Because even the Oscars are political

Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar in order to give us a lecture:

“I just want to say this — making “The Revenant” was about man’s relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history,” he said.

He may feel the heat, but the satellites didn’t “feel” a record, and nor would ice cores, stalagmites, corals, sediments, or any other part of the natural world that has existed for longer than 41 years. Meh.

“Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now,” DiCaprio said. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

Forget malaria. One millimeter sea level rises are coming to get you.

We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world…and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”

It’s the politics of greed sayth the man who flies in private jets, has four houses and is taking a trip on Virgin’s Galactic SpaceShip.

If only DiCaprio would be right about the US election.

“The Titanic” star said the thought upcoming election would show where the U.S. stands as a nation on the issue of climate change.

We know where US citizens stand — they don’t care. So the election will be decided on other issues, except in the Republican camp where being a skeptic is now mandatory.  In the last election Tom Steyer tried to make climate change a winning issue and converted 74 million dollars into almost no political effect. Perhaps Leonardo could try that again?

“I feel there is a ticking clock out there. There’s a sense of urgency that we all must do something proactive about this issue,” he said. “And certainly with this upcoming election, the truth is this:  If you have do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths and you will be on the wrong side of history. And we need to all join together and vote for leaders who care about the future of this civilization and the world as we know it.”

Leonardo should run for President.

9.2 out of 10 based on 102 ratings

196 comments to Because even the Oscars are political

  • #
    Patrick Hrushowy

    He who, during filming near Calgary in Canada, famously proclaimed that he had seen with his own eyes the effects of Climate Change — the weather suddenly turned warm and local snow started melting. In Calgary its called a Chinook, a local weather phenomenum that occurs many times each winter, and has so for centuries.

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  • #

    When I looked at this list of films he had done, I couldn’t see anything since Titanic that I had watched – so basically, as far as I’m concerned his career sunk with Titanic.

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    • #
      AndyG55

      Titanic should have sunk a lot of acting careers !!

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      gnome

      You preferred him when he was prettier?

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      Mark

      Django was pretty good I thought.

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      gigdiary

      Leo was watchable in Titanic, however, in other movies he always strikes me as a boy playing a man’s part. Where are the ‘real men’ actors these days? I find it hard to watch any movies featuring DiCaprio or Matt Damon. Little boys acting in men’s roles.

      As for Leo’s climate speech, it just goes to show how brainwashed and clueless the Hollywood A list is.

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  • #

    Leonardo should run for President.

    For goodness sake, Jo, don’t give him ideas!

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  • #
    F. Ross

    DiCaprio said. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

    I don’t know what he has been eating but I’ve a pretty good idea what he is full of.

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    • #
      Allen Ford

      I’ve a pretty good idea what he is full of.

      Perhaps that’s why he forgot to add the bit abut saving the planet by each of us using only one (1) square of toilet paper per motion!

      180

    • #
      Leonard Lane

      Funny how those who want to save the planet or the world, often have little to do with helping their neighbors.

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    • #
      Rereke Whakaaro

      DiCaprio also said:

      If you have [sic] do not believe in climate change, [and] you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths and you will be on the wrong side of history.

      His version of science is all about belief, and has nothing to to with empirical, verifyable, and repeatable measurements and observations.

      “It is science Jim, but not as we know it”.

      I doubt that he even knows what “empirical” means … Something to do with the “Empire”, perhaps? Sounds like a cool word, anyway …

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    • #
      Mark D.

      “collectively together”…..

      Poor grammar or some reference to taxes?

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  • #
    Kars

    Why does he promote this ‘man made climate change’ idea at all?

    Or is he being paid to act this speech out on stage as well?

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    • #
      JohnR

      The poor bloke’s haunted by a picture his father hung above his bed.

      By 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, depicting Eden turning to Hell – which DiCaprio revealed his father hung in his room when he was born.

