The United States and Australia - similarities and differences on key issues

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As commentators on the politics of the United States have observed, former president Donald Trump continues to exercise considerable influence on the Republican Party (aka the Grand Old Party or GOP) both in terms of policy and the success of potential candidates for elections. His influence also extends to a large proportion of the US public who supported his MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogan. Research by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney published under the title of 'Public Opinion in the Age of Trump' remains relevant due to the polarisation of politics and opinion in the United States.

Using a survey sample size of 1,800 in the United States and 1,820 in Australia, relevant results found these similarities and differences (% shown are in agreement with the statements) -

  

Similarities	US	Australia
Hard work drives success	58 %	56 %
America/Australia is a friend/ally	97 %	94 %
Climate change is occuring	66 %	75 %
Differences
Minimum wage should be high enough so that no family with a full-time worker falls below official poverty line	57 %	84 %
The unemployed should have a decent standard of living	40 %	61 %
America/Australia is too economically dependent on China	51 %	63 %
Women should have access to abortion as a personal choice	42 %	58 %
Gun controls should be stricter, despite the fact its already much more difficult to obtain a gun in Australian than the US	53 %	66 %

Global warming and the Earth's axis

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Most people would be aware that the Earth's rotational axis is not steady but tends to wobble as the planet is not a perfect unchanging sphere. Due to plate tectonics, erosion, weather masses moving around the surface, large ice masses weighting down sections of land, the poles actually move and this drift averages around 6 centimetres a year. This movement for example drew the North Pole towards Labrador in a Southerly direction.  For compass users, this situation will be familiar due to the adjustment calculation needed for grid to magnetic measurement to compensate for the drift when navigating using maps.

However in 2005 this drift suddenly altered and shifted to an Easterly direction and accelerated corresponding to an increase in the melt occuring in Greenland and Antarctica. Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin found using the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites that around 600 gigatonnes of mass was being lost each year by the large glaciers in Greenland, Antarctica and the mountain glaciers. This mount of water being released from the glaciers into the oceans accounted for 90 % of the polar drift since 2005.  In short the planet's tilt was unexpectedly altered due to the effect of climate change.

Ventilation is a key control for limiting transmission of COVID-19

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Since March 2021 when the World Health Organisation (WHO)  finally accepted that COVID-19 is an airborne transmitted virus, a stronger focus on ventilation has led to a greater emphasis on air quality, circulation and replacement. While the virus is transported across room spaces in small particles, it can build-up in density in poorly ventilated spaces. But what is the best protection against virus laden aerosols ? How frequently should air in a room space be replaced ?

The basic measure for what constitutes good air is the number of replacements made in an hour and the level of carbon dioxide present (that represents the concentration of exhaled air in a room that comes from other people - and commensurately, the risk of COVID-19).

  

New Scientist (August 2021) published some relevant data from various selected environments around London with surprising results as the chosen locations have an wider application than only that large city in the UK. While the key measure for air quality is the amount of CO2  present representing the air breathed out by other people, it is also dependent on there being no other source such as a natural gas cooker or heater. Outdoor air has a concentration of around 410 parts per million (ppm) and below 800 ppm is generally regarded as well ventilated and above 1500 ppm is regarded as critical to exit.

Space, details and highest reading

• Outdoors:  413 ppm

• Private car, two people, windows closed: 1,740 ppm
• Private car, two people, windows open:  413 ppm
• Private car, two people, non recirculating ventilation on: 413 ppm  
• Private car, two people recirculating air con on: 1,589 ppm 

• Bus, lower deck, full doors opening at stops: 724 ppm
• London train tube: platform between trains: 783 ppm
• London train tube full carriage standing room only: 1,076 ppm

• Supermarket, large, empty: 413 ppm
• Supermarket, small, busy: 1,100 ppm

• Restaurant, busy by open door: 739 ppm
• Pub, main bar, full, doors and windows open: 420 ppm

Indoor air quality standards essentially fail to protect from airborne pathogens such as viruses and bacteria leading to a urgent needs for new building and ventilation designs to mitigate airborne risks.  

SARS-CoV-2 two years on

It's now two years since SARS-CoV-2 started its move across the world. From 2020, the Johns Hopkins Tracker has charted the data in terms of cases, mortality, jurisdiction and vaccinations. There has always been a level of under-reporting and poor data capture in many countries, nonetheless the staggering number of infections (over 300 million and still counting) and deaths (over 5 million and continuing) is sobering.

The link to the tracker: Johns Hopkins COVID tracker

The World Health Organisation has warned that the current variant, Omicron should not be considered a 'mild' disease simply due to being less lethal than the Delta variant. It can still be a serious infection as with COVID-19 generally.

Richard Flanagan's book 'Toxic' should be required reading

The Tasmanian salmon industry has long been promoted as ecological, natural, sustainable and providing healthy food consumption for humans. Author, Richard Flanagan comprehensively proves otherwise in his expose on this industry. Published in 2021, the book attracted initial controversy and outrage and highlighted many uncomfortable truths ensnaring well-known companies, Tassal and Huon Aquaculture.  

