Climate Scepticism

Remember the Kyoto Protocol?  The only international legally binding framework the world has to reduce emissions? Signing it, to much fanfare, was Labor’s first significant act after being swept to victory in 2007. It signalled Australia’s willingness to finally join international action to fight climate change.

Now, the first incarnation of Kyoto is about to come to its end, but that fight is far from over. A second phase of the Kyoto Protocol would pave the way to a more ambitious and inclusive global climate treaty, which is what we desperately need if we are to avoid dangerous climate change.

While the Government has copped a hammering on many fronts in recent years, the decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol remains popular, according to polling released last week by WWF.  The Opposition’s climate change spokesman Greg Hunt also is now on the record as saying his party supports signing on to the next phase.

Continue reading "Australia needs to warm up to climate change - the sequel" »

There’s a curious silence today so far today on many of the regular climate change denier websites, concerning a story which has been the most clicked yarn on news.com.au for much of the day.

An Australian scientist drilling into Antarctic ice cores has found that 8000 years worth of natural CO2 increases have occurred in just 200 years since the start of the industrial revolution.

In other words, we’re spewing out CO2 at unprecedented rates. As the glaciologist behind the study, Joel Pedro says: “Just as the steady increase in CO2 helped to melt the ice caps and warm the earth out of the ice age, the rapid increase now in CO2 is also driving up temperatures, only at a much faster rate”.

Continue reading "A mammoth slap in the face for climate change deniers" »

How does a journalist do a story on a subject they know nothing about?

This is a question which has long intrigued me. Most journalists have to cover all kinds of issues. Many don’t have the luxury of specialising in things they know about. I eventually worked out the basic technique for TV journalists.

First, make sure the names and titles are spelled correctly and assigned to the right people on the bottom of the screen, then stuff the story full of quotes. Try not to actually write anything yourself except vacuous little linking sentences.

Continue reading "A Dateline story bursting with hot air but not facts" »