of the economy. The minister for energy and emissions reduction has a long history of promoting fossil-fuel industries and opposing support for renewables. He also has an ongoing scepticism of emissions reduction schemes generally, which, to be blunt, is probably why he was appointed to his current role.
MURDOCHIAN SPIN
Here’s the first paragraph, published in yesterday’s paper: “Australia is not given sufficient credit internationally for the carbon dioxide savings it helps other nations achieve, Energy Minister Angus Taylor says.”
Only in the fifth paragraph did Lloyd mention that Australia’s emissions were “0.8 per cent higher than the previous quarter and 0.7 per cent higher than last year”.
Angus Taylor’s claim LNG exports reduce global emissions ‘likely wrong’ – climate expert
Bill Hare says claim by emissions reduction minister is ‘grossly exaggerated’
Back to the future dirty power and profit fucks Atmosphere, Health, biodiversity the enviroment and the long term future of the planet left for the next generations. All for the sake of a few cents the rich can’t take with them anyway. (ODT
Trump Administration Hardens Its Attack on Climate Science – The New York Times
‘this trial was about none of the above. Rather, this trial was purely and simply about the proper construction of a clause in an Enterprise Agreement.’
JCU has been at pains to point out that Ridd “was never gagged or silenced about his scientific views,” a matter that, Cocklin said, “was admitted during the court hearing.”
Why did Andrew Bolt say he knew more on Climate than this man (ODT)
David Attenborough Gives Stark Warning in New BBC Climate Change Special – EcoWatch
Humanity survived the cold war because no one pushed the button. On climate change, the button has been pushed again and again
A major scientific report issued by 13 federal agencies on Friday presents the starkest warnings to date of the consequences of climate change for the United States, predicting that if significant steps are not taken to rein in global warming, the damage will knock as much as 10 percent off the size of the American economy by century’s end.
The report, which was mandated by Congress and made public by the White House, is notable not only for the precision of its calculations and bluntness of its conclusions, but also because its findings are directly at odds with President Trump’s agenda of environmental deregulation, which he asserts will spur economic growth?
In terms of the consequences of climate change, lets have a look at what’s on the cards:
via Our uncertain future – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Researchers said the flood run-off, which likely included nitrogen and pesticide chemicals, were flowing as far as outer-shelf reefs 60 kilometres from the Queensland coast, piling pressure on coral already stressed by an unprecedented run of recent mass bleaching events.
What deniers like Andrew Bolt and Tony Abbott call “normal” (ODT)
The Coalition has no choice but to try and fix the self-created disaster that is its climate policy
White House’s Comic No 2 the Press Secretary (ODT)
Our only hope is to stop exploiting the earth—and its people.
via To Those Who Think We Can Reform Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis | The Nation
Andrew Bolt ( swinger no longer a denier) of climate change that is, reminds us that one day doesn’t prove man made climate change isn’t a religion but one cold day does. Every summer Australia’s self professed and News Corp ordained opinionator goes into hiding until it gets cooler. (ODT)
The Kimberley region of Western Australia is the one location that could break heat records on Christmas Day, with the town of Fitzroy Crossing expecting a maximum of 47C, breaking the previous annual record of 46.5C, which was set earlier this month.
Inland areas of South Australia will have temperatures in the low-to-mid 40s and Adelaide is forecast to reach 41C on Thursday.
Parts of Victoria are forecast to reach temperatures above 40C towards the end of the week, with Mildura in the state’s north-west expecting a top of 46C on Sunday.
Problem Trump is finding less sympathy in the US among the States. Why is Australia the 52nd State of America? (ODT)
Trump administration officials at high-stakes climate talks offered an unapologetic defence of fossil fuels on Monday, arguing that a rapid retreat from coal, oil and gas was unrealistic.
While that stance brought scorn from environmentalists and countries that favour stronger action to fight global warming, there are signs that the administration is finding a receptive audience among other major fossil-fuel producers, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
via Trump’s climate adviser sparked protests, but he found a receptive audience in Australia
– 1 degree –
Earth’s average surface temperature from January to October 2018 was one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1850-1900 baseline.
Long-term warming is caused by the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) cast off when fossil fuels are burned to produce energy.
Seventeen of the hottest years on record have occurred since the start of the 21st century, with 2018 ranking as the 4th warmest.
– 405.5 ppm –
The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reached 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, the highest in at least three million years and a 45 percent jump since the preindustrial era.
The last time CO2 was at that level, oceans were 10-20 metres higher.
via Earth’s Failing Climate Grade: 2x Extreme Weather Events, 100x Animal Extinctions
Tony Abbott was called the “Pivot of the Pacific” he turned his back because he thought he’d rather be the “Pillock” and was an excellent one.(ODT)
The big question of climate change is no longer why it’s happening (humans have a wild fossil-fuel-burning habit) nor when it’s going to happen (it is happening). These days, it’s how are we going to build a civilization that can survive climate change—and how can we adapt in a way that doesn’t leave out whole segments of the population.
