Australia’s politicians – the dance band on the Titanic – theme for June 16 « Antinuclear

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Christina MacPherson:  Personalities of the leaders, Tax cuts, tax concessions, negative gearing – blah, blah – these are the big issues for the coming election. That’s what Australia’s politicians and media tell us.

That’s all not going to matter so much when the droughts, floods, bushfires hit. Or when sea level ruins beach resorts, bayside suburbs and towns. When Pacific islanders need refuge. And Australia has become even more of an international pariah, on climate change and on refugees.

Australia, but South Australia especially, could face the risk of becoming known as the world’s nuclear toilet – with the loss of the clean agriculture reputation, and with the financial burden of managing radioactive trash, after the foreign nuclear corporations have gone bankrupt.

Australia’s government is irrelevant. The Labor opposition is a little less so. The Greens really are the only party with an awareness of the great threats now hanging over Australians.  Source: Australia’s politicians – the dance band on the Titanic – theme for June 16 « Antinuclear

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In Bangladesh, Around 1 Million Unwanted Births Per Year

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Joe Bish, Population Media Center:  The following article was published in the Daily Star newspaper of Bangladesh, and reports out on a new analysis of the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for that country. The analysis was performed by the Bangladesh Health Ministry. If you would like to directly access the 2014 DHS, simply click here (PDF).

The headline is that the Ministry has calculated nearly 1 million of the roughly 3 million births that take place every year in Bangladesh can be accurately described as unwanted. “Here unwanted birth means either the parents didn’t want the child in that time or never,” said Karar Zunaid Ahsan, senior monitoring and evaluation adviser at the Ministry.

This troubling statistic is followed by several more: the country’s fertility decline has been stalled since 2011 at 2.3; the countrywide unwanted fertility rate is 0.7 children per woman, with regional variations; and, only 25% of Bangladesh’s public facilities purportedly offering family planning services are ready to actually provide them. It is worth noting that the fertility rate of 2.3 coincides with the U.N.’s high variant population projection for the country. That would mean, if these trends continue, that Bangladesh will cross the 200 million population mark by 2033 — not in 2050, as indicated in the article. Setting aside for a moment social and economic ramifications, what will happen to the remaining 100 Sundarbans’ forest tigers in this human population growth scenario? Country sees 10 lakh unwanted births a year.

Source: In Bangladesh, Around 1 Million Unwanted Births Per Year

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Alaskan Community Efficiency Champions Compete for Funds to Implement Energy Reduction Plans | Department of Energy

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Increasing Energy Efficiency

GR:  It is good to see renewable energy mentioned.  Let’s hope it receives more emphasis in practice.

Alaska possesses great natural beauty, but also has some of the most expensive energy costs in the United States. The Energy Department is helping many Alaskan communities adopt more sustainable energy strategies to alleviate high energy costs.

Last September, President Obama traveled to Alaska to see the frontlines of our fight against climate change firsthand. While he was there, he visited remote Alaskan communities, including Kotzebue and Kivalina. The lives of Kivalina’s residents have been so dramatically impacted by rising sea levels and coastal erosion they have had to make the difficult decision to relocate their village. So, as the President noted, while the rest of the country is becoming more aware of climate change, these communities are already living it.

I was fortunate to visit Alaska myself with Senator Lisa Murkowski a little over a year ago in part to learn about the complex energy needs of remote areas like these in a state with abundant natural resources. I saw just how essential Alaska is to our all of the above approach as we build or future energy mix, and one aspect of that work is finding ways to integrate energy efficiency and renewable energy into our system.  More:  Alaskan Community Efficiency Champions Compete for Funds to Implement Energy Reduction Plans | Department of Energy

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Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

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Two whale sharks destined for an ocean theme park in China were rescued after an 18-month investigation by Wildlife Conservation Society, covered by investigative photojournalist Paul Hilton. The operation, supported by Indonesia’s marine police, revealed where the protected species were being illegally caught and kept in sea pens by a major supplier of large marine megafauna to the international wildlife tradePaul HiltonMonday 6 June 2016 06.29 EDT.  More:   Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

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Experts Prepare to Welcome Black-footed Ferrets Back to Wyoming

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Not terribly long ago, the black-footed ferret vanished from the wild. Today, experts are making plans to return this endangered species to the same site where humans once thought we had seen the very last of this iconic prairie creature.

