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  • #16
    Originally posted by sofa View Post
    Clue is in the evaluation of the Eucalyptus trees. they over millions of years have developed a ring at ground level that after another boring bush fire sprouts new branches.
    Australian native forests actually need periodic fire to prompt regeneration, and have evolved to regrow very quickly. But the scale and intensity of the recent fires is just so much more intense and large scale, that it' actually going to be destructive, particularly of wildlife.

    Comment


    • #17
      Can I just counter your point about scientists - I personally know and stayed with (December just past) who works at the university of Sydney in marine biology on the barrier reef and her opinion is that if it isn't already beyond repair, it's going to be in that state in the next few years (especially certain parts of it). She did say that it's not so bad in other parts, but the warmer currents that are wrecking one part are moving towards the ok parts. This particular scientist has no motivation to just do what the university tells her and also wouldn't have told us how bad it is because her funding doesn't depend on us.

      Ultimately, what's the harm in reducing emissions and cutting back generally? If we're wrong about climate change then we have a better planet, if we're right and do nothing, then (at worst) it's curtains.
      I knew a simple soldier boy.....
      Who grinned at life in empty joy,
      Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
      And whistled early with the lark.

      In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
      With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
      He put a bullet through his brain.
      And no one spoke of him again.

      You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
      Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
      Sneak home and pray you'll never know
      The hell where youth and laughter go.

      Comment


      • #18
        Originally posted by Buck View Post
        Can I just counter your point about scientists - I personally know and stayed with (December just past) who works at the university of Sydney in marine biology on the barrier reef and her opinion is that if it isn't already beyond repair, it's going to be in that state in the next few years (especially certain parts of it). She did say that it's not so bad in other parts, but the warmer currents that are wrecking one part are moving towards the ok parts. This particular scientist has no motivation to just do what the university tells her and also wouldn't have told us how bad it is because her funding doesn't depend on us.

        Ultimately, what's the harm in reducing emissions and cutting back generally? If we're wrong about climate change then we have a better planet, if we're right and do nothing, then (at worst) it's curtains.
        I know next to nothing about the Great Barrier Reef or the state it's in, and won't pretend to. And I'm not questioning your friend's integrity. I only know two things about it:
        Firstly, the one scientist whose findings re. the future of the GBR were optimisic, was booted out of his job after publishing those findings, and subsequently won in court.
        Secondly, in 2018 the then-Prime Minister of Australia bizarrely decided to fork over more than $400m of taxpayers' money to a small GBR charity with a staff of six, seemingly on a whim. The charity hadn't even asked for it. He was doing it to score points.

        Climate paranoia has become an industry, with endless opportunities for those savvy enough to exploit it.

        Al Gore has been riding the train for the best part of twenty years, despite prediction after dire prediction being proven false with the passage of time.

        Greta Thunberg is a worldwide celebrity at age seventeen.

        Pacific Island nations have managed to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from countries like Australia by claiming that pollution generated by rich nations is causing their islands to sink. Even though all parties concerned know that this is codswallop, political leaders feel they have to roll over for fear of a media backlash. The islanders know this, and they exploit it. Why wouldn't they?

        Universities and other institutes get research funding from governments to come up with the findings they're expected to, and the governments in turn get political capital out of it.
        It pays hefty salaries, it pays for equipment, it pays for orthopaedic leather chairs in offices, it pays for top-of-the-range coffee machines. It pays for first class plane tickets and swanky hotels when people attend conferences in foreign destinations.

        It sells news, and hence, advertising.

        Everybody is happy. All they need to do to keep that sweet gravy flowing is keep banging the drum. Bang it long and bang it loud.

        Peter Ridd posed a threat when he deviated from the pack, and that's why he got his P45. Attempts by the university to justify his sacking were piss-weak and didn't impress the court.

        Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a clean environment. Trying to frighten the shit out of people by constantly telling them that the world is about to end is not the way to go about it, though.

        The whole charade is seriously affecting energy policy and will have negative consequences for economies and standards of living if it continues for much longer.

        You'll know all about it when you can't go down the road in your electric car, because the wind has died down and you can't start to recharge the battery until it picks up again.
        Last edited by FCA Trooper; 13 January 2020, 19:54.

        Comment


        • #19
          Can you give us any links to any of that? One scientist getting dismissed isn't proof that man-made climate change isn't real. If you're saying that scientists that say climate change is real are bought, what's the difference with this guy? Just because he's against the establishment doesn't make him right. His (wrongful) dismissal could have been totally unconnected to his research (which I am sure was in good faith), it could have been because he was nicking biscuits from the canteen or not paying his round for the office coffee machine or anything. And if he was dismissed because of his research, then that is obviously bullshit. It stifles discussion and works the crazies up.

          Regarding energy policy:

          1. There's absolutely nothing wrong with finding cleaner and less destructive energies. Should have been done ages ago.
          2. There is more than wind energy available, plus storage methods are improving all the time, so not implementing something because it's hard to do now is an absolute cop out.

          Is there proof that Pacific Island nations aren't sinking?

          It's not the fault of the charity that the PM gave them a grant to win votes. Politicians gonna politician.

          Of course it's a big business, isn't that what capitalism loves? Or is it only ok when the new big business isn't something they're invested in?

          And ultimately it still comes back to:

          If we're wrong about climate change and we have a better planet because of changes we make now, how is that a bad thing?
          I knew a simple soldier boy.....
          Who grinned at life in empty joy,
          Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
          And whistled early with the lark.

          In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
          With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
          He put a bullet through his brain.
          And no one spoke of him again.

