In his book Out of the West: A Historical Perspective of the Western Division of NSW, former Western Lands Commissioner, Dick Condon, says there were 34 severe dust storms at Wagga Wagga during the period 1944-45, many so bad that it would have been necessary to turn the lights on in order to see inside the average sized house.  

Mr Condon suggests the dust storms during the 1982-83 drought were not as bad as those during the period 1885 to 1945 because of the much improved conditions of the landscape in the semi-arid and arid grazing country in western New South Wales.

In contrast, it is generally agreed that bushfires are getting worse.  

In Inferno, The Day Victoria Burned, journalist, Roger Franklin, explains that the bushfires of February 2009, while not without precedent, were worst than earlier fires.   For example, Black Friday, 1939, according to Mr Franklin, consumed twice as much countryside, but less than half as many lives.   He goes on to suggest that for all the theorizing and inquiring, we are losing ground when it comes to managing fire and that unless the “winds change in the corridors of power” next time will be worse.  Much worse. 

It seems that we are getting better at managing drought and worst at managing fire. 

Landholders certainly learnt the lessons of over-clearing and overgrazing, which left a lot of country bare in the early days of settlement, contributing to intense dust storms. 

A lot has changed since 1945: adoption of minimum tillage, wind breaks and, of course, the success of government-sponsored programs to control rabbits.  
But when it comes to implementing management practices to reduce the impact of wildfires, well, the efforts of landholders are generally not supported by government policy.  

Indeed, while Landcare and other government-sponsored environmental initiatives encourage planting of windbreaks, they prohibit bulldozing of firebreaks. 
It seems governments have a myopia of sorts when it comes to land management; an inability to see the bigger picture.  

While trees are an important part of many landscapes, there are times and places when many should be sacrificed for the protection of lives and property from fire.    

Indeed, if we are to reduce the intensity of wildfires there are lessons to be learnt by government from success in reducing the intensity of dust storms and it is simple: empower landholders.  

In particular, give farmers and foresters incentives to improve land management, including not only the right to plant trees, but also to cut them down.

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‘Inferno: The Day Victoria Burned’ was available from bookstores nationally on October 1, and is $39.95 hardback.

This note was first published as a column in The Land newspaper on Thursday October 1.

While it is currently very fashionable to emphasis the influence temperature can have on the distribution and abundance of plant and animal species, let’s not ignore the very broad geographic ranges of many species, or the words of the early naturalists, including Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913).  Mr Wallace wrote:

“NOWHERE does the ancient doctrine—that differences or similarities in the various forms of life that inhabit different countries are due to corresponding physical differences or similarities in the countries themselves—meet with so direct and palpable a contradiction [as in the Malay Archipelago]. Borneo and New Guinea, as alike physically as two distinct countries can be, are zoologically wide as the poles asunder; while Australia, with its dry winds, its open plains, its stony deserts, and its temperate climate, yet produces birds and quadrupeds which are closely related to those inhabiting the hot damp luxuriant forests, which everywhere clothe the plains and mountains of New Guinea.”  

The Australasian parrot, the rainbow lorikeet, Trichoglossus haemotadus, is a case in point.  It has a distribution extending through eastern Indonesia, New Guinea, and along the entire eastern seaboard of Australia, from Queensland to Tasmania.

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Notes and Links

I understand there is some dispute whether the populations of rainbow lorikeet in eastern Indonesia represent the same or a different, but closely related, species to those in eastern Australia.  Nevertheless it is apparent that this species or species complex has a distribution more influenced by its evolutionary history than temperature gradients.

Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, Chapter 1, http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/wallace/alfred_russel/malay/chapter1.html

The picture of the lorikeets was taken by Jennifer Marohasy at Great Keppel Island on Sunday August 23, 2009…

IF you would like a printed A4-sized copy of this picture  make a donation to the running of this blog – see orange button at the top RHS of this page – and I will send you an autographed copy with an Alfred Wallace quote about lorikeets.

PhD researcher Wee Ho Lim and Dr Michael Roderick from ANU have created the Atlas of the Global Water Cycle, which contains some 300 pages of global maps and tables showing current and projected measures of rainfall, evaporation and runoff.

The atlas illustrate the projections of each of the 20 computer models used by different countries to forecast future water cycles – data drawn upon by the IPCC in its reporting on climate change, but not visualised in the same way and place until now.

“We know that as the world warms there is likely to be more rainfall on a global average basis,” Dr Roderick said. “But where is this increased rainfall going to occur, and which areas might get drier? These are simple questions to ask, but it is surprisingly hard for an individual to get an answer, whether they’re a farmer, civil engineer, teacher or interested citizen,” Dr Roderick said.

Read the rest of the media release here.

This is not a quote from a scientist, but Sydney detective, Nicholas Troy. He’s a character in Michael Duffy’s first work of fiction, The Tower.

The Tower is in Australian bookshops from tomorrow.

Michael Duffy is of course a presenter of ‘Counterpoint’ one of the few programs on ABC Radio that provides an alternative perspective on a range of issues including climate change.

I wonder how much of Detective Troy’s character is a reflection of Mr Duffy’s own approach to life?

