Author: Neville

Thousands hung out to dry in the west

Date January 29, 2013 31 reading now

Read later

Jacob Saulwick, Peter Hannam, Gemma Khaicy

inShare.
Pin It
submit to reddit
Email article
Print
Reprints & permissions

.

Escape route … the Ryan family stand at the back fence, the only escape route if severe flooding came to their home in South Windsor. Photo: Brendan Esposito

LARGE swaths of far-western Sydney remain vulnerable to the types of flooding that occurred in Brisbane two years ago and that are ravaging parts of Queensland and northern NSW.

Reports prepared for the O’Farrell government say large-scale casualties and billions of dollars in property damage would be expected unless the Warragamba Dam wall is raised 23 metres to reduce the chance of flooding in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, or roads are improved to let people escape from a flood. The dire warning is not predicted to eventuate from the latest downpour.

”Some people rank it as potentially the greatest disaster we could face,” the chief executive of Infrastructure NSW, Paul Broad, said in releasing his report in October.

The report by the consultants Molino Stewart outlines the devastation that would occur if there was a repeat of the largest recorded flood, in 1867.

Advertisement

It would put at risk more than 26,000 people in places such as Emu Plains, Penrith and Windsor, and cause thousands more to evacuate. An 1867-level flood would hit about 7000 homes, cause significant structural damage to 1200, flood more than 1600 businesses, and cause more than $3 billion in damage.

The chance of such a flood was put at about one in 200 but because of the failure to upgrade roads in the region, thousands of people would be unable to leave.

A separate report by the same consultancy for the NSW Department of Planning in 2011 predicted that even with a smaller flood – a one in 100-year event – 10,500 of about 48,000 vehicles would be unable to leave the area.

According to this report, the State Emergency Service has an evacuation plan for about 60,000 people in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley but the number of people who could require evacuation has risen to closer to 90,000.

”There is insufficient road capacity for much of Windsor to evacuate and Richmond and Bligh Park evacuation traffic may block traffic evacuating from Penrith,” the report said.

”Emu Plains does not have enough time for all of its development to evacuate.”

Infrastructure NSW said raising the wall at Warragamba would cost about $411 million; the road upgrades $500 million to $600 million.

The deputy mayor of Hawkesbury, Tiffany Tree, said: ”It won’t become apparent until something really serious happens. We haven’t had a big flood for quite a while. We’re due for one.”

The Premier, Barry O’Farrell, wrote to the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils this month saying the government had started a strategic review to ”assess a broad range of options to help minimise the potential economic and social impacts of flooding”. The review has no completion date.

The Ryan family has lived in South Windsor for more than 30 years. ”If we get a reasonable flood here, we’d be affected,” said Patrick Ryan. ”The only escape would be through the back fence, through the mud.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/thousands-hung-out-to-dry-in-the-west-20130128-2dh2c.html#ixzz2JJV6WF6n

Cities Affect Temperatures for Thousands of Miles

Jan. 27, 2013 — Even if you live more than 1,000 miles from the nearest large city, it could be affecting your weather.

——————————————————————————–

Share This:

73

Related Ads:
•Climate Change
•Weather
•Atmosphere
•Global Warming

See Also:

Earth & Climate
•Atmosphere
•Climate
•Environmental Science
•Energy and the Environment
•Weather
•Renewable Energy

Reference
•Consensus of scientists regarding global warming
•Hadley cell
•Climate model
•Climate

In a new study that shows the extent to which human activities are influencing the atmosphere, scientists have concluded that the heat generated by everyday activities in metropolitan areas alters the character of the jet stream and other major atmospheric systems. This affects temperatures across thousands of miles, significantly warming some areas and cooling others, according to the study this week in Nature Climate Change.

