Australia 2050 is a future we can’t afford
Australia 2050 is a future we can’t afford
PAUL BIBBY
February 6, 2010
EXCLUSIVE
AUSTRALIANS must prepare for a fundamental shift in the way we live because the country cannot afford to cope with 36 million people.
Economic modelling produced for the Herald by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the task of building the new roads, houses, schools, supermarkets and recreation facilities needed by 2050 will be so great that the nation’s current pool of savings will struggle to cover it, even with the help of foreign capital.
As a consequence Australians will have to make major lifestyle changes.
These range from dramatic increases in housing density and an end to our reliance on the car, to the creation of self-sustaining urban communities capable of generating their own energy to avoid the need for new power stations.
Planning experts say we must also consider whether population increases will be accommodated in larger regional centres rather than allowing cities such as Sydney to grow.
”The bottom line is ‘prepare for change’,” the PWC economics and policy team leader, Jeremy Thorpe, said.
”The task of providing this infrastructure is a very significant one and at the moment we don’t have the savings to cover it. Governments have to make a decision about what trade-offs they want to make to maintain a standard of living.”
New wind power tops all other sources in 2009
New wind power tops all other sources in 2009 Ecologist 4th February, 2010 Wind and solar technology made up over half of Europe’s new electricity generating capacity in 2009, as the number of new coal and nuclear facilities fell More wind capacity was installed in Europe during 2009 than any other electricity-generating technology, according Continue Reading →
Europe is not heading for a population collapse.
Europe is not heading for a population collapse
There may be a slow decline in the number of people, but it should be welcome
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- The Guardian, Friday 5 February 2010
- Article history
Fred Pearce vividly portrays population collapse in the town of Hoyerswerda in eastern Germany and links it with a likely future for Europe: “Europe’s population is, right now, peaking, after more than six centuries of continuous growth. With each generation reproducing only half its number, this looks like the start of a continent-wide collapse in numbers. Some predict wipeout by 2100” (Lonely planet, G2, 1 February).
As a demographer specialising in fertility and population trends in Europe I find it unsettling that so much attention is paid to overblown claims of the continent’s population demise. Yes, Europe as a whole is projected to experience a gradual decline of its population, from 732 million now to 691 million in 2050 according to the United Nations. But, although further decline after 2050 will most probably follow, this gets nowhere close to a collapse.
Brazil to build world’s third larest dam in Amazon
Brazil to build world’s third largest dam in Amazon
Ecologist
2nd February, 2010
Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam project would devastate a large area of the Amazon rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous peoples
Brazil has given the go-ahead for the construction of the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam in the Amazon rainforest.
The roads, pipelines and power grids supporting the development will make it the biggest construction project in the Amazon since the Trans-Amazonian Highway was built in the 1970s.
Brazil’s environment minister Carlos Minc has said the $17 billion project, due to begin construction in late 2010, would have a generating capacity of 11,000 megawatts – huge, but still smaller than the world’s largest hydroelectric project, the 18,000 megawatt Three Gorges Dam in China.
Populate and we will perish
Populate and we will perish
- From: The Australian
- February 02, 2010
NOW that Kevin Rudd has informed us that he favours a “big Australia” with a population reaching 35 million by 2050, will he also tell us what happens then? Do we continue to pursue policies that will further double our population by 2100, causing us to cease immigration altogether and then apply the Chinese solution: one child per family? And if the population is to increase to 35 million, what’s the rush to get there so quickly?
Thanks to the ABC, Kerry O’Brien and The 7.30 Report, which devoted most of last week to showcasing the question of population growth, it appears that at last we are going to have the public debate some of us have been seeking for years.
I once asked in question time whether the prime minister was aware that immigration levels were causing concern because of the pressure they exert on “education, health and social services, housing and land prices and the consequent diminution in the quality of life that overcrowded cities have on our environment”. I asked for a white paper on immigration to evaluate the costs and benefits of continued large-scale immigration. That was on June 10, 1970, and John Gorton’s answer indicated he was none too pleased with my question. Neither was Labor’s immigration spokesman Fred Daly. Having written and spoken about the issue for 40 years, I’m delighted a serious debate is about to begin.
Nasa mission to unravel sun’s threat to earth
From
Nasa mission to unravel sun’s threat to Earth
A new probe could help scientists predict the solar storms that cause chaos for us
Scientists have designed a space probe to peer deep beneath the solar surface and observe how sunlight is generated
NASA is to embark on one of its most ambitious missions in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the sun.
Following its launch in nine days’ time, the US space agency’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will spend five years in orbit trying to discover the causes of extreme solar activity, such as sun spots and solar winds and flares.
Scientists have long been aware that disturbances on the sun can trigger dangerous x-rays, charged particles and magnetic fields that can disrupt power supplies, communication signals and aircraft navigation systems on Earth.
By understanding how such solar phenomena are created, they hope to be able to produce reliable forecasts of “space weather” and provide advance warnings of any threat.