Once again Australian passport makes the annual Henley & Partners Top 10 for ease of travel

 

ABC News, 15 January 2023:

The passports of the world have been ranked according to how powerful they are by an international citizenship assistance firm, and Australia has come out in the top 10 once again.

Henley & Partners produces a list of the most powerful passports each year, with Japan coming in first place for the sixth year in a row.

People who hold Australian passports can travel to 185 countries with relative ease — but there's still a long list of places that require paperwork…….

1: Japan— visa-free score: 193

2: Singapore and South Korea— visa-free score: 192

3: Germany and Spain— visa-free score: 190

4: Finland, Italy and Luxembourg— visa-free score: 189

5: Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden— visa-free score: 188

6: France, Ireland, Portugal and United Kingdom— visa-free score: 187

7: Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and United States— visa-free score: 186

8: Australia, Canada, Greece and Malta— visa-free score: 185

9: Hungary and Poland — visa-free score: 184

10: Lithuania and Slovakia — visa-free score: 183

11: Latvia and Slovenia — visa-free score: 182

12: Estonia — visa-free score: 181

13: Iceland — visa-free score: 180

14: Malaysia — visa-free score: 179

15: Liechtenstein and the United Arab Emirates — visa-free score: 178

16: Cyprus — visa-free score: 177

17: Romania — visa-free score: 175

18: Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia and Monaco — visa-free score: 174

19: Hong Kong (SAR China — visa-free score: 171

20: Argentina and Brazil — visa-free score: 170

21: San Marino — visa-free score: 169

22: Andorra — visa-free score: 168

23: Brunei — visa-free score: 166

24: Barbados — visa-free score: 163

25: Israel and Mexico — visa-free score: 159

26: St. Kitts and Nevis — visa-free score: 157

27: Bahamas — visa-free score: 155

28: Vatican City — visa-free score: 154

29: Seychelles and Uruguay — visa-free score: 153

30: St. Vincent and the Grenadines — visa-free score: 152

31: Antigua and Barbuda, tying with Trinidad and Tobago — visa-free score: 151

32: Costa Rica — visa-free score: 150

33: St. Lucia — visa-free score: 147

34: Grenada and Mauritius — visa-free score: 146

35: Dominica and Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) — visa-free score: 145

36: Macao (SAR China), Panama and Ukraine — visa-free score: 144

37: Paraguay — visa-free score: 142

38: Peru — visa-free score: 136

38: Serbia — visa-free score: 136

39: Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras — visa-free score: 133

40: El Salvador, Samoa and Solomon Islands — visa-free score: 132

41: Tonga — visa-free score: 130

42: Venezuela — visa-free score: 129

43: Nicaragua and Tuvalu — visa-free score: 128

44: North Macedonia — visa-free score: 125

45: Kiribati and Montenegro — visa-free score: 124

46: Marshall Islands — visa-free score: 123

47: Moldova — visa-free score: 121

48: Palau Islands — visa-free score: 120

49: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Micronesia and the Russian Federation — visa-free score: 118

50: Georgia — visa-free score: 116

51: Albania — visa-free score: 115

52: Turkey — visa-free score: 110

53: South Africa — visa-free score: 106

54: Belize — visa-free score: 103

55: Qatar — visa-free score: 100

56: Vanuatu — visa-free score: 98

57: Kuwait — visa-free score: 7

58: Timor-Leste — visa-free score: 94

59: Ecuador — visa-free score: 92

60: Nauru — visa-free score: 90

61: Maldives — visa-free score: 89

62: Fiji and Guyana — visa-free score: 88

63: Bahrain, Botswana and Jamaica — visa-free score: 87

64: Papua New Guinea — visa-free score: 83

65: Oman and Saudi Arabia — visa-free score: 82

66: Bolivia — visa-free score: 80

66: China — visa-free score: 80

67: Namibia — visa-free score: 79

68: Belarus and Thailand — visa-free score: 78

69: Lesotho — visa-free score: 77

70: Kazakhstan and Suriname — visa-free score: 76

71: Eswatini — visa-free score: 75

72: Malawi — visa-free score: 74

73: Kenya — visa-free score: 73

74: Tanzania — visa-free score: 72

75: Indonesia and Zambia — visa-free score: 71

76: Azerbaijan, Dominican Republic and Tunisia — visa-free score: 70

77: The Gambia — visa-free score: 69

78: Philippines and Uganda — visa-free score: 67

79: Armenia, Cape Verde Islands and Zimbabwe — visa-free score: 66

80: Cuba, Ghana and Morocco — visa-free score: 65

81: Kyrgyzstan and Sierra Leone — visa-free score: 64

82: Mongolia and Mozambique — visa-free score: 62

83: Benin and Rwanda — visa-free score: 61

84: Sao Tome and Principe, tying with Tajikistan — visa-free score: 60

85: India, Mauritania and Uzbekistan — visa-free score: 59

86: Burkina Faso — visa-free score: 58

87: Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon and Senegal — visa-free score: 57

