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  • UN chief calls for Antarctic action

    Antarctica’s ice sheets are nearly 2.5km thick on average – five times the height of the Taipei 101 tower, the world’s tallest building. But scientists say they are already showing signs of climate change.


    Satellite images show the West Antarctic ice sheet is thinning and may even collapse in the future, causing sea levels to rise.

    Amid occasional flurries of snow, Ban flew over melting ice fields in a light plane, where vast chunks of ice the size of six-storey buildings could be seen floating off the coast after breaking away from ice shelves.

    "All we’ve seen has been very impressive and beautiful, extraordinarily beautiful," he told reporters.
    "But at the same time it’s disturbing. We’ve seen … the melting of glaciers."

    It was the first visit by a UN chief to Antarctica.

    Ban is preparing for a UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December, which is expected to kick off talks on a new accord to curb carbon emissions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

    Ban has focused strongly on the environment and held a climate change summit at the United Nations on the eve of the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

    He is expected to continue his South American tour at Chilean national park Torres del Paine, where Andean glaciers are also being affected by global warming.

    He will then visit Brazil, a leading force in developing biofuels from crops as an alternative to fossil fuels. Fears about climate change have fuelled a boom in biofuels.

    Despite the controversy of diverting food crops into fuel production, Ban has said alternative energy sources are vital to addressing climate change.

    Antarctica – a continent with only about 80,000 temporary residents – is 25 per cent bigger than Europe and its ice sheets hold some 90 per cent of the fresh water on the Earth’s surface.

  • The future is drying up

    In the Southwest this past summer, the outlook was equally sobering. A catastrophic reduction in the flow of the Colorado River — which mostly consists of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains — has always served as a kind of thought experiment for water engineers, a risk situation from the outer edge of their practical imaginations. Some 30 million people depend on that water. A greatly reduced river would wreak chaos in seven states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. An almost unfathomable legal morass might well result, with farmers suing the federal government; cities suing cities; states suing states; Indian nations suing state officials; and foreign nations (by treaty, Mexico has a small claim on the river) bringing international law to bear on the United States government. In addition, a lesser Colorado River would almost certainly lead to a considerable amount of economic havoc, as the future water supplies for the West’s industries, agriculture and growing municipalities are threatened. As one prominent Western water official described the possible future to me, if some of the Southwest’s largest reservoirs empty out, the region would experience an apocalypse, ”an Armageddon.”

    One day last June, an environmental engineer named Bradley Udall appeared before a Senate subcommittee that was seeking to understand how severe the country’s fresh-water problems might become in an era of global warming. As far as Washington hearings go, the testimony was an obscure affair, which was perhaps fitting: Udall is the head of an obscure organization, the Western Water Assessment. The bureau is located in the Boulder, Colo., offices of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the government agency that collects obscure data about the sky and seas.

    Still, Udall has a name that commands some attention, at least within the Beltway. His father was Morris Udall, the congressman and onetime presidential candidate, and his uncle was Stewart Udall, the secretary of the interior under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Bradley Udall’s great-great-grandfather, John D. Lee, moreover, was the founder of Lee’s Ferry, a flyspeck spot in northern Arizona that means nothing to most Americans but holds near-mythic status to those who work with water for a living. Near Lee’s Ferry is where the annual flow of the Colorado River is measured in order to divvy up its water among the seven states that depend on it.

    To many politicians, economists and climatologists, there are few things more important than what has happened at Lee’s Ferry in the past, just as there are few things more important than what will happen at Lee’s Ferry in the future.

  • Scientists say Murray-Darling requires immediate attention

    He says despite the increased debate on the future of the Murray-Darling Basin and how best to manage its precious water resources, the situation is going from bad to worse.

    "We had reasonable rainfall, but there’s been absolutely no run-off into the storages, because the catchments are so dry," he said.

    "We now face a situation where the storages of the Murray-Darling are about half what they were at this time last year, and irrigators are facing an even more desperate situation as they just had no water, and we’re seeing permanent plantings now die."

    Professor Cullen says not enough progress has been made since the Government called the states together 12 months ago to ensure continuity of water supplies in the Murray-Darling Basin.

    "The Government has passed the Water Act, which gives the Commonwealth power to do serious planning for the Murray-Darling Basin," he said.

    "But that planning hasn’t got under way as yet and there hasn’t yet been agreement amongst the states as to how it’s all to proceed – so I would like to think that that planning could be accelerated."

    He says working out how to spend the resources in a cost-effective way to achieve the right outcomes will be challenging, and requires more discussion amongst urban and rural users of water.