      “It was hanging above my crib as a young boy, and as a child I didn’t quite understand what it all meant,” DiCaprio told Pope Francis. “But through my child’s eyes it represented a planet, the utopia we had been given, the overpopulation, excesses, and the third panel we see a blackened sky that represents so much to me of what’s going on in the environment. And it’s representational of your view, too.”

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      • #
        RB

        Paradise and Hell or Haywain Triptych?

        I think both are referring to regular sins like rooting around. Strange that the Pope will listen to someone who promotes shagging only models. Lots of them according to the picture of him on his big yacht.

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      • #
        Kars

        Thanks for the replies, very insightful.

        Funny fact, Jeroen (Hieronymus) Bosch lived about 15Km from where I now live. I like his unique art style.
        However I don’t believe seeing a painting can bring about a strong believe. Clearly he’s been visiting too many elitist friends, and or may have seen only bad examples of the common people. He doesn’t appear to have children. And from his appearance I believe to see a deep unrest, ambition, and deep fanaticism.
        Not fit to rule, but a good spellbinder, to collect and mislead a group.

        20

    • #
      Rick Bradford

      Leo is just trying to borrow a bit of victimhood, and assuage that middle-class guilt.

      Forget all those houses and private jets, he’s a victim, too, along with Gaia herself and all the indigenous people of the earth also threatened by “climate change”. It’s an expression of solidarity, man, from a champagne socialist par excellence.

      I don’t see why he shouldn’t run for President — he’s got the narcissism for the job.

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    • #
      Ted O'Brien.

      Why does he promote this? Like so many others, because he expects to make money out of it.

      What we have to worry about is that an awful lot of people were watching, and some will believe him.

      80

  • #
    Password Protected

    Being Canadian, I prefer my climate advice from Justin Beiber.

    400

    • #
      Yonniestone

      In that case DiCaprio should go and love himself…..

      200

    • #
      Robk

      DiCaprio making a foolish attempt to look like a man of substance and that’s all he’s got to say. Just looking like a kid really.

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    • #
      gnome

      That’s why you Canadians elected Justin le Bieber as your Prime minister.

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      • #
        Bill

        Ouch. We may have been stuck with PETs brat, but there is a lot of doubt about HOW he managed to be elected…..definitely there were some shenanigans going on.

        00

  • #

    It sounded more like a pre-emptive strike for Climate Prat of 2016.

    Pointman

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    • #
      harry buttle

      Huh. Somebody watched the Oscars.

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      • #
        OriginalSteve

        I never get american humour at the oscars…or is that the nonsense the host goes on about each oscars some sort of tinsel town “in joke” that only the actors get?

        Would anyone care to explain it please?

        60

      • #
        Yonniestone

        DiCaprio should’ve let a climate refugee accept the award on his behalf….they’d still be waiting though. 🙂

        110

    • #
      clive

      Man,there are sooo many candidates out there,I don’t envy you,but someone has to do it.

      00

  • #
    Peter Miller

    Actors do not make good climate scientists and probably never will, while actors can very occasionally make a good politician, Ronald Reagan being a classic case in point.

    Climate scientists can however make good actors, as James Hansen has repeatedly demonstrated.

    Should we listen to the opinions of an academically challenged, mental lightweight like DiCaprio? If you are a card carrying ecoloon, or Greenpeace fanatic, the answer is clearly “Yes”, for anyone else the opposite answer is equally obvious.

    Jo, it might be nice to spell DiCaprio’s name correctly.


    Peter. Good idea. Thanks. Done. – Jo

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Don’t forget that Reagan also had an Economics Degree, which he studied as useful in his career as Union Organiser – the union being film actors whose only point of agreement was that they deserved more money. Herding cats comes to mind.

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      jorgekafkazar

      I think Hansen genuinely believes what he says. If you had a Messiah Complex, you could believe there are fairies at the bottom of your garden, or practically anything.

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  • #
    Alexander

    23…?

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  • #
    KTWO

    Instead of “We know where US citizens stand — they don’t care.” I would say “We know where US citizens stand — they don’t believe”.

    i.e. An “Offical Story” will benefit officials. Media’s stories benefit media. A scientists story benefits the scientist.

