Bryan Walker
A Week of Contradiction - Hot Topic
Sep 10, 2011 •
We seem to have convinced the world that we’re right up in the forefront when it comes to tackling climate change. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon came to New Zealand this week to the Pacific Islands Forum and called at Kiribati en route. “For those who believe climate change is about some distant future, I invite [...]
The Crime of Ecocide - Hot Topic
Sep 08, 2011 •
I was active in Amnesty International at the time when the International Criminal Court was being debated and we lobbied hard for its establishment. In view of all the obstacles it seemed a minor miracle that it finally gained enough member state support to get under way. It is by no means the universally acknowledged [...]
Latest Arctic Sea Ice Report - Hot Topic
Sep 07, 2011 •
The latest from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The graph above shows daily Arctic sea ice extent as of September 5, 2011, along with daily ice extents for previous low-ice-extent years. Conditions in context In August, sunlight wanes in the Arctic and the sea ice decline starts to slow down. Although the decline [...]
What Motivates the Scientist Deniers? - Hot Topic
Sep 07, 2011 •
There wasn’t room in my review of James Powell’s book The Inquisition of Science to comment on one or two aspects of the book in the detail I’d have liked, and I’ll take up one in particular in this supplementary post. In a chapter titled The Anatomy of Denial he has an interesting short discussion [...]
The Inquisition of Climate Science - Hot Topic
Sep 05, 2011 •
“…in the denial of global warming, we are witnessing the most vicious, and so far most successful, attack on science in history.†Those strong words are from James Lawrence Powell in his recent book The Inquisition of Climate Science. The book chronicles the campaign of denial which has resulted in the widespread failure of public [...]
Tar Sands Action Draws to a Finish, But More to Come says McKibben - Hot Topic
Sep 02, 2011 •
“Be here on Saturday September 3rd. You don’t need to get arrested. There will be people getting arrested but we’re to also have a big rally and … its going to be a beautiful finish to phase one of this campaign. After that stay tuned…this is a fight we might actually have some chance of [...]
Dramatic Pictures of Petermann Glacier Ice Loss - Hot Topic
Sep 02, 2011 •
Jason Box has provided startling photographs which document the ice area detachment, four times the size of Manhattan Island, that occurred on 4 August, 2010 from the Petermann glacier in northwest Greenland. Photos taken in 2009 are matched with photos of the same area taken on 24 July this year. Here’s an aerial oblique front-on [...]
Energy Strategy in Denial of Climate Change Reality - Hot Topic
Sep 01, 2011 •
From a climate change perspective the New Zealand Energy Strategy 2011-2016 is hopelessly compromised by its determination to exploit all the oil and gas that can be found, including deep sea methane hydrates. Take a look at this extract, the second paragraph in the strategy document: “Globally, there are two energy challenges: energy security and [...]
Aquaflow in Multi-Biomass Venture - Hot Topic
Aug 31, 2011 •
Nelson-based algae company Aquaflow, whose progress we have reported on frequently in past posts has announced another engagement with an overseas company. This time it has signed a major agreement with Texas-based CRI Catalyst Company, a provider of catalyst and process technology to the global renewable fuel market. The focus of this partnership is on [...]
Dismaying Australian Politics - Hot Topic
Aug 29, 2011 •
Sunday’s Guardian carried a telling editorial on the poisonous political climate currently holding sway in Australia in relation to climate change. It opens with the observation that 1700 miles from Canberra the indigenous peoples in islands of the Torres Strait fear that climate change may soon overwhelm them, with communities vanishing under rising seas. Their [...]