“In 2020, the emissions from the 14 projects showcased in this report – if they were all to go ahead, as they are now planned to do – will raise global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels by 20% and keep the world on a path towards 5°C to 6°C of warming.”

“The world is quickly reaching a Point of No Return for preventing the worst impacts of climate change. Continuing on the current course will make it difficult, if not impossible, to prevent the widespread and catastrophic impacts of climate change. The costs will be substantial: billions spent to deal with the destruction of extreme weather events, untold human suffering, and the deaths of tens of millions from the impacts by as soon as 2030.”

“The 14 dirty energy projects in this report range from massive expansion of coal mining in China, to large-scale
expansion of coal exports from Australia, the US and Indonesia, to the development of risky unconventional
sources of oil in the tar sands of Canada, in the Arctic, in the ocean off the coast of Brazil, in Iraq, in the Gulf of
Mexico and in Kazakhstan, and to gas production in Africa and the Caspian Sea. They are the biggest dirty energy
projects planned in the coming decades.”

Australia continues to punch above her weight – 12% of the CO2 emissions quoted here – from 0.4% of the world’s population.

I urge you to read this report now, from cover to cover – and ask ALL your MP’s to do the same.

The solutions are there and must be adopted now.

Greenpeace Australia

By Georgina Woods

[Editor’s note: In case you missed it, as Australia is suffering from the hottest day on record, yesterday the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its monthly State of the Climate report, which showed 2012 was the hottest year on record in the continental U.S. Media Matters for America released a report yesterday showing that even with 2012 being the hottest year on record in the continental U.S., climate coverage from mainstream media remained minimal.]

Australia has suffered through its hottest day on record, and more heat waves are forecast. If we want to spare our children worse to come, we need to stop creating greenhouse pollution.

Sometimes, you make a decision at the moment of a crisis that determines your fate. Sometimes, crises are short-lived and you can get underwater, get to high ground, lock yourself in a cellar, ride out the worst.

Climate change isn’t like that. The lead times for cause and effect are much longer and more lingering. The decisions we’ve made, worldwide, for the last two decades are costing lives and livelihoods right now, as the effects of climate change intensify. In some countries, this may mean more severe cold weather, in Australia, we get an intensification of our floods, heatwaves and fire.

Global warming, brought by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, is changing the climate. It is increasing global temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. It is increasing the probability of extreme fire weather days in Australia, like the ones we’ve experienced around the country this week and in Tasmania last week.¹

Over the coming decades, climate change will continue this trend resulting in greater numbers of extremely hot days and intense heatwaves. On the current climate change trajectory, the number of days over 35°C each year is likely to rise substantially in all major cities by the end of the century. For example, in Darwin they could rise from the current 11 to more than 300 days each year.²

Under a scenario of unmitigated climate change the annual number of temperature related deaths could increase from an estimated 5,800 in 1990 to 7,900 in 2050 and 17,200 in 2100.³

When it comes to climate change, we won’t be able to hide from the flames. Action we take this year won’t change the conditions we experience next summer. But if we take action to stop dumping greenhouse pollution in the sky, it might just change the summer our kids have in 2030.

Our hearts are too full of compassion and worry about our country men and women fighting fires right now to outline how Australia can save the summer of 2030.

For now, we’re crouching in the cool and waiting for the storm to pass. But, when it’s over and we’re counting the cost, we hope very much that you will join us in fighting to keep the heat down for our little ones.

Visit EcoWatch’s CLIMATE CHANGE page for more related news on this topic.

——–

Georgina Woods is a climate campaigner at Greenpeace Australia.

P 0433 565 039

79 Birksgate

Dr

Urrbrae

SA 5064

18/12/12

Dear Ms Gillard & Mr Abbott

We must decarbon – & soon. The time has come to find where you both agree – & join forces to combat this very real and dangerous enemy. You are both Australians
– a country that is the envy of the world for her share of renewables.

And citizens of the world – & we only have one – with a very thin atmosphere, which we are changing fast.

There would be huge relief to all of us to see you talking as one on this, from the same hymn sheet.

The Indo – Bangladeshi barrier, 2.5m high 3,406km long. Bangladesh is completely surrounded by India, apart from the sea.

