Mounting Hysteria and Millennial Madness
*
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/08/1073437407148.html
The "scientific" prediction that 1 million of the Earth's animal and plant species could be extinct by 2050 (News, 8/1) is ridiculous.
So far, no climate computer model has even come close to mimicking physical reality.
Climate is poorly understood, and almost impossible to model.
The models that do exist tend to reflect the bias of the scientists trying to "prove" their belief in global warming.
Predictions based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have already been shown by ample scholarly publications to stem from poor science, data-rigging and incompetent economic modelling.
If one looks at the geological and fossil record, more than 97 per cent of all species ever to have existed on the planet are now extinct, but we have not the slightest clue why. Nor do we know how new species appear. Extinctions we do know about - such as the dodo and the New Zealand moa - did not occur because of climate change.
The computer model used in the Nature paper is not based on observed fact but imaginative constructs and scenarios, and it will produce wildly inaccurate scenarios.
Life tends to be ubiquitous on Earth and changes its form to new forms, which are compatible with a particular environment.
We have had far warmer periods in the recent past, around 1000 AD, but no millions of species died out then.
So if the Earth's climate swings from cool to warm, as it has in the past, why would we then expect millions of species to die out in the next warming cycle?
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
A complete list of things caused by global warming
Acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa in conflict, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, Agulhas current moves, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic ice melt faster, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, barbarisation, beer shortage, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird loss accelerating, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blackbirds threatened, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, cataracts, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conferences, conflict, conflict with Russia, consumers foot the bill, coral bleaching, coral fish suffer, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , coral reefs twilight, cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilisation threatened, creatures move uphill, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, curriculum change, cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, earthquakes redux, El Niño intensification, end of the world as we know it, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, gorillas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches, tropical insects) experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers benefit, farmers go under, farm output boost, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, great tits cope, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, human health risk, human race oblivion, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hurricanes fewer, hurricanes not, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, ice shelf collapse, illness and death, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, insurance premium rises, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, Kew Gardens taxed, kidney stones, killer cornflakes, killing us, kitten boom, koalas under threat, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lives saved, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, Malaria, mammoth dung melt, mango harvest fails, Maple production advanced, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Meaching (end of the world), Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), migratory birds huge losses, microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more research needed, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains green and flowering, mountains melting, mountains taller, mortality lower, Myanmar cyclone, narwhals at risk, National security implications, native wildlife overwhelmed, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, plants move uphill, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, polar tours scrapped, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, rooftop bars, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, sex change, sexual promiscuity, shark attacks, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, snowfall reduction, soaring food prices, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spectacular orchids, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, stingray invasion, storms wetter, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, subsidence, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, Tabasco tragedy, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tomatoes rot, tornado outbreak, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, traffic jams, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed,, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK coastal impact, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, war, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, wasps, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, whales wiped out, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine - England too hot, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , wine passé (Napa), wine stronger, winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World at war, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.
He was working on the night of the Y2K bug, the night the planes were going to fall out of the sky, the airports stop working, the web shut down. The night we were all going to die and civilisation would be left in a smouldering ruin. Millennium madness, in the form of climate change hysteria, has seized the nation, aided and abetted by politicians. And sadly, aided and abetted by academics. It's easy to be left in an ivory tower. I want to believe, he thought, mimicking the coming X Files movie. But in truth he didn't want to believe, he didn't want to be that gullible all over again.
He had grown up in a millennial household, where the world was going to end in 1972. It did no such thing and instead, unexpectedly, we all grew old. The chaos that was predicted never came. The dark insanity that was to stalk our days never arrived. Those frightening winds thrashing through the trees, those dark angels and the liquid fear that was to dissolve our streets, despite all the signs and portents none of it ever came. He had stood in the newspaper office as the clock ticked down to midnight in the year 2000; and astonishingly, as the hand ticked past 12, nothing happened. Hesitantly a few began to clap, someone made an attempt at Auld Lang Syne.
The hand clicked past 12 and the lights didn't even flicker. The building didn't grunt as the generator kicked in. They looked out the window and the lights of the city remained exactly the same. They weren't dropping out one by one, pin points of light disappearing into darkness. They scanned the wires for disasters, there weren't any. For a start, the wires themselves continued to function, the computers appeared to have no trouble realising it had become a new day, indeed a new millennium. Planes were not falling out of the sky. All was not lost.
