Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, September 7th, 2009 - 43 comments
The world’s oceans reached a record high temperature in July of 16.37 degrees, 0.59 degrees above the 20th century average. That might not sound a lot, and it wouldn’t be if we were talking about the variation in day to day temperature where you live, but we’re talking the whole world’s oceans. It takes an enormous amount […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:10 am, September 6th, 2009 - 18 comments
Climate change is racist. Not literally of course, but in the sense that how people are affected by climate change is going to be largely determined by race. Those who are going to suffer the most are not “white”. From The Herald summary of a recent study: The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) released today […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, September 5th, 2009 - 54 comments
Diffusion of responsibility means that the bigger the group the less chance that anyone in the group will take action. In a typical experiment people are left to wait in a room, which is rigged so that smoke starts coming in under a door. A person who is alone will usually leave the room and […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, September 4th, 2009 - 14 comments
The scientists say we need to reduce our greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 if we want to even have a 50:50 chance of not starting runaway climate change (where temperature rises trigger the release of frozen methane and other effects that will rapidly heat the world to disastrous levels). So, […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:57 am, September 3rd, 2009 - 50 comments
Meet Robert Wadlow. When he died in 1940, he was the tallest ever recorded person, standing 8 feet, 11 and a half inches tall (2.72m) . That record still stands. The tallest living person, Bao Xishun, is a comparatively puny 7 feet, 9 inches (2.36m). As we all know, the typical person is getting taller. […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, September 2nd, 2009 - 64 comments
Remember FART (Farmers Against Ridiculous Taxes)? Shane Arden driving Myrtle the Tractor up the steps of Parliament? Bill English with his poster carrying the sexist attack on Helen Clark: “the mad cow shouldn’t have signed”? (actually, it was Jenny Shipley who signed us on to Kyoto) All that wailing and gnashing of teeth, all […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, September 1st, 2009 - 31 comments
I’ve had a further read of the select committee report on the Emissions Trading Scheme, and found a huge problem – National, United Future, and ACT want to get rid of the cap on emissions. The normal emissions trading scheme is called cap and trade. A cap on the total number of carbon credits is […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, September 1st, 2009 - 62 comments
ACT as part of its coalition agreement, and probably as a result of their funders conditions, forced a review of the Emissions Trading Scheme last year. The review has concluded that the science is valid and chosen to go with the IPCC 4th report as a basis. This is of course extremely conservative and doesn’t […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, September 1st, 2009 - 51 comments
ACT Party Press Release 1/4/2010: ACT has now identified the number one threat to personal freedom, to unbounded economic growth and to vast wealth for all who deserve it. It is “science”. “Science” creates nothing but trouble. “Science” causes climate change. The essence of the matter is that New Zealanders are being asked to cut […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, August 31st, 2009 - 13 comments
Looks like the Maori Party has decided to stand by their principles and oppose weakening the Emissions Trading Scheme. Their stinging minority report rules out supporting any weakening of the already too weak ETS and calls for a far greater commitment to the environment from government: The Maori Party continues to oppose the introduction of an […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, August 31st, 2009 - 25 comments
The report of the special select committee on the Emissions Trading Scheme has been released. I’ve only had a chance to read the recommendations and the minority reports (the whole thing is 130 pages). The committee (with the exception of ACT) says that the climate change is a real and serious environmental and economic threat […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, August 30th, 2009 - 16 comments
Richard Black, environment correspondent for the BBC News website asks an interesting question – Has climate change hijacked the wider environmental agenda? If so, why? And does it matter? He a number of leading environmental thinkers for a BBC Radio Four documentary, Climate Hijack. He says: None of the people I interviewed for the programme argue […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, August 28th, 2009 - 25 comments
National is attempting to re-write the Emissions Trading Scheme. The new version it has come up with through the special select committee would be weaker than the already weak version Labour passed. But they’ve got a numbers problem. ACT won’t ever vote for doing anything about climate change, the Greens, the Progressives and Labour won’t vote for the […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, August 27th, 2009 - 15 comments
There’s a limited amount of carbon emissions we can make as a world in the coming decades if we are to avoid runaway climate change. So, how to fairly share the remaining ‘safe’ emissions that can be made over the next 50 years? The solution is called contract and converge. Click on the image below […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, August 21st, 2009 - 94 comments
I got along to the Greens’ sold-out screening of The Age of the Stupid last night. It’s a powerful movie, perhaps a bit disjointed at the start but it builds to a conclusion that really hits home. You can’t watch it and not come away more determined to do your bit, and demand your government […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, August 19th, 2009 - 32 comments