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    • #

      ” We need to support the leaders around the world…
      who speak foe all humanity”

      Say LDiC, you can fool some of the people some of the time
      but not all of the people together, ‘two legs’ to ‘fourlegs,’
      ‘anthro global warming’ to ‘climate change.’

      100

  • #
    Yonniestone

    It’s very difficult sometimes to assess where a persons state of mind is at, if at all, remember DiCaprio like every actor ever born has a naturally higher level of narcissism than the average person, just how much higher can determine their grasp on certain realities of life including their own abilities outside of their craft.

    Regarding DiCaprio, nature, and our scientific understanding of it I’d say his level is bordering on extreme.

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    • #
      ianl8888

      Yes …

      I once asked an American colleague why he thought so many Hollywod inhabitants were so overtly bat-crazy

      Basically, he replied that when you have that sort of money, you can do anything you want (Michael Jackson’s skin tone becoming lighter by the hour had triggered that conversation)

      So, combine an extraordinarily high level of vanity/narcissism with unlimited money, you get a DiCaprio, overlaid with an impenetrable block of noble cause corruption

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  • #
    Manfred

    Isn’t it abundantly clear that whether you’re a posturing Hollywood film actor or a billionaire climate activist who by the way insanely wasted more than US$70M to promote the nonsense of ‘green energy’ and who instead could have chosen to do so much good where it was desperately needed, neither of these posturing manikins swayed the mass of public opinion even by the slightest jot. Common sense simply has too much inertia.

    Dense smoke and scintillating mirrors do not distract the vast majority who can tell each other far more about the weather by eruditely putting their finger to the wind.

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    • #
      Mike

      Dense smoke and scintillating mirror balls do not distract the vast majority with interferometers…..

      Wikipedia-……….“A point diffraction interferometer[1][2][3] is a type of common path interferometer. Unlike an amplitude splitting interferometer, such as a Michelson, which separates out an unaberrated beam and interferes this with the test beam, a common path interferometer generates its own reference beam.”

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      • #
        Manfred

        …a common path interferometer generates its own reference beam.”

        Perfect narcissism, perfectly?

        40

  • #
    Harry Passfield

    DiCaprio’s opinions are truly irrevenant.

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    • #
      Leonard Lane

      No they are not. He shares and shapes opinions of other boneheads like Obama, Kerry, and most of the radical leftists in the US and much of the rest of the world. The Obama White House has been wide open to Hollywood since day one.

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  • #
    Kim

    ah. yes, Ushuaia, the only place in the world where there is snow.

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  • #
    handjive

    Did you mention sea level rise?

    ABC, 11 February 2000: Greenhouse sea levels exaggerated

    “There is a popular belief that warming of 2-3 degrees will cause sea levels to rise by 120 metres, as happened in the last ice age.

    But scientists from the Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre are predicting instead that oceans around the world will only rise about 90 centimetres a century.

    However, they predicted that Antarctica was unlikely to melt with an increase of 2-3 degrees, because temperatures in most of Antarctica are well below the melting point of ice.”

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      handjive:

      They claim that the ice cores from Greenland show 800,000 years of climate variations. In the last 450 thousand years there have been periods of ten thousand years with temperature 3-4℃ higher than at present, as well as approx. five thousand years in this interglacial with temperatures 2 ℃ above current, so it is a fair bet that the ice won’t melt by the end of this century.
      I am waiting for Climate “science” to discover that ice is an insulator.

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    • #
      OriginalSteve

      When was krudd *ever* relevent?

      “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.
      And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
      ( Matt 15:14 )

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    • #
      AndyG55

      Getting praise from that “neverwas” Rudd twerp, must be akin to the literal kiss of death !!

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    • #
      Get Real

      That’s why KRudd wasn’t reelected Prime Minister.He administered his own kiss of death.