150 million people, 30 million of whom will be swamped by sea level rise within 38 years – forced to move, but where to? 11% of her land will have become swamped.

A population 2/3 rds that of Adelaide, every year, forced to pack-up and go north – kids & all. The Solomon Islanders are in a similar position.

This is our fault – well plus some others, certainly not the Bangladeshis. Directly caused by our emissions – & it will get worse, much worse.

Climate change is real, Sandy will become a normal storm, Florida will be threatened with flooding.

It is time to be Australian. Don’t bugger about – get in there & fix it, and take Canada & the US by the nose – spin them round and get them to follow. Australia has a
history of punching above her weight – do so now.

Australia gets enough power from the sun in 2 hours to power the rest of the world for a week.

Move to cars with a fuel consumption of 5L/100, solar panels on each house, Solar Thermal power stations – this is all established technology now. We must move
while there is still a chance – we don’t have long. It might prevent you balancing the budget for a while – who else is? – but medium term the country – & the world – will
score.

Best regards & Happy Christmas

Charlie

Sir Charlie Madden Bt BSc MTech MBA

www.waterboatman.com.au

Darren Ray – head of the South Australian climate section of the bureau of meteorology – spoke at the talk last week ‘Rising Tides & Climate Change’ at the Hawke Centre here in Adelaide, a podcast is available.

He said that – along with

the obvious dangers of sea level rise goes the even more damaging storm surges. As shown by the water damage in New York.

An increase in sea level of 20cm raises the chance of storm surges from 1:100 years to 1:10 or 1:5 years.

An increase of 50cm raises the chance to 1:10 years – 1/year.

The rise forecast in by the end of the century is ~ 1 metre.

Earth @ 6 x 10^9 miles – look how many other blue dots there are ?! ( – best
fix that leaking tap, everywhere else is bone dry…)

did we try at all?

The SolarWater prototype will be on display 7-15/9 on Stand 11 Farm Expo at the Royal Adelaide Show. This low temp, well insulated still is planned to make over 50 L/d of fresh water from sea water or polluted water – without the need for filters, chemicals or power.

Look Guys- you speak their dialect, tell canberra to shift to Renewables now!

Above is the trial unit.

SolarWater is a low temperature thermal still. It

takes in cold brine or dirty water & with sunshine makes cold fresh drinking water & cold saltier or dirtier water.

1. SolarWater units use the sun to separate fresh water from brine or polluted water leaving a stream of saltier or more polluted water.

2. A solar powered pump pumps the brine/polluted water from the sump slowly round coils of clear plastic tube in the heater/ sterilisers. The sun’s UV kills the bacteria in the water and raises its temperature to the 40C needed by the still.

3. The still is completely made of blocks of expanded polystyrene 300mm thick bonded together – so any heat put in cannot get out.

4 The sump fills the still chamber with water vapour.

5 Above the sump is a condenser of a coil of PVC pipe through which cold brine/polluted water flows. This condenses the vapour which drips off to a drip tray is collected and runs out as warm fresh water.

6. This flows through a PVC tubel – up which runs a smaller pvc tube the bringing cold brine/polluted water in the other way. The cold brine/polluted water cools the fresh water which leaves cold. The cold brine/polluted water is warmed and flows into the sump.

7. More water flows into the unit all the time than flows out as fresh water. So the excess extra salty or polluted water flows out. This is hot and flows out again through a tube of PVC tube up which runs a smaller pvc tube bringing cold brine/polluted water in tube the other way. The cold brine/polluted water cools the excess extra salty or polluted water which leaves cold. The cold brine/polluted water is warmed and flows into the sump.

8. The solar heater/sterilising units are self tracking and kept pointing at the sun by drums half filled with water. They are shaded from the sun so that at dawn, they are completely shaded – at dusk completely exposed to the sunlight. The top half of the drums are filled with air. The water in the lower half also fills a ram to which it is connected. As the unit changes angle it picks up weights adjusted to keep the unit pointing directly at the sun throughout the day.

At sunset the drums cool & the weights return the unit to the starting position to await the dawn. Plus the solar powered pump stops pumping preventing the dumping of the internal heat into the cold night.

9. The angle of the axis of the units is adjusted manually each month.

10. Everything is made of PVC & styrene – impervious to warm brine, with a life of 20 years with occasional cleaning.