This page is here for me to put down in writing my thoughts. Generally it will cover topical subjects, but sometimes will cover philosophical points as well. I expect I'll change it fairly regularly, and I encourage any reader to email me with their thoughts on topics I put up here.
Very occasionally, something riles me enough to write about it here. In today's newspaper there was an article about global warming. Nothing new there - we've all seen the articles and the scaremongering. But this article was different.
The article described the actual statistics of what is happening in Sydney Australia as a result of global warming. Here's an excerpt:
The urgency of the task is highlighted by groundbreaking CSIRO research commissioned by the NSW Government. The report shows that:
The frequency of extremely high tides in Sydney (more than 2.2 metres) has tripled since 1950.
The average sea level of the Australian coastline has risen nearly 10 centimetres since 1920 and is projected to continue, with serious implications for some waterside communities.
The average maximum temperature has risen by 0.75 degrees and the average minimum temperature has risen by 0.85 degrees over the past 50 years.
The state's annual average rainfall has fallen by 14.3 millimetres a decade since 1950.
From 1957 to last year there has been an increase on average of 4.7 days per year exceeding 35 degrees and an increase on average of 12 nights per year exceeding 20 degrees.
Dereases in the annual intensity and frequency of extreme daily rainfall in NSW are consistent with the decline in annual mean rainfall since 1950, with the strongest decreases along the coast.
Throughout the state, droughts have tended to become warmer.
These statistics are pretty sobering. Little by little, we're destroying the world. Even if we cut the production of greenhouse gases NOW, it will take between 50 years and 200 years for the environment to stabilise.
And the Australian government continues to reject the signing of the Kyoto Protocol because it will damage the Australian economy. How short-sighted is that?
I'm starting to sound like a Greenie. I'm not a tree-hugger - I just want a sustainable place to live.
So, here's some of my own little ways of reducing greenhouse gases include:
1. Use pullovers rather than turn on a heater
2. Lights on only in rooms where I am, and only one at a time
3. Shorter showers (unless I can get solar heating)
4. Walk to work - or in really bad weather, catch the train
5. Walk any trip that is less than 5 kilometres (unless I'm picking up heavy items
6. Join Green Fleet
It's not much, but it may go some way to ensuring I'll have somewhere to live when I'm older.