Update from Jennifer Marohasy, May 29, 2009

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

1. Relative Humidity has been Falling

Correlation is not causation.  But it is always exciting to see a good correlation between two variables that one assumes will correlate because of some theory or other.

According to the 'Saturated Greenhouse Effect', a controversial new theory of climate developed by Hungarian physicist Ferenc M. Miskolczi, adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere will result in a reduction in relative humidity.   And according to data from the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, relative humidity has been generally trending down, especially at higher elevations, since 1948...

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/relative-humidity-has-been-falling/

2. Gaia - Saved by the Seas

The idea that the earth's physical and biological systems adjust to perturbation through feedback systems is central to James Lovelock's Gaia theory. I don't subscribe to this theory because I don't see the earth as a living entity, but rather as a place where life is lived. The Gaia theory is very popular, however, including amongst many scientists concerned about global warming notably Tim Flannery.   The new 'Saturated Greenhouse Effect' theory provides a detailed Gaia level empirical formulation of how the physical system works to maintain an equilibrium.  So there is perhaps no longer a reason for Professor Lovelock and Flannery to continue to believe that it is already too late to avoid significant global warming that will make much of the Earth's surface inhospitable.

And the really good news is that the critical regulating gas, water vapour, is unlikely to ever be limiting because there is just so much of it on planet earth. Indeed I think it is time James Lovelock wrote a new book and I suggest it be entitled, 'Gaia: Saved by the Seas'...

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/gaia-%e2%80%93-saved-by-the-seas/ 

3. Postmodern Physics

Physics is the science dealing with natural laws and processes and the states and properties of matter and energy including of course the radiative transfer within the atmosphere that underpins the theory of anthropogenic global warming.  There is criticism amongst some physics teachers both in the UK and Australia that the physics curriculum has become corrupted in particular calculation has been replaced by writing, precision is gone...

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/postmodern-physics/

4. Reconnecting with the Coorong

Looking at the satellite imagery of the Coorong and Lower Lakes drives home the message that the two are really part of the same ecosystem and should not have those 1940's barrages separating them...

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/reconnecting-with-the-coorong/

5. It May Get Even Drier Along the Murray

There has been no general decline in rainfall in Australia due to global warming.   But it is possible that the Murray Darling Basin, once regarded as the food bowl of Australia, will get even drier. 

When farmers say that the region has never been as dry in their lifetime they are correct.  However, the data clearly show that over south eastern Australia the first half of the 20th century was much drier than the second half and the recent drought is a return to the conditions of the early 20th century.  Also, the recent dry period is not yet as dry as the period from about 1935 through 1945...

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/it-may-get-even-drier/

6. Ravens, Right Relationships and Ice Trucks

In Canada's remote freezing Northwest Territories, near the diamond mine of Ekati, a black raven follows ice road trucks.  A youtube video has been made of the bird's antics which include surfing the turbulence created by the big rigs... 

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/05/ravens-right-relationships-n-ice-trucks/

Kind regards,
Jennifer Marohasy
www.jennifermarohasy.com/blog

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Some Popular Reports & Articles by Jennifer Marohasy

When the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, recently announced that there was insufficient water in upstream dams to flood the lakes at the end of the Murray River, ABC Online ran with the headline "Government says the Murray's Lower Lakes can’t be saved." But that's not what she said, and furthermore the lower lakes can be saved. The Murray River is at far greater risk and the solution for the river is not nearly as simple: Saving the Coorong by restoring its native state, Online Opinion, August 14, 2008.

As sea levels rise coral reefs can keep growing up, it is when sea levels fall that coral reefs are left high and dry: Reef may benefit from global warming, The Australian, January 31, 2007.

Let's acknowledge that the Murray River is an old river, running through a semi-arid environment and accept it as such. Let's not pretend it should be, or ever was, fresh, blue and always brimming with water: On Saving the Murray River, Counterpoint, May 22, 2006. 

A critical review of the chapter on Australia in Jared Diamond's book Collapse, showing that many of his claims of environmental degradation are not supported by the available evidence: Australia's Environment Undergoing Renewal Not Collapse, Energy and Environment, Volume 16, 2005.

If it is true to say: "if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it", then koala conservation is far from secure: Are Koala's in Decline, IPA Review, June 2005.

Why is it that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) condones the slaughter of rare whales by indigenous peoples using what are arguably inhumane traditional methods, while ruling against the commercial harvest of more common species by more humane methods:No science and no respect in Australia's anti-whaling campaign, Online Opinion, July 2005.

A critical review of The Australian newspaper's 'Save the Murray' Campaign:  Why "Save The Murray"?, Quadrant Magazine, December 2004 - Volume XLVIII Number 12.

Predetermined beliefs rather than science are driving public policy on environmental issues, warns Jennifer Marohasy in Environmental Fundamentalism , Policy, Vol. 20, No. 3, Spring 2004.

This report challenged conventional thinking on the Murray River and influenced national water policy: Myth and the Murray: Measuring the Real State of the River Environment, IPA Backgrounder, December 2003.

Why was the allegation of pesticide in dugongs included in the original summary report? Why was the allegation not corrected after I brought the error to Dr Baker’s attention in December 2002: Deceit in the Name of Conservation,  IPA Review, March 2003.

Other Articles by Jennifer Marohasy

Jennifer's opinion pieces in e-journal Online Opinion are listed here.  Her columns from The Land newspaper are listed here.  Leave a comment at her popular 'Politics and the Environment' blog founded in April 2005.   Some of her more recent pieces in the IPA Review can be found here.

You can read about Jennifer here and about her blog here.

A Book

Jennifer is currently writing the story of an enviornmental campaign to save a bay and its fringing coral reef that spins out of control eventually destroying the fishing community it is meant to save.  The genre is dystopian fiction exploring modern environmentalism and the universal values of hope and truth.

Recent Newspaper Opinion Pieces