[foxdemon]

Maurice Newman, advisor to the PM, claims Australia should dismiss climate change as superstition.

Maurice Newman's flat-earth thinking ignores climate change facts

Maurice Newman is chairman of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council. He must have thought that December 31 was April Fool's Day when he wrote an opinion piece in The Australian headed "Crowds go cold on climate cost".

He once again revealed his opinions on climate change science when he wrote "the scientific delusion, the religion behind the climate crusade, is crumbling" and "Australia, too, has become hostage to climate change madness".

[...]

Another article on the topic of climate change shows statistical significance to record breaking high tempuratures in the previous year.


IPCC predictions show Australia is heat up and dry out. There simply won't be sufficient water for agricultuire or supporting large urban populations. The future ability of the continent to support a significant human population is in jeopardy.


Yet the Libeal party claims to accept climate change science. OK, so can the resident Liberal party supporters please explain to me why their party has hired this old fart (Newman) in the first place?

[Voluntarism]

IPCC predictions show Australia is heat up and dry out. There simply won't be sufficient water for agricultuire or supporting large urban populations. The future ability of the continent to support a significant human population is in jeopardy.

What tripe. We have heaps of options that could easily support at least double our current population even with heating up and drying out. Malthusian economics hasn't even begun to kick in.

[foxdemon]

^
I have provided links to supporting sources. You provide nothing but a vague suggestion. Please substantiate you claim of "heaps of options".

[mum]

What tripe. We have heaps of options that could easily support at least double our current population even with heating up and drying out. Malthusian economics hasn't even begun to kick in.

And that is without considering at all the innovation of man. Haven't we been running out of food for nearly 100 years (apparently)?
People seem to forget how much innovation changes the resources that are available, the way we use them and our desire for them.

[foxdemon]

^
What! Still no sources to back up your words?


Clearly neither of you have bothered to inform yourselves about how climate change will impact the country.


Want to have an informed opinion? Here you go:

Australia's future climate


If you can't offer an informed opinion, STFU.

Cheers.

[mum]

Yes yes we know, sea levels will rise over 7m (or was it 700m ?) and we will all be dead.

[Godstud]

No. Climate change makes flooding and droughts more common, storms increase in intensity, etc. All of these things make for poor crops, harsher living conditions, etc. I am not so sure if it'll be as bad as what he says in 100 years, but dismissing it, outright, is just willful ignorance.

[foxdemon]

The links are talking about the predictions for 50 years time. I am going on a senario where nothing much changes in regard to climate mitigation.

Australia is particularly vunerable to changes in rainfall as water is already a marginal resource. Other areas predicted to suffer a loss of rainfall are the Mediterranean and the Middle East, both similar to Australia in that water is also a marginal resource. A drop of 20% annual rainfall will be devastaing to argiculture and also dam levels (which provide water to urban areas). Already we need more water than we have in cyclical dought periods (El Nino events).

Dispite Australia being one of those palces that will be impacted early and impacted hard by climate change, there is a large number of willfully ignorant people who, dispite a good education, perfer to pretend there is no problem or that if there is then it is easily solved. The factor the Prime Minister has Maurice Newman as his advisor shows the PM is not serious about this problem.


Amazingly Australia's leaders are still talking about more immigration and a future population of 40 to 60 million in the same period that loss of rainfall will impact water resources. Even more amazing is their vision of Australia being a 'food bowl' for Asia in this same period. Increased population + decreased food production leaves nothing for export. More likely Australia will need to import food.


At this rate, Australia's response to climate change will be worse than 'too little, too late'. A pathetic, lame arsed reponse by a pathetic, lame arsed establishment.

[Swagman]

:eh: No. Climate change makes flooding and droughts more common, storms increase in intensity, etc. All of these things make for poor crops, harsher living conditions, etc. I am not so sure if it'll be as bad as what he says in 100 years, but dismissing it, outright, is just willful ignorance.

And just why can't 'climate change' mean more and not less arable land, or would that be a "flat earth" view point?

Arguably climate change (let's face it we are talking about global warming) was responsible for the migration and propagation of the human species, mixed in with a good portion of competition to survive which encouraged, enterprise, innovation, risk and pot luck (sounds awfully like capitalism doesn't it ).

He should just say what he means. "Climate change is a just an extraordinarily convenient political tool of the eco-socialism movement to invigorate the down trodden masses to rise up against their corporate overlords"

A good weapon to kick those filthy corporates where it hurts and go along way to achieving that illusive ultimate socialist utopia of equality and equal wealth distribution for all..... (except those pesky flat earthers)

[Voluntarism]

^
I have provided links to supporting sources. You provide nothing but a vague suggestion. Please substantiate you claim of "heaps of options".

How about DAFF's AUSTRALIAN FOOD STATISTICS 2011-12?

According to it Australians consume 92 kilograms of cereals per person while our net exports are 814kg/person.
Meat consumption = 115kg/person with net exports = 73kg/person.
Milk consumption = 225kg/person with net exports = 167kg/person.
Pulses consumption = 3kg/person with net exports = 33kg/person.
Animal fats consumption = 8kg/person with net exports = 18kg/person.
Meat consumption = 115kg/person with net exports = 73kg/person.

Our biggest net import seems to be seafood where we import just over double our production (or about 14kg/person) followed by starchy roots where our net imports are about 19% of our production (~11kg/person).

This is with many farmers constantly being under price pressure not to mention the large areas of agriculture given over to non-food production (eg cotton).

Our cereal production alone could support a drastically larger population before they need to resort to ongoing productivity improvements, changing land uses, reducing wastage or people need to resort to far more expensive intensive urban agriculture or water harvesting/transportation methods which pretty much will only happen when prices rise enough to warrant such.

[foxdemon]

And just why can't 'climate change' mean more and not less arable land,...

Why don't you study the data on some of those links I provided. Then you could tell the rest of us which parts of the world might enjoy better condtions for agriculture.

A good weapon to kick those filthy corporates where it hurts and go along way to achieving that illusive ultimate socialist utopia of equality and equal wealth distribution for all..... (except those pesky flat earthers)

Your not trying to associate me with those socialists on Wall Street you were recently complaining about, are you?

How about DAFF's AUSTRALIAN FOOD STATISTICS 2011-12?

According to it Australians consume 92 kilograms of cereals per person while our net exports are 814kg/person.
Meat consumption = 115kg/person with net exports = 73kg/person.
Milk consumption = 225kg/person with net exports = 167kg/person.
Pulses consumption = 3kg/person with net exports = 33kg/person.
Animal fats consumption = 8kg/person with net exports = 18kg/person.
Meat consumption = 115kg/person with net exports = 73kg/person.

Our biggest net import seems to be seafood where we import just over double our production (or about 14kg/person) followed by starchy roots where our net imports are about 19% of our production (~11kg/person).

That is a much better effort. Here is a link. I will take a look at that source and get back to this thread in a day or two.