Independents and climate form perfect storm for the good ship Coalition

The Perfect Storm is the true story of a fishing boat, the Andrea Gail, that headed out for tuna off Massachusetts and was hit by a violent natural event caused by the combination of two massive weather fronts.

The perfect storm appears to be an apt metaphor
to describe the conditions facing Scott Morrison
and his government at the coming federal election.

The perfect storm is also the metaphor most often used to describe the conditions facing Scott Morrison and his government at the coming federal election.

Dr Jill Sheppard is an investigator for the Australian National University’s Australian Electoral Study (AES), a major post-election review that has been tracking voter sentiment since 1987. She is also author of the ANU poll and focuses on why people participate in politics and the opinions they hold.

Read the story from The Guardian by Gabrielle Chan - “Independents and climate form perfect storm for the good ship Coalition.”

(Gabrielle Chan was interviewed by Climate Conversations for her book “Rusted Off”.)

A Melbourne, Australia Lake Has Turned Bright Pink But You're Not Allowed To Swim In It

A lake in Melbourne has turned a brilliant, bright pink and has delighted locals, after a perfect storm of high temperatures and low rainfall came into play.

Melbourne's Westgate Park Lake has
 turned pink, but you can't swim in it.

The salt lake in Westgate Park, just off the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne's centre, can turn a vivid pink or red colour during the warmer months.

Parks Victoria said the unusual colour is down to a mix of high salt concentration, high temperatures and little rainfall affecting the algae in the water.

"Algae growing in the salt crust at the bottom of the lake produces the red pigment (beta carotene) as part of its photosynthesis process and in response to the extremely high salt levels," Parks Victoria said in a Facebook post about the brilliant colour change.

Read The Huffington Post story - “A Melbourne, Australia Lake Has Turned Bright Pink But You're Not Allowed To Swim In It.”

SA weather: State-wide power loss raises 'serious questions', Josh Frydenberg says

A map on the SA Power Networks website
 shows outages across South Australia.

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says serious questions will be raised about how the entirety of South Australia could be left without electricity in the wake of a huge storm, dubbed the largest in 50 years.

On Wednesday afternoon, the electricity network operator SA Power Networks confirmed South Australia was without power, after serious issues with the main electricity distribution lines feeding power from interstate.

"It's clearly not adequate because the ramifications are huge for so many people involved," Mr Frydenberg told the ABC's 7:30.

"So these are the questions that myself and the Prime Minister and the energy ministers and the premiers across the states and indeed across the territories, are asking in the coming weeks.

"Because of the combination of events, indeed it was a perfect storm, in more ways than one, which had an impact across the grid in South Australia and that has led to these events.

Read the ABC story - “SA weather: State-wide power loss raises 'serious questions', Josh Frydenberg says.”

Tasmania wrestles with the 'perfect storm'

Age reporter,
Lucy Battersby.

Having just 14 per cent battery left on your smartphone can be quite stressful, right? Now imagine you smartphone is the state of Tasmania.

That's pretty much the situation right now on the Apple Isle, which has just 14 per cent capacity in its hydro-electric dams and its main supply cable wiped out by a mystery fault.

Tasmanians haven't had any brownouts yet, but the state is now relying on 150 diesel generators and a decommissioned power plant to keep electricity supplies up until the winter rains arrive to replenish water levels. That's right, in 2016 an entire Australian state is relying on emergency generators.

Read Lucy Battersby’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Tasmania relying on 150 diesel generators for electricity until June.”

(Tasmania is caught in the middle of what might be termed a “perfect storm”. The Australian state has long depended upon its usually generous rainfall to regularly top up its dam system to cover its electricity needs and less than a decade ago it was connected to Victoria’s coal-fired power system via an under-sea cable known as “Basslink”.

The link failed, it can’t be repaired until at least June this year, changes to the weather system (climate change in action) have had a ruinous impact on rainfall and now Tasmania is dependent upon diesel-powered emergency generators to cover its power needs.

Diesel is, of course, is a fossil fuel and so Tasmania seeks the solution to its troubles in the devil that caused them - Robert McLean.)

Newspaper article tell us of 'the perfect storm'

Facing the 'perfect storm'

British newspaper, The Guardian, just recently carried the story headed “Civilisation faces'perfect storm of ecological and social problems'” that is worth reading and brings a fresh sense of urgency to our conversations Beneath the Wisteria.

The ‘perfect storm‘ discussed in The Guardian article is bigger in every sense that what happens Beneath the Wisteria, but let us not forget the “starfish story”.