Contemplating the ducks -- Sydney Park

Christmas Lights

Christmas

Christmas and Climate

Several day’s late due to a riveting Colleen McCullough, (2009), Too Many Murders, Harper Collins in my Santa Sack – just too good to put down and attend to daily matters such as weblog, dogs, garden, the outside world. The rain was a useful excuse to remain reading until my eyes failed.

We began the birth-celebration at Sydney Park at 07:00 with some family and dogs. Such a great place: the rejuvenation of a rubbish tip into a super and very popular parkscape. And then on to Duncan and Alison’s for a celebratory lunch – a pleasant day.

On Christmas Eve we went to Double Bay for an evening with Kathy and Ken and friends; a splendid time with the fresh southerly sharpening the night. Bringing realism to our enjoyment Ken sent me this comment:

World population 6.2B – (4.2B live in Asia Pacific Region and over 1B people have no electricity – sun and dung)

• 80 per cent of the world population live on less then $US10 per day
• 20 per cent of world population have 75 per cent of the wealth
• It follows that the 80 per cent poor have the other 25 per cent of “wealth” and these are the people who will “save” the world from global warming?

Almost 25 per cent of world population has crap water supply – 2/3 of these people are amongst the poorest on the globe and earn less than $2 per day with 1/3 on less than $1 per day – and these are the people who will “save” the world from global warming?

The Aviation Industry is one of the few global Industries to set ambitious carbon reduction targets. The industry aims to have carbon neutral growth by 2020. This means that the effects of expansion of aviation will be offset by carbon reduction strategies. Consider this in the context of growing economies and perhaps 2 or 3 per cent a year move into the air travel affordability bracket? Three per cent of 4.2B in our area is a big number of aircraft. Between now and 2020 the industry aims for 1.5 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions year on year.

And from “List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita,  which supports Ken’s observations.

Post-Copenhagen, blame for a non-binding treaty has been laid upon China, India, Sudan and Tuvulu which in view of the above table is quite unfair. These people deserve water, elctricity, longevity and the pleasures we take for granted..

Today’s Podcast

Maintaining the ‘we need to do our part’ theme in reducing pollution is this:

“Not cheap, just frugal!”, FutureTense, 24 December, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/futuretense/stories/2009/2719979.htm

Consumerism could prove a difficult habit to break, but there are those who have already started to change their approach to life. The frugality movement has been with us for some time. So given all the economic woe that’s befallen us, could this be the movement’s time in the sun?