They scanned the wires urgently, not realising, strangely, that it wasn't midnight of the new millennium anywhere else in the world. Floods continued to devastate Bangladesh. The Americans continued to commit weird and atrocious crimes. The Europeans slept. All was not lost, and indeed in his own psyche here was yet another opportunity for a fresh start, a new beginning in a long list of new beginnings which were bound to cause alarm when he finally had to face his old, crumbling self.
There's a new millennial fever, a new Y2K bug, afoot in the nation. Climate change has become the new religion, and "Professor" Garnaut has just attempted to write the bible, based on "illustrative scenarios" and a fine wreckage of common sense. All cynicism has been abandoned. Belief is mandatory. Anyone who disagrees is a fool. The parade of nonsense reaches deeper and deeper into the hearts our suburbs, deeper and deeper into our daily lives. The boffins manufacture an industry of their own.
Garnaut has recommended a hundred billion dollars worth of research be conducted. If that's not an industry nothing is. He has been cornered and delinquent and fading away into holiday mode. He was scuttling into corners and seeking relief. He was hopelessly desperate for another take at life. He wanted his conscience to be clear, to have written his way into a kind of sainthood, soul cleared, conscience cleansed. Do good be good. He was profoundly grateful for a second chance at life. He was going to escape a manufactured hell. He wanted relief, compassion time, space away from the keyboards and the demands of a writing life. What are you doing for your holidays? people ask. Heading bush, he replies. Where? they ask. Where no one can find me.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/emissions-trading-delay-secondbest-option/2008/07/04/1214951042672.html
THE Rudd Government could soften the political effect of an emissions trading scheme by delaying its full implementation for two years, under an option contained in the Garnaut report.
The option, which the report calls a "legitimate second-best case", would delay until 2013 the unconstrained trading of carbon permits that would cause the main increases in fuel and energy prices.
Under this option, carbon permits would be sold at a low, fixed price between 2010 and 2012 and Australia's current Kyoto target be kept as the short-term emissions reduction target.
But the report's author, Professor Ross Garnaut, said it would be best to start the full scheme in 2010, an election year.
He also said it stood its best chance of political success if there were broad community support and bipartisan political support.
But the Opposition yesterday called on the Government to delay the scheme for at least a year and disagreed with Professor Garnaut who said there should be no direct compensation for increased petrol prices.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23972342-2,00.html
FIGHTING "insidious" climate change will batter the budgets of low-income families, the Government's emissions control expert Ross Garnaut conceded yesterday.
An Emissions Trading Scheme, which made carbon polluting products such as petrol and electricity more expensive, would add to household bills and be regressive.
But Dr Garnaut, an economist, said the cost to families would be much greater if there was no attempt to mitigate climate change.
Jobs would be lost and changing weather patterns would destroy national symbols such as the Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park and the Murray-Darling Basin.
The draft report outlined preliminary modelling of what would happen if action were not taken.
It said that "middle-of-the-road impacts" would see national output - or GDP - cut 4.8 per cent by the end of the century, a fall of more than $400 billion a year.
Wages would fall by 7.8 per cent and our spending would drop by 5.4 per cent.
Dr Garnaut urged half the revenue from an ETS - from $3 billion to $10 billion - be spent on helping households suffering from a carbon consumption penalty.
"We have much to contribute and much to lose as we face the diabolical policy challenge of climate change," he said.
MEDIA ADVISORY - Macarthur Interagency Task Force
2008-07-04 06:01:50
Campbelltown Local Area Commander, Superintendent Stuart Smith, Chair of
the Macarthur Interagency Task Force, will today announce major action
to improve social harmony in the Rosemeadow / Ambarvale area.
The Task Force was formed to address public disorder issues identified
at the 3M's, an area at Rosemeadow including Malcolm Way, Macduff Way
and McBeth Way, by Operation Tinaroo. That included large-scale public
disorder, assaults, and missile attacks upon emergency services and bus
services. Operation Tinaroo included a comprehensive crime audit of the
area.
It includes Campbelltown Police, New South Wales Fire Brigades,
Ambulance, Housing NSW, Campbelltown City Council and Department of
Premier and Cabinet. To further broaden the group's scope, the
Department of Education, Department of Community Services, and
Department of Health have been invited to participate.