      40

  • #
    Ross

    Will one of the warmist brigade come on here and say we should not listen to DiCaprio because he is not a climate scientist ?
    No way, it is different rules for their side of the debate.

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  • #
    Doubtingdave

    It doesn’t matter what Leonardo said , because it’s super Tuesday tomorrow , there will be a lot of Globalist owned politicians , bureaucrats and scientists having sleepless nights tonight, but if Trump does as well as expected , and I know he’s Marmite ( Vegemite ) but he represents the best chance sceptic’s have of investigating government controlled bodies such as the EPA and NASA\NOAA , tomorrow could be a momentous day in our struggle and I can’t wait .

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    • #
      Michael Collard

      By “Marmite”, I assume you mean “You either love it, or you hate it.”
      Never seen it used that way. Not a popular item here in Texas.
      By the way, I love it, but I’m not so sure about Trump.

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      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Trump is a liberal…..he is going to keep Communist Common Core….be scared….

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      • #
        doubtingdave

        Michael , did’nt know you even had Marmite in the states , i assumed it was just a commonwealth thing , infact i could understand your revolution much better if the people of Boston started it by throwing Marmite overboard , rather than a nice cup of tea .

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        • #
          Oswald Thake

          My Red Thumb, DD! Throw Marmite in the sea? The very idea!
          Btw, back on topic, can an Australian help me with this? Would it be correct ‘Strine’ to describe Mr. DiCaprio as a ‘galah?’ Or a ‘drongo?’ Or both?

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          • #
            Greebo

            Drongo, definitely. Galahs are simply silly. Aussies have other words to describe a bloke like Leo, but the mods won’t let me post them.

            00

      • #
        Get Real

        Both spread rather thinly should be OK

        30

    • #
      Bulldust

      True to form the leftist media has worked itself into a lather of Trump-hate:

      The SMH – Pascoe goes feral
      http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/donald-trump-as-us-president-no-longer-a-black-swan-event-20160229-gn70oy.html

      The ABC – John Barron has misread Trump every step of the way and goes into a frenzy
      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-01/barron-playing-with-fire-has-donald-trump-gone-too-far/7211052

      Combine that with another story which highlights the influence of internet media and search engines:
      http://www.mauldineconomics.com/outsidethebox/the-new-mind-control

      You can see why the desperate leftists are all aflutter.

      Trump doesn’t impress me much as a potential candidate either. In all honesty, in a Trump vs Clinton election the latter seems more likely to win IMO. It is the sheer desperation of irrelevant leftist media in Australia to tar & feather Trump which is so amusing.

      The truly stupid thing (from a leftist point of view) is that he is probably the most progressive of the GOP candidates, so, if anything, should be the left’s preferred option. Or is it that they think he is the most likely to beat Clinton? The latter argument may carry some weight.

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  • #
    tom watson

    Leonardo DiCaprio was declared the best actor of 2015. That means he the the very very very best and making make believe or fantasy or fiction appear to be reality. I believe I am relieved that this master of fiction is parroting what anthropogenic global warming alarmists say is reality.

    Anthropogenic glowbal warming is it real or Dicapriex.

    Dicaprio or Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Dr. Ivar Giaever, who will I believe? LOL…..

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  • #
    Keith L

    ” for the indigenous people of the world…”
    I was born in this world so I guess that makes me indigenous. Not like all those Johnny-come-latelies who arrive in rocket ships from Mars.

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    • #
      James Murphy

      How did you know I was from another planet, sent here to spread my evil doctrine of ‘the scientific method’??

      80

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    Minderbinder

    Just love the way that these individuals who spend their life pretending to be someone else, by reading lines written by another person, under the direction of some other person, are given credit for any original thought above those of any other peon. These artists never let verifiable facts stand in the way of their promotion of emotional feelings in the attempt to influence public opinion. It really is pathetic.

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  • #
    PeterK

    I know I’m generalizing here, but my take is that ‘artists’ in general, be they actors / actresses, painters, poets, musicians and so on; it seems to me that most of these people have a genetic pre-disposition to climb on board any and all types of save something or other.

