Melting poles apart from frozen Icecream : Melbourne Indymedia

Some days I don’t need a weather report to tell me its going to be a stinking hot day. Awake and sweating I realize that the temperature has not dropped overnight just as the sun appears in a cloudless sky and I just know another forty degree day has just dawned.

My day starts like any other a shower and then the usual round up begins, school clothes and books are found, children are dressed and breakfasts are prepared and eaten in quick succession as the bowls arrive at the sink and are washed one after another before the ants use the kitchen as a parade ground.

Over the morning squabbles and last minute disasters I hear a state government sponsored advert telling me and a million other listeners that something serious is being done about global warming. My thoughts are that it’s about time although already I’m bored with the subject.

The information includes lists of examples of how our state is tipping the balance in major ways making our air cleaner our water pure and how the future will be sustainable. Pictures of windmills and trees go through my mind as I visualize the words as they are spoken, then as that advertisement fades the sounds of roaring engines replace its air space accompanied by the excited voice of an announcer advertising tickets to a road race which is sponsored by one of the all greats in petrol products.

Somewhere along the way pI must have missed the point, no amount of windmills or trees will ever clean the air if we continue to make it dirty, I think it’s like mopping a dirty floor with mud and even that comparison doesn’t quite meet the task. What does our economic activity leave us with except a surplus of CO2?

During the morning school run I find myself thinking about how much of a difference we could all make given the chance. I’m in bumper to bumper traffic on a major road so there is plenty of time to think about what could be done. I start by counting the cars, I can see, that have more than one person aboard, I count 3, mine included. There is one bus between us and the traffic lights and 6 four wheel drives some bumper to bumper and others singled out high up between cars. Trucks Vans and one very brave bloke on a bicycle make up the traffic jam that we are in. A passenger jet passes overhead before the lights change twice allowing my part of the convoy chance to creep as the bicycle is lost as a speck in the hazy distance.

My attention has been drawn just to traffic on my side of the road, before I’ve considered the other three directions from the intersection we have yet to pass. My hopes of anything serious were being done about global warming are all by this time seriously in doubt.

Major road works slow down my daily trip, a journey that takes twice as long by public transport after two changes of the bus service and the walk. I doubt if my fellow road users would ever fit into public transport even if the services became popular.

I also imagine how that change in travel plans would affect business. With everyone willingly going by public transport personal transport would not be as popular, so car manufacturers competing in shrinking markets and all the industry that sponsor those who make a living from sales would be hurt by such a drastic change.

The result would harm the very lifestyles that each and every driver seeks to achieve, so I conclude that my traveling companions and I have a vested interest in keeping things just as they are.

Most people like the feeling that they can chose their traveling companion or at least chose to have metal and plastic and a few meters between shoulders. We like the comfort of chosen upholstery, a play list of sounds or our choice and volume setting of various radio stations.

These reasons above all others, I think, stops most of us considering the bus, convenience come last. Safety of our children ranks amongst the highest with my segment of the population, we would prefer to drive, rather than risking our dearest to the general public, our own vehicles promise a predictable journey and a safe return. something we can insure and maintain control over.

Reaching the line of cars that turn off into the school campus, I’m collecting rubbish that accumulates in the car, I have help and collected sweet wrappers and newspapers magazines and ice-cream wrappers between slight advances. The usual things that never get to the bin are retreaved from under seats , and once collected I place them in a heap between the seats so that I can dispose of them thoughtfully.

As I reach the drop off point I realize the waste generated was another focus of a State government infomercial, and I reconsider my waste pile thoughtfully just as had been suggested.

If manufacturers I reasoned packaged their products with any thoughts besides marketing, half of the collection would not be awaiting transfer to the bin. The ice cream wrapper caught my attention lying on top as the car door slammed once a friend’s child joined the others on the pavement shouting last minute reminders through an open window. The Ice cream had come in the box lower down in the stack, all with glossy logo and a photo of the contents. A Bulla Choc Top all eight had declared in brown and gold lettering and on the box just in case there was any confusion larger letters declared exactly the same. One of the wraps showed the other side and I could read, Made in Spain. Sure enough no mistake was made the wrapper went on to explain that the Australian company had indeed imported pre packaged ice-cream from Spain apparently to test local markets to see if children would like chocolate ice cream. My kids had and I had not asked them, I just bought the box because it was cheap.