Key, Mr Ambitous when it comes to cycleways and Job Summits, says that reducing carbon emissions from developed countries like ours by 2020 to 40% below 1990 levels, which the scientists say is mandatory if we want to avoid run-away climate change, is “too ambitious“. Fair enough, I suppose. I’m sure the laws of nature will understand. Maybe they’ll […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, August 18th, 2009 - 34 comments
An excellent post from Idiot Savant (reproduced with permission) on the cost to taxpayers of subsidizing polluting industries. I haven’t noticed the mainstream media reporting this critical aspect of the governments climate change proposals. Too hard for them to grasp perhaps? Climate change: An illustration How unfair is the government’s plan to cap the price […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:43 am, August 18th, 2009 - 37 comments
I’m proud to be a Kiwi, and I’ve always enjoyed celebrating the successes of our tiny country. It’s not often that I feel ashamed of our role in the world. But our National Government’s position on greenhouse gas emissions is a disgrace. It’s not just that our emissions reduction target is too low, it’s that […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, August 17th, 2009 - 54 comments
The climate change debate is over (apart from a few luntatics of course). The debate is now about what to do, and the current focus is on the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately we’re only getting half of the story on the costs. Here’s a typical example of half-assed coverage: National has set […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, August 13th, 2009 - 67 comments
Well, there goes our clean, green image. After Key announced the pathetic 10-20% emissions reduction target, we were declared ‘fossil of the day’ by environmental groups attending the Copenhagen climate change conference. Here’s Eco, talking about the failure of New Zealand and other developed countries:”The New Zealand target completes a rather dismal Annex I picture. The […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, August 11th, 2009 - 14 comments
As a recent article in the Guardian newspaper asked: “Can art succeed where science is proving insufficient to generate the will to act effectively on climate change? Scientists sound increasingly desperate as the evidence they are carefully accumulating stacks up but fails to prompt the urgency they insist it requires. Science seems only to create […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, August 10th, 2009 - 47 comments
It’s interesting to see how National’s spin doctors are trying to frame the Government’s pathetic and shameful emissions reduction target of 10-20% by 2020. Stuff has ‘Ambitious’ emissions target announced The NZ Herald has New emissions target ‘big ask for NZ’ – Key And 3 News has Sia Aston quoting long-discredited figures supplied to her by […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:52 pm, August 10th, 2009 - 45 comments
If ever there were a sentence that summed up our collective folly it’s “Scientific opinion is that a reduction of 40 per cent is needed to prevent serious global warming but few countries are expected set that as a target.” That’s from the NZPA article on the Key Government’s newly announced climate change target. 10-20% below […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, August 10th, 2009 - 18 comments
Dark material gets warmer in sunlight than light-coloured or white material. Heat energy enters our atmosphere after light strikes the surface of the Earth, is partially converted into heat, which then radiates into the air. White stuff reflects the sun’s energy straight back into space without converting as much of it into heat. Because of this, […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, August 6th, 2009 - 11 comments
John Key has recently acted like a jerk to a young mother worried about what climate change is going to mean for her future and that of her child. Essentially he said that she should stick to what she knew. Bearing in mind the complete lack of understanding that both John Key and his NACT […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, August 6th, 2009 - 42 comments
The Greens have presented a sensible and feasible plan to reduce our greenhouse emissions to 40% less than 1990 levels by 2020. Contrary to Nick Smith’s scaremongering, it won’t break the bank. In fact, at current carbon credit prices, they will save us money. phase out fossil fuel plants and set higher energy efficency standards. […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, August 6th, 2009 - 18 comments
Hot Topic has very interesting post up about how Act took a sudden interest in climate change denial after they received $100k from prominent climate change denier Alan Gibbs. As Gareth at HT points out: Hide’s repositioning coincided with a major donation to ACT by Alan Gibbs, a wealthy NZ businessman best known here for […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, August 5th, 2009 - 89 comments
Seems John Key’s been name-dropping Kiwi film stars to business leaders in Brizzie. In today’s NZ Herald Key is quoted slamming actress Keisha Castle-Hughes for speaking out on climate change, saying that she should ‘stick to the acting’. Remember it’s just a matter of days after public consultation wrapped up over what the Government’s 2020 […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, August 5th, 2009 - 72 comments
By telling Keisha Castle-Hughes she should “stick to acting” and keep out of the climate change debate, Prime Minister John Key is signalling to young New Zealanders everywhere keep out of politics. I guess he doesn’t want us to “join the conversation” after all. Speak up, get shot down. That’s the modus operandi of the […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, July 29th, 2009 - 12 comments
Nick Smith is the front-man for this government on climate change, and it appears that he knows absolutely nothing about the numbers. The ones he has been using are not related to his claims. It is puzzling because he was an engineer who are usually accurate users of numbers. It is more likely he is […]
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