Pollution
It’s official. The water quality in Gladstone Harbour is fine despite one of the world’s biggest dredging programs. Sick fish are getting better, there are no health problems and the three week fishing ban over 500 sqkm of waterways has just been lifted.
Apparently more than 20 fishermen who presented with serious infections and skin lesions after coming into contact with what they claimed to be infected fish and contaminated water are mistaken.
Queensland Seafood Association president and cardio-surgeon Dr Michael Gardner doesn’t think so but swimming in the harbour has also been officially sanctioned by State Government authorities and all the kids who had to pack their fishing rods away during the school holidays can dust them off and get back out in the harbour while the dredging continues as part of a program to move 46 million cubic metres of silt.
Continue reading "Something’s really fishy in the Gladstone waters" »
The carbon tax debate has completely missed the point when it comes to looking after our environment and our health. It’s time to broaden the debate and realise that a healthy planet means much more than just the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Does it really matter if the earth remains a nice balmy temperature if the fish I eat are full of mercury, the air I breathe is full of particulate pollution and my fruit and veg are laced with organophosphates?
A new law is set to be passed in Bolivia - it’s called the ‘Law of Mother Earth’ (la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra). Once enshrined it will grant nature the same rights and protections as human beings; it refers to natural resources as ‘blessings’. Sounds pretty out there, doesn’t it?
Continue reading "We’re drowning in pollution - a carbon tax won’t stop that" »
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slubbense says:
After study a number of of the weblog posts on your webpage now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark internet site list and will probably be checking back soon. Pls take a look at my web internet site at the same time… Read more »
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scotty says:
Kika - we can’t all be running around in electric cars - there are only enough rare earth metals to convert 1/3rd of the current population of cars. And if you think that’s a good idea anyway, google china rare earth metal mining environmental damage - you’ll see the devastation… Read more »
Thankfully a carbon tax is designed to hit big bad polluters and not working families.
I mean, take environmental progressive Bob. Bob’s a model citizen and busy man trying to save the world from the hundreds of big bad carbon polluters required by law to report their environmental vandalism to the government.
He starts by using his mobile phone as an alarm clock in his Canberra bedroom. (Telstra: emissions of 1.43 million tonnes CO2 in 2009-10). It’s cold this morning, so Bob’s gotta have an environmentally considerate 4 minute shower to get clean and warm for the trip up the hill (ACTEW Corporation: 219,000t CO2).
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Allison_Virginia says:
As you can see this website is full of Pirate Hunter game Read more »
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Squeeze the Middle says:
Rosie. Good. Now get the Solar PV. I’ve been told that 10% of electricity is lost in transmission. (Because of things like distance to consumer and cheaper aluminium conductors instead of copper. All decision made by governments.) If your SolarPV generates 1/2 the electricty you consume then back of envelope… Read more »
Anyone in Beijing could not have missed the sticky blanket of smog that clung to the city early Wednesday, when air quality was regarded as “hazardous” for several hours.
At 6am I stood on the balcony of my apartment and could not see further than about 1km in the distance. The buildings that were visible appeared through a smoky haze and the air felt warm and thick on my skin.
In my ears was the constant hum of construction that hasbeen the soundtrack to my first Chinese summer.
Continue reading "Postcard from Beijing: I think that’s where I am" »
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iansand says:
I once had the haze in China (it is not just Beijing) referred to by a local as “the foggy season”, which seems to last from 27 May to 26 May every year. It is the only fog I have experienced that makes your eyes water. Read more »
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W says:
I lived in Beijing for 6 months over winter. The most common weather type on the weather website I looked at was “hazy” which meant you could look directly at the sun. While I never got a flu or any specific illness by the time I left I had a… Read more »
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