Wednesday 6 November 2024

It's 2024 and after 236 years of relentless urban expansion across New South Wales there are only 13 breeding pairs of Beach Stone Curlew left in the state


ECHO, 5 November 2024:


A pair of critically endangered beach stone-curlews are nesting in the dunes on Clarkes Beach, they are one of only 13 breeding pairs in NSW.


Beachgoers are asked to stay off the sand dunes and leave nesting birds alone as their nests are just a small area of scraped sand.



It’s so important these birds are not disturbed because they only lay one egg and the chick is cared for by both parents for seven to 12 months,’ said Chloe Dowsett, Coast and Biodiversity Coordinator.


We are hoping people will do the right thing and play their part in helping these special birds expand their family.’


On other beaches spotted pardalotes and rainbow bee-eaters have been sighted nesting in the dunes with the Byron Bird Buddies rescuing a group of baby bee-eaters as the area surrounding their nest was being damaged by people trampling and climbing on the exposed dune.


All of these precious birds are easily disturbed by walkers, joggers and especially dogs so we are asking people to be aware and take extra care when they are on the beach,’ Ms Dowsett said.


Tuesday 5 November 2024

Today in America an est. 262.08 million people will have woken & looked about to see how many among them decided to vote in the US presidential election which will decide the fate of a nation and its est. 335,893,238 men, women & children*


Basically the U.S. presidential election boils down to a two horse race - with the bookies (U.S. Electoral College) not the jockeys or the punters laying their bets (registered voters & their ballot papers) deciding the outcome for the country and the national economy. 


On Tuesday, 5 November 2024 these two horses are attempting to win by a length:


Republican candidate & a former president, Donald John Trump, born 14 June 1946.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA631bMT9g8

and 

Democrat candidate & U.S. Vice President, Kamala Devi Harris, born 20 October 1964.



ABC News Live (U.S.) will have 5 November live election day coverage on YouTube live from midnight Sydney time at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYpNU_3oPYk


ABC News (Australia) USA Votes live from 6am 6 November 2024 at

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/usa-votes-election-day


NBC News (US) Decision 2024 live blog updates at


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/live-blog/presidential-election-2024-live-updates-rcna175556

and

NBC News voting results by state at

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/president-results


NOTE: 

* U.S. population numbers as of 1 July 2023 obtained at 

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-national-detail.html

** Australia's east coast AEST is 16 hours ahead of Washington & New York and 19 hours ahead of San Francisco & Los Angeles.


Monday 4 November 2024

Things are crook in Tallarook and Muswellbrook, the mood is down in Brisbane town, while everything's wrong in Woolongong and Woodenbong - in fact spirits seem to be low in many households all around Australia

 

The reason for this gloom? Well if household spending is any indicator, it is likely to be because cost-of-living pressures have been grinding people down for what seems like a long and tiresome 29 months.


The Reserve Bank cash rate target/interest rate may have stopped climbing at 4.35% and stayed there for the last 12 months but it's not showing signs of coming down anytime soon.


Households around the country are still having to tighten their belts in order to make pennies stretch as far as possible in the face of persistently high prices for goods and services.


Click on image to enlarge



Australian Bureau of Statistics, Monthly Household Spending Indicator: Experimental estimates of household spending, Reference period September 2024, Released 1/11/2024


In 2024 from 1 January to 30 September national household spending fell from 4.2% to 1.3% as most people focused on covering the essentials – food, medicines & other health costs, transport costs including petrol & car repairs, mortgage payments, rent, schools fees etc.


While household discretionary spending fell from 3.6% in January to 0.8% in September, as many chose to avoid clothing/footwear purchases and spent less on such thing as recreational activities & eating out.


Click on image to enlarge


Australian Bureau of Statistics, National household spending, March to September quarterly graph, September 2024


The national barometer for the level of tension in household spending choices is possible marked most clearly when it comes to the purchase of alcohol and tobacco.


National fall in spending on alcoholic beverages and tobacco – January to September 2024


NSW   -12.3%

Vic      -13.3%

Qld     -8.8%

SA      -11.9%

WA     -2.9%

Tas     -11.1%

NT      -5.7%

ACT    -6.7%.


Sunday 3 November 2024

Another Electric Vehicle Charging Station for the NSW Northern Rivers

 

Earlier this year in May 2024 the NSW Minns Labor Government announced that 671 new EV public kerbside electric vehicle charging ports at 391 sites are to be installed across NSW, in what is expected to be the largest rollout in the country.


These new chargers are to be installed over the next 12-months and be open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


However, looking at the NSW Transport Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Map it looks a though there are only around 31 stations across the entire 20,758 sq kms of the Northern Rivers region - from the Clarence Valley up to the NSW-Qld border and, many of these tend to be relatively clustered.






So it was good to read that another electric vehicle charging station had been added to the mix in north-east New South Wales.


