"'Two men looked through prison bars - one saw mud, the other, stars'. Wish I knew who wrote that."

It was Oscar Wilde, John. He also wrote, "The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

Wilde would have had a field day with the modern AGW crowd, who know the price or value of neither, but they will to their, and our, great cost.

I have no problems with the notion that we have some very severe environmental problems resulting from the way we have, and in some cases, still do, manage our farming systems, particularly in regard to overgrazing, land clearances, sustainability, water storage and delivery, etc. I do have a problem with the author’s rhetoric though.

"Australia, say the scientists, is in a "dust age"" – which scientists, Julian? What is the period of this "age"? Does it include the very wet 1970s, or does it include the 5,000-year history of iron oxide rich "dust" derived from the eastern arid lands on the Tasman seabed floor, which includes 4,850 years without any impact from European-style farming practices? Most of the dust was sourced from unconsolidated sediments washed down by monsoonal-derived rains into the lower Lake Eyre and Darling River basins.

"These compel many of them to take unwise decisions to overstock or overcrop, and when the drought comes, the country blows". A prejudiced stereotypic opinion that is only partly true. Julian, take a look at the NASA satellite image of the dust storm. The point sources of dust are very clear and less than 15% are derived from cropping lands - those lands would most likely be fallow and not overcropped. The remainder of the point sources are located in outback rangelands or wilderness country. In the fortnight before the dust storm I travelled over 5,000km through this country, passing by or through over 200 grazing properties. Of those 200 or so I saw only three that could be described as degraded or severely degraded; many of the properties had been destocked because of the prior drought and were now showing signs of good recovery after last summer and autumn's rains. Of those properties with reduced stock – of those I saw all (bar one property) the stock was in excellent condition and the land cover in good health given the length of the drought.

"The scientists I speak to say there is a clear link between human CO2 emissions and large-scale weather patterns like El Niño . . ." continued

– again, which scientists Julian, or don't they wish to be named. I know, and I suspect you do too, that the real causes of the problems of which you speak about the loss of dwindling farming lands is in fact a result of ignorance of the processes of natural systems as well as the lack of stewardship in sustaining farming lands resulting from, in part, absentee landlordism as well as the economic pressures of which you speak. Yet, as a science communicator you fail to mention just what this clear link is between human CO2 emissions and large scale weather patterns. You need to explain how reducing human CO2 emissions (the biggest reduction I can find after years of research is that if a globally applied ETS actually works it will reduce CO2 levels by "several" ppm). Just how does reducing CO2 by "several" ppm going to change anything Julian, or do you have some unreferenced knowledge that it will be much greater than "several"? Either way, good stewardship, adaptation and greater efficiency seem to better options in the reality that is the physical world.

"Now I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad here . . . there are no "quick fixes" other than for humanity to moderate its diet." Yes you were, and you will no doubt moderate your diet by leading by example. While your meat consumption is relatively easy to reduce or eliminate I cannot see how you, or those people we export to, will get by without our cropped farm produce. As for "no quick fixes" there are plenty - visit any landcare or farming group and just see what has been achieved by these farmers and stakeholders in just the last decade or less (even during a severe drought): natural regeneration; reduced soil salinities; alley farming; tree planting; wind breaks; no-till farming; stubble retention; gully restoration; bore tapping; water pipelines, etc. There is still a long way to go of course and it is not helped by your unsubstantiated and prejudicial commentary.

I wonder what the atmospheric carbon levels were 70 years ago when we had the last dust storm of this size?

Since the last comparable dust storm 70 years ago occurred without the benefit of all the climate change problems pointed out by the current crop of ideologues, I have a very hard time understanding the correlation between climate change and dust storms.

Is the implication here that Mars underwent climate change? If so, when and who caused it? If no one caused it could it have been a natural phenomena?

I don't argue with the idea that we really need to be doing something about all the pollution coming from the smoke stacks of our coal plants and cars but Julian, lumping any atmospheric anomaly under the heading of "caused by climate change" really destroys your credibility .

I wondered how long it would be before someone popped up crying "it's Global Warming, beware, beware!"

The Bureau of Meteorology records show that in recent years, Sydney was also affected by dust storms in April 1994, September 1968, December 1957, January 1942 and October 2002. The 1942 storm reduced visibility at Sydney airport to 500 metres, according to the BoM web site.

They also point out that these phenomena are not isolated incidents, nor are they unique to the 21st century and its fixation with AGW

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/c20thc/storm5.shtml

"In some towns, "balls of fire" were reported. At Boort in central Victoria they reportedly fell into paddocks and streets, with showers of sparks as they struck the ground. In Chiltern and Deniliquin the balls were blamed for setting fire to buildings. A possible explanation is that fast-moving blowing dust particles generated static electricity, which ignited organic matter carried along with the dust. The experience must have been truly frightening: the sky a lurid red, a hot gale blowing, dust thick enough for almost total darkness, and balls of fire to add to the terror."

It doesn't bear thinking, how the AGW fear-mongers would treat similar events today. They'd generate enough panic to bring down the government.

Our forebears seem to have handled the whole thing with considerably greater aplomb.

http://www.ernmphotography.com/Pages/Ball_Lightning/Nov1902Pages/NewsClip1.html

Eventually, it will have to dawn on us that a changing climate is a normal part of our life, and the clear choice is to adapt to each change, rather than pretend we can control it.

Last time I looked, we couldn't predict accurately whether it will rain next Saturday.

Especially in the cricket season.

Julian,
the comments about carbon appear to be very unscientific.

if they are your comments, I wonder what sort of people you have been associating with since your time in Western Australia?

regards

Ron Manners www.mannkal.org