Earth on track to be hottest in human history: study

An extract from the ABC News website.

9/03/2013

Earth is on track to becoming the hottest it has been at any time in the past 11.3 millennia, a period spanning the history of human civilisation, a new study says.

Based on fossil samples and other data collected from 73 sites around the world scientists have been able to reconstruct the history of the planet's temperature from the end of the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago to the present.

They have determined the past 10 years have been hotter than 80 per cent of the past 11,300 years.

But virtually all the climate models evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict Earth's atmosphere will be hotter in the coming decades than at any time since the end of the Ice Age, no matter what greenhouse gas emission scenario is used, the study found.

"We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years," said Shaun Marcott, the lead author of the study, which was published in Science.

"Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years.

"This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilisation."

The data show that temperatures cooled by 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past 5,000 years, but have been rising again in the past 100 years, particularly in the northern hemisphere where land masses and population centres are larger.

The climate models project that average global temperatures will rise by 1.1 to 6.3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, depending on the level of C02 emissions resulting from human activities, the researchers found.

"What is most troubling is that this warming will be significantly greater than at any time during the past 11,300 years," said Peter Clark, a paleoclimatologist at Oregon State University.

Earth's position with respect to the Sun is the main natural factor affecting temperatures during that time, the scientists said.

"During the warmest period of the Holocene, the Earth was positioned such that northern hemisphere summers warmed more," Mr Marcott said.

"As the Earth's orientation changed, northern hemisphere summers became cooler, and we should now be near the bottom of this long-term cooling trend - but obviously, we are not."

Other studies have concluded that human activities - not natural causes - have been responsible for the warming experienced over the past 50 years.

Queensland's "For Sale" contact Campbell Newman for details.

First it was the Workers suffering the job cuts and it is still continuing and now it's School Children having there bus routes shutdown and all they want to do is go to school, how low can this Queensland Government go?
The way things are going Campbell Newman might as well sack half his Ministers because they will have nothing to do, they will have nothing to Govern, there will be nothing left of Queensland's assets.

The Worker

LNP bus review: profits before people

Media Release.

The Newman Government has continued its campaign against some of Queensland’s most vulnerable, this time targeting pensioners and students by taking the axe to critical bus routes.

Opposition Transport spokesperson Jackie Trad said the transport review by Minister Scott Emerson would mean 111 fewer bus routes in South-East Queensland.

“This report is yet another example of the Newman Government putting profits before people,” Ms Trad said.

“Public transport is there to serve the public – and for pensioners and students it is often their only means of transport - not this Government’s constant grab for cash.

“Cutting low patronage services sounds good in a news grab, but what it really means is those who can least afford it will no longer have access to the services they rely on.

“The pensioners who catch a bus during the day to go to the doctors or the students who take the bus to their weekend job – these are the services that the Newman Government have slashed.”

Ms Trad said reviewing the bus network should be a continual task, but it should always be carried out in consultation with local communities.

“This review was shambolic from day one – with the public only consulted on the recommendations for two weeks over Christmas,” Ms Trad said.

“Clearly, this Government – particularly the Transport Minister – don’t want to listen to the concerns of working Queenslanders.

“­­­He won’t listen to bus drivers on the issue of bus safety and now he won’t listen to commuters before he cuts the buses they rely on.

“This Minister’s failure to communicate means that in the coming weeks, commuters will show up to catch their regular service, only to find it has been axed.”

Ms Trad this week launched a petition calling on the Newman Government to stop cuts to local services until the community has been genuinely consulted.

“Within 24 hours, over 500 people had signed the petition,” Ms Trad said.

“A separate petition was tabled in Parliament this morning that had over 800 signatures from concerned Brisbane Bayside locals who want to see their local services retained.

“Clearly this is an issue that many Queenslanders care deeply about and it’s time this Government listened to the concerns of local communities.”

The Carbon Tax Household Assistance Package

Millions of people will receive assistance through tax cuts and payment increases.

http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/household-assistance-package

The Household Assistance Package is part of the Australian Government’s plan for a Clean Energy Future. Around 500 of the biggest polluters in Australia will pay for their pollution under the carbon pricing mechanism, which will be used to assist households to help meet price impacts, support jobs in the most affected industries and build a clean energy future.

