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Last updated on August 5th, 2017 at 08:09 am
Days since Tim Flannery has mentioned either climate change or global warming in the Australian press: 21
UPDATE. Flannery did turn up here 13 days ago, but not to discuss anything warmenish:
Professor Flannery first visited the area in the early ‘70s as a young fossil.
(Extract slightly edited in the interest of unfairness.)
UPDATE II. Hold everything! Dylan Kissane locates a not-online SMH interview dated June 18, at which point Flannery’s no-water-for-Sydney prediction was already out by nearly one million megalitres. Includes this Q&A:
Q: What do you think will happen to Australia’s water supplies under climate change?
A: The supply is going to get more and more limited. The soils are getting hotter and that means more water evaporates from the soils, which means there’s less water to run into the rivers. Water is just going to be in shorter and shorter supply.
It’s raining again as I write this:
Tim – The NewsBank database has an interview with him in the Sydney Morning Herald on the 18th of June. The article was titled ‘Agent of change’ (journalist: James Woodford) and is supposed to be on page 3 of the supplment section (no online link).
Includes the question/answer:
What do you think will happen to Australia’s water supplies under climate change?
The supply is going to get more and more limited. The soils are getting hotter and that means more water evaporates from the soils, which means there’s less water to run into the rivers. Water is just going to be in shorter and shorter supply
This was right about the time Sydney was getting soaked I think.
Posted by Villeurbanne on 2007 06 25 at 12:01 PM • permalink
Professor Flannery urged the council to protect the coastal land that includes Gunyong Creek Gorge because of its “outstanding scientific, educational and landscape significance”.
“Any development or construction on or near the upper slopes of the gorge would not be compatible with the landscape, geomorphology and ecology of this sensitive area,” he said
You’re thinking they’re discussing a stretch of pristine coastal wilderness, don’t you? No, this area is just south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, right next to the outer suburb of Franklin. That whole area is developed with urban sprawl. The bits that aren’t developed are swampland or sand dunes.
This isn’t an area of “outstanding signficance” at all.
Methinks he’s just knee-jerk anti-development, especially when that development involves nice water views.Posted by daddy dave on 2007 06 25 at 01:09 PM • permalink
The supply is going to get more and more limited. The soils are getting hotter and that means more water evaporates from the soils, which means there’s less water to run into the rivers. Water is just going to be in shorter and shorter supply
I’m no scientist, but I heard that when water turns to vapour, it forms loose associations with other water molecules, commonly known as clouds, which eventually turn jihad on each other and suicide into Mother Earth.
“The soils are getting hotter” has to be the stupidest statement he has made yet. Soil is not desert sand – it is usually covered by grasses, plants and trees. Sand can get hotter, but most of the soil is gonna struggle.
bloody hell – why do they repeat his crap when it is flooding? How hot is the soil now Einstein?
Watch it Paco. You’re starting to get interesting again.
Posted by dean martin on 2007 06 25 at 06:43 PM • permalink
I think Flannery has rocks in his head that don’t have a damned thing to do with his career.
Sadly, I will admit to owning one of his books, The Future Eaters, bought back in my tree-hugging days. As you might expect, it’s pompous tripe and I never intend to read it again. What do you think, fellow RWDBs? Should I increase Flannery’s carbon footprint by proxy by using pages from the thing to fire up the charcoal grill?
Posted by Blue State Sil on 2007 06 25 at 07:00 PM • permalink
No Bluey, I think all hard copy evidence of this rort should be kept, so we can show the grankiddies what it was all about and how close humankind was pushed to the edge.
It is a pity it’s so hard to get originals or copies of Mein Kempf and the Little Red School Book, so rather than tell the kiddies what it was all about we could make sure they read it and maybe get a deeper understanding of the genesis of that shit and compare it to the genesis of this shit.
In the second verse mention is famously made “ Of droughts and flooding rains….”
As per the Flannery flummery presumably in 1907 it was probably down to all those engines of motor vehicles belching out their exhaust fumes that turned our little corner of the earth into a place of “terror” as she went on to describe it. Oh wait ..hang on …how many motor vehicles were around pre 1907 to cause these catastrophes ? Bugger all. Actually the first production line cars had not yet been rolled out.
Oh that’s right now we have “special” droughts and floods now that have never before been seen in the history of mankind
Quick! To the beaches! With all this rain SURELY the oceans are rising like the warmies said they would! Bring the good ruler, so we can check!
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 06 25 at 08:44 PM • permalink
In the interests of proper scientific analysis,if we are to measure ,( even if we use the good ruler….) , surely we should subtract the substantial amount of dribble around which surely distorts the figures making the sea levels seem higher….??
The Wax Hypothesis : Sea Level take away the dribble = actual result.
Psst… has anyone else noted how the real estate prices of waterfront property is plummeting as people sell up at way below market rate because of the certainty of their lounge rooms becoming an indoor swimming pool in a few short years ?
No ?
Me neither..
the real estate prices of waterfront property is plummeting
that’s not the full story, Wacko. They’re buying up one block back for when their old house turns into a beach.
Posted by daddy dave on 2007 06 25 at 09:41 PM • permalink
Hmm – I see your point. It doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, so I suppose I could let it hang around in a box for a few years. It could definitely be useful for demonstrating the sheer knobbery of Flannery’s thought processes to future generations.
Posted by Blue State Sil on 2007 06 25 at 09:48 PM • permalink
Now THAT’s a comprehensive map! It features both Bellambi and Nerriga. And even Dapto!
I’ve always said that Bellambi and Dapto had no problems that a good rise in sea-level couldn’t fix.
As for Nerriga: God’s own country! Spent many a wasted week of my youth, seeking my fortune in the (not so) golden gullies in the hills around Nerriga
Posted by AlburyShifton on 2007 06 25 at 09:56 PM • permalink
Enjoy.
I adore this poem.
Quick! To the beaches! With all this rain SURELY the oceans are rising like the warmies said they would! Bring the good ruler, so we can check!
All this rain is coming from the oceans, falling on the land and being stored in dams. By 9am tomorrow, the Tsman Sea will completely drained. I say this without any knowledge of climatology, which means I am just as qualified to make predictions as Tim Flannery.
Senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Scott Williams said the wild weather would bring much-needed replenishment for Melbourne’s water supplies.
“We now think the Thomson River catchment could get up to 200 millimetres of rain … (which could mean) drought over. Nail in its coffin completely,” Mr Williams said.
“It will rip up above 30 per cent again very quickly, and may even get into the mid-30s in a week or two,” he said.Mr Williams said the rain would begin tonight and fall for about 48 hours, with more falls expected in the upper Yarra area over the weekend.
Mr Williams said the wet start to the winter bodes well for the city’s water supplies in the medium-term.
“It’s not out of the question that we could get above 50 per cent if we had a good winter,” he said.
Professor Flannery first visited the area in the early ‘70s as a young fossil.
I think that is a singularly amusing comment, and is typical of the kind of ridicule to which climate alarmists should be subjected.