Creek beautification update

As can be seen here the creek easement beautification project is moving along nicely.

Also a great way to cut home reno costs by saving on Council dumping fees and creating a stunning view at the same time.

The CRC's contribution?

On the upside it is much quieter now since the kookaburras' ten year old termite nesting site was destroyed. There was however a faint call in the distance last night from an orange footed scrub fowl somewhere further down from ground zero. Your turn is coming.

Cairns Festival program

Mission Beach Cassowary survives devastating cyclone – but not crossing the road

The cassowary population of Mission Beach, considered the highest in Australia, was estimated to be approximately 110 in 2007. Numbers are now down to about 40. Over 60 cassowary deaths have been recorded at Mission Beach due to vehicle strikes since 1992. Pic by Campbell Clarke (WTMA).

More from Rainforest Rescue:

Mission Beach Cassowary survives devastating cyclone – but not crossing the road

The Higgs Boson explained

Animation of a Higgs Field from The Conversation (with comments from the experts). 





As mind stretching as the concept may seem to be, here is a pretty good explanation from a CERN physicist. He has even prepared written notes for it.

Article from "The Conversation" Tony Abbott cannot escape the international climate game

Tony Abbott cannot escape the international climate game

By Daniel Bray, La Trobe University



What’s in a name? Well, like “Montague” and “Capulet” in Shakespeare’s play, names matter quite a lot in the tribal world of Australian climate politics. The notion of a “carbon tax” has struck a raw nerve in the Australian public. It will be the rallying cry for the Opposition all the way to the next election.



But as Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott slug it out, we shouldn’t forget the international politics of climate change. International developments suggest Australia will need far-reaching climate policies no matter which party forms government in the next decade.



What remains of the Australian climate debate has descended into a desperate struggle for government between Labor and the Coalition. Abbott won the opening round in this fight by successfully framing Labor’s policy as a “carbon tax”.



This is how almost everyone talks about it today, even the Prime Minister, who promised she wouldn’t introduce one. The Government made a serious mistake when it allowed its carbon price to be painted as a “great big new tax on everything”. This simple rhetorical act now reminds everyone of Gillard’s “lie” whenever climate change enters the conversation.



But it should be remembered that international developments can have dramatic effects on Australian climate politics. Labor’s dire position can in large part be attributed to the perceived lack of progress in the international climate change negotiations. Kevin Rudd never really recovered from Copenhagen and its failure to produce binding post-Kyoto targets. The Australian public were largely with him on the carbon price until then.



The problem for democratic governments is that climate change politics is a two-level game. Leaders must simultaneously negotiate with domestic and international constituencies in order to produce climate change policies.



At the domestic level, the game involves listening to the concerns of the citizens and interest groups, assuaging their fears (often through compensation) and generally convincing them to support climate action. At the international level, the game involves crafting effective agreements that meet the needs of other countries but do not hurt groups at home.



This creates enormous political difficulties for democratic governments. Labor’s strategy thus far has been to tell the Australian public it is not leading the world, while at the same time trying to demonstrate to the world that it is leading.



This apparent contradiction arises because the Government must calm domestic fears that Australia is making itself economically uncompetitive by doing more than other countries, while also providing the leadership expected of rich countries given their historical responsibility for the problem and their superior capacity to fix it. The principle that rich countries like Australia should lead is enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is a key demand of developing countries.



Abbott will inherit this two-level game if he becomes the next Prime Minister. So far the Coalition hasn’t worried too much about the international context. This was understandable when the negotiations seemed dead. But since 2010, at least 89 countries have made non-binding pledges to limit GHG emissions, including China and India. Some commentators point out that non-binding targets are meaningless. But in December all countries agreed in Durban to be part of a legally binding treaty by 2015. Existing pledges will presumably be used as the basis of this global agreement.