WHEN: 11am TODAY (Friday 4 July 2008)
WHERE: Campbelltown Police Station
Old Sydney
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/08/1073437407148.html
The "scientific" prediction that 1 million of the Earth's animal and plant species could be extinct by 2050 (News, 8/1) is ridiculous.
So far, no climate computer model has even come close to mimicking physical reality.
Climate is poorly understood, and almost impossible to model.
The models that do exist tend to reflect the bias of the scientists trying to "prove" their belief in global warming.
Predictions based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have already been shown by ample scholarly publications to stem from poor science, data-rigging and incompetent economic modelling.
If one looks at the geological and fossil record, more than 97 per cent of all species ever to have existed on the planet are now extinct, but we have not the slightest clue why. Nor do we know how new species appear. Extinctions we do know about - such as the dodo and the New Zealand moa - did not occur because of climate change.
The computer model used in the Nature paper is not based on observed fact but imaginative constructs and scenarios, and it will produce wildly inaccurate scenarios.
Life tends to be ubiquitous on Earth and changes its form to new forms, which are compatible with a particular environment.
We have had far warmer periods in the recent past, around 1000 AD, but no millions of species died out then.
So if the Earth's climate swings from cool to warm, as it has in the past, why would we then expect millions of species to die out in the next warming cycle?
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
A complete list of things caused by global warming
Acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa in conflict, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, Agulhas current moves, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic ice melt faster, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, barbarisation, beer shortage, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird loss accelerating, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blackbirds threatened, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, cataracts, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conferences, conflict, conflict with Russia, consumers foot the bill, coral bleaching, coral fish suffer, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , coral reefs twilight, cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilisation threatened, creatures move uphill, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, curriculum change, cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, earthquakes redux, El Niño intensification, end of the world as we know it, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, gorillas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches, tropical insects) experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers benefit, farmers go under, farm output boost, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, great tits cope, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, human health risk, human race oblivion, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hurricanes fewer, hurricanes not, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, ice shelf collapse, illness and death, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, insurance premium rises, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, Kew Gardens taxed, kidney stones, killer cornflakes, killing us, kitten boom, koalas under threat, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lives saved, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, Malaria, mammoth dung melt, mango harvest fails, Maple production advanced, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Meaching (end of the world), Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), migratory birds huge losses, microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more research needed, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains green and flowering, mountains melting, mountains taller, mortality lower, Myanmar cyclone, narwhals at risk, National security implications, native wildlife overwhelmed, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, plants move uphill, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, polar tours scrapped, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, rooftop bars, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, sex change, sexual promiscuity, shark attacks, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, snowfall reduction, soaring food prices, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spectacular orchids, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, stingray invasion, storms wetter, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, subsidence, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, Tabasco tragedy, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tomatoes rot, tornado outbreak, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, traffic jams, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed,, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK coastal impact, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, war, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, wasps, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, whales wiped out, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine - England too hot, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , wine passé (Napa), wine stronger, winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World at war, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.
He was working on the night of the Y2K bug, the night the planes were going to fall out of the sky, the airports stop working, the web shut down. The night we were all going to die and civilisation would be left in a smouldering ruin. Millennium madness, in the form of climate change hysteria, has seized the nation, aided and abetted by politicians. And sadly, aided and abetted by academics. It's easy to be left in an ivory tower. I want to believe, he thought, mimicking the coming X Files movie. But in truth he didn't want to believe, he didn't want to be that gullible all over again.
He had grown up in a millennial household, where the world was going to end in 1972. It did no such thing and instead, unexpectedly, we all grew old. The chaos that was predicted never came. The dark insanity that was to stalk our days never arrived. Those frightening winds thrashing through the trees, those dark angels and the liquid fear that was to dissolve our streets, despite all the signs and portents none of it ever came. He had stood in the newspaper office as the clock ticked down to midnight in the year 2000; and astonishingly, as the hand ticked past 12, nothing happened. Hesitantly a few began to clap, someone made an attempt at Auld Lang Syne.
The hand clicked past 12 and the lights didn't even flicker. The building didn't grunt as the generator kicked in. They looked out the window and the lights of the city remained exactly the same. They weren't dropping out one by one, pin points of light disappearing into darkness. They scanned the wires for disasters, there weren't any. For a start, the wires themselves continued to function, the computers appeared to have no trouble realising it had become a new day, indeed a new millennium. Planes were not falling out of the sky. All was not lost.
