Global warming - the other Greenhouse gases

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Most of the public discussion and policy focus is rightly concentrated on carbon dioxide emissions however sight should not be lost on the other Greenhouse Gases (GHG) that are also being emitted in smaller quantities and which do pack a sizeable environmental punch.

ANZAC Day - 25 April 2021

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ANZAC Day and the sacrifice of the servicemen and women in time of war and conflict becomes momentarily, centre-stage. According to the Australian War Memorial, a total of 102,911 Australians have lost their lives as a result of service with Australian units since 1885. The range of wars, police actions, regional conflicts and disaster recovery is diverse in scale and duration as demonstrated below. The dates of the conflicts and actions are adjusted as many service personal died later as a result of their injuries or as a result of post war reconstruction activities such as occupation forces or mine and ordinance clearance.

Conflict	Dates	Mortalities
Sudan	1885	9
South Africa	1899-1902	589
China	1900-1901	6
First World War	1914-1921	61,605
Second World War	1939-1947	39,654
Australia: bomb removal Japan – Occupation force	1947-1950 1947-1952	4 3
Papua and New Guinea	1947-1975	13
Middle East (UNSTO)	1948	1
Berlin Airlift	1948-1949	1
Malayan Emergency	1948-1960	39
Kashmir – UN observer	1948-1985	1
Korean War	1950-1953	340
Malta	1952-1955	3
Korean War – Armistice	1953-1957	16
Southeast Asia (SEATO)	1955-1975	10
Indonesian Confrontation	1962-1966	22
Malayan Peninsula	1964-1966	2
Vietnam War	1962-1975	521
Thailand	1965-1968	2
Irian Jaya	1976-1981	1
Western Sahara (MINURSO)	1991-1994	1
Somalia	1992-1994	1
Bougainville	1997-2003	1
East Timor	1997-2003	4
Afghanistan	2001 - present	43
Iraq	2003-2013	4
Solomon Island (RAMSI)	2003-2013	1
Indonesia (Sumatra Assist)	2005	9
Fiji	2006	2

Lest we forget

Climate change - the challenge of not exceeding a 1.5 degree Celsius increase

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Global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Co, has provided a simple summary of the impact of a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in temperature and the solutions to prevent crossing this critical threshold. These can be listed as -

Impacts

• weather events become more extreme and frequent. These include wildfires, hurricanes, severe storms, drought, flooding and very high temperatures.
• climate feedbacks occur such that climate change triggers changes on the planet which lead to further changes in the climate and an ongoing cycle occurs becoming self-reinforcing. The higher the temperature, the greater the effect.
• climate feedback include higher temperatures contributing to the loss of forests which in turn lead to the loss of carbon capture, increased carbon release and correspnding higher climate change levels.
• loss of ice cover warms the Earth with less reflective cover from the sun and hence contributes to further temperature increase.
• the current situation where climate change can already been felt is the result of an increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Solutions

• 75% of emissions of CO2 relate to energy production and use so this is a primary focus.
• power companies have been moving away from traditional coal and gas burning and moving to renewables such as solar and wind power. Clean hydrogen or green hydrogen is the new growth opportunity.
• Carbon capture and storage is essential to get CO2 out of the atmosphere. This is best achieved through reforestation since plants absorb carbon. However each year an area the size of Greece is being deforested. McKinsey & Co believe that by 2030, reforestation would need to be the size of Turkey.
• food production is a major source of the greenhouse gas, methane. Cows are the major source of methane although rice production also contributes to this gas. All the cows on the planet currently generate emissions "roughtly on a par with the United States". This can be addressed though various measure such as less beef consumption, changes to certain breeding and genetic selection, methane inhibitors, feed-mix additive changes.
• road transport accounts for around 15 per cent of CO2 with electrification of vehicles seen as a viable solution using green generation source and battery storage being the pathway aways from emissions.
• heating (such as space and water heating associated with buildings) accounts for 5 to 8 per cent of global emissions. The solution is adaption to using green energy sources for power.
• increased efficiency in production and process optimisation in heavy indsutry is a critical related step. Recycling of steel has been identified as a key influence on reducing emissions.

While various initiatives have been taken to commence applying many of these solutions, including most notably in the private sector, concerted support from National Governments is still needed worldwide in order to effect the transition in multiple industries. To do less will lead to unthinkable failure.

Plastic not so fantastic - failures in recycling a primary contaminant

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After decades of seeking mainstream public attention, the dangers of plastic contamination in the environment has finally become accepted across international borders. Alas, this recognition has only occured now that the problem has reached a critical scale and impact across the world's oceans and reached as far away as Antarctica and the Northern polar region. 

How much plastic is leaking into the ocean ? Estimates are still being calculated however the quantity ranges from 4.8 to 12.7 mega tonnes per year. This is a staggering amount of which 80% of plastics in the ocean originate from land-based sources. 

