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Summer in the city carries on into autumn in once-in-a-decade event

Date
March 25, 2013

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Early to rise: Swimmers watch the sun rise over the south Curl Curl rock pool. Sydney is set for another hot week, with temperatures between 27 and 30 degrees.

Early to rise: Swimmers watch the sun rise over the south Curl Curl rock pool. Sydney is set for another hot week, with temperatures between 27 and 30 degrees. Photo: James Brickwood

Sydney is on target for its hottest week since January and hottest March week in a decade, with an average maximum temperature of about 29 degrees.

The city has already begun its unusually warm week.

On Friday, the mercury rose to 31.8, 6 degrees above the long-term monthly average and the first 30-degree day since January.

Between now and Thursday, maximum temperatures will range from about 27 degrees to about 30, helped along by plenty of sunshine and northerly winds almost every day.
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For March to have this much warmth for this long is about a once-in-a-decade event.

If the forecasts are correct, it will be the hottest March week since 2002, when the average maximum was 29.6.

It will come as no surprise that March overall is almost certain to end up being hotter than February, something that has happened only 17 times in the past 100 years.

Quieter-than-normal monsoonal activity in the tropics has allowed the interior to be sunnier than normal and for heat to build. This heat has combined with a slow-moving weather pattern where a blocking high near New Zealand has been deflecting strong fronts south of NSW, keeping Sydney in warm northerly winds on most days.

For those who prefer more typical autumn weather, a fairly strong front will arrive late on Thursday, bringing a cooler southerly change and some rain. That should move north on Good Friday.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/summer-in-the-city-carries-on-into-autumn-in-onceinadecade-event-20130324-2go0x.html#ixzz2OYj9Dxki

Losing Wetlands to Grow Crops

Mar. 25, 2013 — Getting enough to eat is a basic human need — but at what cost to the environment? Research published in BioMed Central’s journal Agriculture & Food Security demonstrates that as their crops on higher ground fail due to unreliable rainfall, people in countries like Uganda are increasingly relocating to wetland areas. Unless the needs of these people are addressed in a more sustainable way, overuse of wetland resources through farming, fishing, and hunting will continue.
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In 2009 it was estimated that about a third of Uganda’s wetlands had been lost to growing crops and grazing. While the environmental significance of wetland loss is important, so are National Food Security targets and the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. In order to evaluate how people are using the wetlands researchers from Makerere University, Uganda, with financial support from IDRC surveyed residents living in either Lake Victoria crescent, Kyoga plains, and South Western farmlands.

The survey revealed that more than 80% of people in these areas use wetland resources including collecting water, catching fish, hunting bush meat (Sitatunga, a type of antelope, and wild rat), and harvesting wild fruits and vegetables. Some of these they consume but others they sell in order to be able to buy food. Over half admitted to growing crops in the nutrient rich soil wetlands with its ready water supply. The families who were most likely to use the wetlands in this way were the ones who had the least access to other sources of food.

The locals blame their bad harvests on global warming, and as global weather systems change this can only get worse. Dr Nelson Turyahabwe explained, “Food insecurity is a real problem across the world. In Uganda the families most at risk tended to have younger or female household heads, or were less educated. Large families were also at high risk of not having enough to eat. In these cases use of wetlands allows families to survive. In designing sustainable use policies for wetlands the needs of humans also needs to be considered.”
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Nelson Turyahabwe, Willy Kakuru, Manson Tweheyo and David Mwesigye Tumusiime. Contribution of wetland resources to household food security in Uganda. Agriculture & Food Security, 2013; DOI: 10.1186/2048-7010-2-5

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BioMed Central Limited (2013, March 25). Losing wetlands to grow crops. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 25, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/03/130324201817.htm#.UVAgWiTNYr4.twitter

Labor climate position weakens: Greens

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LNP member for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll. Photo: Glenn Hunt

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Full list of changes to the Gillard ministry

Date March 25, 2013 – 1:04PM 205 reading now

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Gary Gray joins the cabinet as Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Small Business;
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus also takes on roles of Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity;
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Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s team in disarray as senior mininsters plead with Anthony Albanese not to resign

SIMON BENSON National Political Editor
The Daily Telegraph
March 25, 201312:00AM

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed 2Day FM crew Kyle Sandalands and Jackie O to Kirribilli House with kids from the Bear Cottage charity. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: The Daily Telegraph

Source: The Daily Telegraph

SENIOR Gillard ministers pleaded with Anthony Albanese not to resign over his support for Kevin Rudd, fearing the government would fall with the loss of his skills as its leader in parliament.

Key cabinet members and supporters of Prime Minister Julia Gillard last night confirmed they begged Rudd loyalist Mr Albanese to stay in his job – even as colleagues who had also backed the former PM in last week’s failed coup resigned en masse.

Mr Rudd was given a rockstar reception at a black tie charity event in Queensland, while Ms Gillard hosted an egg hunt with radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands – a man who has fended off accusations of misogyny – as the Easter Bunny.

Infrastructure Minister and leader of the house Mr Albanese was said to have privately expressed dismay to colleagues at the events of last Thursday, when Mr Rudd declined to stand against Ms Gillard.

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Mr Albanese was under pressure to follow the lead of fellow Rudd supporters Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr who all resigned from cabinet on Friday claiming it was the honourable thing to do, and the price they paid for backing Mr Rudd.

But fearing that Mr Albanese may also resign, several of the PM’s key cabinet backers called the Sydney MP to prevent what was considered a potentially fatal blow to the government.

“We could not afford to lose him,” one cabinet minister confirmed yesterday. “I spoke to him and said, ‘you can’t go’.”

Mr Albanese is regarded as instrumental to keeping the minority government in power as a key negotiator with the independents and maintaining stability in the lower house where Labor’s hold on power is on a constant knife-edge.

Yesterday he said he would not be resigning. “Why should I?” he said. “There is no doubt that these are big losses … and you asked me why I was staying on as a minister. I think it’s important we have the best team possible going forward.”

The Prime Minister has yet to give any clue as to how she will fill the vacuum left in the wake of the aborted spill, which also claimed the scalps of cabinet minister Simon Crean – sacked for sparking Thursday’s challenge – and parliamentary secretary Richard Marles, who resigned after publicly supporting Mr Rudd.

Sources last night said it was likely Gillard loyalists to be rewarded in the new ministry would include Environment Minister Tony Burke (NSW), Border Protection Minister Jason Clare (NSW) and Special Minister of State Gary Gray (WA).

Mr Gray – a former Woodside Petroleum executive – is likely to take the Resources and Energy portfolios from Mr Ferguson, while keeping his existing one.

And Jason Clare, who despite being cabinet secretary does not hold a vote in cabinet, is expected to fill one of the other cabinet vacancies.

It is expected that Ms Gillard may be content with reducing the size of the already bloated cabinet from 22 to 21 to minimise changes and resist recriminations being urged by some of her supporters.

Western Sydney MP and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury is also tipped to be rewarded for his loyalty and elevated further up the ministry.

Ms Gillard is expected to plug other holes with Victorian MP Michael Danby, an outspoken supporter of Israel, Queensland MP Shayne Nuemann and NSW MP Sharon Bird.

Fallout from the failed coup continued with senior MPs now rounding on members of the Gillard camp who have reportedly embarked on a new campaign to intimidate Mr Rudd and hound him out of parliament.

“So they want to lose the seat of Griffith too?” asked one MP. “We will be lucky to keep any seats in Queensland. If he pulled the pin we would have zero.

“They orchestrated a coup to remove him as leader in 2010 and now they want a coup to remove him from parliament. They need to pull their heads in.”