Monday 13 April 2009
Goose stepping in all this rain.....
The rain came, the water rises. Since February our little creek has been out of its bed more times than an insomniac with diarrhoea.
The ground is as soft as half-set jelly and I've taken to going barefoot around the farm since I bogged the gum boots too many times to count.
One good thing to come out of the latest flood is that since it shorted out and then washed away the neighbour’s electric fence, I no longer have the continual ticking on the phone line which left an impression that the phone was going to blow up at any moment.
The new fully-automatic weather station I installed couldn't cope with both rainfall and blackouts so we are back using the old rain gauge - a large tin can and a measuring beaker.
It is more reliable that the electric, battery and solar powered gee whiz bang new weather station.
The main problem with the old tin is assessing the frog variable.
How much fluid do the frogs extract or add to the rainwater caught in a tin?
I must admit it has been very peaceful the last few months sitting listening to the rain on the tin roof.
Not much can be done outside until there is a break in the weather.
We've not had any visitors. Even the religious fraternity that use to turn up on our doorstep has taken to leaving pamphlets in our letter box on the main road - they may trust the Lord but not our rain raddled driveway.
The only animals that have completely enjoyed the past few months have been the geese.
They clearly believe they're meant to rule this new watery kingdom and are currently out harassing swans in their new found domain.
When not involved in that pursuit they march in squadrons over sodden pasture without sinking, as they go telling everything to stand clear for the new overlords.
They have definitely turned fascist. So as I sit here, with rain drumming on the roof, I am planning a counter-insurgence.
When the weather breaks the geese had better be on guard for I have found the receipe for pate de foie gras.
To all those Australian politicians out there - especially the Rees Government
Click on image to enlargeI know its hard if you don't live right on a coast or river to visualise the type of residential land vulnerable to the ravages of climate change.
So here's an aerial view of the small northern NSW coastal town of Yamba, at the mouth of the Clarence River.
You will notice that its northern border is the Clarence River, its eastern border is the Pacific Ocean, its western border is Oyster Channel and its southern border is mostly Lake Wooloweyah with a narrow strip of land on the ocean side.
All of these bodies of water are influenced by the tide.
If the Rees Government consents to furthering urban development of West Yamba by consenting to the recent Clarence Valley Council Draft West Yamba Local Environment Plan then an extra 2,500 people will probably be added to the town's present population of around 6,000 residents (a population which basically doubles during peak holiday periods).
The proposed West Yamba development (involving significant landfill) would be on an identified flood storage area and therefore its bulk would divert some of any future flood water to elsewhere in Yamba and the smaller Wooloweyah village.
That would mean an estimated 4,000 households at the very least would be lining up to be included in any litigation against Clarence Valley Council and the NSW Government for a failure to exercise duty of care.
Remember when you could get money back by returning soft drink and beer bottles? Well here's another chance
The Total Environment Centre is alerting people to the fact that an initial decision on whether or not to pursue a national container deposits scheme will be made by Federal and State Environment Ministers on 22 May 2009.
A container deposit scheme has operated successfully for years in South Australia.
Here is what is said about it:
Container deposits are effective - Tonnage rates achieved in South
Australia for beer bottles, softdrink glass and plastic soft drink containers are far in excess of those achieved in other states ofAustralia. South Australia recovers 85% of non refillable glass soft drink bottles, compared with36% nationally. The return rate for plastic soft drink containers, (PET), is 74% whilst the national returnrate is 36%. Liquid paperboard, a recent inclusion, has a return rate of 40% increasing. [Recyclers of South Australia Inc.]
Introducing CD has many benefits to the environment, local government and community groups because it:
- Increases recycling rates in the state providing clean recyclate to manufacturers
- Significantly reduces litter in our parks and streets
- Provides 'recycling hub' infrastructure with the opportunity for more than just container recycling
- Is compatible with local council kerbside services and makes them more economic (via unredeemed deposits and reduced collection trips)
- Addresses 'away from home' container waste
- Creates local jobs
- Generates revenue for charitable and community service groups. [Total Environment Centre]
If you would like to see a dollar return on part of your recycling efforts and cleaner streets and parks in local areas, it's time to write or email your state and federal MPs asking for a national container deposit scheme to be put in place across Australia.
If you belong to a NSW community group you might like to discuss the issue and contact the Total Environment Centre at sarahve@tec.org.au about signing a group letter before 1 May 2009.