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      gigdiary

      Peter, your generalisation is very close to the mark. I currently have one colleague who sees through the climate scam and holds conservative views about immigration and other issues. The rest, as you say, seem genetically pre-disposed towards what I’d call the Age of Aquarius viewpoint. Even the most brilliantly talented invariably believe the Green ‘save the planet’ rubbish.

      Other than the colleague mentioned above, I cannot remember ever talking with a musician who admitted voting for John Howard or Tony Abbott.

      I’m not talking about bong-smoking musos on the dole or hippies, these people are orchestral players, session musicians and composers.

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  • #
    Robdel

    Just another acting role, Leonardo.

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  • #
    handjive

    twitchy:

    This MTV star flogs climate change hypocrite Leonardo DiCaprio with ONE photo; It should win award!

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  • #
    Bowman

    Watch “Django Unchained”. He plays himself very well. He is totally obnoxious and gets shot because it is the only way to shut his mouth. Best scene in the Film.

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    RB

    Just had an Adam Cooney moment. I knew Di Caprio would win it when he gave the Pope a book on climate change but I forgot to place a bet.

    If you have do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths and you will be on the wrong side of history.

    Coached, is a hypocrite, part of cheap stunt and hides his African/American ancestry (OK, made that part up). A sure bet even if he didn’t act in Spotlight.

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    • #
      Allen Ford

      That’s a small boat? THIS is a small boat!

      40

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      It’s the politics of greed sayth the man who flies in private jets, has four houses and is taking a trip on Virgin’s Galactic SpaceShip.

      Ah yes, that would be the spaceship with engines that run on nice thoughts and pixie dust.
      And by “nice thoughts and pixie dust” I mean nylon from fossil fuels.

      Hey here’s a gag.

      If DiCaprio makes a documentary about his trip into space, he can call it “DiC-ception: putting Leo in L.E.O.”

      60

  • #
    PeterS

    It’s a sick world when the media take notice of what an actor says about climate change when his or her job experience is in fiction yet people with real world experiences are repeatedly ignored if not ridiculed.

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  • #
    TdeF

    Another product of the wildly successful capitalist manufacturing country known as the USA decries the very basis of the economy which has made him rich and successful and famous beyond his wildest dreams. You would think he would have some perspective on the perils of cold weather and the value of a very slight warming after making a film like the Revenant.

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    • #
      TdeF

      The Chinooks. Three days in Colorado as the wind blew at a constant 40mph, howling through every window frame as the giant tumbleweeds, sharp seed balls adapted to this phenomenon flew past spreading their seed, ripping the duco off cars as the cars appeared mysteriously from a winter buried in deep snow drifts in car parks. Frightening. Amazing. Not gusts, steady howling wind so strong you could lean into it and not fall.In three days winter had turned to spring and the snows were gone. This is not climate change. This is the climate on the East of the Rockies as the temperature in this flat arid landscape at 6000 feet goes from -40C to +40C on a giant sine curve as spring and autumn race through. What does +0.8C mean in this context? Nothing. People in the tropics or temperate zones would never experience such a change. For Climate Scientist DiCaprio, the sudden change was clearly a surprise too. He needs to get out more.

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  • #
    pattoh

    ” He may feel the heat ”

    He probably does. He is getting middle aged spread = more surface for ILR + more high specific heat cellulite to retain it & spending too much time in AC Lear Jets /sarc.

    ( & I’ll bet Kevin747 said “that’s my boy!”)

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  • #
    handjive

    BBC: Around 20,000 years ago, at the coldest time of the last ice age, the sea level was about 120 metres below its present level.

    But as temperatures rose, huge masses of ice started to melt and pour waters into the world’s oceans.

    During the next 13,000 years, sea levels gradually rose to reach their current levels.

    (T)hey searched through documented Aboriginal Australian stories for tales describing times when sea levels were lower than today, or rising.

