Leaders of the AUKUS nations, all once pronouncing ambition on addressing the climate crisis and lording the mantle of global leadership, are now each in turn forgoing their international commitments, carving out excuses and worse. AUKUS, the recent defence agreement between Australia, the UK and the USA, is demonstrating a surprising quirk: joint-failure to lead Continue reading »
climate
Not enough action to preserve our forests and not enough action to prevent bushfires. Less than twelve years before we hit 1.5o of global warming. Bushfires – how many warnings do we need? The fires in Hawaii have prompted David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science at the University of Tasmania, to revisit the Continue reading »
The Actuaries Institute of Australia has just confirmed what many Australian households already know – home insurance is increasingly unaffordable. It found average premiums climbed 28% in the year to March, while premiums for higher-risk properties, such as those in flood-prone areas, climbed 50%. The institute also found 12% of Australian households – 1.24 million – are Continue reading »
The future is already upon us. The forty-year Intergenerational Report (IGR) is a divertissement. The population, participation, and productivity template of Treasury economists (3Ps framework) is inadequate and unsuited to the already changed world. As is the obsession with growth. How far out does it seem reasonable to project? In terms of climate, Australia is Continue reading »
Our human species is drifting rapidly towards extinction, and there is not yet in place, a process to prevent it. Three very recent books, two by Australian authors, point to the desperate situation in which humanity now finds itself. The three books are “How to Fix a Broken Planet by Canberra science writer, Julian Cribb, Continue reading »
Burning of all fossil fuels continues to increase. Gas is not better for the climate than coal but the myth continues and companies increase production. The fertile crescent is no longer fertile. Fossil fuels still burn brightly The bees in my bonnet began buzzing briskly when they saw the two graphs below. Look at the Continue reading »
John Maynard Keynes is widely believed to have said: Well, when the facts change I change my mind. What do you do? It was probably actually Paul Samuelson although Keynes did say something vaguely similar. The quote always comes to mind when you consider the state of the climate debate in Australia and parts of Continue reading »
Agricultural intensification is killing European birds. Europeans are killing Australia’s native rodents. Getting rid of invasive species and reintroducing native species can re-establish natural ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is killing birds Among terrestrial vertebrates, birds contain the most species. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence that in many places around the world species have been lost and Continue reading »
In Asian media this week: Urban poor the worst climate victims. Plus: Pakistan goes to the polls, without Imran Khan; China blocks Philippine ships near Spratly shoal; Alliance changing Asia-Pacific peace and stability; International currency changes on BRICS agenda; Barbenheimer memes not harmless fun. Climate change – its differing and devastating effects and concerns about Continue reading »
It has been overlooked during Garma festival that, under current policies, global warming would render aboriginal lands in central and northern Australia unliveable and the top-end a nuclear target… In his classic book The Fate of the Earth speaking for humanity Jonathan Schell describes the horror of a full-scale nuclear holocaust where human beings and Continue reading »