This means that a future Abbott Government will have to negotiate a legally binding reduction to Australia’s carbon emissions in its first term. It might choose to play hardball and let the burden fall on other countries. This would put Australia in breach of its responsibilities under the UNFCCC. Australia would also be free-riding on the cuts of other countries, which is fundamentally unjust for a rich country and will damage our diplomatic relationships, particularly with the developing world. Australia would then be isolated in global climate change negotiations.



It is more likely that Abbott will be forced to do something. The Coalition has made a bipartisan commitment to a 5% reduction by 2020, rising to 15% or 25% if other countries act. If Abbott sticks with these targets, his $3.2bn direct action plan won’t do the trick. A larger and more comprehensive policy will be required for cuts of 15% or 25%.



At that point, the Coalition will be drawn to the most cost-effective policy option: a carbon price. Abbott might then have to sell a policy to the Australian public that he vehemently contested in opposition. To be successful, he will need to be a better salesman than Gillard. So you can be sure he won’t be calling it a “carbon tax”. But that which we call a carbon tax by any other name will still be a necessary feat.


Daniel Bray does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

       
       
This article was originally published at The Conversation.
          Read the original article.
       

Busker in Brisbane

One thing you don't see much of around Cairns anymore are buskers, or maybe I don't frequent the right parts of the Town Centre. The sight of saxaphonists, violinists, poets, and even a tap dancer on recent trip to Brisbane jogged my memory back  to years ago when you would see the odd busker gracing street corners in Cairns. Whatever happened to them?
 This particular busker discovered in Adelaide St down from City Hall would have to be very careful where to set up for his performance.

I also found evidence of possible alien invasion - which would explain the strange  political events that have been happening in our state in recent months leading to scenes such as this protest against Campbell Newman's sacking of 20,000 public servants.

Insect of the day

Maybe someone will tell me name of this insect that I photographed inside looking out. What I do know though is that I should think about cleaning the  window! I think that is still debris from last year's Cyclone Yasi.

Gone in seconds

This termite nest to the right of this tree has been here for at least ten years and has been a nest site for our clan of local kookaburras for as many years. The branch was damaged courtesy of cyclone Yasi but it wasn't posing any threat to nearby properties. Today, a local resident took it upon himself to destroy the nest in an attempt to 'beautify'  a seasonal creek easement on Council land. I have emailed the Council to see if this person had permission and whether the loppers who did the job were Council workers. While this person's ideal of removing singapore daisy and coconut trees that are growing there is commendable his idea of what  he is doing looks pretty limited as some of the 'new' plantings consist of pest exotics. Not to mention the heavy handed use of pesticides used to kill the grass and weeds along the water course. Sadly our days of juvenile kookas, orange footed scrub fowl and lace monitors wandering into our back yard now appear to be numbered.

Gone in seconds...

Mission Beach Cassowary Spotting

Spent a few days in Mission Beach with some visitors from the cold south staying with us and of course we had to go cassowary spotting. Fortunately we had some success!

Making itself at home at one of the local businesses.

Ninety percent of  the local drivers appear to follow the speed limit. It's the other ten percent that must be a worry for these birds.

More information about the Mission Beach cassowaries and the local conservation group -
Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation

Make your own pop song -DarwinTunes medley at 3520 generations by uncoolbob

With the diminishing quality of popular music the perfect pop tune can be created by a computer program and the input of listeners without the need for an actual songwriter, according to a new British study.

Visit Darwin Tunes
UPDATE: From The Conversation Blog "DarwinTunes: when you get that feeling it’s, uh, sexual hearing?"

Proposed Coral Sea Marine Park

More information and fact sheets are available here:
http://www.environment.gov.au/coashttp://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/reserves/images/map-coralsea-

Big splash: welcome back to top-shelf marine conservation

By Geoffrey Wescott, Deakin University

1. Geoffrey Wescott

   Associate Professor of Environment at Deakin University

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Geoffrey Wescott has received funding from the ARC for a coastally related project in the past. He is a Vice President of the Australian Coastal Society.

This article is reposted from the Conversation

The Conversation provides independent analysis and commentary from academics and researchers.