    And according to Professor Cullen, a lot of resilience in the aquatic ecosystems and the flood plane ecosystems of the Murray has been lost as a result of the natural drought.

    "We’ve lost a lot of red gums in the lower Murray, and the Coorong is now at hyper-saline areas, heading towards the Dead Sea, and so I hope that can be recovered but I’m not sure about that," he said.

    Professor Cullen now hopes that after the election the focus will again return to the River Murray, and how best to ensure cities such as Adelaide at the end of the system have enough water.

    "It’s important that we get on and do some of the things that have to be done, in particular securing a diversity of sources to keep Adelaide secure," he said.

    "I think there is already rising salinity in the lower Murray, and as the levels drop and salty groundwater flows in, there could well come a time when the Murray becomes unusable by Adelaide.

    "Alternative supplies urgently need to be explored and developed, and got onto line."

  • Speed up solar power says MP

    Solar power station to address peak power demand: "There is a project planned for northern Victoria which will address some of that peak power demand — that is, a solar power station…The station is costed at $420 million…the time frame is over the period to full commissioning in 2013; it will have 154 megawatts, and it will use photovoltaic technology… it will save us 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year and will provide power for around about 45,000 average homes.

    Pilot plant does not start until 2010: …"The pilot plant is not meant to start until 2010 and be completed until 2013. The technology is proven. The Victorian government is a substantial contributor to the project investment. Of that $420 million, $75 million has come from the Australian government and $50 million from the Victorian government. If the technology is proven, I call on the Victorian government to consult with the partners and accelerate the project beyond the current Bendigo pilot plant. We cannot wait until 2013 for this peak power project," said Crisp.

    Reference: Peter Crisp, Member for Mildura, Legislative Assembly, Victoria, 9 October 2007.

    Erisk Net, 8/11/2007

  • Irrigators plan to save twice Melbourne’s water

    Three projects identified by VFF: "On 3 October the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) responded to the food bowl committee’s report. Firstly, it endorsed savings of at least 225 gigalitres. Secondly, it said that any savings in excess of 225 gigalitres …should be shared equally between farmers and the environment… In recent talks with the government, the VFF identified three projects that could provide up to 250 gigalitres of water savings in the Goulburn Murray irrigation district for future investments.

    One million dollars to be invested: "What we have is a project which is about investing $1 billion in modernising irrigation infrastructure…paid for by $600 million from the state government through the budget, plus $300 million from Melbourne Water plus $100 million locally — and it is about securing those savings and splitting them three ways," said Brumby.

    Reference: John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, Legislative Assembly, Victoria, 9 October 2007.

    Erisk Net, 8/11/2007

  • Drought leads to butter shortage in Western Australia

    Situation will not be quickly resolved: "I do not see this fixing itself in a hurry. One of the things that is happening in the Murray-Darling system in particular, but in irrigation areas on the east coast generally, is that dairy farmers in Victoria have been forced to cull herds due to the water shortage…the shortage of water means that as water falls due for reallocation, and because we are now on tradeable water entitlements, it is far more likely that the available water use will be taken up by people who have the potential to make the highest economic benefit per megalitre of water. That will not be dairy farmers, who rank among the lowest efficiency users of irrigation water.

    Deregulation has led to decrease in WA dairy production: (Concerning expanding the Western Australian dairy industry) "…since deregulation, our own industry has contracted, but not as a result of a shortage of water…we have the capacity to double our dairy production at least, without increasing our dairy production area by a single hectare… (However), we are such a small part of the total Australian production that we will not make a huge difference to Sydney and Melbourne’s industry. Western Australia’s total production share of the Australian dairy industry is only about four per cent…(but) we have some significant capacity to make life a lot better for Western Australian dairy farmers.

    Prices need to move higher: "…Everything is a function of price. We can lift production, but only if the price signals are right. We are now enjoying in the dairy industry the highest prices since deregulation. However, they are still in the order of only the mid-30c per litre – somewhere between 34c and 37c depending on the producer. Bearing in mind that prior to deregulation in 2000 a domestic entitlement milk producer was getting over 50c a litre, it is still not a terribly high price, but it is much better than what they have been getting. If we see prices moving upwards of 40c a litre and dairy farmers get a sense of confidence that those prices can be maintained, we will see an increase.

    Industry would need to double if exporting considered: "For Western Australia to become an effective exporter of dairy material, however, we need to aim for a minimum production of 800 million litres per annum, and our production is well under 400 million litres. We would have to more than double our industry before we could say we were even at the entry level of being a serious dairy exporting state," said Chance.

    Reference: Kim Chance, Leader of the House, Legislative Council, Western Australia, 25 October 2007.

    Erisk Net, 9/11/2007