On the early morning of November 2, 1985 I watched a pickup truck crest the ridge of a dusty Wyoming two-track ranch road and disappear over the horizon. Inside it was what I thought at the time might be the last black-footed ferret ever to live in the wild. I was dead tired, having been up for the past week trying to catch that ferret, spending nights of driving laps around prairie dog colonies – the habitat and food source of black-footed ferrets – peering out to the end of the beam of a strong spotlight to find her. It was the end of a tumultuous fall, one that had been filled with bitter accusations and petty politics, and I was really too worn down to be much more than philosophical about her departure. There was no fanfare, no media presence—nothing that would have marked the day as remarkable. Even though it might have been the day that a species went extinct in the wild.  More:  Experts Prepare to Welcome Black-footed Ferrets Back to Wyoming

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Here’s what the science really says about Fort McMurray and climate change | National Observer

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Climate Change Causing More Fires

Now Fort McMurray residents have begun the difficult journey home weeks after that terrifying day in May when an unprecedented inferno, fueled by unusually hot and dry spring weather, caused them to flee and led to the largest evacuation in Alberta’s history.

Those unusual weather conditions have been widely attributed to El Nino, a naturally-occurring phenomenon linked to warm ocean water that disrupts the weather.

But Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire from the University of Alberta, and many other climate change scientists agree that while the Fort McMurray fires cannot be directly linked to the carbon pollution produced by humans, Canadian wildfire activity of the past few years is well above average. And it’s connected to the warming climate.

In terms of the total areas destroyed by fires, there’s an unmistakable escalation, they say.They see these fires as vivid markers of dangers to come for the forests and for the people and wildlife that live in them and around them.

As temperatures warm, they say, the likelihood is greater that more out of control infernos will consume more trees and human infrastructure.

Source: Here’s what the science really says about Fort McMurray and climate change | National Observer

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Help Stop the Wildlife-Killer Bill in Congress 060616 – Defenders of Wildlife

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It’s supposedly an energy bill, but the “North American Energy Infrastructure Act of 2016” contains a lethal dose of anti-wildlife amendments that will lead to dead wolves, dead bears and the destruction of many important wildlife protections.

And while pro-oil, pro-coal, climate change denying provisions are despicable, the anti-wildlife measures are equally catastrophic.

Tell your senators to protect wildlife and oppose this deadly bill!

More: Help Stop the Wildlife-Killer Bill in Congress 060616 – Defenders of Wildlife

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Labor politicians and candidates: question them on nuclear policy! « Antinuclear

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It is best to send emails or letters in your own words. However, here’s an example anyway.My website will follow with interest – the politicians who bothered to answer, and whether or not they will stick to Labor’s policy.Your own address, and date Sender’s addressThe Hon Mr or Ms……..Member forDear ……. As the Federal Election approaches, I need to know what is you position on the nuclear issue.The 2015 National Policy Platform states:  More: Labor politicians and candidates: question them on nuclear policy! « Antinuclear

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Extent of Ocean Surface Above 86 Degrees (F) Hits New Record During May of 2016 | robertscribbler

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Warming oceans reach new high temperature

Almost 10% of the ocean surfaces are above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  The chart below and this record indicate that the oceans are warming up.  Read Scribbler’s analysis to learn just how terrible this really is.

Robert Scribbler:  “Not only is a human-forced warming of the globe expected to increase average surface ocean and land temperatures, it is also expected to generate higher peak readings over larger and larger regions. Such was the case during May of 2016 as a massive expanse of the world ocean saw temperatures rocket to above 30 degrees Celsius (or 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

(A record hot global ocean has brewed up yet one more new extreme in the form of a 32.7 million square kilometer expanse of steaming hot waters above 86 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees Celsius. Image source: Brian Brettschneider.)

“According to climatologist Brian Brettschneider, 32.7 million square kilometers of the world ocean saw temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius during May of 2016. A new record for the largest sea surface area above a high temperature threshold that typically sets off a range of harmful ocean conditions — including coral bleaching, lower levels of seawater oxygen, and increased rates of algae growth — even as it dumps copious volumes of high latent heat water vapor into the Earth’s atmosphere.”  More:  Extent of Ocean Surface Above 86 Degrees (F) Hits New Record During May of 2016 | robertscribbler

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