88: Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Madagascar, Togo and Vietnam — visa-free score: 55

89: Cambodia and Mali — visa-free score: 54

90: Algeria, Bhutan, Chad, Comoro Islands, Egypt, Jordan, Niger and Turkmenistan — visa-free score: 53

91: Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau — visa-free score: 52

92: Angola and Cameroon — visa-free score: 51

93: Burundi and Laos — visa-free score: 50

94: Congo (Rep.), Haiti and Liberia — visa-free score: 49

95: Djibouti — visa-free score: 48

96: Myanmar — visa-free score: 47

97: Ethiopia and Nigeria — visa-free score: 46

98: Eritrea and South Sudan — visa-free score: 44

99: Iran — visa-free score: 43

100: Congo (Dem. Rep.), Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Sudan — visa-free score: 42

101: Bangladesh, Kosovo and Libya — visa-free score: 41

102: North Korea — visa-free score: 40

103: Nepal and Palestinian Territory — visa-free score: 38

104: Somalia — visa-free score: 35

105: Yemen — visa-free score: 34

106: Pakistan — visa-free score: 32

107: Syria — visa-free score: 30

108: Iraq — visa-free score: 29

109: Afghanistan — visa-free score: 27

Rankings, visa-free scores and placenames have been replicated as they were listed in Henley & Partners data

What about Russia and Ukraine?

Russia's invasion of Ukraine hasn't affected either country in terms of the Henley Passport Index, with a press release saying there were in roughly the same position since the war began:

• Ukraine ranks in 36th position with a score of 144

• Russia ranks in 49th position with a score of 118

However, the firm said that while they weren't majorly affected "on paper", there were practical differences.

"Due to airspace closures and sanctions, Russian citizens are effectively barred from travelling throughout most of the developed world, with the marked exceptions of Dubai and Istanbul, which have become focal points," the firm's statement said.

"Ukrainians, on the other hand, have been granted the right to live and work in the [European Union] for up to three years under an emergency plan in response to what has become Europe's biggest refugee crisis this century."

The firm said that, if Ukraine was successful in joining the European Union, it would probably break into the top 10 most powerful passports in the world.

• List of countries which allow visa-free travel to holders of Australian passports:

Africa

Botswana

Eswatini

Lesotho

Mauritius

Mayotte

Morocco

Namibia

Reunion

Senegal

South Africa

The Gambia

Tunisia

Americas

Argentina

Belize

Bermuda

Bolivia

Brazil

Colombia

Costa Rica

Ecuador

El Salvador

Falkland Islands

French Guiana

Guatemala

Guyana

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Peru

Uruguay

Venezuela

Asia

Hong Kong (SAR China)

Indonesia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Macao (SAR China)

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)

Thailand

Uzbekistan

Caribbean

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Aruba

Bahamas

Barbados

Bonaire; St. Eustatius and Saba

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Curacao

Dominica

Dominican Republic

French West Indies

Grenada

Haiti

Jamaica

Montserrat

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Maarten

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Turks and Caicos Islands

Europe

Albania

Andorra

Austria

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Gibraltar

Greece

Greenland

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Kosovo

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro

Netherlands

North Macedonia

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Vatican City

Middle East

Armenia

Iraq

Israel

Oman

Palestinian Territory

Qatar

Oceania

Cook Islands

Fiji

French Polynesia

Guam

Kiribati

Micronesia

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Niue

Northern Mariana Islands

Vanuatu

Henley & Partners, 10 January 2023:

By combining Henley Passport Index data and World Bank GDP data, the new research ranks all 199 passports in the world in terms of their Henley Passport Power (HPP) score, a term that indicates the percentage of global GDP each passport provides to its holders’ visa-free. 

Take the Japanese passport, for instance, that gives visa-free access to 193 destinations (85% of the world). 

Collectively, these countries account for a whopping 98% of the global economy (with Japan’s own GDP contribution being around 5%). 

To contrast this figure with a passport from the lower end of the spectrum, Nigerian passport holders can access only 46 destinations visa-free (20% of the world), with these countries accounting for just 1.5% of global GDP. At the bottom of the ranking, the Afghanistan passport provides visa-free access to just 12% of the world and less than 1% of global economic output.

NASA-National Snow and Data Center reports extensive melting in West Antarctica and the Peninsula

 

“The Antarctica Ice Sheet contains approximately 30 million cubic kilometres of ice, which is around 1,779,359 times the volume of Sydney Harbour. We’ll just let that sink in for a little bit…

It’s the largest single mass of ice on earth, and most of that ice is sitting on land – which means it has the potential to contribute to sea level rise if melted.”

