The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > We'll wait 'til Arctic waters boil > Comments

We'll wait 'til Arctic waters boil : Comments

By Nicholas Gruen, published 3/2/2006

Nicholas Gruen discusses the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate meeting and global warming.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. Page 4
  6. 5
  7. All
Even the mental miget George Dubwua reckons the US has to get off it's addiction to oil.The big oils companies have almost halted the research into alternative fuel sources and Govts have similar self interests.
Much more money needs to go into solar energy.Imagine if every house was covered with solar panels.At night with the aid of batteries we could probably re-charge our cars ready for work and cool our houses by day;but hang on here,this is making the individual self sufficient.How can Govt and the multi- nationals make a quid?We can't have that!
I think the push will be towards nuclear, since we then could be charged for a service.It is very hard to shake those parasites when they're addicted to that cash cow.

Countries like Australia should be putting more effort into solar power since it is the most environmentally sound and cost effective way of providing energy.

Something for Nicholas to consider.All the fossil fuels we are burning today are a result of plants removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere millions of years ago.All we are doing is releasing it back into the atmosphere to previous concentrations.
If life survived then,perhaps it will continue to do so under much higher co2 levels.Do we dare take the chance?
Posted by Arjay, Saturday, 4 February 2006 3:26:07 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
G'Day Viewers,

It's OK...don't forget Nick works for a parochial Qld rag. Up here, we particularly value entertaining journalistic attributes such as sensationalism, superficiality and brevity; much more than say accuracy or relevance....
As touched on by other commmentators, whether we few inhabitants of Terra Nullius Australis continue in our world-record coalburning behaviour or choose to adopt an aboriginal lifestyle, the consequences will make bugger-all difference to the rest of the planet.
The answer to Nick's hypothetical question about the state of Brisbane in the event of voluntary controls on pollution is also "bugger-all difference". The vast majority of air pollution in southeast queensland is caused by gum trees after all; volatile organics while they're alive and then particulates and smoke etc from their pesky habit of spontaneous combustion.
Suppose we shouldn't be too hard on poor Nick; it must be very difficult to find anything at all worth writing about in Brisbane..

Citizens Collective for Nuclear-Powered Desalination & Irrigation of GM Crop Circles.
Posted by J. Alfred Prufrock, Sunday, 5 February 2006 6:21:10 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
JAP,

Interesting initials for a Queenslander, Hmmm!

1. Brisbane is an air pollution hell hole. I get the heebegeebies just driving though it. I don't feel Ok till I hit Caboolture. When I stop at traffic lights in Brissy, people at the kerbside look pale, gaunt and ill. There are NO environmental regs in Qld. Its a legacy of Jo that the Qld government regulates only for its big business buddies. And don't you worry about that! Why do people in Melbourne look so much healthier than Brisbane? The DIFFERENCE? It just astounds me.

2. Environmental degradation of the Australian continent has one principal thermodynamic effect. Heat from central Australia no longer does much useful work or creation of biomass as it moves with the earth's rotational air streams to the south pole. Qld cuts more trees each year than any country in the world.
The extra heat leaving Australia gets stuck in the roaring 40's and largely due to Australia this heat content is rapidly on the increase. It is sucking all the moisture out of the ground and perpetuating record droughts as it heads to the sth pole. It is MELTING the ice shelfs and throwing bloody global warming nutters into a frenzy. How about that for making a DIFFERENCE!

3. Adopt an Aboriginal lifestyle? Not quite, but Qld needs 10,000 2 acre engineered wetlands strategically placed along natural drainage pathways to retain its internal thermodynamic heat, make up for biodiversity loss and to protect the Barrier Reef from toxic farm nutters and their runoffs.
Australia needs to make its desert heat work for the country, not destroy it.

Clean up your act Queensland. You are making a VERY BIG difference to world climate.
You can no longer hide behind global warming and say that it threatens you with drought or that it is killing your reefs. For it is Queensland's lack of respect for the environment that is doing that. And You had better worry .. about THAT!
Posted by KAEP, Sunday, 5 February 2006 7:40:58 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Really, kaep, 10,000 x 2 acres (8,000ha) of engineered wetland to maintain thermal balance? Why not just put a dam on any of the Gulf rivers, (they are all in monsoon at the moment) pump it south and grow 100,000 hectares of irrigated crops and actually improve the thermal balance? If you want to "save" the Barrier Reef, build a dam to catch the silt laden monsoon floods. The main killer of coral is actually FRESH WATER. It is why the GBR stops at the mouth of the Fly river in PNG.

But that would be a common sense solution that would actually contribute while paying its own way. And as for your anti-Qld bigotry, a third of Queenslanders came from NSW & Vic over the past 2 decades. And it is they who have elected ALP State Governments for 15 of the past 17 years. And even they are starting to realise what a mistake that was. It is Beattie Labor who has destroyed the best, and free , hospital system in the country and labelled anyone complaining about their butchered loved ones as racist hillbillies.
Posted by Perseus, Sunday, 5 February 2006 11:10:30 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It is entirely possible to be against corruption in Qld, and yet be a friend to the people of that great state.

Propaganda is rife across our nation. It cements privileges for the few. Nowhere more than in Qld is this true.
No flavour of government will change it. It has been entrenched from farms and mines into local and state public services for generations.

But one thing is certain, even those with vested interests must soon take action to bring Qld in step with the rest of the world. People are WATCHING.

One way, with an excellent cost/benefit ratio, to redress Qld environmental problems is to make use of ENGINEERED Wetland Basins (EWBs) to retain thermodynamic heat.

Dams:
* sequester nutrients to dam floors, never to be seen again
* divert water MORE efficiently than ever to humans, to become polluted and to run off into coastal waters, accelerating environmental damage. Thermodynamic imbalances caused this way off coasts, where dams are present, are a significant contributor to global climate change.
* starve downstream catchment areas and ecosystems of water solely in favour of wasteful human activity.

EWB networks on the other hand have advantages:
* sequester nutrients in reeds and other biomass that can be spread around as total catchment fertilisers.
* keep all sections of a catchment moist and productive.
* retain thermodynamic heat that can do more work in the environment and in human habitats. This prevents drought, migration of moisture to coastal seas. It promotes more regular precipitation over farms and towns.
* can be designed to favour native plants and animals over introduced species like toads.

This paper http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-a/40/i02/html/011506news2.html, shows the benefits of EWBs for Arizona which is arid like much of Qld. Wildlife in some wetlands will evolve to hardier species, but this will be to the benefit of species below those wetlands in the catchment network. EWBs act as barriers. Although appearing negative, this is an important issue and is very useful to bring out in early EWB discussions.
Posted by KAEP, Sunday, 5 February 2006 2:00:25 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Great suggestions guys - wetlands and dams and what not. Pity the sun is the main driver of climate change.....and unless man changes earths orbit there is not much we can do about it. Just think in 100 million years time the expanding sun causes temperatures to rise and creates world wide deserts and slowly the seas boil away and eventually the atmosphere is stripped away before the expanding sun devours the earth. Maybe after 500 million years. But that's all theory. I just hope the current spike in Sun activity is not a prelude to something "hotter". I mean with Mars polar caps dissappearing and other planets showing some signs of a more active sun. Maybe we are stuffed any way.
Posted by The Big Fish, Sunday, 5 February 2006 7:11:07 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. Page 4
  6. 5
  7. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy