Thursday December 11, 2008 (diary, global warming)

Here follow the first two paragraphs from an article by the well known English botanist David Bellamy (author of 35 books and presenter of 400 TV programs) printed in The Australian newspaper of November 25, 2008 (Opinion section, page 10).

Man made global warming has all the hallmarks of a religion. It is based on belief, not unbiased science or facts, there is absolutely no proof for it, and anyone speaking against it is being ignored, ridiculed or discriminated against.
The Oregon Institute of Science & Medicine has an online Petition against man made global warming addressed to the US Government. The number of scientists* who put their signature to it has this last year almost doubled from 17,000 to over 31,000.
But the Unconvenient Truth, perhaps more aptly called the Convenient Lie, continues to steamroll the naive and ill informed masses (like the proverbial mushrooms : kept in the dark and fed on shit), taking opportunistic populist politicians and Governments with them in their wake.

We all agree that CO₂ has increased in the atmosphere the past Century, but there is absolutely no proof that it has much if any influence at all on climate temperature variations. The connection between the two is based on putting hypothetical data through hypothetical computer models, and selecting only those outcomes which serve the hypothesis.
Any scientific model must be able to generate predictions to allow for validation or rejection of the model. To date all the models' predictions have been contradicted by actually observed data, but still everyone is hanging onto it. This is anti-science at its very worst !
The only consequence predicted by unbiased science is the beneficial effect increased carbon dioxide has on plants. They actually grow faster and in the process release more oxygen. This prediction has been tested and recently found to be correct by experiments with Eucalyptus trees in Australia.

I too am a scientist, a former geologist with 25 years of study and research of the earth behind me, and as such am perhaps better qualified to comment on global warming than many. I include some scientific data on global temperature variations over the past 120 years and the past 3,000 years for your perusal.

Last year (Nov. 2007) a delegation presented a Petition to the Secretary General of the UN at the Bali Global Warming Conference. It was signed by 106 prominent scientists from around the world and stated that Governments were wasting their money fighting global warming, while the World is sitting on a time bomb of an entirely different nature. And the clock is ticking!

* : Scientists can not join online, but must send a personally signed hard copy of their declaration by mail to the Petition's organisers in Oregon.

Friday December 12, 2008 (diary, David Bohm, quantum mechanics, Wivica)

The weather remains perfect, a good day to do my washing. Some clouds linger overhead inland, but at the beach the sun shines from a blue sky. This is often the case here. The sea is totally flat, so no body surfing today in any shape or form, but it is nice to just float around in the water, which temporarily has cooled one degree to 22°C.

Buddha Girl emailed me yesterday. She has finished her work in Jakarta for the year and will be back home in Australia next week. We hope to catch up over the Christmas break. She also draws my attention to the work of the late David Bohm, a renown physicist and former student of Robert Oppenheimer.
In his book Wholeness and the Implicate Order : "Bohm (writing clearly and without technical jargon), develops a theory of quantum physics which treats the totality of existence, including matter and consciousness, as an unbroken whole. Bohm's concept of the implicate order provides a basis for bridging science to the realm of spirit."

Well, that is what its descriptions says anyway. But it wets my appetite and I immediately order a copy from Dymocks Online. The paperback is only AUD$29.95 (plus postage) and I hope to receive it next week. Amamzon.com has it too of course but the postage is more expensive and takes longer to send to me in Australia.
Modern physics, and quantum mechanics especially, lends itself very well to incorporating aspects of consciousness and the spirit. I have been tinkering with that myself. But I am acutely aware that a little knowledge (which a layman like me must confess to) can be a dangerous thing. I am therefore very interested to find out how an expert approaches this.

One of the things that intrigues me in this regard is the "gift" (as she calls it) of my sister Wivica, the Soul portrait artist.
Based merely on a passport like photograph, she produces (focused but largely subconsciously) a fairy tale like landscape. When completed, it reveals so much of the client's past history, future and character that he/she upon seeing the portrait is greatly overwhelmed and quite often burst out into tears of emotion.

I am a very down to earth person (and so is my sister) and have my own quantum mechanics related idea about it. But I have a feeling that Bohm may well steer me into an entirely new direction on this one. We'll find out soon.

Saturday December 13, 2008 (diary, Wivica, carbon emission, WMD)

There is very little global warming going on in Germany right now as this picture taken from Wivica's terrace in the Black Forest clearly testifies :-)
Nevertheless the European Union (EU) has made the "historic decision" today to cut carbon emission to 20% by 2010.