[Climate Council, News/The Facts, ANTARCTIC ICE MELT UNSTOPPABLE WITHOUT STRONG CLIMATE ACTION, 16 October 2015]

For all of us in Australia who trust the scientific method but whose understanding is limited by lack of training in the appropriate fields, watching Antarctica for the last seven years is like waiting for the other climate change shoe to drop.

This is the latest information I have read......

National Snow and Ice Data Center, 12 January 2023:

Extensive melting in West Antarctica and the Peninsula

As the peak of Antarctica’s melt season approaches, surface snow melting has been widespread over coastal West Antarctica, with much of the low-lying areas of the Peninsula and northern West Antarctic coastline showing 5 to 10 days more melting than average. However, much of the East Antarctic coast is near average. Snowfall in Antarctica for the past year has been exceptionally high as a result of an above average warm and wet winter and spring.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1a. The upper maps of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (left) and the Antarctic Peninsula (right) show the total melt days for the areas from November 1, 2022 to January 10, 2023. The graph on the bottom shows daily melt extent for the Antarctic Ice Sheet as a percentage of ice sheet area for the same time period in red and the 1990 to 2020 average in blue. The interquartile and interdecile ranges appear in grey bands.

Credit: E. Cassano and M. MacFerrin, CIRES and T. Mote, University of Georgia

Antarctic surface snow melting through January 10 is above average and reached near-record extent in late December. A significant melt event spread over the Peninsula and across much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet northern coast and into the Ross Ice Shelf area (Figure 1a). Melting has been moderately above average for the Peninsula areas, but unusually high in the Getz Ice Shelf area, where melting is less frequent. The Larsen Ice Shelf area has seen up to 25 days of melting, about 5 more than average, and the Wilkins region up to 30 days, again about 5 more than average (Figure 1b). The Getz and Sulzberger Ice Shelves (to the lower left of the Antarctic maps) have seen 10 melt days this season, about double the average for this time of year. East Antarctic Ice Shelves—Fimbul, Roi Baudouin, and Amery—have had near-average to slightly above-average melting of 5 to 10 days each.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. These plots show weather conditions as a difference from average relative to the 1991 to 2020 reference period for Antarctica and the surrounding coastal areas. The top plot shows air temperature at the 925 millibar level, in degrees Celsius, for December 1, 2022 to January 10, 2023. Yellows and reds indicate higher-than-average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower-than-average temperatures. The bottom plot shows sea level pressure for the same period. Yellows and reds indicate higher-than-average air pressure; blues and purples indicate lower-than-average pressure.

Credit: National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis data, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Snow globe Antarctica

Snowfall over Antarctica has been significantly above average over these last weeks, continuing a trend that began in November 2021. Several recent hydrological years (March 1 to February 28) for Antarctica have had up to 200 billion tons more snow than average, but the 2022 to 2023 year has reached nearly 300 billion tons as of January 10, 2023. This is in line with some future projections that suggest larger accumulation with a warmer climate until warming reaches above 7.5 degrees Celsius (13.5 degrees Fahrenheit). This very high deviation from average snow input suggests that the Antarctic Ice Sheet could gain mass this year. Snowfall amounts have been especially high along the western edge of the Peninsula and the Bellingshausen coast, where persistent southeastward-flowing winds push marine air against a series of mountain ranges and the ice ridge along the spine of the Peninsula. However, the biggest contribution to the above average total snow input occurs in East Antarctica, and specifically Wilkes Land and the interior of Antarctica. Overall, high snowfall in Antarctica may completely offset recent net ice losses from faster ice flow off the ice sheet for this assessment period. Most of the past decade has seen annual net losses of 50 to 150 billion tons.

Melt ponds and glacier retreat in the Peninsula

Figure 4. This true color image shows several melt ponds on the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula (see inset map) on January 10, 2023. The image is from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the NASA Aqua satellite. For reference, North is towards the upper right, and the image is 312.5 by 187.5 kilometers in size (about 180 x 120 miles).

Credit: NASA Worldview

Above average surface melting over the northern Peninsula is evident in the accumulation of surface meltwater in several areas of the eastern side of the Peninsula. The Larsen C Ice Shelf, and the SCAR Inlet Ice Shelf, a remnant of the former Larsen B shelf, are all showing significant areas of accumulated meltwater on their surfaces. Meltwater on ice shelves can pose a threat to ice shelf stability through a process called hydrofracture, where water fills pre-existing cracks in the shelf and forces the crack to open further as water pressure increases inside the crack.

The warm conditions have also triggered several rapid tidewater-style retreats in the area this season, most noticeably for Hektoria/Green/Evans glacier system in the northwestern Larsen B embayment. The glacial ice front of Hektoria has retreated roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) in the past two months. A similar outflow can be seen in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to the north near the Sobral Peninsula from the Bombadier/Edgeworth/Dinsmore glacier system (not shown). The Seal Nunataks Ice Shelf remnant, which is between the Larsen A and Larsen B Ice Shelves, is also degrading since the sea ice minimum of early 2022.

