The Party That Ruined the Planet

The most terrifying aspect of the U.S. political drama isn’t the revelation that the president has abused his power for personal gain. If you didn’t see that coming from the day Donald Trump was elected, you weren’t paying attention.

A new federal report finds that climate change in the Arctic is accelerating.

No, the real revelation has been the utter depravity of the Republican Party. Essentially every elected or appointed official in that party has chosen to defend Trump by buying into crazy, debunked conspiracy theories. That is, one of America’s two major parties is beyond redemption; given that, it’s hard to see how democracy can long endure, even if Trump is defeated.

However, the scariest reporting I’ve seen recently has been about science, not politics. A new federal report finds that climate change in the Arctic is accelerating, matching what used to be considered worst-case scenarios. And there are indications that Arctic warming may be turning into a self-reinforcing spiral, as the thawing tundra itself releases vast quantities of greenhouse gases.

Catastrophic sea-level rise, heat waves that make major population centers uninhabitable, and more are now looking more likely than not, and sooner rather than later.

Read the story from The New York Times by Paul Krugman - “The Party That Ruined the Planet.”

Climate change making drought worse, farmers' federation chief says

The president of the National Farmers’ Federation, Fiona Simson, has declared that climate change is making drought worse in Australia and says tiptoeing around the subject does not do regional communities any good.

 National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson has
 acknowledged Indigenous Australians as Australia’s ‘first farmers’
and called for a national strategy on drought.

“It is the effect of climate change we need to be aware of that makes the impacts of a drought even worse,” she told the National Press Club.

“As a community, we want to talk about it and the more discussions we have about and the more open people are in talking about it, then the less uncomfortable it becomes.

Read the story from The Guardian by Gabrielle Chan - “Climate change making drought worse, farmers' federation chief says.”

A chance to make a statement

Some hope the new Shepparton Art Museum will make more than an artistic statement, but also provide a shining example of green building design.

The landmark SAM to be built on the shores of Victoria Park Lake has the potential to become a best practice showcase for sustainable buildings in the region, according to a local environment group.

Regional change: The Goulburn Valley Environment
Group hopes the new Shepparton Art Museum at
Victoria Park Lake can be a statement of change in the region.

The estimated two-year build for the $35 million, five-storey facility is set to start next year.

And Goulburn Valley Environment Group president John Pettigrew said some see the building, hoped to be an iconic, postcard entrance to the city from the south, as being ‘‘a statement of change in this region’’.

He said the building could be more than a scene-setting piece of building design, but also a way to promote best practices.

‘‘A statement building, that we are ready to take next step . . , to adapt to a changing climate, to changing market conditions.

‘‘We’ve always seen the SAM building as an opportunity to make a statement.’’

The president was unsure whether opportunities still existed for commentary about sustainable design features, adding the community may well be ‘‘living on trust that those involved in it, have committed as much as possible to those outcomes we think (are) important’’.

‘‘(We’re) keen that SAM is a standout building . . . that we look back on and say, ‘Yeah there wasn’t too many mistakes there . . . they did a pretty good job when took into account the energy requirements’,’’ he said.

Mr Pettigrew understood certain requirements were necessary to protect assets in an art museum, presenting ‘‘limits to what you can do to cut down energy’’.

‘‘We understand in a building like that you can’t necessarily go as far as you would like.

‘‘When you can’t do that, it’s critical that the energy used is renewable energy.

‘‘They’re the sort of things we’ve been keen to get incorporated into the new SAM building,’’ he said.

Mr Pettigrew said it could be possible for off site energy generation for such facilities.

By Thomas Moir on today’s Shepparton News - “A chance to make a statement."

Vanuatu 'monster' was climate change - president

A “monster” that hit Vanuatu has been attributed to climate change.

Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale -
it's climate change.

The island nation’s President Baldwin Lonsdale, has described the category five cyclone Pam as ‘a monster that has hit Vanuatu’, wiping out development.

Speaking after Cyclone Pam ripped through his nation, President Lonsdale said climate change was contributing to more extreme weather conditions and cyclone seasons.

President Lonsdale told a United Nations world conference in Sendai, Japan, on Monday, that the storm was a major setback for the people, virtually wiping out Vanuatu’s development.

A story in The Guardian headed: “Cyclone Pam: Vanuatu's president blames climate change for extreme weather” told of the storm.