I believe this is not altogether a bad idea. I may be strongly against the proposition that global warming is man made, but I am not against reducing carbon pollution, which must be detrimental to good health (and at considerable cost) especially in the large urban areas. Also, and perhaps even more importantly, the more the Western World can wean itself off Islamic controlled oil (not to mention Russia or Venezuela) by taking up alternative energies the better. It will give new impetus to the use of nuclear power and research and development of hybrid and hydrogen powered cars.

We have a saying in Holland :   Baat het niet, het schaadt ook niet.

Meaning "If it does not help much, it won't hurt either."
I believe we have a WMD scenario all over again. Before we went to war with Iraq there was a genuine belief that Sadam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But true or not, it was always a good argument for going to war to use on the general public. In the end no WMD material was found, but getting rid of the Hussein regime was a good thing anyway. Sooner or later he would have produced them, with potential dire consequences to the World.

Right now everyone (certainly on the socialist side of politics) firmly believes in man made global warming. Whether that proves to be true or not we may find out in due course, but the general public's present general acceptance of new technologies will be a positive thing for the World anyway. Always provided that carbon emission reduction is done without detrimental consequences to industry or to the economic development of the Third World.

Sunday December 14, 2008 (diary)

Babette has to her school in Sydney for a few days, so about midday I drive her to Maroochydore Airport, and from there continue on to Mooloolaba beach. It is another fine day, the surf is choppy but pleasant as always.

Mooloolaba beach has the shape of an enormous elongated fishing hook, with the Surf Club and Esplanade along its (Northern) straight "tied" end. From there the beach gently curves Southwards towards the Spit, a robust stone built pier which guides the Mooloola river into the ocean, forming the sharp tip of the fishing hook.
Spaced at regular intervals between the Surf Club and Spit are three life savers manned beach areas for safe swimming. Just behind and along the entire length of the beach is a narrow sandy dune strip with bushes, trees, grassy areas and a much used walkway all the way down to the pier.   About 500 meters out to sea is a long protective shark net, suspended on half a dozen yellow buoys and parallel to the coast.

The great thing about this setup is that no matter how rough the seas may be on any day there is always a safe spot to swim. On normal days the best waves are right in front of the Surf Club. From that point Southwards the waves become gradually more gentle, until right alongside the Southern pier the water is calm like a pond. Therefore when it gets too rough at the Surf Club you can walk lower down the "fishing hook" toward one of the other patrolled areas and have a swim there.
It is a great beach. Its only drawback is the Mooloola river, which after heavy rain can flush out a lot of suspended clay making the sea water temporarily cloudy. But it is only clay and safe to swim in. Today is one of such days.

In the evening Doug and I go to Lefty's Restaurant in Maroochydore. As entree we always have Lefty's special plate with various breads and dips. It is good as always.
The main course however is a different matter, my veal is tough like nails and I eat merely a quarter of it. The regular cook is off on Sundays and Mondays. So we will avoid going there on those days in the future.

Monday December 15, 2008 (diary, Bjorn Lomborg, Barack Obama, Jeroen, Lisa)

No, unfortunately the surf does not look at all like that today. When I arrive at the central swim area there is no breeze at all and the sea is flat. But the water is crystal clear and I can see many small (20 cm) silvery fish excitedly darting ahead of my feet as I wade through the shallows.
After floating around for a while I get out and walk along the beach towards the Surf Club to try there again as I see some tiny waves here, but very exiting it is not.

After a Subway for lunch I read my paper at the Surf Club as per usual. I must say that The Australian is the only amongst Australia's newspapers and TV stations that consistently publishes both sides of the story on any subject including global warming.
Today (Dec.15, 2008 - Opinion section p.8) it includes an article by the high profile Bjorn Lomborg (Head of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School), in which he criticizes the dramatic overstatements and sometimes untruths expressed by most world leaders, now also including Barack Obama. For example :

Lomborg also refutes the other claims Obama makes in his recent news conference about supposed increasing drought and storm activities. The actual records simply contradict these "eloquently" presented untruths.

Back home I receive a call from my son Jeroen on his satellite phone from Dilli (East Timor). He is there for few days, doing an assessment of a large modern accommodation compound for Loyds Insurance in London. The compound is currently occupied by the United Nations. He flies back home tomorrow. His wife Lisa is doing well and has returned to her job at the Northern Territory's Chief Minister's office, which she thoroughly enjoys.