    They found 21 such stories from different locations around the Australian coast describing landscapes that had become submerged, never to re-emerge.

    “People must have been aware that every year the sea was on the rise,” Reid says.
    “And they must have had stories from their fathers and grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, that the sea used to be out even further.”

    Some of these stories are pragmatic descriptions of a time when sea levels were lower, such as memories of the loss of kangaroo hunting grounds around Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne.

    By connecting each story with the specific geological event it describes, the researchers believe they could date some of the narratives as between 7,000 and 10,000 years old.

    “If you are talking about 10,000 years you are really talking about 300 to 400 generations,” Reid says.

    “The idea that you can transmit anything over 400 generations is extraordinary.”

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    • #

      Not only that if you look at rates over the period. The last 100-200 years could be seen as the last couple of drops being squeezed out of an orange after the flood of juice came during the first squeeze. It seems apparent to me (just my opinion) that if you look at temperature and sea levels over the periods you are referencing, we are at the very end of a period of warming and sea level rises, maybe even in the last few decades or even years of it. One thing though is certain, if anyone thinks 1-2c of warming is a problem, it will be as nothing in comparison to the global devastation the descent into a new ice age would bring.

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      • #
        John F. Hultquist

        … a period of warming and sea level rises, …

        With the mass of ice and lowered sea level there is less atmospheric water vapor and increased albedo (reflection). Slight warming increases the water vapor and “rain-on-snow” events produce rapid melting. If you search for the phrase …

        rain-on-snow events

        … you will find this phenomenon has been studied much because it is associated with rapid run-off, mass-wasting and (now) rapid loss of potential irrigation water in mountain snow.
        Land ice-sheets accumulate slowly but waste away rapidly – when the warm rain comes. It follows that sea level drops slowly and comes back more rapidly. Once all the easy to melt ice is gone then the sea level rise slows. That chart has appeared many times. Here’s one:
        https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Post-Glacial_Sea_Level.png

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      RB

      Port Phillip Bay might have dried out as recently as 1000 years ago, then flooded suddenly. Such stories need not be the result of the end of the glacial period but there would be many more instances in that period of waters not just creeping up but of a flood.

      The Murray once ended in a large lake up stream of Mannum in SA. Its thought that the current rainfall is no enough to have kept it full and there is also evidence that the 1956 flood was only about a quarter of what happened just before European’s arrived. Makes you wonder what a once in a millennium flood is like.

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        ianl8888

        Sydney Harbour is a drowned river system – the Parramatta River, actually

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          el gordo

          At the LGM (around 18,000 years ago) Bondi beach was 20 kilometers further east and then the water began to rise and swallowed up the middens.

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        Australia’s indigenous people walked here to Australia from Africa, umm, like we all came out of Africa.

        They arrived and had a few Millenia to look around, and found it wasn’t much chop at all.

        Enter the end of the Ice Age when the sea levels rose 65,000 Metres ….. or something like that anyway.

        So, after wandering around this desolate Island Continent for sixteen thousand million years ….. or something like that anyway, a couple of old guys were sitting around their little fire, poking their three little sticks in every now and then, when one says to the other.

        “Say! Remember those stories handed down to us through the generations about how our ancestors walked here from that other place. This place is not much chop. Let’s just walk back there where they came from. From what I remember, they made it out to be such a wonderful place. Better than this d@amned desert anyway.”

        So, off they go. They reach the North of Oz, and find that the land bridge is now under water. One looks at the other and says.

        “Judas Priest! What the hell do we do now. Looks like we’re stuck here.”

        “Oh! I dunno. Let’s fool the b@st@rds. See Skippy over there. He’s the last of those big fellas left. Let’s kill him, and bury him. Some guy will come along in another sixty billion moons and dig him up, and it’ll start a whole new career for him. Then he’ll see all this water, wonder how it flooded here once, and find an excuse to tell his friends it could all happen again. What do you say?”

        “Maybe they’ll make a make a movie out of it. I see my part being played by that fella with a name like a fish, can’t think of it now, what is that fella’s name.”

