Citizen Action in Melbourne Today

I was one of more than 20,000 people who took to the streets today to protest against:

Cuts to environmental legislation including the shameful repeal of the Carbon Tax
Cuts to Education
Cuts to welfare for the most needy
Abominable treatment of refugees.
This and more is the treatment we citizens of Australia are getting from our Federal Government.
Let the people sing the song of angry 'men' !
And make our pollies lisen!

Smoke and Mirrors

After several days of thick smoke blanketing Melbourne I'm beginning to feel a bit thick headed and wheezy. The smoke is being blown over Melbourne from the bushfires still burning in Gippsland. The Kilmore area fire, north of Melbourne is still going and together 45 houses have been lost and thousands of livestock burned to death. Thanks to the great efforts of the emergency services and the resilience of the people, no lives have been lost thank goodness.
The predicted rain in the north of Victoria may do something to reduce the fires but we are not going to get the cleansing effects here.
Here are a couple of images from the Nasa Earth Observatory

Smoke from the Gippsland Fires 12 Feb 2014

10 Feb Night Image showing the brightness of the fires north and east of Melbourne.

I will be interested to hear the amount of CO2 and other pollutants being released into the atmosphere as a result of these fires. Also the number of hospitalizations from both the smoke and continuing heat.

Melbourne's electricity use and water use are also very high.

Prior to the end of the drought we were being asked to keep our water use to 150 litres per person per day. My latest Water Bill received a couple of days ago shows that we are keeping to that figure, but this may not be the case with the next measurement if the heat continues. 

Almost all of our 12,000 litres of water collected in the water tanks are empty. So please let it rain.

I don't want to return to the days of the 15 year old drought where Melbourne only had a couple of years of dam water left.

But how much CO2 do the current fires emit? The Conversation has the answer and its not the one the Federal Government wants to hear. As Philip Gibbons of the Australian National University wrote in a 2013 article "Warren Truss’ statement reflects a view that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are insignificant relative to natural events such as bushfires that have occurred for millennia in Australia."

But like the Minister for the Destruction of the Environment, Greg Hunt, the National Party Leader Warren Truss does not let someone with the facts destroy a good story. These comments were expressed last year so I wonder whether he will say the same this year!

Hence Smoke and Mirrors - Hear and see nothing that will disturb their own point of view. 

Heatwave Melbourne

Take care in the heat today and tomorrow.

From 22 degrees C this morning at approx 6:30 pm the temperature has climbed to 33 degrees Celsius by 9:30 am.

The forecast top of 43 degrees looks very likely to be broken. 109 degrees F is seriously hot for Melbourne in January.

I can handle one day of this heat, but I will see how I perform after 4 days!

Remember the 1939 Black Friday bushfires occurred under similar temperatures. This year we have had a wet spring so hopefully the vegetation is not so vulnerable to bushfires.

Residents in WA Perth Hills are in shock with the loss of houses yesterday. Good luck to them in trying to return to their properties in the next day or so.

Christmas Wishes: The Heat is On

As another year draws to a close its time to extend Christmas wishes to everyone reading this.
But the Heat is On!

40 degrees in Melbourne means the following:

• Libraries and other free air-conditioned places will be busy. 
• Lots of people can't afford air-conditioning and older people die in greater numbers in the heat.
• So do dogs and other furry pets!
• Kids left in cars - please, please no!!!!!
• Peak water use in the morning as everyone tries to prepare their plants for the heat
• Northern hemisphere trees will get stressed and drop their leaves, perhaps for the rest of the summer as a response to the heat. Normally takes a couple of weeks to show something other than crispiness.
• Train cancellations - 16 trains of 2000 cancelled early and more will cancel later. Perhaps some heat buckling the rails later on,
• The Melbourne Southern Star Wheel (like the London Eye ) may have its engineers checking it anxiously. Its structure buckled under 46 degree heat in 2009 and its been closed since then. Due to re-open this weekend I think.
• Air conditioning units will be on full all day - solar power units will make sure that some of this peak is being generated by the sun! Thus making life cheaper for us all.
• Freeways today have been RS. Still RS and will continue as people get stressed in the heat and traffic.
• Grass and Bushfire risk is very high today. Not yet extreme or catastrophic.
• Tony Abbot and co will be making life more difficult for all renewable energy projects. He doesn't believe in subsidies for businesses like Holden, which is fair enough. But when will he remove the fuel subsidies for the transport industry, mines etc. Will he remove the land and reduced tariffs for the coal industry. Will he make things more of a level playing field so that big business doesnot unfairly compete with small



Christmas Lights

• Short answer no!

So to all of the environmental activists out there: have a great Christmas and be prepared for an interesting, tumultuous New Year. Lets hope people power can be successful. I'm beginning to think a double dissolution might not be a bad idea but ...??

Climate Council's Report

Hailstorm hits Melbourne

A tropical storm hit Melbourne yesterday. It caused chaos in a wide band through the Melbourne CBD and suburbs. We weren't in its path but nearby suburbs reported heavy damage after golf ball sized hail and lashing rain hit cars, windows and flooded streets. Enjoy!

Relief at last - rain!

