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Everything posted by old man emu
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Setting an atmoshperic carbon dioxide baseline value
old man emu replied to old man emu's topic in Science and Technology
Ice cores are great for paleo-meterology, but contemporaneous sampling is what is needed for contemporary analysis. Besides, ice cores can't help us monitor CFCs since they did not exist before the middle of tthe 20th Century. -
Everyone goes on about rising CO2 levels in the atmoshere. But rising compared to what? How does science determine a base value for comparison. There must be some way to determine exactly what "fresh air" is. Just south of the isolated north-west tip (Woolnorth Point) of Tasmania, at a place called Cape Grim, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) fund and operates the Cape Grim atmospheric observational facility. The Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station first began measuring the composition of the atmosphere in April 1976 and has been in continuous operation since that date. The air sampled arrives at Cape Grim after long trajectories over the Southern Ocean, under conditions described as ‘baseline’. This baseline air is representative of a large area of the Southern Hemisphere, unaffected by regional pollution sources. Air samples are analysed at the station to determine concentrations of greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases, other air pollutants, including aerosols and reactive gases, and radon. Since sampling began at Cape Grim, more that 3 billion measurements have been taken. Among these are measurements of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and synthetic GHGs such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). The number of atmospheric greenhouse gases measured at Cape Grim now exceeds 50, as well as concentrations of natural and anthropogenic aerosols (particles such as sea salt, mineral dust, carbon particles etc). Some of the air samples collected at Cape Grim have been archived for further analyses as required. This picture shows some of the samples stored in "fresh air archives". Because we have these measurements and samples going back 50 years, we are in the position of being able to say that the atmoshere has changed over that time. Happily, all is not doom and gloom. The growth of some GHGs (for example methane) has slowed recently and some are in decline (CFCs and halons for example). Read more here: https://capegrim.csiro.au/
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A concern that I have does not involve future terrorist activities of the wives, but the attitudes of their children. Those kids have grown up an an certain environment. They have been indoctrinated by the controllers of that environment. Just consider the outlook of German kids who grew up under the NAZI regime. At the end of WWII, when the world hey grew up in came to an end, they lost all that they knew. They had to undergo education to let them learn that what they believed in, one could say their morality was not the truth. I wonder how many of them were mever able to fully change their ideas. The same can be said for all children, no matter what ideological system they grew up in. Isn't the Aussie Spirit we try to instill in our children just another ideological system? I say, let those adults amongst them who were Australian citizens, return. However, let us give the children of those people all the help we can to detoxify from what they have been lead to believe was acceptable.
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Unfortunately, due to the mesh that is global economics, if the USA collapses, then so does the global economy. Don't know about the civic-minded bit, but the rest sure describes China. I really wonder if it is the goal of China to implant its form of communism on the rest of the world. I don't think so. I think China is happy with economic dominance. It has fought economic fire with economic fire.
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No koalas around the proposed site of the windfarm near me. However, it would be good if they got rid of the pigs and foxes. I mentioned in another thread that BEFORE approval was given for construction a two-year study of flight patterns of bats and birs had to be conducted. I can't see the developers killing off bats and birds. I suppose a good anti-windfarm claim could be an application of the butterfly fluttering in the Amazon causes hurricanes in the Carribean.
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Cobalt is an essential trace mineral for ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats) used by rumen microorganisms to synthesize vitamin B12 (cobalamin). It is critical for energy production, glucose synthesis, protein metabolism, and growth. Deficiencies cause severe loss of appetite, anemia, "wasting disease," and poor productivity, with young, rapidly growing animals and sheep being most susceptible. https://csiropedia.csiro.au/cobalt-deficiency-and-the-cure-for-coast-disease/
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I suppose we should talk about the latest "attempt" on Trump. This the resolution of this incident is becoming a twisted tale, and we may end up with a piece of material that has more holes than a string vest. I invite you to watch this video which raises doubts about the inital statements issue by the White House. What has been said, and what has been published from other sources, coupled with the way the White House has been shown to handle the truth loosely, raises the level of our scepticism. If you do watch the video, skip the ad which runs from 3:00 to 4:10.
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What is the accepted design of a passport? The modern passport was universally adopted and standardized in 1920. The passport takes the form of a booklet bearing the name and emblem of the issuing government.