Thoughtfully I continued my journey knowing that a refrigerated container vessel was at sea between Europe and Australia to deliver consignments of Bulla Ice-cream it made my journey seem small and a great deal more environmentally friendly. I thought that the reason must be sensible, perhaps creating the ice creams here may not be practicable, perhaps retooling a factory would cost too much for a risk on a new line so a duplicate, already in production Choc Top, was found in Spain repackaged and had been ordered to fill the gap. I marveled that such a deal could be struck that would transport ice-cream across the equator ready for our frozen section in local supermarkets at $490 a box. I also wondered what else was waiting in the supermarket that had come thousands of miles to add to my grocery bill.
The news paper and magazines offered me no reason to doubt my conclusion. Both carried adverts for cars and adverts to the places that things were sold where you would need to drive in order to make the purchases convenient. Drive through service is everything in our city, I even saw signs that even made it quick to write thru, where Drive Thru was acceptable, and from bottle shops to restaurants I knew these brief stops must become part of the next government focus. That’s if we are getting serious.

Even if global warming was true, (and it isn`t,) we will be colonizing new unspoiled planets soon.

The Australian Greens have labelled a report on climate change commissioned by the Energy Supply Association as self-serving.

The report says the cheapest way to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third in the next 30 years is by using clean coal, gas and nuclear technologies.

But Greens Senator Christine Milne says renewable energy is ready to go and, in the long-term, more cost-effective.

"The only reason they're more expensive than coal at the moment is the coal industry has had 100 years of polluting the atmosphere for free," she said.

"Let's put a price on carbon, let's have a national reduction emissions target, introduce a greenhouse gas trading scheme and then we'll see on a level playing field the renewables really surge."

Senator Milne says renewable energy investment is being driven offshore because the Federal Government is focusing on coal and nuclear power.

She says renewables need to be embraced before investment dries up.

"This is the coal and gas industry telling us the coal and gas industry is the answer to dealing with climate change," she said.

"We cannot afford to wait for untested technology like carbon capture and storage.

"We have renewable energy technology ready to go now; they're being driven out of the country because of Howard's failed policies in relation to global warming."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1837350.htm

Solar panels will do the job if the government buys into the market forces that drive purchase price lower.

If the gov puts solar panels on every government building the price would go down and the rest of us can afford the expence. Right now the break even point is 18 years for a $30 000 investment. Fuck that.

However its the solution to only part of the problem, the pollution comes from generating heat. Making steel will not be switched over to solar panels.

Also these so called solutions are years away and come with other problems while climate change is and will always be accelerating out of control making all these possibles just wishful thinking.

Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

January 14, 2005
Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.

The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun's invisible, infrared rays. The breakthrough has led theorists to predict that plastic solar cells could one day become five times more efficient than current solar cell technology.

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Like paint, the composite can be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable electricity. A sweater coated in the material could power a cell phone or other wireless devices. A hydrogen-powered car painted with the film could potentially convert enough energy into electricity to continually recharge the car's battery.

The researchers envision that one day "solar farms" consisting of the plastic material could be rolled across deserts to generate enough clean energy to supply the entire planet's power needs.

"The sun that reaches the Earth's surface delivers 10,000 times more energy than we consume," said Ted Sargent, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Toronto. Sargent is one of the inventors of the new plastic material.

"If we could cover 0.1 percent of the Earth's surface with [very efficient] large-area solar cells," he said, "we could in principle replace all of our energy habits with a source of power which is clean and renewable."

Infrared Power

Plastic solar cells are not new. But existing materials are only able to harness the sun's visible light. While half of the sun's power lies in the visible spectrum, the other half lies in the infrared spectrum.

The new material is the first plastic composite that is able to harness the infrared portion.

