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Australia's
Inconvenient Truth:
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Download
Australia's Inconvenient
Truth ,
an overview of climate trends and projected impacts
of climate change in Australia, in Adobe .pdf format
here.
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Links
to Climate
Change factual
resources:
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WHAT
IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
Monday,
22 January 2007
Climate
change
is the greatest threat facing our planet. Humans are
causing climate change, and humans can stop it getting
worse. We can keep our planet healthy for future generations
by acting on climate change now and reducing our greenhouse
pollution. What's causing the problem?
Across
the world, human activity is causing climate change
by adding huge amounts of carbon dioxide (C02) and
other greenhouse polluting gases to our atmosphere.
The biggest source of greenhouse pollution is the
burning of fossil fuels - such as coal and oil - for
energy. Why is the planet warming?
The
Earth is wrapped in a delicately balanced 'blanket'
of gases. Like a greenhouse in a garden, this insulating
layer traps heat from the sun, and sustains life.
Human activities, particularly the generation of energy
from fossil fuels, are adding significant amounts
of greenhouse pollution to the atmosphere.This pollution
stays in the atmosphere for many decades.
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Greenhouse
pollution
is making the Earth's 'blanket' unnaturally
thick, resulting in heating up the planet, otherwise
known as global warming. This heat trap is also
causing many unusual and dangerous changes to our
climate and weather systems, best described as climate
change. An unfair share In Australia, coal-fired
power stations are the biggest single source of
greenhouse pollution. Because of our huge reliance
on coal to generate electricity,
Australians
are the highest greenhouse polluters, per capita,
of all the developed countries. How do we solve
the 'climate crisis'? We can stop climate change,
but only by making major reductions in the amount
of greenhouse pollution we create. To cut pollution,
we need to drastically change the way we use and
produce energy. Individuals, businesses and governments
need to become much more energy efficient and to
stop wasting energy. And we need to invest more
in clean, renewable sources of energy such as wind
and solar power.
Renewable energy is available now, safe for the
environment and good for our economy. By dealing
with climate change, we have an opportunity to make
Australia a world leader in renewable energy and
create thousands of jobs and export opportunities.
Climate
change
- what does it mean for Australians?
Australia
is particularly vulnerable to climate change - environmentally
and economically. We already live on the driest
inhabited continent on earth.
Climate
change
is making most of Australia drier. We are already
experiencing more severe droughts in the bush, and
water shortages in our cities.
Climate
change
is bad for our economy, and bad for our individual
hip-pockets. In 2006, Cyclone Larry, severe drought
and bushfires wiped billions off the Australian
economy.
These
costs flow through to ordinary Australians in many
ways, for example, increased food prices and higher
insurance premiums. If we don't take action, climate
change will worsen If we do nothing about our changing
climate, Australian scientists at the CSIRO estimate
that temperatures in Australia could be up to 2șC
hotter by 2030 and up to 6șC hotter by 2070.
As
temperatures increase we can expect: More frequent
and severe droughts, bushfires, floods and storms
Increased deaths from heatwaves and flooding and
higher incidences of dengue fever, malaria and other
mosquito-borne diseases
Damage
to our farming and tourism economies as crops fail
and attractions like ski fields, the Great Barrier
Reef and Kakadu disappear Wildlife extinctions as
habitat changes or disappears The above information
is supplied by the Australian Conservation Foundation
(http://www.acfonline.org.au/).
To
discover how to reduce your impact on the environment
at home and in your lifestyle, Australian Conservation
Foundation's GreenHome is your one-stop-shop (www.acfonline.org.au/greenhome).
For
practical tips on saving energy and reducing waste,
to calculating your environment footprint and choosing
actions that make a difference, GreenHome shows
you how to enjoy a healthier environment that doesn't
cost the earth.
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A
Win for our Global Village
47
countries are now supporting the formation of a powerful
new environmental body - called the United Nations
Environment Organisation (UNEO).
The
countries are: Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, Congo-Brazzaville,
Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland,
France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal,
Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Tunisia, United Kingdom, Vanuatu.
The
body would have more resources, more funding and more
clout than the current United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP).
The organisation's main purpose would be to slow the
pace of global warming. To reach that end, UNEO would
have the power to punish polluters.
French
President Jacques Chirac made the case for the new
body by declaring: "The ecological crisis knows no
borders. Yet we still act, too often, in a dispersed
manner.
UNEO
will carry the global ecological conscience." The
European Union has backed Chirac's plan as have countries
closer to Australia, like Vanuatu. Australia is yet
to make its position clear.
WE,
THE UNDERSIGNED, CALL ON THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
TO SUPPORT THE FORMATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT
ORGANISATION.
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STANDARD
LIGHT BULBS SET
TO GO
Tuesday,
20 February 2007, 6:35 am
Standard
inefficient light bulbs could be phased out within
three years to save up to 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse
gas emissions under a government plan to be announced.
Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected
to announce a commitment to phase out incandescent
light bulbs by 2009-10, The Sydney Morning Herald
reports.
The
move would be a world first by a national government.
The federal government hopes to convince state and
territory governments to introduce energy performance
standards that would see incandescent light bulbs
replaced by more efficient but more expensive alternatives
such as compact fluorescent lights. It would also
negotiate with manufacturers to phase out the old
bulbs. In many cases compact fluorescent lamps sell
for about $10 each, but typically last six times as
long as their predecessors, the newspaper said.
According
to the government, up to 95 per cent of the energy
each of the standard light bulbs use is wasted, while
compact fluorescent use only 20 per cent as much electricity
to produce the same amount of light.
©
AAP 2007
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Newton's
Third Law states that
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction".
Nature confirms this.
Let's
try to make a difference, and save CO2 emissions worldwide.
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