Articles

The Money Gusher

Posted June 7, 2010

The oil industry’s decommissioning costs will dwarf those of nuclear power. The money being made now should be put aside to meet them.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 8th June 2010

Has BP ever made a profit? The question looks daft. The oil company posted profits of $26bn last year(1). There’s no doubt that BP has been pumping money into the pockets of its shareholders. The question is whether this money is what the company says it is. BP calls it profit. I call it the provision the firm should be making against future liabilities.

Despite an angry letter from two US senators(2) and a warning from Barack Obama about spending big money on their shareholders while nickeling and diming coastal people(3), despite the fact that it has no idea what its total liabilities in the Gulf of Mexico will be, BP seems to be planning to pay a dividend this year. It’s likely to amount to more than $10bn. As the two senators noted, by moving money “off the company’s books and into investors’ pockets”, BP “will make it much more difficult to repay the US government and American communities”.

	Published by Australian Academy of Science
KEY TEXT Population and environment – what's the connection? This topic is sponsored by the Australian Academy of Science's Population and Environment Fund.

The world's population is growing, and many scientists and conservationists say that the natural environment is deteriorating as a result, but the relationship between environmental problems and human population growth is complex and not fully understood. Read more...

Waterspouts

Thursday, 03 June 2010 10:45 Neville Gillmore

There seems to be some confusion over whether the

Lennox Head event was a Tornado or waterspout.

Wikipedia defines today's event as a Tornadic waterspout.

There are also non-tornadic waterspouts.

See Wikipedia for full explanation of these events. They are very active around the

Florida Keys area,which could cause problems in the oil-spill areas, though the oil

slicks may inhibit this activity.

Neville Gillmore.
"Tornadic waterspouts", also accurately referred to as "tornadoes over water", are formed from mesocyclonic action in a manner essentially identical to traditional land-based tornadoes in connection with severe thunderstorms, but simply occurring over water.^[7] A tornado which travels from land to a body of water would also be considered a tornadic waterspout.^[8] Since the vast majority of mesocyclonic thunderstorms occur in land-locked areas of the United States, true tornadic waterspouts are correspondingly rarer than their fair-weather counterparts. However, in some areas, such as the Adriatic, Aegean and Ionian seas, tornadic waterspouts can make up half of the total number.^[9]

The Times' EU climate targets 'exclusive' is gibberish

Tuesday, 01 June 2010 14:55 Neville Gillmore

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The Times' EU climate targets 'exclusive' is gibberish

The Times falsely reports that the EU will have the most ambitious emissions targets in the world. I wish it were true

The Times's splash on EU emissions targets is untrue. Photograph: The Times

What is it about the European Union that encourages newspapers to write such nonsense about it? Is it because it seems so far away that no one is expected to check? Is it that the European commission fails to respond effectively to false stories?

I don't know, but the stories told about it rank among the most outlandish and entertaining of all urban myths. Among my favourites are the Sun's claim that the European commission had ruled that Bombay Mix must be renamed Mumbai Mix; the same paper's insistence that "red-faced women … must take back old vibrators for recycling before they can buy a new one"; and the reliably barmy Christopher Booker's assertion in the Sunday Telegraph that under EU rules you'll be able to bury dead pets only after "pressure cooking them at 130 degrees centigrade for half an hour".

Read more...

Government's chief scientific adviser hits out at climate sceptics

Monday, 31 May 2010 13:29 Neville Gillmore

Government's chief scientific adviser hits out at climate sceptics

Professor John Beddington dismisses 'unreasonable' comments from groups including Nigel Lawson's thinktank, as Royal Society responds to critics with new climate science guide

• UK Royal Society revives confusion as US concludes climate change certainty

James Randerson

guardian.co.uk, Friday 28 May 2010 16.16 BST

Article history

Professor John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser – appointed by Gordon Brown in 2008 – appears before a parliamentary committee in March 2010. Photograph: PA

The government's chief scientific adviser has hit out at climate sceptics who attack global warming science on spurious grounds.

The statements from Professor John Beddington appeared to be a veiled attack on the former Tory chancellor and arch climate sceptic Nigel Lawson.

Beddington said that he had met Lord Lawson to brief him about the science of global warming.

His comments came as the Royal Society announced that it would publish a new guide to climate science for the public following criticism of existing statements on the topic, reportedly from 43 of the society's 1,489 fellows.

Last Updated ( Monday, 31 May 2010 13:34 ) Read more...