Sarah Rees and Sheree Maris gave two inspiring presentations on science communication in conservation and biodiversity in an afternoon plenary at the Victorian Biodiversity Conference in Melbourne.
Its always nice to discover new natural wonders in our local area. It enhances our sense of place and pride in nature, and is an important motivation for conservation.
Sarah Rees and Sheree Maris bring us the wonders of the ancient Central Highland forests and the extraordinary ecosystems hiding just under the surface of Port Philip. Both of these environments are just on the edge of Melbourne, yet are largely unknown and unexplored by most Melburnians.
Professor Kristie L. Ebi, from University of Washington, presented a plenary talk at the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) conference in Canberra on Climate and health. An interesting talk even via twitter and speaks to the need for a national climate and health policy in Australia.
The Climate Council released it's new report on climate change and heat health, on the impacts of extreme heat on public health. Nofibs reporter and climate activist John Englart was there at the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital to document the occasion.
Key findings of the report include that:
1. Climate change is a serious health threat for many Australians.
2. As extreme heat events worsen, the risk of adverse human health impacts is increasing.
3. Heatwaves can put intense pressure on health services.
4. While the health sector has made significant steps in improving resilience to heatwave events, more needs to be done.
5. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and deeply is the best way to protect Australians from worsening extreme heat events.
Follow the presentations on twitter in my Storify curation of the launch of the report by public health researcher Dr Elizabeth Hanna, Climate Councillor Professor Lesley Hughes, Australian epidemiologist and public health researcher Professor Fiona Stanley, and Dr Stephen Parnis, an emergency medical doctor and Vice President of the AMA.
A mass mobilisation brought tens of thousands of Nantais and people from across France together on two roads in Bretagne, the 4 lane Nantes-Vannes and Nantes-Rennes, to oppose the construction of the Notre-Dame-Des-Landes (NDDL) new airport project by construction company Vinci 30 km north of Nantes.
The project is widely seen as climaticide and not compatible with France's commitment to the #COP21 Paris Agreement on climate change. It is hard to justify a new airport near Nantes when the runways are far from capacity. But Perhaps the passenger terminal of the existing airport may need an upgrade. Nantes is also only 2h 15mins by the high speed TGV train from Paris.
French President Francois Hollande announced on February 11 a regional referendum would be held later this years to settle whether the project would proceed or not. Plans for the airport construction have existed for some 50 years. The airport is strongly supported by Bruno Retailleau, President of the Regional Council of Pays-de-la-Loire, controlled by the right wing Republican Party and the far right Front Nationale.
"Red alert, red alert, keep the coal in the dirt" the protestors chanted at a blockade of coal haul trucks going to Whitehaven's Tarrawonga coal mine while Whitehaven and Idemitsu bulldozers are lining up to devastate the Leard forest to expand coal mining.
Nofibs reporter John Englart reports on the first week of action - titled the Bats Return - at the Leard blockade via social media. The Bats Return is a six week creative action protest at Maules Creek, north-western New South Wales, that started on February 13. It coincides when the miners are allowed, under their permit, to clear the forest.
The recent Paris United Nations Conference on Climate Change resulted in a world agreement to attempt to limit global warming to 1.5°C, but is Australia doing enough? Then again, is limiting global warming to 1.5°C feasible? And what must we do to limit global warming both as a nation and individually?
I travelled the 150km from Melbourne to South Gippsland to guage the debate and discussion on climate change, organised by local group Groundswell Bass Coast. I found a community already actively discussing the issue and also taking action.
NASA and NOAA and JMA all agree that January 2016 set a new high temperature anomaly over 1 degree C, the ninth consecutive month to set a new monthly record. The strong El Nino likely added about 0.2C to this anomaly.
Original article published at San Fransisco Bay Area indymedia
5000 people joined a rally in Rennes, France, on Saturday to stop the Notre-Dame-des-Landes (NDDL) proposed airport and the evictions of historical occupants from the site.
The event was called "backhoe cycling" and provided three assembly points with processions which took off at 11 am to converge on the city of Rennes Town Hall.