They scanned the wires urgently, not realising, strangely, that it wasn't midnight of the new millennium anywhere else in the world. Floods continued to devastate Bangladesh. The Americans continued to commit weird and atrocious crimes. The Europeans slept. All was not lost, and indeed in his own psyche here was yet another opportunity for a fresh start, a new beginning in a long list of new beginnings which were bound to cause alarm when he finally had to face his old, crumbling self.
There's a new millennial fever, a new Y2K bug, afoot in the nation. Climate change has become the new religion, and "Professor" Garnaut has just attempted to write the bible, based on "illustrative scenarios" and a fine wreckage of common sense. All cynicism has been abandoned. Belief is mandatory. Anyone who disagrees is a fool. The parade of nonsense reaches deeper and deeper into the hearts our suburbs, deeper and deeper into our daily lives. The boffins manufacture an industry of their own.
Garnaut has recommended a hundred billion dollars worth of research be conducted. If that's not an industry nothing is. He has been cornered and delinquent and fading away into holiday mode. He was scuttling into corners and seeking relief. He was hopelessly desperate for another take at life. He wanted his conscience to be clear, to have written his way into a kind of sainthood, soul cleared, conscience cleansed. Do good be good. He was profoundly grateful for a second chance at life. He was going to escape a manufactured hell. He wanted relief, compassion time, space away from the keyboards and the demands of a writing life. What are you doing for your holidays? people ask. Heading bush, he replies. Where? they ask. Where no one can find me.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/emissions-trading-delay-secondbest-option/2008/07/04/1214951042672.html
THE Rudd Government could soften the political effect of an emissions trading scheme by delaying its full implementation for two years, under an option contained in the Garnaut report.
The option, which the report calls a "legitimate second-best case", would delay until 2013 the unconstrained trading of carbon permits that would cause the main increases in fuel and energy prices.
Under this option, carbon permits would be sold at a low, fixed price between 2010 and 2012 and Australia's current Kyoto target be kept as the short-term emissions reduction target.
But the report's author, Professor Ross Garnaut, said it would be best to start the full scheme in 2010, an election year.
He also said it stood its best chance of political success if there were broad community support and bipartisan political support.
But the Opposition yesterday called on the Government to delay the scheme for at least a year and disagreed with Professor Garnaut who said there should be no direct compensation for increased petrol prices.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23972342-2,00.html
FIGHTING "insidious" climate change will batter the budgets of low-income families, the Government's emissions control expert Ross Garnaut conceded yesterday.
An Emissions Trading Scheme, which made carbon polluting products such as petrol and electricity more expensive, would add to household bills and be regressive.
But Dr Garnaut, an economist, said the cost to families would be much greater if there was no attempt to mitigate climate change.
Jobs would be lost and changing weather patterns would destroy national symbols such as the Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park and the Murray-Darling Basin.
The draft report outlined preliminary modelling of what would happen if action were not taken.
It said that "middle-of-the-road impacts" would see national output - or GDP - cut 4.8 per cent by the end of the century, a fall of more than $400 billion a year.
Wages would fall by 7.8 per cent and our spending would drop by 5.4 per cent.
Dr Garnaut urged half the revenue from an ETS - from $3 billion to $10 billion - be spent on helping households suffering from a carbon consumption penalty.
"We have much to contribute and much to lose as we face the diabolical policy challenge of climate change," he said.
MEDIA ADVISORY - Macarthur Interagency Task Force
2008-07-04 06:01:50
Campbelltown Local Area Commander, Superintendent Stuart Smith, Chair of
the Macarthur Interagency Task Force, will today announce major action
to improve social harmony in the Rosemeadow / Ambarvale area.
The Task Force was formed to address public disorder issues identified
at the 3M's, an area at Rosemeadow including Malcolm Way, Macduff Way
and McBeth Way, by Operation Tinaroo. That included large-scale public
disorder, assaults, and missile attacks upon emergency services and bus
services. Operation Tinaroo included a comprehensive crime audit of the
area.
It includes Campbelltown Police, New South Wales Fire Brigades,
Ambulance, Housing NSW, Campbelltown City Council and Department of
Premier and Cabinet. To further broaden the group's scope, the
Department of Education, Department of Community Services, and
Department of Health have been invited to participate.
WHEN: 11am TODAY (Friday 4 July 2008)
WHERE: Campbelltown Police Station
Old Sydney
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