"Everything that's warm gives off some heat. Even people and animals give off heat," Sargent said. "So there actually is some power remaining in the infrared [spectrum], even when it appears to us to be dark outside."

The researchers combined specially designed nano particles called quantum dots with a polymer to make the plastic that can detect energy in the infrared.

With further advances, the new plastic "could allow up to 30 percent of the sun's radiant energy to be harnessed, compared to 6 percent in today's best plastic solar cells," said Peter Peumans, a Stanford University electrical engineering professor, who studied the work.

Kate, sounds like a confusing hell. Save yourself and your kids and move to a less populated place. Water Tank, Solar panels, composting toilet and a garden= Bliss. The worst thing you will face is having to make your own fun with the gang you've got. Your biggest worry is that if more don't do what you have done your town will shrink to nothing.

+ Disinfo is all about confusion+

Peace Love and Best wishes. Oh and vote GREEN, they been wearing that colour a long time now.

Picture: Figure 2: Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent in September for all seven integration of the CCSM3 with observations from satellite era shown in black.

The poles are melting, faster than even the IPCC will really tell us tomorrow Feb 2nd as per this

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/01/arctic-sea-ice-decline-in-the-21st-century/

and the scary graphs there of 12th Jan 2007.

Nor will big press really want to publicise sea rise because it destroys NOW the residential property market and much of the business land use economy of coastal cities, because decisions are made now about 30 year financial instruments for such transactions.

You will read about 40 cm or 80 cm sea rise in 50 to 100 years. My guess 5 metres is more like it, then add storm surge. There was this really weird quote in the Sydney Telegraph yesterday tucked away about 22 metre storm surge or even 110 metre. Surely not vertical?

Kate is right as a parent to feel very worried. It's nothing short of a peaceful ecological revolution we are now called to engage in.

Give it up Andrew, you're debasing you're own intellect.

Are we really watching governments secure economic interests? can we be certain that they do not know what we know. How Can we convince them if they are already convinced?

Aside from the expansion of water when warm, sea ice melting will not raise sea levels. However as the sea Ice melts its barrier has already released glaciers and they on contact with the sea have raised sea levels in the arctic.
Glaciers around the world are melting which also reaches the oceans via temporarily swollen rivers. The Nile for the first time will run dry as its source melts to record lows.

Right around the world.

Canadian Tundra forests are losing a battle against pests that thrive in a mild climate
Rainforests clear felled for a century, devastated by years of drought are thinning out
Glaciers are all receding
Both poles are melting
Grain harvest world wide are in short supply
Rice harvests are the worst on record
People are drinking Sewage.
CO2 levels are increasing, double averages.

I am amazed that reports now suggest that the drought has been caused by EL-Nino, and global warming is caused by sun spots and our planets trajectory in an orbit around the sun that takes it closer to the heat source.

our grandchildren will be displeased we didn't fight this fight with guns instead of words...

they will survive.

No one can slow down accelerating climate change, its happened.
Humans can not stop burning and will not think of cutting or reducing demand.

Have you heard the term change of address or change of management?
Well this is climate change and its not going back to the previous state of play, its changed, we changed it and it has hit a few tipping points.

Co2 now comes from humans and nature.

Sydney must halve its water demand, as its population increases, they cannot and will not demand less, so who shall we shoot?

NSW gov say that they are building a gas fired PowerStation, saving GHG, but the alternative will not replace the coal fired traditional energy source so there is no saving, nothing green about it, just generating more power to meet increasing demands. Who will we target?

Planting trees will provide future fuel for more bush fires; dams will evaporate causing water vapor to add to green house gases. Forests will become the co2 emitters and farmers will be farming dust bowls so who are you going to kill?

Governments can only hold society together, they must or all the supports will fall apart, Hospitals and schools will close, forces will be discharged and the biggest gun will rule.

Once it starts to crumble the person who will be shot may be you.

Oh and it has started. The drought has lost the nation money, a few years of this and they will cut spending on welfare and put more into law and order.

Once that change clicks in, they will blame it on Bikies not el nino.

Its always something else.