ECHO, 1 November 2024:


A new electric vehicle (EV) charger has been installed at 44 Cherry Street, Ballina in the heart of the Ballina’s CBD, close to Northern Rivers Regional Art Gallery, shops, cafes, and other tourist destinations.


For anyone driving an EV the installation of new chargers, particularly in regional areas is a definite bonus as the number of EVs on the roads increases. The Australian Automobile Association’s EV Index shows that battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) sales represented 9.6 per cent of new light vehicles sold in the second quarter of 2024.


Ballina Shire Council is thrilled to celebrate the installation of new electric vehicle charging stations on Cherry Street in Ballina. This fantastic collaboration with Essential Energy and EVX reflects our dedication to working hand-in-hand with the community and industry to seek innovative and sustainable solutions for our region,’ said Ballina Shire Council Mayor, Sharon Cadwallader.....


Saturday 2 November 2024

The cost of being a woman.....



@_CaitlinORyan: Caitlin 'Cat' O'Ryan, from Scotland by way of Manchester in England's north, comedian, improviser and actor, graduate from The Oxford School of Drama.

Tweet of the Week



 

Friday 1 November 2024

CLIMATE CHANGE STATE OF PLAY 2024: we have entered a grim millennia of climate consequences

 

According to the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO biennial report, State of the Climate 2024.......


Australia, on average, has warmed by 1.51°C ± 0.23°C since national air temperature records over the land mass of the continent began in 1910. While sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.08°C since 1900.


Australia is not so slowly and very noticeably cooking.


There has been an increase in extreme heat events associated with the warming over land and in the oceans.

Australia’s warmest year on record was 2019, and 8 of the 9 warmest years on record have occurred since 2013.


This is what Australia's collective experience looks like expressed as a graph




State of the Climate 2024, 22 October 2024, p.2


Every decade since 1950 has been warmer than preceding decades. The warming in Australia is consistent with global trends, with the degree of warming similar to the overall average across the world’s land areas.


There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a longer fire season, across large parts of Australia since the 1950s. This has resulted in catastrophic bushfires in 1967, 1974-75, 1983, 2006-07, 2009 and 2019-20. Wildfires burning across millions of hectares, changing landscapes and communities, driving many native plant and animal species closer to extinction.


The track record with regard to rainfall has shown that:


Sustained heavy rainfall and associated flooding in much of Australia, particularly the east, is most common during La Niña, as illustrated by the multiple floods that occurred in eastern Australia in 2022. The 11 wettest years on record in eastern Australia were all influenced by La Niña, and many of eastern Australia’s most significant flood years, such as 1974, 2010−2011 and 2021–2022, have occurred during strong La Niña events, although significant flooding can sometimes occur in non-La Niña years.


Global concentrations of all major long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase. Global annual mean carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations reached 419.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2023 and the CO2 equivalent (CO2-e) of all greenhouse gases reached 524 ppm. These are the highest levels on Earth in at least 2 million years.


While global fossil fuel CO2 emissions, the principal driver of the growth in CO

concentrations, are continuing to increase.


In Australia the latest Quarterly Update of Australia’s NationalGreenhouse Gas Inventory: March 2024 shows emissions were 440.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-e) in the year to March 2024. On a quarterly basis, this means that national emission levels for the March quarter 2024 increased 0.6% (0.6 Mt CO2-e) in trend terms.

National emissions are preliminarily estimated to be 441 Mt CO2-e in the year to June 2024.

Actual and trend greenhouse gas emissions have not meaningfully decreased in the last four years according to data collated by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.


These inescapable global & national facts mean that Australia's future now holds these scenarios:


Future


In the coming decades, Australia will experience ongoing changes to its weather and climate. The changes are projected to include:


Continued increase in air temperatures, with more heat extremes and fewer cold extremes.


Continued decrease, on average, in cool season rainfall across many regions of southern and eastern Australia, which will likely lead to more time in drought.


More intense short-duration heavy rainfall events even in regions where the average rainfall decreases or stays the same.


Continued increase in the number of dangerous fire weather days and a longer fire season for much of southern and eastern Australia.


Further sea level rise and continued warming and acidification of the oceans around Australia.


Increased and longer-lasting marine heatwaves that will affect marine environments such as kelp forests and increase the likelihood of more frequent and severe bleaching events in coral reefs around Australia, including the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef.


Fewer tropical cyclones, but with higher intensity on average, and greater impacts when they occur

through higher rain rates and higher sea level.


Reduced average snow depth in alpine regions, but with variations from year to year.


Here in coastal north-east New South Wales the response to our changing climate by successive federal and state governments is: (i) to crowd more urban development onto land that is projected to be amongst the first dry land to experience tidal and/or permanent sea water inundation due to rising sea levels; and (ii) to coat building materials in heat reflecting paint while ignoring the fact that building design is now inadequate due to the fact that the north-east can now expect tropical hurricanes to form offshore on a 1 in 10 year basis.