The extra “waste heat” generated from buildings, cars, and other sources in major Northern Hemisphere urban areas causes winter warming across large areas of northern North America and northern Asia. Temperatures in some remote areas increase by as much as 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the research by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of California, San Diego; Florida State University; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

At the same time, the changes to atmospheric circulation caused by the waste heat cool areas of Europe by as much as 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F), with much of the temperature decrease occurring in the fall.

The net effect on global mean temperatures is nearly negligible — an average increase worldwide of just 0.01 degrees C (about 0.02 degrees F). This is because the total human-produced waste heat is only about 0.3 percent of the heat transported across higher latitudes by atmospheric and oceanic circulations.

However, the noticeable impact on regional temperatures may explain why some regions are experiencing more winter warming than projected by climate computer models, the researchers conclude. They suggest that models be adjusted to take the influence of waste heat into account.

“The burning of fossil fuel not only emits greenhouse gases but also directly affects temperatures because of heat that escapes from sources like buildings and cars,” says NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, a co-author of the study. “Although much of this waste heat is concentrated in large cities, it can change atmospheric patterns in a way that raises or lowers temperatures across considerable distances.”

Distinct from urban heat island effect

The researchers stressed that the effect of waste heat is distinct from the so-called urban heat island effect. Such islands are mainly a function of the heat collected and re-radiated by pavement, buildings, and other urban features, whereas the new study examines the heat produced directly through transportation, heating and cooling units, and other activities.

The study, “Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America,” appeared online January 27. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s sponsor, as well as the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hu, along with lead author Guang Zhang of Scripps and Ming Cai of Florida State University, analyzed the energy consumption — from heating buildings to powering vehicles — that generates waste heat release. The world’s total energy consumption in 2006 was equivalent to a constant-use rate of 16 terawatts (1 terawatt, or TW, equals 1 trillion watts). Of that, an average rate of 6.7 TW was consumed in 86 metropolitan areas in the Northern Hemisphere.

Using a computer model of the atmosphere, the authors found that the influence of this waste heat can widen the jet stream.

“What we found is that energy use from multiple urban areas collectively can warm the atmosphere remotely, thousands of miles away from the energy consumption regions,” Zhang says. “This is accomplished through atmospheric circulation change.”

The release of waste heat is different from energy that is naturally distributed in the atmosphere, the researchers noted. The largest source of heat, solar energy, warms Earth’s surface and atmospheric circulations redistribute that energy from one region to another. Human energy consumption distributes energy that had lain dormant and sequestered for millions of years, mostly in the form of oil or coal.

Though the amount of human-generated energy is a small portion of that transported by nature, it is highly concentrated in urban areas. In the Northern Hemisphere, many of those urban areas lie directly under major atmospheric troughs and jet streams.

“The world’s most populated and energy-intensive metropolitan areas are along the east and west coasts of the North American and Eurasian continents, underneath the most prominent atmospheric circulation troughs and ridges,” Cai says. “The release of this concentrated waste energy causes the noticeable interruption to the normal atmospheric circulation systems above, leading to remote surface temperature changes far away from the regions where waste heat is generated.”

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

RE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS

The severe weather events we are seeing are happening all over the world.
These events are becoming much more frequent and with much more severity.
These are not natural weather events, they are related to CLIMATE CHANGE
I urge readers to listen to the scientists, such as Dr.James Hansen of Nasa
Goddard Institute and Dr Andrew Glisnock of the ANU, who fully explain
what is happening globally.

We must get rid of our love-affair with Coal and introduce Renewables, such
as Solar, Windpower and all other forms of non-polluting Power Generation.
The sheer cost of the damage these storms are doing to peoples homes,
lives and infrastructure together with coastal erosion dictates that we cannot
ignore the warnings we are being given and are now witnessing.

We owe this to future generations of all Autralians.

Neville Gillmore.

Brazil plans Amazon tree census to assess deforestation

Most detailed study for forty years will also analyse climate change impact and allow ministers to examine forest ‘from within’
Share91

inShare.14
Email

Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 January 2013 14.43 GMT

A deforested area of rainforest along the border of the Xingu river in northern Brazil. Photograph: Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images

The Brazilian government is to launch a four-year tree census of the Amazon to improve understanding of the impacts of deforestation, climate change and conservation efforts.