I don't know about the rest of Melbourne but I found the last 2 weeks trying. The heat was welcomed initially, then quickly became oppressive and continual. Thank goodness for the air-conditioning. At least we all have been able to sleep reasonably well.
Hopefully the electricity used by the air-conditioning  has been offset by our old solar hot water system, where we have turned off the electric booster for about 3 weeks. Showers have been piping hot all day. We shall see how we manage the next couple of days now that it is cooler.

And still no sign of my solar power-

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Today the dried off plants in my flower and vegie garden look much better. Our makeshift rain gauge shows 59mm of rain fell through the evening til 6:30am this morning. What a wonderful total. I haven't been down to the nearby wetlands to see how the creeks and pools are faring, but so far no flooding around me. The rainwater tanks are now overflowing - all 12,000 litres. They were down to half full on Friday and I was getting worried that we would not have enough for the summer. Our friends tell me their 200,000 litre tank was less than half full yesterday - I'll bet its nearly full today.
I must look at the weather forecast for the next month and see if the November record heat is forecast to return for December.
Perhaps I'll get time to read about the ETS soon - I haven't had the fortitude to do more than read part of the summary of the draft report. The Liberals antics have provided much more fun- even if it is the nature of black comedy!

Windy Melbourne

Alas in the storm last night I lost 2 of my medium sized trees. My 4 metre high, spreading Blue Pacific, (Ceanothus), was just about to burst into their beautiful blue flowers. Now it is in ruins on the back lawn. We have spent several hours cutting it up into large branches. The roots were very shallow, consistent with trying to grow in our hard clay soil. So the rain and 130 km/hr gusts reported in Melbourne last night were just too much.
The other tree was a Cape Virgilia. This one is not supposed to last very long as it is a fast growing tree. Unfortunately the bees will have a tough time with these 2 trees about to provide heaps of flowers for them.
We have another eucalypt tree in a pot waiting for a spot in the garden so will have to get the stumps out, add clay breaker (again) and try and build the soil up. So far we have lost 7 trees to winds over the years, always the tall ones and largely due to a mixture of wind and rain.
On the good side there will be plenty of logs and kindling for the wood fire for next year.

Happy New Year

Fireworks, parties and drinking are the hallmarks of a Melbourne New Years Eve party. The city is alive with people and the police are out in force looking for action. The public transport system runs late to take the party-goers back home en-mass.

Around the suburbs, individuals let off illegal fireworks and numerous local parties are held. I pity the emergency services as inevitably the unlucky and stupid make the doctors, nurses, ambulance people and police lives hell. So here's to all our service personnel. May they have a relatively quiet and peaceful end to 2008

Lets all celebrate the coming of the new year. This year it is time for belt tightening and a reassessment of investments(ie bemoaning the losses and hoping the companies will regain part of their value in 2009).

In Melbourne the hot weather approaches, though this year it seems that New Years Eve will not be a scorcher unlike previous years. Perhaps it will rain and refill the water tanks that are being increasingly needed for the vegie garden.

So to anyone who reads this post, may you have health and happiness. Wealth and "interesting times" as per the chinese proverb can wait for another year. Cherish the small things in life that make it sweet - chocolate (free trade stuff of course) and a good book to read while sitting on the beach. Cheap (if books is sourced from your local library) but worthwhile. Also keeping me employed for the coming year

Spring is here!

Yeah! finally the days are lengthening, bulbs are flowering and sadly the grass has risen enough to be mowed again. Though to call it grass is somewhat a misnomer as the weeds outnumber the real grass. The lack of watering over the last few summers, due to water restrictions has seen to that.
The Magnolia tree has bloomed and now is covered in new green leaves. The hyacinths are just about to finish, as are the daffodils. My lovely Camellia's are also nearly finished their flowering as are some of the Azalea's.

My Plum tree is flowering, though rather lopsidedly as the "other half" got carried away when pruning it in July. However, neither the Persimmon Tree or the Ginko tree are showing any signs of bud burst or leaf.
One of the joys of Spring in Melbourne is the antics of the swooping bird population. I haven't been attacked by a Magpie yet, though my son on bicycle has. The Masked Plover's have raised a chick and annoy us with frequent warning cries and constant dive bombing when anyone approaches.

And to top it off the water tanks are completely full. Summer here we come!

Australia Day Celebrations ,Melbourne

Taking advantage of the free open day at Victoria's Governors house, here are some photos of the residence, inside and out. My "other half" commented that some of the furniture and fittings seemed a bit worse for wear and needed some maintenance and replacement.

Welcome to my book and travel log

One of the perks of life is being able to travel occasionally to the great areas of the world. My last trip was to the west coast of the USA to take in the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. On the way there, we also sampled the delights of LA, Disneyland, Universal Studios and Las Vegas.

I am now planning the family trip to wonderful New Zealand. We intend spending most of our time in that world famous Art Deco city, Napier. But we also have a little time for a side trip to Rotorua. Unfortunately a blog cannot convey the stench of that unusual geothermal town but hopefully a few pictures and descriptions will describe what it is like.

So here's to our Easter Holidays. May they roll on quickly.

But for now here is part of our life at home - a balmy evening at Melbourne docklands.