Millions of Australians will continue to receive assistance through the Australian Government’s Household Assistance Package. Between March this year and January 2014 ongoing increases will be made to existing government payments. You don’t have to do anything to receive the additional assistance; it will be paid automatically into your bank account.

Ongoing assistance starts from:	Recipients	Government payments included:
20 March 2013	Age, disability, carer and service pensioners	Age Pension Disability Support Pension (aged 21 or over, or aged under 21 with dependent children) Carer Payment Wife Pension Widow B Pension
20 March 2013	Jobseekers parenting payment recipients and other allowees	Newstart Allowance Parenting Payment (single) Parenting Payment (partnered) Partner Allowance Widow Allowance Sickness Allowance Bereavement Allowance Special Benefit ABSTUDY Living Allowance for persons aged 22 years or older, or under 22 years who are covered by the 1 July 2012 grandfather provisions. Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payments (paid at NSA rate) Transitional Farm Family Payment (paid at NSA rate)
20 June 2013	Seniors Supplements recipients	Pensioners who receive the Pension Supplement quarterly Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders in receipt of Seniors Supplement
1 July 2013	Family Tax Benefit recipients	Family Tax Benefit recipients who receive payments fortnightly, including Approved Care Organisations
1 January 2014	Students and young people in receipt of income support Note – recipients will receive a second lump sum payment, Clean Energy Advance in July  2013.	· Austudy Living Allowance (under 22 excluding 21 year old grandfathered recipients and Masters and Doctorate customers)
1 July 2014	Lump sum Family Tax Benefit recipients

Queensland Minister says train rental scheme saves money.

An extract from the ABC News website.

5/03/2013

Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson says leasing passenger trains from the private sector minimises financial risk to the state.
Two companies have been shortlisted for a major contract to build and rent out 75 trains.
Mr Emerson says under the proposal the State Government would pay an ongoing fee instead of a huge upfront cost.
"Previously what would've happened is we would've had to fork out and buy all the trains," he said.
"Under this proposal basically the bidders will build the trains, own the trains and they'll provide them to us for us at a fee.
"So it means we're not at risk in terms of breakdowns or recalls, and we also don't have to pay upfront for all those trains so it's a great deal."
Mr Emerson says the contract will be finalised later this year and that new trains will be up and running in about two years' time.
Owen Doogan from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union says some Queensland Rail workers could lose their jobs.
He says the union should have a say on the new trains' safety features, but it has not been consulted.
"We have no indication about what breaking mechanism will be involved," he said.
"From recent experience, at the same level, it's important that we have an input into this given that our members' lives can be put in danger."

The Angry Summer, Climate Change Report.

An extract from the ABC News website.

4/03/2013

The latest report from the Federal Government's Climate Commission says the weather extremes experienced around the country this summer were made worse by climate change.

The report - The Angry Summer - says the extreme heat, floods and bushfires experienced around country were all aggravated by a shifting climate, and it warns the trend is likely to continue.

Read the full report on Climate Commission website

Climate Commission chief Professor Tim Flannery says that while Australia may have always been a land of drought and flooding rains, the nation is now experiencing a "climate on steroids".

"I think one of the best ways of thinking about it is imagining that the baseline has shifted," he said.

"If an athlete takes steroids for example... their baseline shifts, they'll do fewer slow times and many more record-breaking fast times.

"The same thing is happening with our climate system. As it warms up, we're getting fewer cold days and cold events and many more record hot events. In effect, it's a climate on steroids."

The report states that temperature records were set in every state and territory over summer.

It says much of Australia has been drier than usual since the middle of last year.

While Queensland and New South Wakes have experienced heavy rainfall, Victoria and South Australia have recorded their driest summer in decades, and there have been devastating bushfires in at least three states.

Professor Will Steffen, who authored the report, says the findings are indicative of a trend that shows an increase in extreme weather events.

"Over the last 50 years, we've seen a doubling of the record hot days, we're getting twice as much record hot weather than we did in the mid-20th century, [and] we're getting less cold weather," he said.

"In fact, if you look at the last decade, we're getting three times as many record hot days as we are record cold days, so the statistics are telling us too that there's an influence on extreme events - they're shifting."

Brisbane road Tunnels

When Premier Campbell Newman was Lord Mayor of Brisbane he was the major force behind building road tunnels there, now they have gone broke, that says a lot for what sort of financial manager he is.

The Worker