Climate Vandals

The one group that above all others is blocking serious action to remediate global warming is the fossil fuel industry. It comprises coal, gas, and oil companies desperate to protect their profits, regardless of the cost to future generations, our young and yet-to-be-born, who will bear the dreadful consequences of their selfish policies. They directly influence politicians and the media with large financial contributions, as well as spending huge sums on lobbyists, … Read more

The Death of Optimism

We need a catastrophic event to drive fear into our leaders, led by an angry public demand for action. The pandemic is not it, but the encroaching breakdown of climate integrity could well be. Daily, we see around us the consequences of our failure to act, and still our leaders refuse to face up to the crisis, preferring instead to make “commitments” that lack real substance. I was born in ’41 in … Read more

Greenwash is eyewash

This article by Belinda Noble, founder of BeNoble Communications, was published by crikey.com.au on 11 January 2021. 2021 must be the year greenwashing dies Fossil fuel companies are adept at pretending to be part of the solution, when they’re actually the cause of the problem.   PROTESTERS TAKING PART IN A NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST MINING GIANT SANTOS IN DECEMBER 2020 (IMAGE: AAP/DEAN LEWINS) Early this year, scientists will put the … Read more

How many humans can Earth sustain?

“Population-dynamics science tells us two things broadly about invasive animal population trends. Typically, the population of an invasive species that moves into a new area and is freed from predation will boom — it expands beyond what is called the “carrying capacity”, and diminishes the food and resources it needs to sustain itself in the process. In the case of humans, modern medicine and technology have facilitated that boom. Things that used … Read more

Show me your climate solution

Greta Thunberg is the Swedish teenager who so dramatically made the world take notice with her candid, incisive calls for action on combatting global warming. Here is a part of Greta Thunberg’s speech that she gave to the British Parliament in April 2019: “Many people say that we don’t have any solutions to the climate crisis. And they are right. Because how could we? How do you “solve” the greatest crisis that … Read more

Extinction Rebellion

I became a member of this group not long after it was formed in the UK. At the time I thought it, like so many similar movements, might prevail on the margins of political action, but I liked its objectives and so added my name to its small list of supporters. This past week has been quite an eye-opener. The demonstrations, especially in London, by ER have raised not only the group’s … Read more

Will we survive?

When I was young our existential fear, despite the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction, was nuclear annhilation. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, this fear evaporated and for a while we enjoyed a period of relative safety. Only recently have we woken up to an even greater threat to our future wellbeing, namely that of global warming. There is no doctrine to assuage our fears this time, rather we’re faced with … Read more

Clearing of NSW native vegetation jumps 800% in three years

It took the Guardian 8 months using freedom of information laws to reveal the extent of the problem. “In 2013-14, 900 hectares was cleared in total. In 2014-15 this jumped to 2,730 hectares and by 2015-16 it had increased to 7,390 hectares.” Read the Guardian article here.

China’s taking too much fish

I saw in the news that China consumes 50% of the world’s caught fish. In economics, exploiting shared resources is called “the tragedy of the commons” and refers to the common grazing area used by a community of farmers. When they share equitably, there are no problems, but when one adds extra livestock to graze, he depletes the land available for the rest. If he continues to do that, the others get … Read more

Antarctic ice melting faster than ever

“Ice in the Antarctic is melting at a record-breaking rate and the subsequent sea rises could have catastrophic consequences for cities around the world, according to two new studies. A report led by scientists in the UK and US found the rate of melting from the Antarctic ice sheet has accelerated threefold in the last five years and is now vanishing faster than at any previously recorded time. A separate study warns … Read more