When will these skeptics let up?

The ABC plans to broadcast "The Great Global Warming Swindle" today (12th July). Directed by Martin Durkin, (who, interestingly, also directed a 1998 documentary arguing that silicone breast implants are beneficial to women's health), it presents the assertions of a bunch of well-known climate change skeptics that global warming is not significant and not due to human activity. Skeptics have been derailing the progress of reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gasses for long enough and I am adverse to giving them any more attention, but the screening of this program may stimulate some public discussion. In anticipation of this, the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) has put together a collection of websites that address the claims made in the program and critically evaluates the scientific merit of those claims.

Cattle are responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions - they are a bigger emitter than cars, planes and all other forms of transport combined! Choosing to eat less beef, or to maintain a bovine boycott altogether is an easy way we can help the planet. But we all know how difficult kids (and husbands) can be when introducing them to new foods. I reckon that the best way to get your family eating climate friendly food is to find a vege-o version of a family favourite...

[Go back in time and read Marie's first bokashi blog post here...]

IT'S THE END of the first week of the bokashi trail in my two-adults-3-kids household and the 20 litre bin is already full. Okay, time to consult the instructions. "Once the bin is filled, you can bury the fermented organic matter in the garden as fertilizer, or if you have another bin, you can leave the full one to ferment for a further 10-14 days ...". Aaargh! I wasn't mentally prepared for physical labor this early in the piece - although we built vegie garden beds back in November last year, I don't actually have garden in them as yet! (Unless oxalis counts as garden?) I think I will let the organic matter in the bin ferment a little longer and put off burying the compost - but what am I going to do with my kitchen wastes until I get around to emptying the bin ?

... that sound economic management is all about foresight and experience. The federal government is showing a complete lack of foresight on the issue of climate change however, with revelations that the federal government has done NO economic modelling of the repercussions of climate change for Australia AND no economic modelling of their proposed emission trading scheme.

My six-year-old daughter's complaining and whining is always met by the same response from me - "What do girls who complain get? Nothing." It's quite effective at getting her to stop whingeing, but guess what - I've discovered that it's not true! My recent rant about how much I hate composting has landed me a brand new bokashi bin courtesy of the good people at Todae!

According to a report released yesterday, the Southern Ocean has absorbed so much carbon dioxide that it can't absorb any more. This situation wasn't expected to occur till 2050.

From Planet Ark - News Corp. to be "Carbon Neutral" by 2010

I woke up this weekend to find that sometime during the night I had been sucked through a time warp and transported back 50 years or so. I mean the cold war is back on, and both sides of politics in Australia seem to be adopting some fifties mindset that nuclear is the way forward, with the Labour party voting to overtun its long-held three-mines policy, which sought to limit the mining of uranium in Australia, and John Howard's unveiling of his vision for an Australian nuclear industry.

I know that the decay of household wastes in landfill produces greenhouse gas emissions. If I want to do something about my personal contribution to climate change, I know I need to reduce household waste by buying smarter, recycling and composting, but I have a confession to make …

Respected climate scientist; or spin-doctor with an agenda?

Last week saw the publication of a booklet entitled "Nine Facts about Climate Change" by Ray Evans. He argues that global warming is a "scam", "arguably, the most extraordinary example of scientific fraud in the post-War period". Before we even read what he has to say, lets stop and ask - Who is this man, Ray Evans?*