When it comes to not jumping to conclusions some of our scientists, especially our climate scientists, could probably learn a bit from both Troy and Duffy about the importance of resisting developing their own theory, or becoming too attached to a theory, too soon.

Reading a good book can be like taking a short vacation… In the case of The Tower it will be a journey to Sydney. Michael Duffy describes Sydney as a city of sharks – and he’s not referring to what’s in the harbour.

http://www.cityofsharks.com/

The decision was announced by Better Place founder and Chief Executive Officer, Shai Agassi, with Evan Thornley, head of Better Place Australia and ActewAGL Chief Executive Officer, Michael Costello, the ACT’s electricity retailer and distributor.
 
“Canberra is a great city to start deploying our vision of zero-emissions mobility. Canberra has a mobile population that demands a viable alternative to allow for both short commutes and longer trips” said Mr Agassi. “There’s proven demand for EVs in Australia and the people of Canberra are ready for a more sustainable future. That future is electric.”
 
The initial roll out will involve an investment by Better Place, which will go towards building out the infrastructure, services and systems to support the first several hundred electric vehicles in Canberra. The investment will cover:
•    safe and completely recyclable lithium-ion batteries that will power the electric vehicles and be provided as part of the service to drivers, reducing the up-front costs of purchasing an electric vehicle;
•   charge spots in homes, offices, shopping centres and other car parks where drivers can plug in to keep their battery fully charged; and
•   “Battery Swap Stations” where motorists can simply drive in and have a depleted battery automatically exchanged for a fresh, fully charged one.
 
“We aim to start construction on our charge spots and battery swap stations in 2011 and start supporting customers in 2012” said Mr Thornley. “From Canberra we will then begin to roll out across the whole country.”
 
Better Place will work closely with ActewAGL to plan the infrastructure deployment. “A significant influence on our decision to choose Canberra was the enthusiasm and support we have received from Michael Costello and his team at ActewAGL” said Evan Thornley, Chief Executive Officer of Better Place Australia.
 
ActewAGL will be responsible for sourcing and distributing the renewable energy that Better Place will use to power its electric vehicles within the ACT. “It’s important that we work together closely so that we can be sure we have the right levels of power available in the car parks and similar locations where the electric vehicles will be charging” said ActewAGL Chief Executive Officer, Michael Costello.  “But this is a great opportunity for Canberra to make a huge dent on its greenhouse gas emissions, so we’re very keen to co-operate to help make it a reality.”
 
For further information on Better Place’s plans for Australia please visit www.betterplace.com.

According to the latest newsletter from the Royal Society of NSW, an equally eminent scientist will follow with a demonstration of the advances in science since that time.

Was science held in much higher regard back then – around the turn of the 20th Century?

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Science then and now – what 100 years has done for science
2-4 pm Saturday September 6, 2008
Science House, 157 Gloucester Street (corner of Essex) in Sydney CBD
Bookings not essential

A highlight of the last year’s conference for me was meeting Helen Mahar. I will be at the conference again this year. You can also register at www.aefweb.info

Caroline Marohasy and Peter Marshall in The Horseman

If you like this genre of movie you can watch the trailer; but be warned there is lots of blood and guts and violence.

A couple of early reviews include:

“The Horseman is a balls to the wall, edgy thriller. A simple, fast paced action movie – the kind people used to make in the 70’s. Think ‘Get Carter’ in ‘Stubbies’ crossed with Tarantino. If you like your movies bold, hard-core and unapologetic, then keep an eye on director Steven Kastrissios”.
- Greg Mclean (Director of Wolf Creek & Rogue)

“I just saw an advance screener of this film and was left breathless. The Horseman is the most compelling Australian film that I have seen since Wolf Creek. It is taut and relentless, grabbing you by the throat in the opening scene and not letting go until the end credits roll. The film’s frenetic pacing and tight narrative structure brings to mind similarly impactual genre classics like Mad Max and Romper Stomper. Indeed, it belongs to that rare type of thrilling Aussie cinema that gets bums on seats and keeps them there! Kastrissios should be congratulated for such an amazing debut. He should also be paid close attention to: I believe he is set to become an important fixture of the Australian cinema scene.
- Dean Bertram (Director, A Night of Horror International Film Festival)

And a note from Caroline, “Australian independent feature films really need grass roots support, and this one is no exception. So you might become a fan at our Facebook site“.

warning – this is a horror revenge movie with lots of ‘blood and guts’

After the talk, attendees are invited to come at their own expense to an informal dinner with Ken Willett at the nearby restaurant Zenbar at 7:00pm.

Ken Willett is a Senior Consultant for ACIL Tasman. Ken has worked in project/corporate for more than 38 years and is an expert in urban transport economics and natural resource economics. In recent years he has focused on anti-congestion policy and abatement of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Before joining ACIL Tasman, Ken worked in the private and public sectors in three states and headed RACQ’s public policy department for nearly 5 years.

RSVP Andy Poon, Telephone 03 9600 4744, Email apoon@ipa.org.au

“But the chances are, someone has cycled that way before you. Bikely.com makes it easy for him or her to show you the best way.

“Put very simply, www.bikely.com helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes.”

Read more here: www.bikely.com