Australia puts the chill on hot July

Image: Global temperature anomalies for July 2012 - Courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory

July 2012 was the hottest month on record for the continental United States. The heat was also felt up into the Canadian prairies, the Arctic and northern Greenland, Northern Africa, Middle East, Central Europe, Russia, Ukraine and the Antarctic Peninsula. But the temperature record fell short due to a few places like Australia which experienced cold temperature anomalies.

Changes in extent and intensity of wildfire linked to Climate change

A new international scientific study lead by a researcher from the University of Utah links extreme fire weather to increasing temperatures and drought driven by climate change.

The study, lead by geography professor Mitchell Power, found that the extent and intensity of wildfires on a continental and global basis is connected to changing temperatures and climate. The study dismissed the theory that population decline was the primary cause for reduced wildfire during the cooler periods in the last 2000 years arguing "climate change was likely more important than indigenous population collapse in driving this decline."

Further subsidies for Victorian coal by Victorian and Federal Governments

Last week Federal Funding for new Victorian coal fired power station was withdrawn. This week the Federal and Victorian Government announced $90 million in funding for 'clean coal' type demonstration programs to justify continued exploitation of Victoria's brown coal resource. Two steps forward, now two steps back.

On Friday Federal energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and his State Minister equivalent, Michael O'Brien, announced $90 million funding support for "advanced lignite technologies". These are supposed 'clean coal' technologies to convert the high carbon intensive content of lignite into a product somewhat less carbon intense, to justify continued reliance and addiction to coal technologies and to even justify development of a processed brown coal export industry.

Climate risks and opportunities for Victoria - the Climate Commission comes to Melbourne

I attended the Climate Commission public forum in Melbourne last Tuesday night with my daughter. I felt that it was important that she came along to see the charts on the screen, to hear from the Climate Commissioners and climate scientists directly, and perhaps question them about her future. Because global warming will have an increasing impact on the climate of the future, and the life of the kids of today, and eventually their children and future generations.

Federal Funding for new Victorian coal fired power station withdrawn

Yesterday the Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, announced withdrawal of $100 million funding for the HRL proposed coal gasification 600MW power station in the La Trobe Valley.


Environment Victoria and other Environment groups like Quit Coal, Greenpeace, Climate Action Moreland, who have been fighting the proposed power station, have claimed the withdrawal of federal funding as a major win in their campaign to stop new coal fired power stations being built. The $100 million funding was promised by the Howard Government if certain project milestones were met, which the company has not been able to fulfill.

Greenland Ice Sheet experiences unprecedented surface melt

Surface melt on the Greenland ice sheet reached up to 97% of the ice sheet area by July 12, an unprecedented level of melting, according to readings gathered and cross-referenced from three different satellites by several scientists.

Satellite measurements showed that about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface on July 8, but over the subsequent 4 days the melting had dramatically accelerated to cover an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface by July 12. This was the largest area seen thawing ever measured on the Greenland ice sheet by satellite measurements.

Fawkner Leisure Centre saving energy, reducing carbon footprint

A new video by the Climate Commission features Moreland Council taking action on energy consumption and climate change resulting in reduced carbon emissions and substantial dollar savings for ratepayers.



In the video produced by the Climate Commission Stuart Nesbitt, the Climate Change Technical officer with Moreland council, explains in particular how putting in place energy efficiencies and optimisation has resulted in a better managed aquatic centre that reduces it's energy consumption and carbon footprint while saving taxpayers money.

Arctic warming at more than double the global warming average

A new scientific study warns that the Arctic is warming at up to four times faster than the global average, due to the combination of melting sea ice and global atmospheric warming.

See also: July 2011 - Warming Arctic air temperatures causing less snow, more rain, faster ice melt | Jan 2011 - Albedo Feedback: Climate Models under estimate loss of reflectivity in the Arctic

Carbon Tax tips the scales for Munmorah coal power station closure

Delta Electricity this afternoon announced the closure of the 45 year old Munmorah coal fired power station at least partly due to the introduction of the carbon tax. The power station is located on the shores of Lake Munmorah on the central coast of NSW between Sydney and Newcastle.

Reasons for the closure being cited by Delta Energy include the reduction in energy demand in NSW resulting in an excess in electricity supply, the aging nature of the infrastructure and the high cost of maintenance, and that "the carbon tax further erodes its viability."

Sea Level Rise unstoppable: emissions reduction needed to enable climate adaptation

Well this is a nice pickle! It seems that sea level rise won't stop even if we aggressively mitigate global warming and keep global average atmospheric temperatures beneath 2 degrees celsius. The reason, it seems, is there is enormous inertia in the world's oceans and we are now warming the deeper ocean which will continue for hundreds of years.

Simple physics really. You heat a liquid and it expands. This thermal expansion is responsible for about a third of the currently observed rate of sea level rise. And it will continue for several hundred years as deeper cooler layers of the ocean take up the heat from the upper layers. Even if we take aggressive action to reduce carbon emissions, and go carbon negative, such action may only slow the rate of sea level rise as the deeper ocean continues to expand.