Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
March 12, 2007 A port in Western Australia’s south has suspended its handling of lead carbonate following revelations lead poisoning could have killed thousands of birds in the area, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Up to 4,000 nectar-eating birds died in and around Esperance between December 7 and January 2 and more than 100 other Continue Reading →
March 12, 2007 – 9:55AM About 150 protesters attacked riot police with rocks and metal barriers and ripped down lampposts in Colombia’s capital today, just moments after US President George W Bush landed for a six-hour visit. About 200 helmeted police in full body armour responded with water cannon and marched forward, banging their batons Continue Reading →
Sydney Morning Herald , 12 March 2007 Victorians are leading the switch to environmentally-friendly sources of power, the state government says. More than 157,000 Victorians had signed up to the government-accredited GreenPower program by December 2006 – almost double the estimated 80,000 who were registered in December 2005. The government said the figures showed Victoria Continue Reading →
Insurance premiums for property will increase as global warming raises seas levels and creates more frequent and intense storms, the chairman of the world’s biggest insurance market Lloyd’s of London says.
Lord Peter Levene, who is the chairman of Lloyd’s and a past British chief of defence, said the evidence for global warming had become "pretty overwhelming".
"No one in the insurance industry seriously doubts that climate change is taking place," he told an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney.
"For the insurer there are few greater concerns right now."
Lord Levene says it is no coincidence that the 10 warmest years on record have all been since 1990.
"Glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising," he said.
By Tim Costello
Mozambique is being devastated by a vicious cycle of drought, flooding and cyclones.
More than 160,000 people have been affected by severe flooding in several provinces after torrential rains began in January, causing several rivers, including the Zambezi, to burst their banks.
Ironically, while many thousands of Mozambicans are literally swamped by water, tens of thousands more people are in the grip of severe drought that has caused massive losses of crop and livestock.
Meanwhile cyclone Favio has devastated districts in the south of the country leaving more than 150,000 people in desperate need of help.
A rising number of Melburnians have successfully argued for exemption from the city’s strict stage 3 water restrictions, with statistics showing the number of second-warning letters has also soared, reported The Age (6/3/2007, p.5).
Exemption grants jump 20pc in one month: A survey of Melbourne’s three water authorities shows that 2008 exemptions were granted in February, a jump of more than 20 per cent on the number granted in January. In total, there have been 3605 exceptions since stage 3 began on 1 January.
Exemption details: About 90 per cent of exemptions were classified as "other", which includes those for people watering new lawns, or for people who cannot use trigger nozzles because of arthritis or other health reasons. About 10 per cent were for the filling of swimming pools, although only granted to people who signed a contract for their new pool before the announcement of stage 3 restrictions.
Opposition wants exemptions process review: Opposition water spokeswoman Louise Asher said the process for awarding exemptions needed to be reviewed.
Second-warning letters double: The number of Melburnians issued with a first-warning letter for breaching the restrictions fell in February, with 2286 issued compared to 3266 in January. But the number of second-warning letters nearly doubled, from 258 in January to 448 in February.