Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

The World Bank predicts that global economy is likely to shrink for the first time since World War II, with global trade to decline by the most in 80 years.

Until recently, whenever climate research organizations reported increases in Arctic Sea ice melt rates , advocates of global “cooling” have been making references to the Antarctic continent as supposed counter argument. Referring to small stable or slightly cooling parts of east Anarctica, a plethora of bogus climate websites claim Antarctic warming is not a part of global warming. Presumably regarding Antarctica as part of another planet?

Can we continue with the business as usual approach or should we make dramatic changes to how we do things? Unless we are willing to change, the world in the latter part of this century maybe unfit for living.

You identified with the broken-hearted, with the wounded spirits, with the loss, the grieving and the terrible unprecedented trauma that is being experienced right now. I know there are people who will wake every morning believing that it was all a dream; that it did not happen. And then they will realise it was not a dream and they will cry and they will cry again. (Russell Broadbent)

I'd argue that Gunns since the 'nineties is a subspecies of the privatisation/ PPP's phenomena that occurred over the last generation, forced on communities by burgeoning globalisation coupled with a giant con perpetrated by politicians and corporate interests on apathetic Western publics.

Planetcide challenges every faith, ideal and social system humans ever held. Individuals are crushed, as in H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, when cells rebelling against the insanity of a murderous global Martian society are destroyed by the parent organism.

Arne Naess died on 12th January 2009, aged 96. He was a Norwegian philosopher who promoted an all-embracing relationship between humans and the earth. He was an inspiration for many Green political activists.

The sensitivity of the Earth’s atmosphere to anthropogenic carbon gases has been underestimated. As the orgy of burning carbon products of 400 million of biological evolution continues unabated, pushed by business, advertisers and consumption-promoting governments, global warming proceeds at a pace faster than projected by the IPCC, tracking toward likely climate tipping points.

Malthus was wrong as demographers well know. It’s well known that the projections Malthus made of the English population failed to unfold, and the steep upward curve of population plateaued and now actually creeps downward, not just in England but in many parts of the World.  We know perfectly well what the key factor is in causing that plateau, and it’s not affluence as such, it’s not telling the Catholics to shut up (Ireland and Italy have among the lowest fertility rates in the World), it’s not giving out free condoms and abortions, it’s not an authoritarian imposition of small families, and it has nothing to do with immigration. It’s teaching women to read.

Not only is today's announcement deeply flawed and short-sighted policy, one that all but ignores the science and economics of what is at stake, but it is also – and you must know this – a deliberate betrayal of the democratic process by the ALP and you personally.

According to Anderson and Bows (2008) it may be too late to arrest climate change by reduced carbon emission alone. Humanity needs to fast-track development of techniques for atmospheric CO2 down-draw to levels c. 350 ppm and below (Hansen et al., 2008). (Andrew Glikson)

Forests pump salt back down into the ground. They retain water to minimise flooding and feed the water into the water-table over a much longer period of time, as well as through condensation contributing further to precipitation, thus pushing back desertification. They stop erosion and rebuild soil. They lock up millions of tons of carbon, provide habitat and corridors for creatures of foot and wing, deal with all manner of toxins in highly creative ways, and produce oxygen. They keep rivers alive.

When we swipe our card for a clothing purchase, we might think twice about the price, or the bill we’ll get at the end of the month, but we should really be thinking about what we don’t see when we pick up the end product. Could my weakness for new clothing purchases not only be costing me a pretty penny, but also be costing the environment a fortune?

The answer to the question of who owns water is that no-one owns water. Water belongs to the earth, it belongs to all species, it belongs to future generations. It's a common, and it's a public trust, and it's a human right. And ... no-one has the right to appropriate it for personal profit while other people are dying. (Maude Barlow)

The US National Intelligence Center releases its quadrennial scenario for the next twenty years. Grim reading.

Can faith pull us back from the brink? Award-winning documentary maker and former Dominican Friar Mark Dowd takes a challenging and somewhat humorous approach to the urgent issue of our time. He asks if carbon use is the new sex, i.e. a ‘sin’ in today’s world.

It is too soon yet to predict exactly how badly the poorest countries will fare in the financial crisis and resultant economic downturn. But it is clear that reduced demands for exports to developed countries and lower foreign investment will mean less growth and government revenue for already-fragile social protection and services. For millions of the world’s poorest citizens, it is literally a matter of life and death.

It’s been estimated that the average Australian basket of food travels around 70,000 miles  That doesn’t include the energy costs in the actual food’s production – from manufacturing to the use of pesticides and fertilizers. For example, it takes 2,200 calories of hydrocarbon energy to produce a can of soft drink containing 200 calories.

Since I began watching this issue a few months ago, coverage has certainly increased, but public interest largely has not. Even if the effect on agricultural supply and pricing is ignored, if nothing more this is a case study of the needs for appropriate oversight of the planning and development process, and the rights of landowners and the state when it comes to resources.

In this age of environmental awareness and carbon footprint-counting, we are inundated with green alternatives and pressured into offsetting emissions, but are these initiatives really making a difference to climate change or are they just another money making ploy?

There is no doubt that for an export-dependent economy with a major stake in fossil fuel production and long history of reliance on cheap energy, pricing carbon is a serious risk. But Australia is not alone in taking this risk and all the other routes look considerably worse. (Henry Derwent)

Water is a critical lubricant of the global economy. And as with oil, supplies of water—at least, the clean, easily accessible sort—are coming under enormous strain because of the growing global population and an emerging middle-class in Asia that hankers for the water-intensive life enjoyed by people in the West. (Andrew Liveris)

What I loved at the time was how Howard was given a couple of days' grace to appear distant from Bush's plans. He was in Canada when Bush announced his advance on India, and was bouncing around the globe as he launched an internal Australian debate of the country's nuclear future.

It is commonly assumed that the live export trade in sheep and cattle to the Middle East is necessary and economically vital. Necessary because Islamic (halal) slaughter demands it, and vital because of the export income it brings to Australia. Although it is certainly in the immediate interests of those involved in the live export trade, none of the rest is true.

Yet another story today about how genetically engineered algae can produce much more crude oil per acre than biofuels. But how do the numbers stack up?

If the mainstream science is wrong, we need to reduce GHG emissions even more than is currently planned. Simple really. Now let's get on with it.

If carbon capture and storage is capable of any significant dampening effect on global warming, then the CO2 involved will inevitably be a resource of massive importance for the future inhabitants of the Earth. That in short, is the other side of the CO2 coin.

Perhaps, without being conscious of it, we recognise in Humpty Dumpty the destiny fate has in store for us, we Kings of the Castle, parasites and destroyers of all we survey. And know in our hearts that we deserve that destiny. But seldom does our hubris fail to come to the rescue and banish such disquieting thoughts as those from our minds.