Leaders of the Group of 20 agreed Saturday to fix the world trading system after difficult, all-night talks in the Argentine capital, but only 19 of them agreed to support the Paris accord on fighting climate change with the United States the lone holdout.
via G-20 Nations Agree On Trade, Migration; Trump Lone Holdout On Climate Change | HuffPost
Trump officials are minimizing warnings from scientists by arguing they are exaggerated and based on the worst-case scenario. They say the National Climate Assessment (NCA) – an expansive federal government report on the dangers of climate change in the US – considers only the highest possible levels of greenhouse gas emissions.“If you take the extreme case, you’re right, it’s dire,” Trump’s interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, said on Fox News. “If you take the best case, it’s not much.”
Of Zinke’s comments, Pennsylvania University climate scientist Michael Mann said “there is no truth to [them] whatsoever”. He added: “The report looked at an extremely wide range of scenarios.
Global temperatures in 2018 are set to be the fourth highest on record, the UN said Thursday, stressing the urgent need for action to rein in runaway warming of the planet.
In a report released ahead of the COP 24 climate summit in Poland, the World Meteorological Organization pointed out that the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, and that “2018 is on course to be the 4th warmest year on record.”
“This would mean that the past four years – 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 – are also the four warmest years in the series,” the UN agency said in its provisional report on the state of the climate this year.
The “warming trend is obvious and continuing,” WMO chief Petteri Taalas told reporters in Geneva.
The report shows that the global average temperature for the first 10 months of the year was nearly 1.0-degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900).
via The Last Generation: 2018 and 3 Previous Years are 4 Hottest on Record
This is despite the fact that, its then-editor, Chris Mitchell, said eight years ago: “for several years the paper has accepted man-made climate change as fact”.
But last week, the paper gave columnist Michael Asten more than 400 square centimetres, for an article of well over 900 words, to argue there are massive divisions about the science.
To be fair, he probably did not write the headline:
And why does The Australian continue to publish articles designed to raise doubts about anthropogenic climate change and the urgent need to tackle it when it does not provide similar support for tobacco lobbyists and flat-earthers?
It panders to the ridiculous right of the Liberal Party, typified by Tony Abbott and to the companies with a financial stake in climate change denial who donate to the Institute of Public Affairs.
via The Australian’s continued support of climate change denialism
“The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn’t sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already.”
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday just moments after President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser and noted Wall Street stooge Larry Kudlow dismissed a new United Nations climate report showing that the world must cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 to avert global catastrophe, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) denounced the White House for its “dangerous” rejection of climate science and slammed Trump for working hand-in-hand with Big Oil to make “a bad situation worse.”
So, there we have it, the UN the IPCC and the scientists who have prepared 6,000 research papers, on the subject, are urging action on climate change. We have been told that we need to remove extreme right-wing governments to be replaced by more progressive thinking governments prepared to take up the challenge.
The solution then for this new government and, mechanism to gain across the board public support, would be a positive response. This aims at atmospheric Co2 management including, in particular, carbon capture at point of emission, removing Co2 from the atmosphere, reforestation, incentive-based emission reduction guidelines, electricity storage and support for alternative energy.
This has been promised by the Labor if they win the next election. Both government and big business need to take affirmative action on behalf of each and every one of us. If the fossil fuel industry wishes to survive they need to participate and work towards reducing or eliminating their carbon footprint.
via On climate change, ‘we will adapt’: LNP – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The IPCC issued its bleakest report yet this week, saying that without drastic changes, the world doesn’t have a hope of avoiding uncontrollable climate change.
Unless emissions are halved within 12 years and virtually eliminated by 2050, temperature increases will likely exceed 2 degrees Celsius.
Beyond 2 degrees, scientists predict temperature increases may spiral as the climate breaches a series of unique tipping points, such as the melting of the permafrost.
The top culprit is fossil fuels, and the instructions to Australia and the rest of the world are clear: Quit coal by 2050.
Mensa Master Price doesn’t need to study or peer review any reports by the world’s foremost science experts on the matter. She’s a Liberal MP (ODT)
Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price has argued some of the world’s leading climate scientists are “drawing a long bow” in calling for an end to coal power in a bid to limit global warming.
truth
Whoever wins the next election is going to face a monumental task to reduce our emissions in order to tackle the existential threat posed by climate change.
In one way, it would serve Scott Morrison right to have to face the consequences of his lies. But the country cannot afford someone who thinks prayer is the answer to the drought.
Our Prime Minister, the man charged with making the decisions on how to keep us safe, is a bald-faced liar.
via Cantering towards destruction – » The Australian Independent Media Network
“It’s the biggest peer-review exercise there is,” says Jonathan Lynn, head of communications for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It involves hundreds or even thousands of people looking at it.”
It must not only tell governments what we know about climate change – but how close they have brought us to the edge. And by implication, how much those governments are failing to live up to their goals for the planet, set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
via Climate scientists are struggling to find the right words for very bad news
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