Dear Jennifer,
Prof Paul Reiter has just informed me of a recently published article of his in Malaria Journal that may be of interest to you.
The article is based on the chapter he wrote for the Civil Society Report on Climate Change.
It is freely available at http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/S1/S3.
I would especially recommend reading the ‘Review’ section where Paul Reiter dissects the existing alarmist literature on vector-borne diseases and global warming (what is really a tiny group of individuals who self-reference each other to uphold unjustifiable claims).
Caroline Boin
International Policy Network
www.policynetwork.net
www.sdnetwork.net
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Paul Reiter, 2008, Global warming and malaria: knowing the horse before hitching the cart, Malaria Journal 2008, 7(Suppl 1):S3doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-S1-S3
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/S1/S3
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Jen, an excellent article. Another example of how a nugget of possibility becomes a potential catastrophe. It was also good to see a little history of where and how often malaria was contracted in the temperate regions.
His point concerning the availibility of cheap computing power is equally applicable to the mining industry. I’ve come across computerised metal ore-reserve models based purely on the 3D spatial distribution of, say gold assays, and ignoring the geology.
Computationally it’s pretty neat but it’s not physical reality which one tends to discover when mining starts and the ore is not where it is supposed to be, let alone at the grades that the computer model estimated.
The errors made in this area of compurised ore body modelling are similar to the ones being made in estimating the global mean temperature.
Hence the reason most geologists laugh at the looneys selling their AGW hypothesis.
If we used the methods used by climate science to estimate the average global temperature from the surface stations to estimate the metal content of a mineral deposit, we would end up going bankrupt because the method has an intrinsic flaw in over estimating the average, among others.
Yes, a very good article.
Of particular note was the role of increasing cattle numbers in diverting mosquito attention from the human population. It seems the vegans and animal fascists are enjoying a a major health benefit courtesy of their much maligned meat industry neighbours.
And lets not forget the role of wetland drainage and cultivation in reducing mosquito habitat. I hope this sinks in next time they lay the boot into the cane growers.
A more recent technological innovation that will operate as a major retardant to all mosquito borne diseases is the uptake of laser levelling of cultivated fields to remove minor depressions etc. Another new contributor is “controlled traffic”, the practise of ensuring that machinery goes down the same tracks each time it passes over a field. This reduces compaction to specific areas that are more easily monitored for vector control.
But this won’t stop the alarmists. One clown in Brisbane even campaigned against household water tanks on the assumption that the mesh barriers would fail and the tank becomes a breeding ground for mozzies, add Dengue fever, Ross River fever etc. The dopey git didn’t consider that any failed mesh barrier would only last as long as the first wriggler showed up in a glass of water, a cup of coffee or in the shower, and the women of the household will demand that the mesh filter be replaced, immediately.
When I travelled through the top end I was concerned about mossies but didn’t like the idea or the cost of spraying myself with repellant everynight at the campfire.
My research produced the following solution. Olive oil and Detol, mixed 50:50 with a teaspoon of vegemite. You smell like a gents toilet at first but it soon goes away and mossies don’t like it. The detol helps all those nicks and scratches you get when camping out and the olive oil is good for the skin. 🙂
I gather the vegemite adds Vit B.
Ian,
another example of a git using that idiotic precautionary principle I suspect.
My father was an original pioneer of the study of the malaria cycles of the south pacific. He established, with my mother, a hospital in the Solomon Islands in 1927 at what is now known as Munda Airfield, Roviana and was finally evacuated due to WWII. His knowledge of the malaria cycles of the time were invaluable to those involved the Guadalcanal experience . The US gave him a medal for it.
Not a squeak out of the usual climate trolls. Could it be that the prophet Gore had his head so far up his own ass that he completely lost sight of daylight? And none of his true believers in climate jihad are willing dispose of his stool?
http://talbyv.blogspot.com/2009/01/hottest-january-day.html
Tomorrow is the anniversary of Sydney’s hottest January day – it was 70 years ago on 14 Jan 1939.
Imagine how many of the little parasites would have bred in that heat.