2010 - Hottest Year So Far

It's that time of year again - when the statistics re-confirm just how much we are affecting the climate. And 2010 is a record-breaker.


This graph comes from the NASA temperature analysis. Apart from setting a new high temperature record, now 9 out of 10 of the hottest years have occured since 2000. (And the other one was in '98).

Queensland Floods - Roundup

Recently there has been major flooding here in Queensland. The ABC has some astounding before/after photos here and here.


Once the waters receded there was some talk about climate change. After all, science forecasts say climate change means more extreme weather events.

John Cook (ABC) says for him global warming just got personal.

Graham Readfearn ponders why the premier's inquiry leaves out climate change - especially after the government's own report said "Climate change is also likely to affect extreme rainfall in south-east Queensland" and that "the projected increase in rainfall intensity could result in more flooding events".

The premier wants "mother nature to leave us alone". David Spratt suggests we should leave mother nature alone.

Melbourne predicts that by 2030 the city will flood almost twice as often, with the affected area 25% larger - because of climate change.

But last word should go to CSIRO. They say the effect on individual events is hard to judge, but that in general

"A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and will tend to increase the intensity of extreme rainfall events. It is expected that long-term climate change will result in greater climate variability with more intense extreme events than in the past."

In short, climate change makes crazy weather even crazier.

How Much CO2 Is Created By ...?

Another great infographic from the people at Information Is Beautiful. This one shows carbon emissions from various items and activities - a text, a shower, a soccer world cup ... and a few hundred others.


It's an interactive thing, so you can click on different items, the CO2 'scale', or on an activity categories. There are many items to see and compare, so it can be semi-addictive :)

One interesting comparison was an apple, depending on how much transport is involved. From your backyard-0g, from a local grower-10g, from a supermarket-80g, imported-150g. The pollution can weigh more than the item!

10 Amazing Facts About Renewable Energy

I do a fair bit of bloggging about renewable energy, but recently the people at Greenpeace did a quick summary called 10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Renewable Energy.


It included:
- in 2009, Europe shut down more coal, fuel oil and nuclear power than it built.
- In just 5 years, Portugal leapt from 15% to 45% renewables.
- Globally, subsidies go to fossil fuels over renewable energy by 12:1.
- Iceland's power supply is over 80% geothermal and hydro.

You can find the full list (and links) here.

Easy Energy Cost Calculator

When i'm doing energy assessments, often people like to know how much energy different items use. To save on mental arithmetic, i put this little table together to work out the annual cost (using local electricity prices).


Standby power - If a stereo is using 5 watts (all day) on standby. How much does that cost? $9/year.

Light bulbs - How much do the new ones save? Let's find out. 75W bulb, 5hrs a night, $29. Equivalent CFL (15W) for 5hrs, $6. Saving of $23.

Computers - A laptop consuming 40W for 5 hours a day costs $16 a year to run. (Using the 20W figure and doubling it.)

30 Years Of Change

Still waiting for the official figures about last year, but in the meantime came across this little graphic on treehugger (based on NASA info).

The Church On Climate Change

Last week i was running a session on climate change and 'green living' at a youth conference run by the uniting church. Incase you're interested, their view on climate change is put forward in a piece called For the Sake of the Planet and all its People.

Apparently, they also signed onto this document calling for an urgent price on pollution.
[statement here]

Train Is 8 Times Better

In preparing my recent presentation, i dug out my 2009 post comparing train and car emissions. The calculator has moved, and is now here.


I selected the stations for my train trip to the conference (on the Gold Coast). The emissions saving was 35kg (for a return trip). And with a fare of just $6.93, it was cheaper than petrol.

Thanks NCYCers

This week i had the privilege of meeting some bright young people at NCYC in the elective "Living Green". Thanks to everyone who showed up - it was a pleasure to meet you.

All I Want For Christmas...

Last week, i talked about the publicity stunt at the ANZ in Brisbane. There is now a Christmas card you can send to the ANZ CEO. Just go to the action website to let the ANZ know what present they should give to the world they "live in".


There's also a time lapse video of the day they took the Christmas card photo.

2 Summer Tips for Hot Water

If yoyu're still on an electric hot water system here are two ways you can reduce your energy consumption over summer.

1. Adjust the thermostat down.
When the 'cold' water is already 30°C, there's not so much need for hot water in summer, so why not save energy [more info]

2. Turn the whole thing off
If you're going away for a while over summer, give the heater a break till you get back [more info]

Revenge Of The Electric Car

Sound like an action adventure doesn't it? Ten years after it they thought it was dead (Who Killed The Electric Car?) it's back and it's bigger than ever! This is the trailer that has just been released.


The movie is by the same people who did Who Killed The Electic Car, and follows the journey of 4 pioneers of the electric car revolution. It's an independent film, so if you want to see it, the best thing is to visit the movie website and enter your name and city under See The Film. They'll show the movie where there are people who want to see it, and let you know when it's showing near you.

Save Power

If you live in New South Wales, you may have seen these Save Power ads. The visual of the black balloons really drives home the point about how much pollution we create.


The Save Power website also has a whole bunch of tips for saving energy. (Not all of them are as obvious as the one pictured above.) And if you put in your postal address they'll even send you a free thermometer - which is handy for checking temps around the house (like the fridge and hot water) to check you're not wasting energy by over-cooling or over-heating.

ANZ - We Pollute Your World

I've written before on the clever wit of the Greenpeace people. This photo was taken by a friend of mine as she arrived for work in the ANZ building. Obviously a parody of the "we live in your world" campaign by the bank.


I guess Greenpeace are kind of making the point 'If you live in our world, how come you're so keen to fund the pollution of it?'. According to this short video of the event, even in this age of climate change ANZ fund coal projects 6 times more than renewables.

Green Tax Shift

I've mentioned my friend Stuart before. In recent weeks he's been working on this cartoon about the Green Tax Shift.


Two main thing i remembered from it...

1. We tax 'goods and services'. Wouldn't it be better to tax things that are bads and dis-services (like waste and pollution)?

2. Taxing pollution makes the planet-friendly choice the financially sensible choice. Companies will no longer have to choose between the planet and profits (we all know which they'd choose). When pollution is taxed, the way to make the best profit would be to minimise pollution.