The proposed airport is contentious with the proposal being in train since the 1970s and being supported by the French state Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Loire-Atlantique Regional President @BrunoRetailleau. Opponents argue that the existing Nantes Loire-Atlantique airport is far from operating at capacity for the runway, while the terminals could be renovated and expanded to allow for better passenger processing.
The site of the new airport, 15km north of Nantes, is on agricultural land and wetlands which supports 130 protected species, including 5 species that have not been adequately considered in the project environmental assessment.
Article originally published at San Fransisco Bay Area Indymedia.
400 tractors, 1,000 cyclists and 20,000 marchers turned up on the ring road on the periphery of Nantes to protest the Notre-Dame-Des-Landes (NDDL) proposed airport, and support the ZAD ongoing occupation. The protest blockaded the Chevire Bridge over the Loire River on the ring road before dispersing before midnight under a heavy police presence.
On Friday the #Ministerforcoal hashtag was trending in Melbourne and then in Australia on Twitter. Activists had decided to inject some honesty into his ministerial position by rebranding him from Minister for the Environment to Minister for Coal.
Fifty or so activists attended his electorate office for the seat of Flinders in Hastings. While one group locked together inside, another group climbed onto the roof and unfurled bannerssaying "Minister for Coal".
The protesters were highlighting Greg Hunt's approval for the second time of the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland's Galilee basin. With coal prices being in the doldrums and most Australian and international banks refusing to finance the project, it is looking very much like a stranded asset.
The early spring heatwave has brought a taste of summer extreme heat and bushfires across the continent setting new early season temperature records with temperatures anomolies of 12 degrees C and more over much of southern Australia, particularly Victoria.
This comes as a powerful El Nino is taking place in the Pacific which acts to boost temperatures and drought conditions in Australia. And all this takes place in a hotter environment with Australia having warmed by 0.9 degrees from 1910.
The Bureau of Meteorology have issued a statement on October 7 which advises that the Indian Ocean Dipole has turned positive which will reinforce the El Nino impact on Australia.
With Shell abandoning Arctic oil drilling for the foreseeable future, and now pressure being applied on banks and other corporates, we are starting to see the power of a movement of movements that raises issues of economic justice and links them to issues of climate justice.
Today in San Fransisco climate activists took direct action to close down the financial district and blockaded particular corporate targets. In the lead up to the Paris Climate talks in December such actions demonstrate the necessity for a major change in the system and for leaders and diplomats to stop compromising on the action needed to be taken.
At least Eight activists were arrested during the protest.
Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has made a joke of Pacific Nations facing rising sea levels due to climate change. The Australian Prime Minister, recently returned from meeting with Pacific Island Nations in Port Moresby, laughed at the joke, before Social Services Minister Scott Morrison pointed out the boom microphone overhead.
Now there are calls for Peter Dutton to resign and Tony Abbott to apologize to the people of the Pacific and the world for the insensitive nature of the comments. The President of Kiribati Anote Tong, Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony De Brum and PNG Governor of Oro Province Gary Juffa, among others, have all condemned the comments and called for a public apology.
A lunchtime press conference on Abbott's decision to accept 12,000 Syrian refugees went awry today. As the press conference was running late Immigration Minister Peter Dutton remarked that it was running to "Cape York time". Tony Abbott responded, "we had a bit of that up in Port Moresby".
Dutton then added, "time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door". to watch the Prime Minister laughed.
Then Social Services Minister Scott Morrison pointed out to both men that there was a microphone overhead. You could see Dutton face change...
It may have been a private conversation but it revealed the disdain that Abbott and Dutton feel for our neighboring countries and their leaders and for the people of the Pacific.
Once the video was published condemnation from all sides was swift.
See: Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton Joke About Flooding Of Small Island Nations
The conversation begins with Peter Dutton insulting Aboriginal people – and ethnic and Muslim leaders who were attending the roundtable summit – about their perceived indifference to punctuality.
DUTTON: It’s Cape York time.
ABBOTT: (laughs) What’s this mate?
DUTTON: It’s Cape York time.
ABBOTT: We had a bit of that up in Port Moresby.
DUTTON: Oh yeah.
ABBOTT: Yeah, yeah.
ABBOTT: Anyway, it was a good meeting. It was a good meeting.
