C'mon...

Are there really any non-believers left?

I know I am talking to the believers here...well I hope so.

This information is from 'Get Up'.  

They ask that we freely use this graphic and information.

Print, talk, argue, and convince!

The links in the section below (Research and Analysis) could also be used as support evidence in you work of spreading the facts!

...please do scroll right down to see my good news too.

The hottest average maximum temperature ever recorded across Australia – 40.33 degrees, was set on Monday surpassing the old record of 40.17 °C set in 1976. (Bureau of Meteorology)

The number of consecutive days where the national average maximum daily temperature exceeded 39°C has also been broken this week—seven (7) days (between 2–8 January 2013), almost doubling the previous record of four (4) consecutive days in 1973, (BOM)

According to the National Climate Data Centre, nine of the 10 hottest years on record have been since 2000 (the other is 1998).

While temperatures vary on a local and regional scale, globally it has now been 27 years since the world experienced a month that was colder than average. "If you’re 27 or younger, you’ve never experienced a colder-than-average month" - Philip Bump, Grist, November 16, 2012.

The CSIRO has found Australian annual average daily maximum temperatures have steadily increased in the last hundred years, with most of the warming trend occurring since 1970.

The Bushfire CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) says large areas of southern Australia, from the east coast to the west coast, face “above average fire potential” in the summer of 2012-13. According to the Climate Institute extreme fire danger days are expected to rise more than 15 per cent in south-eastern Australia.

The last four months of 2012 - globally - were the hottest on record. (British Met Office) and 2012 was the hottest year the continental United States of America has ever recorded.("2012 Was the Hottest Year in U.S. History. And Yes - It's Climate Change", Bryan Walsh, TIME 8 January, 2013).

The hot-dry trend is expected to continue, with the Climate Commission predicting large increases in the number of days over 35°C this century.

Around the world, 2013 could be the hottest ever recorded by modern instrumentation, according to a recent study by Britain’s Met Office. If that turns out to be accurate, 2013 would surpass the previous record, held jointly by 2005 and 2010.

Research and Analysis

Get used to record-breaking heat: bureau

This article includes perspectives from climate scientists at the Bureau of Meteoroloy on recent hot weather and some international evidence about the changing global climate.

Ben Cubby, Get used to record-breaking heat: bureau, 9 January 2013, The Age.

Australia faces another week of 'catastrophic' heat

This article provides a useful outline of the connection between climate change and the recent heatwave.

Andy Coghlan and Michael Slezak, Australia faces another week of 'catastrophic' heat, 8 January 2012, New Scientist website.

Extreme January heat

This Special climate Statement from the Bureau of Meteorology summarises the weather conditions during the recent heatwave.

Bureau of Meteorology, Extreme January heat, 7 January 2013, Bureau of Meteorology website.

Grim Warning on extreme weather for Australia

This Climate Commission report summarises the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on extreme conditions and disasters and deals with the impact of climate change on heat, rain, drought, fire, cyclones and sea-level rise.

Climate Commission, Grim Warning on extreme weather for Australia Climate Commission website.

The human impact of heatwaves and extreme weather

"But the greatest threat to human health, says Liz Hanna of the Australian National University, is the heat itself." "[It] directly causes more deaths than fires, floods and all natural events combined in Australia." When it gets hotter than 35 °C, people have difficulty maintaining normal body temperature, putting strain on the heart. Babies, older people and those with heart conditions are most at risk."

This report from the Climate Commission summarises research on the impact of climate change on physical and mental health and communities.

Climate Institute, The human impact of heatwaves and extreme weather, 9 January 2013, Climate Institute website: media briefs.

State of the Climate - 2012

This report jointly produced in 2012 by the CSIRO and Australian Bureau of Meteorology provides an updated summary of observations and trends in Australia's changing climate.

CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, State of the Climate - 2012 13 March 2012, CSIRO website.

And...not bragging or anything but I received this cheque from my electricity supplier today:

Alright, it isn't huge, but combined with the fact that we haven't paid a single cent for power this year, it is pretty cool - and we have electric cooking and hotwater!  Gotta love solar panels.

This year, we will have to be even more careful about our usage and our usage patterns as the price of electricity from the grid has gone up dramatically.  I wonder if we will get a refund next January?

Mum was right

...but that is not so surprising...mothers are usually right!

She said, 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.'  I know, it wasn't her own thought, but when she first told me, I was very impressed.  Mind you, it didn't stop me from calling people names, but I didn't take up throwing sticks or stones either...I just stored the saying away, for about half a century, so I could write this blog post!

What's is wrong with is picture?

Nothing? Exactly! The path is nicely raked, the mulch is in place, the little plants are settling in.

But just add a few scratchy chooks, enjoying a forage in the mulch, kicking it onto the gravel on the path, uprooting the plants, and generally making a horrible mess.  

This scenario equals one very unhappy gardener! And boy, did I call those girls some names!

Names which may have had Mum brandishing the soap in the direction of my mouth, if she had heard me!

You saw the 'stone' solution for the inner garden.  

It worked a treat!  All the plants have stayed firmly rooted where I planted them and are growing.

That did not solve the problem of the mulch on the path...

but the sticks have!

Maybe it isn't pretty, but it sure is practical!  Once the plants grow and form a hedge, the chickens won't be able to do much damage...but until then, there won't be so much blue language floating over the neighbour's fence!

I like this picture.  It shows the sneak path from the grey garden across to the drive...just to the left of that pot on a stand.