Cartoons of the Week

 

Cathy Wilcox

David Rowe

Unsurprisingly New South Wales is yet to officially enter drought. However, soils do appear to be drying out in some regions.

 

Unsurprisingly New South Wales is yet to officially enter drought. However, soils do appear to be drying out in some regions.

The Australian Water Outlook for 11 January 2023 shows the Clarence River catchment rootzone soil moisture is 21% in absolute terms (below average) and in the 11^th percentile in relative terms – representing the percentage of available water content in the top 1m of the soil profile.

While the upper layer soil moisture is 2% in absolute terms (below average) and the 8^th percentile ranking in relative terms – representing the percentage of available water content in the top 10 cm of the soil profile.

Across the entire Northern Rivers region it appears that only the Brunswick and Richmond river catchments are coming in with an average soil moisture content for the month of January 2023 to date.

Overall the average first 10cm of the state's top soils holds only 0.83% moisture in absolute terms and the root zone 10% moisture.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology gives north-east NSW a 50–55 chance of exceeding median rainfall between February and May 2023.

On Thursday 12 January 2023 the NSW Rural Fire Service recorded an ongoing bushfire fire at Townsend in the Lower Clarence on 6ha of grass & close tree cover and a fire at Malabugilmah on a 19 ha mix of grass and open woodland. Both fires are under control

Clarence Valley Independent, 11 January 2023:

Smoke rises into the sky as a massive fire takes hold of the Australian Community Care Network (ACCN) and the adjoining property Broomy’s Towing and Recovery on December 28. Image: Ross Pritchard

Heavy black smoke billowed over Grafton’s CBD shortly after 4pm on December 28, as close to 70 firefighters and emergency services personnel fought to contain a large-scale fire which seriously damaged two properties in Fitzroy and Victoria Streets and impacted several nearby businesses.

A spokesperson for NSW Police said the blaze began in a storage area at the rear of the Australian Community Care Network (ACCN) in Fitzroy Street and quickly spread to the adjoining business in Victoria Street, Broomy’s Towing and Recovery.

As Grafton Fire and Rescue 306 Station Captain Garry Reardon and several of his crew members battled the flames from Victoria Street, Grafton Fire and Rescue 306 Station Deputy Captain Chris Rumpf undertook fire attack from Fitzroy Street.

Describing the blaze as extremely fierce, Captain Reardon said local crews were aided by firefighters from Ballina, Lismore, Goonellabah, Casino, Maclean, Yamba, Woolgoolga, and Coffs Harbour, along with Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews from Southampton, Ulmarra, Grafton, and Casino.

NSW Ambulance paramedics also attended the scene and treated several firefighters who suffered minor burns and dehydration as they fought to bring the fire under control and save neighbouring properties.

No other injuries were reported.

“It was a massive blaze,” Captain Reardon said.

“It certainly took hold of the buildings very quickly.

“From Victoria Street, we had fire control within half an hour, but it was still roaring in Fitzroy Street.”

Deputy Captain Rumpf recalled being faced with a wall of flames upon his arrival at the scene, and said conditions were very hot and very intense……

Manager of the ACCN Alison Tomlinson described the situation as a nightmare, and revealed the business lost more than 50 percent of its stock including numerous food and household items, a cool room, and a large freezer, and is currently unable to trade.

Dean Broomhall from Broomy’s Towing and Recovery confirmed they are still operating after their tow truck was saved from the flames which caused significant internal damage to their building…...

Firefighters battle to control the fire after it spread into Broomy’s Towing and Recovering in Victoria Street. Image: contributed

Read the full article here.

Here comes the Sun......

 

 

 NASA Goddard, 6 January 2023:

This video chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the Sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly 13 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system. With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. Compiling images taken 108 seconds apart, the movie condenses 133 days, or about four months, of solar observations into 59 minutes. The video shows bright active regions passing across the face of the Sun as it rotates. The Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days. The loops extending above the bright regions are magnetic fields that have trapped hot, glowing plasma. These bright regions are also the source of solar flares, which appear as bright flashes as magnetic fields snap together in a process called magnetic reconnection. While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed toward the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. Some of the dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. Other blackouts are caused by instrumentation being down or data errors. SDO transmits 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground every day. The images where the Sun is off-center were observed when SDO was calibrating its instruments. SDO and other NASA missions will continue to watch our Sun in the years to come, providing further insights about our place in space and information to keep our astronauts and assets safe. The music is a continuous mix from Lars Leonhard’s “Geometric Shapes” album, courtesy of the artist. 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Lead Producer Tom Bridgman (SVS): Lead Visualizer Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Editor