MORRISON: When was… was it in Moresby?
ABBOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
DUTTON: Time doesn’t mean anything when you’re about to be, you know, have water lapping at your door.
ABBOTT: (laughs) Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Morrison interrupts with a warning.
MORRISON: There’s a boom (microphone) up there.
ABBOTT: Yeah, yeah.
Former Prime Minister Abbott has labeled climate change ‘crap’, and made Australia the only nation on earth to abolish a price on carbon.
Labor and Green political leaders and Environmental leaders such as Greenpeace's CEO Kumi Naidoo have condemned the comments and called for an apology. Pacific Islanders with 350Pacific have called for Minister Dutton to resign over the offensive climate remarks.
Reaction and condemnation by the Twitterati was swift
@bencubby@joshgnosis These people could not care less about anyone but themselves - recording is an insight into how much they care
The Labor Party responded with both Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten and Richard Marles, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, tweeting derogatory comments on the interaction.
Greens spokeperson on Climate Change Senator Larissa Waters issued the following statement:
“These people are not governing for the good of Australia. They smoke cigars to celebrate their cruel budget, then they laugh about the effect their policies are having on people and our planet,” Senator Waters said.
“It’s disgusting and they know it’s wrong. Why else would they be scared of a boom mic?”
“What else are these clowns saying when the microphones are off? Imagine what Cabinet meetings must be like.
“What we’ve seen today is raw contempt for the survival and safety of our Pacific Island neighbours and our own coastal communities.
“We’re talking about peoples’ lives, and this government is laughing.
“It’s a huge diplomatic blunder that will enrage our Pacific Island neighbours, who have been calling on Australia to save their homes. What an insult for them to now hear the Australian Prime Minister laughing at the prospect of their homes going underwater.
“The mask has absolutely come off today. The government knows what it will cost to deliver for their fossil fuel donors, and they’re intent on doing it anyway.
“It’s now clear to everyone how impossible it will be for Abbott’s Australia to have any credibility at the UN climate talks in Paris later this year.
“This is the man we sent to the UN in Geneva this week to negotiate about refugees’ lives, for goodness sake.
“Abbott and Dutton are clowns, but they’re the only ones laughing,” Senator Waters said.
How do you write up a conference presentation which you did not attend and did not see livestreamed? Why through the magic of twitter #hashtag conversation of people live reporting the speakers important points. Add some relevant context and related articles and you have a report.
Rob Sturrock's conference presentation on Climate change and its health impacts at home and abroad at the Population Health Congress 2015 intrigued me, so I gathered all the live tweets from his keynote speech, selected a variety of comments and deleted any that were primarily duplicates and redundant.
In the process, I also read his study The Longest Conflict: Australia's Climate Security Challenge that was released in June 2015 by the Center for Policy Development. In fact before publishing this storify of his keynote speech I published an article on his study: Australian Defence Force poorly prepared for #Climate change. So I had a reasonable understanding of where he was coming from in his talk.
Unable to attend Naomi Klein's talk at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas on Capitalism and Climate, I watched it live streamed via Getup and commented via twitter using the Climate Action Moreland account (@Camoreland). (Photo by @1millionwomen)
It was an historic speech both inspiring and motivating us for a more caring society, for us to make the leap and change the whole system, not just a slow piecemeal approach tweaking a few economic levers to reduce the worst climate impacts but still leave the substantial racism and inequality inbuilt in the system.
Though a feminist from a jewish cultural background, Klein urged us to read the Pope's latest encyclical, Laundato Si. Though Klein does not mention this, there has also been an Islamic declaration on Climate Change issued in August.
Klein implores us to be honest, bold and generous. As the politics is not now working, to change the politics. We need to change the system so that it works for the benefit of all. Watch the youtube video (58 mins) below:
Here is my storify which collates tweets from the 2,500 people present at the Sydney Opera House with people watching via live streaming and interacting via twitter.
Even though in Melbourne, I missed out on a ticket to Naomi Klein at Melbourne Writers Festival. The two Naomi Klein sessions at the Melbourne Writers Festival were booked out well in advance.
I did the next best thing and followed the event on twitter, then used storify to document the session from those who were there, in 81 tweets.