          You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
          Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
          Sneak home and pray you'll never know
          The hell where youth and laughter go.

          Comment


          • #20
            I can't understand the resistance to investing in alternative energy sources. Particularly in this country as we have do not have any natural oil resources and limited Gas reserves. It makes good business sense if we can generate most our income within country from our own resources. We will be laughing if we can properly harness wave or tidel power. And, as a bonus it is less poluting than oil, gas or coal. I remember the state of the buildings in Dublin in the 80s and early nineties due to the affect of years of smokey coal and leaded petrol, the Bank of Ireland on College Green and Trinity College were black. That can't have been good for our lungs.

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by Bravo20 View Post
              I can't understand the resistance to investing in alternative energy sources. Particularly in this country as we have do not have any natural oil resources and limited Gas reserves. It makes good business sense if we can generate most our income within country from our own resources. We will be laughing if we can properly harness wave or tidel power. And, as a bonus it is less poluting than oil, gas or coal. I remember the state of the buildings in Dublin in the 80s and early nineties due to the affect of years of smokey coal and leaded petrol, the Bank of Ireland on College Green and Trinity College were black. That can't have been good for our lungs.

              "Shur we're only a schmal country, what about India, what about China, what about the USA, what about me hole, etc"
              I knew a simple soldier boy.....
              Who grinned at life in empty joy,
              Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
              And whistled early with the lark.

              In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
              With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
              He put a bullet through his brain.
              And no one spoke of him again.

              You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
              Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
              Sneak home and pray you'll never know
              The hell where youth and laughter go.

              Comment


              • #22
                From a geopolitical point of view, renewable energy could be a real game changer, and cause a real shift in the balance of power away from what, let’s be honest, are some pretty unsavoury regimes who have oil and gas reserves.

                Which is another good reason for pursuing them.

                Ireland could be a net beneficiary of development of renewables as (with the exception of Solar!) Ireland has lots of wind and tides available, and if they are the focus of development and investment by larger economies, it can only be to Ireland’s advantage. We can get the benefit without the costs.
                'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
                'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
                Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
                He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
                http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

                Comment


                • #23
                  There is no shortage of wind here. Wave power is the next step. The technology is there, and irish engineers have been to the forefront. We could potentially lead this market if we get our act together. The interconnectors will pay us well in years to come.
                  For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    ..
                    Last edited by Fantasia; 14 January 2020, 23:46.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      In response to Buck:

                      Nothing I say proves anything. But it boils down to this:

                      1. There is money and political capital in making the case in favour of human-driven climate change.

                      2. There is no money and no political capital in making the case against. There is only ridicule, ostracization and unemployment.

                      Ridd wasn't fired for stealing biccies from the canteen. He was fired, as Voltaire put it, 'pour encourager les autres'. He fell out of step, and he wasn't supposed to do that.

                      Regarding clean energy, the problem with it is that it's not as reliable or as efficient at producing energy as fossil fuels. It's also a hell of a lot more expensive - the amount of power generated does not justify the cost.

                      You can improve the technology, but you can't make the sun shine at will and you can't make the wind blow at will. Relying these things to keep the lights on is not a good idea.
                      Tidal power I know nothing about, but it doesn't seem to be utilised much.

                      If you want clean and efficient energy, nuclear is the way to go.
                      There is a stigma attached to it because of Chernobyl, but comparing that to modern reactors is like comparing a 1960s Lada to a 2020 Range Rover.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
                        From a geopolitical point of view, renewable energy could be a real game changer, and cause a real shift in the balance of power away from what, let’s be honest, are some pretty unsavoury regimes who have oil and gas reserves.

                        Which is another good reason for pursuing them.

                        Ireland could be a net beneficiary of development of renewables as (with the exception of Solar!) Ireland has lots of wind and tides available, and if they are the focus of development and investment by larger economies, it can only be to Ireland’s advantage. We can get the benefit without the costs.
                        Tidal power (the non-barrage type) especially in the North & St. Geroge's channels would be able to provide round the clock weather independent power. Also if we need to have Power to Liquid fuels the other major component falls from our skies with very regular intervals (Fresh water).

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by EUFighter View Post
                          Tidal power (the non-barrage type) especially in the North & St. Geroge's channels would be able to provide round the clock weather independent power. Also if we need to have Power to Liquid fuels the other major component falls from our skies with very regular intervals (Fresh water).
                          Ref. the North Channel; if you have a look at this map it seems that planning applications are well under way for some kind of tidal energy projects.



                          Also an expansion to the project at the mouth of Strangford Lough; H&W built a protype tidal turbine for there back in 2008.

                          SeaGen turbine was the world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbine. It was developed by Marine Current Turbines (MCT) and was commissioned in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough in July 2008.


                          They built a massive one for the Orkneys also.



                          Some of the more informed posters on here may be able to comment on this; I was once told by a (now sadly deceased) colleague in the RUC that he had occasion to task at very short notice one of the RN Bird Class OPV's.

                          They duly picked him up in Larne, and headed North...at which point the CO of the ship told him they may not be able to make it around Fair Head (top of the North Channel) as the wind and tides were against them. They did, just about, and my mucker was seasick; apparently the tides are horrendously strong in there so a great spot for green energy.

                          I don't think the Bird Class OPV's were the greatest success...

                          'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Operation Bushfire Assist

                            Gotta make sure the troops are fed,

                            The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is continuing support to State and Territory agencies and local communities under Operation Bushfire Assist 19-20. Three J...


                            Well done.

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