Saturday 30 September 2023

Image of the Month




Lighting up the dunes near Wanda Beach, Cronulla, NSW

ahead of the 14 October 2023 national referendum asking the question:


"A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?”



via @slsandpet, X/Twitter, 24 September 2023


Cartoon of the Week

 

First Dog On The Moon via @cecenviro

 

Friday 29 September 2023

Richmond Valley Council has refused the development application at 59 Rileys Hill Road, Broadwater, due to flood risk


Sometimes it is hard to believe the evidence of one's own eyes when looking at development plans lodged with local councils. 


This was one of those times, with property owner Broadwater Riley Pty Ltd ATF The Broadwater Riley Unit Trust and developers The Trustee for Cromack Family Trust and Others having lodged a document DA2023/0100 in December 2022 seeking consent to create 60 Torrens Title residential building lots on land which less than nine months before had been under a record amount of flood water.




The proposed development from the DAIndyNR, 11 January 2023



IndyNR.com, 27 September 2023:




The first meeting of Rileys Hill residents opposing the development on January 10, 2023.


Resident Jemma Donnelly is thrilled that the development of 60 blocks on Rileys Hill Road will not go ahead.


Richmond Valley Council has refused the development application at 59 Rileys Hill Road, Broadwater.


This is a fantastic response and shows that Richmond Valley Council has listened and taken into consideration the community’s concerns and has acknowledged the significant risks this proposed development puts on the existing community and the environmental impacts,” Ms Donnelly said.


This development is not in the public interest and is not suitable for development due to flood risk.”


During the floods in February–March last year, the site was underwater.



The development site was zoned residential in 1972.


The next logical step would be for the council to rezone the land to agricultural, Ms Donnelly said.


So that the current or next developer does not continue to propose future development.”…..


The developer has a right to appeal the decision within six months.


It should be noted that this refusal by Council also removes any need to clear-fell the remaining roadside tree corridor - a fact that is welcomed by those concerned with the plight of koala in urban areas of north-east NSW.



Thursday 28 September 2023

Newspoll published Monday 25 September 2023: a curate's egg, good in parts

 

Newspoll published 25 September 2023:


24 September 2023



VOTING INTENTION PRIMARY VOTE


Labor36 points (+1)

Coalition36 points (-1)

Greens11 points (-2)

One Nation6 points (-1)

Others11 points (+3)



VOTING INTENTION TWO-PARTY PREFERRED (TPP)


Labor – 54 points (+1)

Coalition – 46 points (-1)


Click on graph to enlarge











BETTER PM


Anthony Albanese – 50 points (no change)

Peter Dutton – 30 points (-1)



APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL RATING


Anthony AlbaneseApprove 47 points (+1)

                                   Disapprove 44 points (-3)

Peter Dutton Approve 32 points (-6)

      Disapprove 52 points (+3)

      Net Approval -20 points



Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament Referendum Voting Intention


YES36 points (-2 )

NO56 points (+3 )

UNDECIDED8 points (-1)



Saturday 23 September 2023

Tweet of the Week



Thursday 21 September 2023

North Coast Voices Notice To Readers

 

Due to illness North Coast Voices will not be posting until 28 September 2023.


Apologies to our readers.


Wednesday 20 September 2023

The other shoe has finally dropped - El Niño has been declared by Australian Bureau of Meteorology


Click on image to enlarge



Central and eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) currently exceed El Niño thresholds. International climate models suggest some further warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean is likely. All surveyed models indicate SSTs will remain above El Niño thresholds until at least the end of the 2023–24 southern hemisphere summer.

Bureau long-range forecasts are for SSTs up to 2.5 °C warmer than average off eastern Tasmania and in the eastern Tasman Sea from October to the end of 2023.


Click on image to enlarge


Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 19 September 2023:


ElNiño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole underway


An El Niño and a positive IOD are underway.


The declaration of these events, and their concurrence over spring, reinforces the Bureau's long-range rainfall and temperature forecasts, which continue to predict warmer and drier conditions for much of Australia over the next three months. The confirmation of an established El Niño increases the likelihood that the event will be sustained through the summer period.


Oceanic indicators firmly exhibit an El Niño state. Central and eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) continue to exceed El Niño thresholds. Models indicate further warming of the central to eastern Pacific is likely.


Broadscale pressure patterns over the tropical Pacific reflect El Niño, with the 90-day Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) at −7.7. Recent trade wind strength has been generally close to average, but was slightly weaker than average across the tropical Pacific in August 2023 for the first time since January 2020.


Overall, there are signs that the atmosphere is responding to the pattern of SSTs in the tropical Pacific and coupling of the ocean and atmosphere has started to occur. This coupling is a characteristic of an El Niño event and is what strengthens and sustains an event for an extended period. Climate models indicate this El Niño is likely to persist until at least the end of February. El Niño typically leads to reduced spring and early summer rainfall for eastern Australia, and warmer days for the southern two-thirds of the country.


A positive Indian Ocean Dipole is underway. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index is +1.25 °C for week ending 17 September. This is its fifth week above the positive IOD threshold (+0.40 °C). The longevity of this trend, combined with the strength of the dipole being observed and forecast, indicate a positive IOD event is underway. All models predict this positive IOD will persist to at least the end of spring. A positive IOD typically leads to reduced spring rainfall for central and south-east Australia.


When a positive IOD and El Niño occur together, their drying effect is typically stronger and more widespread across Australia.


The Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) is currently weak and is forecast to remain weak over the coming week.


The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index is currently negative and is expected to remain negative for at least the coming week, before a possible return to neutral late in September. During spring, a negative SAM is associated with decreased rainfall across parts of the east in both NSW and Victoria, and increased rainfall over western Tasmania.


The long-rangeforecast for Australia indicates warmer and drier than average conditions are likely across most of southern and eastern Australia from October to December. The Bureau's climate model takes into account all influences from the oceans and atmosphere when generating its long-range forecasts.


Global warming


Global warming continues to influence Australian and global climate. Global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were warmest on record for their respective months during April to August 2023. August 2023 SSTs were also the warmest globally for any month since observational records began in 1850. July and August 2023 were also respectively the hottest and second-hottest months globally in terms of 2-metre air temperature.


Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.48 ± 0.23 °C since national records began in 1910. There has also been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity, short duration rainfall events, especially across northern Australia. Southern Australia has seen a reduction, by 10 to 20%, in cool season (April to October) rainfall in recent decades. This is due to a combination of natural variability on decadal timescales and changes in large-scale circulation caused by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.


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