The study will also help to assess the potential value of the biodiversity under the canopy and the growth of human settlements in the Amazon region, which is home to a number of fast-expanding cities, as well as uncontacted indigenous tribes.

The cataloguing operation will be the most detailed study for 40 years – a period in which the world’s greatest forest has come under unprecedented pressure from farmers, loggers and drought.

The environment ministry said the inventory “will allow us to have a broad panorama of the quality and the conditions in the forest cover”.

Improvements in satellite monitoring technology have already provided a wealth of data about the degradation of the Amazon.

Last week, Nasa released figures showing that an area twice the size of California continues to suffer from a mega-drought, which began eight years ago. Nasa said this may be the first sign that the Amazon is suffering major consequences from climate change.

The Brazilian government also uses a sophisticated satellite system to co-ordinate its actions against illegal forest clearance. The environment ministry says this has slowed deforestation and pushed Brazil halfway towards its Copenhagen commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36% by 2020.

However, there are limits to what can be analysed from above, particularly when it comes to the quality of the forest and the biodiversity below the canopy.

“We are going to come to know the rainforest from within,” said forestry minister, Antonio Carlos Hummel.

With the results expected to be released year by year, the environment minister, Izabella Teixeira, said the government would have more information on which to base its future strategies of conservation and extraction of economic value.

Barry’s set on an extreme makeover

ALICIA WOOD, POLITICAL REPORTER
The Daily Telegraph
January 28, 201312:00AM

Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Print
Email
Share

2

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell is planning to give Parliament House an extreme makeover. Picture: John Grainger Source: News Limited

PREMIER Barry O’Farrell is planning the most extreme makeover in the history of Parliament House – a revamp to every ministerial office that could cost up to $150 million.

Plans from the Government Architect’s Office, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, reveal Mr O’Farrell is planning to redevelop every ministerial floor of the nearly 200-year-old building.

The proposed makeover would cost between $40 million and $150 million, government sources said.

The refurbishments are part of Mr O’Farrell’s plan to move his ministers and staff out of the plush Governor Macquarie Tower (GMT) when the government’s lease ends in December 2014.

A $150 million refit would save the government $175 million over 30 years, compared with the rent on GMT.

The government currently spends $18 million a year to lease offices in the tower, which boast sweeping views of Sydney Harbour.

It is understood Parliament House is the preferred option for the move, as it would get rid of office duplication.

Ministers and their staff are currently based at GMT, but have satellite offices in Parliament House for when Parliament is sitting. Under these plans, they would be at Parliament full time.

A spokesman for Finance Minister Greg Pearce said the final decision had not been made, but said Parliament would be the preferred option.”Any decision will be based on getting best value for taxpayers, including savings by removing the duplication of ministers’ offices,” the spokesman said.

“Logic would dictate that the most sensible and economically sound option would be to make use of a building owned by the government.”

The most dramatic of the planned changes will be on level eight, which houses the Premier’s office.

The plans show 10 offices will be built on the floor to fit an estimated 74 extra ministerial staff.

The Premier’s office, his staff offices, and five ministerial offices are also slated for a makeover, and Parliament procedure offices and committee offices on this floor will also be refurbished.

On level nine, a lift shaft will be removed to fit two extra staff into a ministerial office, and seven offices will be refitted to house approximately 50 staff.

On top of this, 12 ministerial offices on this floor will be completely refurbished.

Two new offices and a meeting room will be built where a first aid room currently sits, and all non-government MPs on this floor will be kicked out to make room for more staff.

On level 12, three ministerial staff offices will be refurbished. The National Party Room is also set to be completely refitted.

The Parliamentary bar on level seven will be turned into a public cafe for visitors and tourists, according to the blueprints. Since winning government in 2011, Mr O’Farrell has based himself in Parliament House, avoiding the cavernous Premier’s office in GMT.