Funded by CSIRO, Melbourne, Monash, RMIT, UTS, UWA, Deakin, Flinders, La Trobe, Murdoch, QUT, Swinburne, UniSA, UTAS and VU.

Today’s announcement of a national network of marine parks is really a memorable day for Australian nature conservation.
The political rhetoric and self-congratulation associated with major events is often overstated. But whilst there are qualifications about aspects of today’s declaration of a very substantial suite of marine protected areas (MPAs) it is truly a global milestone and does place Australia back at the global forefront of marine conservation and marine-protected-area declarations.
This is a very positive outcome for current and future generations and should be viewed as major step forward for marine conservation both in Australia and in the world.
The extent of marine-protected areas (MPAs) globally trails a great distance behind the extent of land national parks and conservation areas, both in total area and the percentage of sea/ land covered – despite oceans making up 70% of the surface area of the planet. These MPAs are declared for the same objectives as land parks, i.e. to protect the ecological processes, flora, fauna, and geological features of special places in perpetuity.
Within these MPAs there are a range of levels of protection which is reflected in their classification using the categorisation system of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Category 1 and 2 reserves are regarded as being highly protected and usually are referred to as “no-take” MPAS as they exclude the extraction of both living and non-living natural resources and organisms. These are the terrestrial equivalent of national parks and sanctuaries. The extent of these in today’s declaration is the major reflection of the value of these reserves to nature conservation. Multiple-use areas of the MPAs allow other uses to occur and gain lower IUCN category ratings.
The Government’s announcement today is a very important one and does return Australia to leadership in MPA declaration.
There will be criticisms of the MPAs – some will be driven by understandable self-interest (e.g., from recreational and commercial fishers) but the boundaries of the MPAs have been drawn after considerable public consultation, and it appears that any commercial fishery losses will be compensated to the same extent as those fishers displaced when Howard Government Minister David Kemp last placed Australia in a global leadership position in 2003 with a sixfold increase in the high protection “no-take” area in that global icon, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
There will be also comment about the extent and boundaries of specific MPAs (and the absence of others). In particular, it does appear at first glance that the areas in the Great Australia Bight, for instance, have rather unusual boundaries and are not as extensive (comprehensive and representative are the technical terms) as their natural values would lead one to presume.
This would appear to reflect the primacy of the oil and gas industries, and their apparent strong influence over the Minister, Martin Ferguson (who curiously represents an inner urban seat in Melbourne with a 20%+ Greens vote and may be under some pressure there at the next election). The oil and gas industry always gets what it wants and this appears to be the case here again.
Nevertheless panning out again and looking at the whole of the system, it is large and diverse and probably exhibits as not only the largest MPA system of any nation in the world but also probably the most comprehensive in terms of its range across the tremendously diverse large marine ecosystems and marine bioregions of Australia’s enormous marine territory (twice the area of our land mass).
The next step will be ensure these are fully declared and then to prepare proper implementation and management plans to ensure these are protected areas in practice as well as in theory.
Then the focus will return to the state governments who control the coastal waters of Australia (with the exception of the Great Barrier Reef), i.e. the area out to (usually) three nautical miles off shore. In these coastal waters, where human use is much more intensive and land practises impact heavily on the health of the marine ecosystems (over 70% of marine pollution comes from land), the extent of MPAs and particularly highly protected MPAS (Category 1 and 2 of the IUCN) is only a small fraction of the equivalent land parks in the states. Here we need a lot more effort to ensure the Federal system of MPAs is replicated closer to shore.
In conclusion whilst there can and should be discussion of specific aspects of some of the new MPAs this is a day to celebrate – well done Australia.
Comments welcome HERE.
Geoffrey Wescott has received funding from the ARC for a coastaly related project in the past. He is a Vice President of the Australian Coastal Society.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.

And the nation finally realised Climate and Weather are two different things… | Crikey

From the Very Famous  First Dog On The Moon
And the nation finally realised Climate and Weather are two different things… | Crikey