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You've got to be happy to know that we have the best politicians than money can buy.
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Just about every successful business that grew on Australia soil between 1900 and 1975 has been sold out to international conglomerates who immediately gutted them. That has left the populous at the mercy of decisions made far, far away. After WWII, the cry in Britain was "Produce or Perish". We must start producing again. However, as has been said here, and quite correctly, the country does not have the money to build, or rebuild what we had. I spoke elsewhere of the windfarm being developed near my place. Who is building it? A Chinese company. I drove through a wine producing region recently and saw piles of ripped out vines drying in paddocks. The same happened to the citrus inductry along the Murray. Like some Peter's ice cream? Owned by a company whose head office is in a tine Yorkshire village. What about a Four-n-Twenty pie at the footy? Overseas owned. We don't own our own country. We are just renting it from absentee landlord. This might be a more appropriate National Anthem: Poor bugger me, Gurindji Me bin sit down this country Long time before Lord Vestey All about land belongin' to we Oh, poor bugger me Gurindji
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One of our Liberal Senators is calling on the Government to have a serious chat with Trump. I don't think the chat should be too long. Just two words - F... off! The inflation figures come out today. They are up. That means interest rates will go up. Trump might not be dropping explosives on us, but he's certainly hitting us where it hurts. Not only us, but every country in the world, including China and Russia. The UAE is pulling out of OPEC. That can only mean further rises in oil prices since the UAE is avery major producer. Enough is enough! Trump and his cronies must be removed! Let's see the American people do something for the whole world.
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Ah! The problem with trying to represent the spoken word with the written word. One loses the nuances.
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Just watched this video, from a reasonably reliable commentator. In it the presenter indicates that questions are being asked about the level of security at the location. Before anything happened, people were commenting that it wasn't as tight as would normally be expected. A theory being proposed is that the incident was a set up to bolster Trump's popularity rating which at the moment is the lowest of any President since Carter. It is also reported in the video that earlier in the night, the husband of Leavitt advised a well-known reporter to be careful. That could have been out of context with eventual events as any right wing reporter could become a target at some time. Like anything surrounding Trump, the reason for this incident might be real or might be an example of fake news, this time gnerated by the Administration. Oh I wish that Trump would go. I'd really like to get back to important things, like the price of tea in China.
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This time I was being serious.
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But how does a seller deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash into a bank account. Here in NSW deposits of $10,000+ in cash must be documented. I remember having to do so when I was a cop and was depositing seized drug money at my local bank into the holding account that the police had.
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About the "attempted assassination". The fellow who was involved in the incident recently has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, and others. Once again I come to the conclusion that US law is foolish. Just think about it. Trump was well away from the the likely entrances to the room and there were lots of people between those entrances and Trump. The fellow no doubt had the intention to harm Trump, but hardly a viable opportunity, given the layout of the site and the presence of armed security people. In my mind alledging an offence of "attempting" in this case is akin to charging someone with a thought crime. But we are talking about Yanks here, so anything goes. As an aside, I'd like to know what firearm fired the bullet that hit the security guard. The guard survived the hit due to a bullet resistant vest, so I reckon that the firearm was a handgun, not a rifle that the fellow was supposed to have fired. All I can say is that the incident was a missed opportunity. OH! There's a knock at my door. Must be the AFP acting on behalf of the CIA.
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There's gunna be a windfarm in my neighbourhood
old man emu replied to old man emu's topic in Science and Technology
Like all new things, if they create a problem, eventually a solution will be found. I heard that solar panels are hard to do anything with, but how long have we have lots of them? I bet people are working feverously to develop ways to get something useful from the junk. I have faith in the fact that someone eventually finds a way to utilise the smell of a turd. -
There's gunna be a windfarm in my neighbourhood
old man emu replied to old man emu's topic in Science and Technology
Here's a link to the project's website: https://milpullingwindfarm.com/ -
Just to clarify teh matter of the US entry into WWII. The actions of the Japanese Empire were as a result of the USA's trade embargo on oil to Japan. Therefore Japan set a goal of capturing the oil fields of Borneo. Like all good politicians, Japan camouflaged its goal by declaring that its actions were to liberate colonial South-East Asia and establish an economic zone controlled by Asian peoples. The attack on Pearl Harbour and invasion of the Philipines and South-East Asia would have brought about a war between the USA and Japan. However, Hitler buggered things by declaring war on the USA a few days later. If he had pulled his head in, the USA might not have entered the Eurpoean war. Not likely, I suppose, since the USA was arming Britain. But who knows? There would have been two separate wars. If there had been two separate wars, the USA might not have come out of the period as economically powerful as it did and Europe and Japan so weak. That would have made the modern world a different place. One could say that Hitler's declaration of war was the "sliding door moment" in human history.