Late last year, the government approved refurbishments to two floors of GMT despite the fact Mr Pearce and Mr O’Farrell had backed moving out of the tower.

Floods hit UK, with worse weather on the way

Six-month-old baby is rescued from freezing waters as rain and melting snow cause flooding in parts of Britain
Share14

inShare.8
Email

Steven Morris

The Guardian, Sunday 27 January 2013 17.11 GMT

Melting snow has combined with heavy rain to cause flooding in parts of the UK. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Homes were flooded, motorists stranded and travel disrupted as pelting rain combined with melted snow to cause problems across parts of the UK over the weekend – but much more severe weather could be on the way.

The worst of the flooding over the weekend was to be found in parts of the south-west of England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales, where hundreds of flood warnings and alerts were put in place.

However, harder rain, plus some gale force winds, are on the way, raising concerns that the sort of serious flooding that caused chaos before Christmas could be repeated.

In Somerset a heroic dock master dived into freezing cold waters to rescue a six-month-old baby boy after his buggy was blown in by strong winds.

The infant, who was strapped in the buggy, was swept into the water as his mother walked along Watchet Harbour, Somerset at 8am on Sunday.

After hearing screams for help George Reeder, 63, dived in and pulled the pushchair to the wall, before a member of the public helped attach a rope and haul it to dry land.

The baby was revived by a passerby who administered CPR, before being taken to hospital, where he is now thought to be out of intensive care.

Reeder said he heard screaming from a couple of hundred yards away before jumping on his bike to see what had happened.

“I just jumped in and pulled the pushchair back over to the edge of the quay, and then somebody put a rope down over and I tied it on and they lifted it out.

“As far as I know, what the police told me was that the wind blew the buggy in.”

Around the country many rivers and streams swollen by the melted snow could cause problems and in some places spring tides are expected to add to the difficulties faced by people living close to the coast.

By Sunday evening the Environment Agency had more than 70 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – and more than 325 alerts (flooding is possible) in place.

Agency workers were worried that a string of riverside communities, including Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and Wyre Piddle in Worcestershire, could be flooded as levels in the Severn and Avon rose. There was also concern about rivers in Devon and Dorset, which were both badly hit by flooding in November.

Further north firefighters helped pump out homes in Market Drayton and near Whitchurch in Shropshire. A few homes were also flooded in north Wales and Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales.

Motorists were rescued from cars in Staffordshire, the Yorkshire Dales and Dorset while eight people were injured in a series of accidents on the M4 in south Wales during a hailstorm.

In North Yorkshire a canoeist was airlifted to hospital after getting into the trouble in the River Swale near Ripon. Rescuers also battled to save 10 sheep from the River Severn in mid Wales.

The Met Office warned that more wetness is approaching courtesy of a deep Atlantic depression. It has issued severe weather warnings for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Monday the south-west of England is expected to bear the brunt of the rain again and the Met Office said that because it would be falling on saturated ground, flooding may well follow.

On Tuesday, the south-west is due to be battered again, along with other areas of the south of England and much of Wales. Together with the heavy rain, strong to gale-force winds are predicted to spread across the country. Gales and severe gales are due to cause problems in Scotland on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

It may be cold comfort for those affected by flooding this week but local flood defence schemes across the south-west have received a boost of £721,000. The south-west regional flood and coastal committee, which is made up of local authorities from across the region, will announce the list of projects it will support next month.

Committee chairman James Morrish said: “The increase is a clear statement of the determination to address the backlog of flood defence needs in Devon, Cornwall, Plymouth, Torbay and the Isles of Scilly, particularly following the repeated flooding throughout 2012 which saw over 1,000 properties flooded in 200 locations.”

By the end of the week — exactly 60 years on from the disastrous flood of 1953 that claimed hundreds of lives in the east of England — the Met Office believes the weather should have become calmer but it could be chilly again.