There have been a few stories, rumours and a small number of comments from scientists that all was not well with the salmon industry in Tasmania. In only 189 pages, Flanagan's book brings all of the evidence and information to bear in an unequivocal condemnation of the aquaculture methods used for salmon farming in the Apple Isle.

To quote from the book " And so we discover that a food product marketed as capable of treating cancer, of miraculously increasing male virility and restoring women's beauty, is in reality a compound of synthetic dye, antibiotics, petrochemical derivatives, the macerated remains of battery hen beaks, skulls, claws. guts and feathers once destined for abattoir waste streams, along with fishmeal made from jeopardised fish stocks stabilised with pesticide also used to stop car tyres cracking that happens to be a carcinogen, and soy meal that has possible links to slave labour and the deforestration of the Amazon and the destruction of the Cerrado and that drives global warming'" [page 72]

It is no small claim to compare the importance of this book to the seminal work by Rachel Carlson 'Silent Spring' which has been a foundation block for environmental science for decades. 

Of note, Australian mining magnate and known environmentalist, Andrew Forrest attempted to take over Huon Aquaculture in 2021 but was beaten by Brazil-based international meat processor giant JBS in November 2021. It remains to be seen whether JBS cleans up Huon's operations in Tasmania or not.

2022 - the COVID-19 period continues

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A new year has commenced and brings the continuing pandemic with it. The new variant of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), Omicron, is considered by health professionals to be two to three times more infectious than its predecessors. This is thought to be due to changes in the spike protein and its immune evasion properties in comparison to previous COVID infections. 

Of note, no longer will the basic surgical mask or the cloth masks provide any protection (if these ever did) but rather it must be the P2/N95 level of mask which must be correctly fitted so that air is drawn through the mask rather than from any gaps around the face. The benefit of using face masks to prevent transmission of the virus has been demonstrated across the world and will need to remain a basic part of the community's attire for the immediate future. 

The year that was 2021 and the year that is coming 2022

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2021 is a year that most people would prefer to simply disappear. To describe the last twelve months as 'challenging' is a misnomer and under-estimation of the level of difficulty with which Australia and the world has had to contend. A listing of some of the key events of 2021 provides a brief insight -

• COVID-19: just as the vaccines (from pharma companies, Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer and Moderna) rolled out in large quantities, the virus mutated not at all surprisingly.  New variants most notably Delta and the almost sci-fi name of  'Omicron' became the new dominant mutations raising the concern that the virus may be able to break-through the vaccines. As global management consultancy, McKinsey & Co commented "COVID-19 continues to pose risks, and managing it as endemic will require a momentous societal shift. Perhaps the hardest part will be coming to terms with the idea that this is no temporary phenomenon; we all must make permanent behavioural changes after the crisis". COVID-19 is here to stay and the pandemic remains an ongoing crisis into 2022. 
• AUKUS: The announcement of a new strategic alliance titled AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and The United States) took many countries by surprise not the least, France, that had a contract to build new diesel submarines for Australia. The new alliance included providing Australia with the capability to build nuclear submarines thus rendering the contract with France null and void. The diplomatic fallout was predictable and public.
• World economy and supply chains: the fact that the world economy did not shrink further is a surprise. The fact that global supply chains have been severely disrupted is not. With the supply of goods and services now segmented, out-sourced and distributed globally, delays and  shutdowns in several countries affected the rest of the world. A single container ship, Ever Given, stuck in the Suez Canal caused losses estimated at USD $9.6 billion per day. The experience of COVID-19 has led to calls in many countries for better self sufficiency in the future, yet the impact of this situation will continue for the next few years.
• Taliban return to power in Afghanistan: the 20 year war in Afghanistan ended with the Taliban once again in power. The Western nations appeared shocked and surprised however closer examination has shown the inevitability of the Government in Kabul falling from power. Non existent relationships with local provincial communities, massive corruption and an army that was not paid for months all led to the demise. The lessons of previous civil wars clearly had not been heeded. 
• New US President: Joe Biden was elected president of the United States defeating Donald Trump leading to hopes that the US would again play a role in international relations that Trump had largely abandoned. Biden certainly reopened dialogue which his predecessor had closed off. 
• COP26 Climate Change - Glasgow: COP26 ended without the major agreement that many people and nations had hoped. Against the backdrop of the latest IPCC report, many important decisions were reached such as for methane emissions and there was understanding that CO2 emissions must be reduced well before 2050. The US and China joint statement made it clear that reductions are needed this decade by 2030 if global warming is to be averted. Yet concrete tangible agreement across the world which leads to meaningful target reductions remained elusive.
• Australia's vaccine rollout: despite having tackled the COVID-19 virus effectively in the first year, Australia's vaccine program faltered and ran too slowly in the second pandemic year allowing the virus to reach a foothold again through the Delta variant. By the end of 2021 Australia had caught up with the rest of the world and had administered over 42 million vaccine doses with many States now reaching over 90% of the eligible adult population (over 16 years of age).

2021 has been a difficult year - may 2022 provide some relief and hope.