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The climate change debate continues.
old man emu replied to Phil Perry's topic in Science and Technology
As I said, I drove down to Sydney last week. For most of the way from Mudgee to Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains the dead trunks of thousands of trees destroyed by bushfires in 2019 stand as ghostly reminders of the ferocity of our bushfires. While most of the damage was done to native forest, there are hectares and hectares of pine tree trunks marking to path of the fires. -
The point is that Nev is a Grumpy Old man, and we love him for it.
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There's gunna be a windfarm in my neighbourhood
old man emu posted a topic in Science and Technology
We had our local show this weekend. I got the chance to speak to representatives of the mob which is in the process of gaining approval for an eighty-tower windfarm within 20 kms of my place. Eighty towers seems like a big crowd, but when I was shown to proposed location of each tower, I saw that they were separated from each other by close on a kilometre. My first thought when I heard of the proposal was that teh towers would be visible from the Newell Highway which is located to the east of the proposed area. I learned that the closest tower woulod be about 5 kms from the highway, with a line of low "hills" between them. So that's no longer a concern to me. I think I've whinged before that around here it can be pretty windy, nd said that it would be ideal for a wind farm. Seems I'm right in some ways and mistaken in others. I experience wind as air movement within about 10 metres of the ground surface. That air movement is very turbulent compared to air movement 100 metres above ground where the turbine blades are. That turbulence, caused by the moving air particles colliding withthe ground and trees and ricocheting into air particles higher up. These collisions rob the air particles of energy due to loss of momentum. If the air movement is free of the turbulence, then there is more energy for the collision between the moving air and the turbine blades. That's why the towers are so high. I was also told that studies locally have shown that the most consistent air movement begins at these heights after sunset and stay pretty good until just before dawn. That means the turbines are best able to produce electricity at night in complement to solar panels. That sounds good. What about the effects on farm incomes? The builders don't resume the land they need like the government does when it wants to build roads etc. It seems that the land is rented from the landholders at a rate determined by the generating capacity of the turbine. An example was that of a property with two towers on it. Based on the generating capacity of the intended turbines, renting the land for two towers would return $100,000 p.a. CPI-indexed for a contract period of thirty years. That's got to provide a degree of stabilisation of farm income. I bet any landowner would love to get that sort of money, especially in the present circumstance when it looks like a drought is on the way. Why does it take so long to get a windfarm up an running. Would you beleive that it is in part due to the very people who pursue a renewable world? One of the environmental reports required deals with the effect of the turbines on bats and birds. Getting the data required a study lasting two years. Then there are the Native Heritage studies and gaining clearances from the local indigenous community. Then there are the geo-technical studies, planning permissions yadda yadda. We should consider the economic benefits. It is said that the workforce required to create the windfarm complex is about 500 persons. These people will be newcomers who will have to be fed, housed and entertained for several years. Already the local Council has allocated an area for an accommodation camp. Someone has to build it. An extra 500 people will hopefully boost local trade, although the proximity of the City of Dubbo, about 30 minutes' drive away might not do good for my town. Still, it's money coming into the district. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with this project. Really, it is going to be 'out of sight, out of mind' to teh majority of the population. And kn owing what I know about smart crows and blind bats, I don't envisage too many mid-air collsions with revolving turbine blades. -
The climate change debate continues.
old man emu replied to Phil Perry's topic in Science and Technology
And yet Australia possesses 17% of the World's forest. -
Early days yet for an explanation. But look at teh first second of this video wheer you see the intruder running and security people shooting.
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The climate change debate continues.
old man emu replied to Phil Perry's topic in Science and Technology
I agee. The point I am trying to make is that there is much more oxygen present on Earth than the 21% in free air.