Sunday 12 April 2009
"Moggy Musings" [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]
A serpentine musing:
The hot weather is starting to give snakes the idea that garages, garden sheds and the crawl space under a house are good places to find a little cool shade.
Keep an eye out for these visitors and call your local W.I.R.E.S to help with relocation.
A solidarity 4ever musing:
With January 2009 being so hot further south in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, I thought I'd send a greeting to all those companion animals trying to cope with the heat wave and celsius temps rising into the 40s.
Hangs in there my fellow moggies, mutts, cavies, birds, horses etc!
Even I had to do an emergency moult last week, so I know how you are suffering.
Is it a record? musing:
Peeking at The Clarence Valley Review this morning, I see that Yamba boasts a tiny 8 week-old healthy kitten which weighed just 360 grams (12.7 ounces) on Monday, 5th January. Now that is really a small kitty!
It seems that only The Greens are going to bat for the NSW North Coast on the matter of climate change impacts
More than 100 Northern Rivers residents yesterday attended a public forum in Ballina, hosted by Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Greg Combet and Page MP Janelle Saffin.
Environmental Defender's Office Northern Rivers education officer, Mark Byrne, said an effective carbon reduction scheme was urgently needed.
"The fact is we don't have a lot of time. This really is a crisis," he said.
"This Government was elected largely because they said they would do something.
"It's time for real leadership and this scheme does not provide that."
Let us hope that Mr. Combet and Ms. Saffin heed the community concerns raised at this forum.
Coming as it did on the heels of the Environmental Defenders Office's own public meeting on 3 February 2009, I have to wonder if the two Labor MPs were there more to counter considerable grass roots resistance to the proposed national emissions trading scheme than to exchange views with local residents.
After speaking with one individual who attended this forum, I am now almost certain of this.
Given that the Rudd Government is holding to the line that the states are responsible for land use and NSW Nationals MP Steve Cansdell appears to be hoping that climate change will just disappear as an issue, it seems that The Greens are the only party at both state and federal level which is able to make the connection between global warming science and potential effects on the ground.
NSW Hansard record Thursday 26 March 2009:
2937 PLANNING—SEA LEVEL RISE—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— Planning, Climate Science and Sea Level Rise
(1) Is the Minister aware that scientists including John Church of the CSIRO and Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of Potsdam Institute for Climate Change met in Copenhagen in March 2009?
(2) Is the Minister aware that at this conference these scientists have warned that sea levels may rise by a metre or more before 2100, and then continue to rise for centuries?
(3) Is the Minister aware that these scientists have indicated that the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm sea level rise by 2090 is wrong?
(4) Is the Minister aware that scientists meeting in Copenhagen this month have warned that sea level rises will rise by a metre or more before 2100, almost double the previous estimate of 20cm to 59cm made in 2007 by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?
(5) Is the Minister aware that scientist John Church's study centered on Australia showed that coastal flooding events that today we expect only once every hundred years will happen several times a year by 2100?
(6) Will Planning NSW be revising its estimates of sea level rise in relation to coastal development in New South Wales?
(a) If so, when?
(7) Will Planning NSW advise councils via a SEPP or other instrument on the most scientifically recent and accurate sea level rise predictions?
(a) If so, when?
2938 PLANNING—WEST YAMBA LEP—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— West Yamba LEP
(1) Given the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy has identified West Yamba as a low lying area, are there major development constraints in the face of climate change impacts, specifically flooding and inundation, in West Yamba?
(2) Will consideration be given to the latest climate science and sea level rise predictions when assessing the draft West Yamba LEP Amendment based on new data contained in the Government's Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement and coming out of the Copenhagen conference?
(3) Clarence Valley Council has determined that residential development can be safely achieved by filling the West Yamba floodplain to half a metre above their projections of the 2090 maximum flood level, basing its calculations for safe floor levels on the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm. However, new predictions by scientists meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 estimate sea level will rise to double the level of the 2007 predictions. Should the Department and councils such as Clarence Valley Council therefore be revising their estimates of sea level rise and therefore the West Yamba LEP?
New X-Men movie leak has 20th Century Fox hopping mad and trying to freeze online 'evidence'
It's not only Aussie actor Hugh Jackman who's "disappointed" over the leaking of the pre-release version of the new "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie - Twentieth Century Fox is livid and out to sink the vile pirate, me hearties.
Over at Chilling Effects are copies of the legal bun fight with Digg Inc:
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