Plastic is not a single type of manufactured artificial substance but comes in multiple forms. Control, reduction of use and recycling has become a critical issue in the world's environment and continuing failures have led widespread plastic contamination across the world. Ocean litter is commonly found to comprise cigarette butts, food wrappers, bottle tops, plastic bags and straws hence the current moves to ban many of these plastic items.

What are the categories of plastic that are eligible for recycling ? 

1. at the top of the list is is polythylene terephthalate (commonly referred to as PET) comprises roughly more than half of the the recyclable plastics. It is denoted on packaging with the no "1"
2. the second most common form is high-density polyethylene (or HDPE) that is denoted by the no "2" on packaging. HDPE comprises a bit over a third of the recycling market and typically is used for packaging (milk and shampoo bottles) and pipes.
3. next is low density polyethylene which has a "4"on its packaging and is used in clear plastic film. This plastic accounts for around 4% of the recycling market 
4. also with around 4% of the market is polyproplene which is denoted by the number "5". This plastic is used in yoghurt and food spread containers.

The final group of plastic types have little value in manufacturing and thus no recycling. These are polyvinyl chloride (no "3"), polystyrene (no "6"), other mixed plastics (no "7").

The top exporters of plastic waste in 2019 were the European Union, Japan and the United States with the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Mexico and Australia being next. The importers of plastic waste comprise predominantly Malaysia, Hong Kong (interestingly), Turkey, the US, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, India, Thailand and now much less significantly, China.

The UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures has tracked the movement of plastic waste as shown in the diagram below -

Environmentally responsible trade in waste plastics in the Asia Pacific Region - UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures

The leakage of waste plastic has a variety of reasons - the difficulty in disposal of residual, unrecyclable plastic, no environmental control in processing plastics, poor management of stockpiling and transport of waste plastic, poor quality of bales being exported, labelling of shipments which is false or incorrect, trading at low or negative prices. Waste leakage most often occurs at the destination country rather than the country of origin or during transit according to UTS.

So what are the solutions ?

In a nutshell, there are improvements that can be implemented such as -

• for exporting countries, improving their collection and sorting of plastics before despatching offshore
• improving the accountability for shipments for both exporters and importers
• checking destination processing and monitoring at the importing countries
• redesign and re-engineering of packaging design and using fewer low value or composite plastics.

The full report can be accessed here: Environmentally responsible trade waste plastics asia pacific

Corporate reputation - moral blindness and who can you trust ?

 

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Over the past few years multiple corporate scandals, Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries have demonstrated that there is an impact on public perception for companies found to be transgressing ethical standards. Research into community opinion confirms the impact on public perception and provides a warning for various companies as to the precarious nature of their social licence to operate. In equal measure, it is also warning to corporate Boards and their senior executives that there are consequences for engaging in what can be described as 'moral blindness'. Rio Tinto, AMP, the large banks, various technology providers and media organisations being clear examples of companies found wanting.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor for 2021 (based on research carried out during 2020) has provided an insight into the current positive or negative standing of various companies - 

Most trusted brands

1. Woolworths
2. Coles
3. Bunnings
4. Aldi
5. Qantas
6. Apple
7. Kmart
8. ABC
9. Microsoft
10. Myer

Most distrusted brands

1. Facebook
2. Telstra
3. Amazon
4. NewsCorp
5. AMP
6. Rio Tinto
7. Huawei
8. Google
9. BP
10. Westpac

The ranking of trust and distrust was clearly influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, nonetheless this was only one factor influencing the result. Various scandals involving the technology sector (privacy, selling of data to third parties, misleading information publication) have also had an impact.

The Easter Bunny - tradition, myth or the unknown

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Easter, a key set of dates in the Christian calendar, like similar religious commemorations has acquired additional practices, the origins of which are somewhat vague. Easter eggs and hot cross buns are more attuned to the practices of Easter which commence with Palm Sunday, the week before Easter.

The origin of the Easter bunny and its role in being connected to Easter is much more odd with little actual evidence to show how the bunny came to Easter at all.  

The few historical references that the bunny receives, appear in German Lutheran texts around 1572 referring to an Easter Hare which judges children and refers also to eggs. This reference reappears again in 1682 with the text de ovis paschalibus which refers to an Easter Hare bringing eggs to children. In the 18th Century, German migrants to the United States brought the Easter Hare with them with the bunny shaped in sweets.

In 1835 Jacob Grimm, of the renowned Brothers Grimm myth and fairytale writers, was mystified by the Bunny and concluded it may be associated with Ostara (as a sacred animal) and part of the celebration of the resurrection-day of the Christian God but this view was purely conjecture.

The truth is no-one actually knows how the bunny came to Easter but many people have the pleasure of eating a chocolate version nonetheless. Happy Easter !

 

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Earth Hour 2021 - Saturday 27 March - 8.30 PM

Link:  Earth Hour 2021