Greenhouse gas emissions Glass half empty or half full? The expressions ‘glass half full’ and ‘glass half empty’ are used to describe optimists, who rejoice that the glass is still half-full, and pessimists, who lament that the glass is already half empty. But in dealing with Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, the terms apply the other way…
SPONCH. We’re all made of SPONCH. Every living thing is made of Sulphur, Phosphorus, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon and Hydrogen. Along time ago, these six elements got together in Darwin’s heated swimming pool and had a big party. Maybe there was alcohol involved. Anyway, they all got drunk and, with carbon being the promiscuous element that it is…
CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICISM Global dimming vs warming The famous Swedish scientist Svente Arrhenius warned about the potential dangers of global warming as far back as 1896, when he confirmed that carbon dioxide absorbs heat. But it was thought at the time that the effects would be too small to be significant, and in any case, the oceans were likely to…
COMMENTS ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSAY OF THE LIMITS TO GROWTH1 by Robert Phillips In 1972, a high-powered think tank called the Club of Rome published The Limits to Growth, a book that caused considerable interest and controversy at the time. It was a book of predictions rather than prophecies, relying on a complex computer model and trend analysis of five…
People often comment on how stressful life has become, trying to balance work with home, family, social activities, sport and other recreation and possibly study. It is therefore not surprising that mental stress has emerged as a major cause of Workers Compensation claims in recent years, having nearly doubled from 4500 to 8500 claims per year from 1996/7 to…
Cats may be smarter than people. (Well, mine has outsmarted me many times). They have many tactics to ensure they get what they want. Feline theology tells them that the great Mama Puss placed humans on Earth to be their servants. The world is their oyster: the mice and birds are intended as tasty snacks. Two major preoccupations of…
A common complaint against the elites of our society (whoever they may be), is that during the Global Financial Crisis and its aftermath, they lacked sympathy and understanding for the plight of the masses, paving the way for the anti-establishment populism of recent years. Yet, by and large, I don’t think the elites do lack sympathy and understanding:…
This is the first blog I have ever written, so I really have no idea of what I’m doing, but one has to start somewhere. I thought I’d better begin by introducing myself. I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was very young. I wrote my first stories when I was about four or five…
