Bryan Walker
The Ecological Rift - Hot Topic
Oct 25, 2011 •
Why do we continue with business as usual when we know that it is leading us to disastrous climate change? According to the authors of The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth it is because our capitalist economic system is driven by forces which cannot stand back and weigh the consequences of their drive. [...]
Health professionals call for action - Hot Topic
Oct 18, 2011 •
The health and security implications of climate change were the subject of an interesting-looking conference hosted by the British Medical Journal in London on Monday. Â Both medical and military speakers took part in the programme. The meeting produced a strong and succinct statement which underlined how widespread are the ramifications of climate change, in particular [...]
Not a pretty picture: recent science summarised - Hot Topic
Oct 17, 2011 •
A valuable review, Climate Science 2009-2010, has just been published by the World Resources Institute. It’s a summary of major peer-reviewed research in climate change science and technology during those two years. Aimed at policymakers, the NGO community, and the media, it offers succinct summaries of the findings of a wide array of scientific papers, [...]
A fighting chance? - Hot Topic
Oct 08, 2011 •
Bill McKibben has a striking article this week in Yale e360 in which he explains why the protest against the pipeline to carry tar sands oil from Alberta to the US may be the start of “something big and desperateâ€. The desperate part is easy to understand. Three converging factors contribute to it, political, meteorological [...]
The blind leading… - Hot Topic
Oct 05, 2011 •
Evidence this week that the New Zealand Energy Strategy, trumpeted by the government as a key to the country’s prosperity, is making good on its promise to advance oil and gas exploration. The NZ Herald carried a report of a meeting on Monday of high-powered global oil and gas exploration companies hosted by New Zealand [...]
Rough Winds: Extreme Weather and Climate Change - Hot Topic
Sep 27, 2011 •
James Powell has produced a Kindle eBook, Rough Winds: Extreme Weather and Climate Change, which in brief compass links climate change to the extreme weather events increasing across the globe. Â As a Kindle Single it has the advantage of being right up to date with what has been happening in the US, including the visit [...]
Support for greening the economy - Hot Topic
Sep 26, 2011 •
It’s been interesting to see some NZ Herald articles bearing on the Green Party’s “100,000 green jobs†policy which I discussed a few days ago. John Armstrong shared my view that the Green’s jobs policy deserved more than the “ritualistic slagging” offered by John Key and Steven Joyce. National might still claim the Greens do [...]
Sea level rise and the Christchurch rebuild - Hot Topic
Sep 24, 2011 •
Jim Salinger delivered a timely warning in Christchurch this week when he pointed out that the city in its rebuild would be wise to work to at least a one metre estimate for sea level rise rather than the current estimate of 50 cm. There’s a report on the Stuff website, and in the Waikato [...]
Not good news - Hot Topic
Sep 23, 2011 •
My reading this morning didn’t incline me to optimism. I don’t actually need reminding, but in case I did two items underlined that we remain very much on course for a 3 to 4 degree global temperature rise by the end of the century.  A new report published by the Joint Research Centre of the [...]
Dismissing Greens’ plan out of hand not justified - Hot Topic
Sep 22, 2011 •
The immediate government reaction to the Greens’ announcement yesterday of their “100,000 green jobs†policy was to defend the economic status quo. The Prime Minister John Key: “They are talking about putting enormous taxes on New Zealand that would send a lot of businesses bankrupt.” Transport Minister Steven Joyce weighed in: “What they’re proposing is [...]