        “Leonardo de Carpio!”

        “Yeah, that’s it.”

        Tony.

        POST SCRIPT – Oh, and before the PC brigade comes in and tut tut tut’s me, I, umm, made it all up!

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          doubtingdave

          Tony , watched a speech from Trump that i think was held at a West Virginian college last night , in which he vowed { inbetween heckling from the local radicalised studants union } that he would support the coal mining industry , and build ” clean ” coal power plants , and is opposed to sending cheap ” dirty” coal to China that ” they ” won’t clean 🙂 He also vowed to revoke EPA anti coal regulations .

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            It just shows how little he really knows, and it’s not just Trump, but is actually everybody when it comes to that phrase ….. Clean Coal.

            Because of the way the term is phrased, everyone just naturally thinks that you just, umm ….. clean up the coal, you know, like washing it or something, to reduce it to the way the average person believes it.

            It’s not the coal per se, but the process itself which is cleaner, in other words, the coal is burned more efficiently, leading to less CO2 emissions. Everything about the process has improved, the crushing of the coal, the injection of the coal, the injection of the air, the burn rate, the better furnace, the better the water boiling process, hence a smaller driving turbine, and now, larger generators, as opposed to 70’s tech generators, and 70’s tech process.

            These new Chinese developed HELE (USC) coal fired plants have in fact improved that process so dramatically that coal fired power is now a quantum level ….. cleaner than it was in the 70’s, when the vast bulk of those U.S. plants were constructed. In other words, they have improved the process, almost out of sight.

            The actual truth is that those older U.S. plants are considerably dirtier (more coal burned, hence greater CO2 emissions) than the Chinese ones. The Chinese, because they have now got it down pat are closing all of those older tech smaller plants, (10MW up to 250MW) and replacing them with the new plants.

            So as an example:

            HELE (USC) plants – will burn 282 grams of coal for every KWH of power generated.

            The whole Chinese coal fired power fleet – now burns 317 grams of coal for every KWH of power generated.

            The whole U.S. coal fired power fleet – now burns 496 grams of coal for every KWH of power generated.

            So, as you can see the Chinese total has now come down considerably and is approaching the HELE (USC) total while the U.S. total is considerably higher than the Chinese total.

            In effect the Chinese coal fired plants are cleaner than the American ones, and because of that, they burn less coal for every KWH being generated, and those Chinese plants emit much less CO2 than the U.S. plants.

            Australia’s coal fired plants are similar to those U.S. ones.

            It’s not the coal that is cleaner. It’s the process leading to less CO2 emissions.

            Tony.

            HELE – High Efficiency Low Emissions
            USC – UltraSuperCritical
            KWH – KiloWattHour

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            • #
              doubtingdave

              Yes Tony thats what made me smile when he made the comment , infact he said the Chinese buy in dirty coal and don’t wash it ( or words to that effect )

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      • #
        Peter C

        RB,
        from your Port Phillip Bay story:

        Scientists warn the discovery means the area’s recent decade-long drought, which saw a 25 per cent reduction in rainfall, combined with any future silting up of the bay’s entrance ‘The Rip’ could tip the bay into another dry period within 50 years.

        It is a bit hard to fathom how scientists could think that and warn of sea level rise at the same time.

        I can’t imagine the Rip silting up when it has 6-7 knot tides running in and out twice a day through the narrow entrance.

        110

        • #
          RB

          One would think that the silt comes from rivers and the tidal flows keep the head open. It must have silted up because sea levels dropped enough to slow the flow.

          But we’re not worthy to question the experts.

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          • #
            Peter C

            Are you familiar with the geography of Port Phillip Bay? It is a large and fairly shallow bay about 40 ft deep. There is a narrow entrance at the Heads, between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale about 2 km across.

            There is a huge tidal flow through the heads known as “The Rip”
            The entrance is scoured down to bedrock by the tidal flows. It is said to be one of the most dangerous entrances in the world and there is a special pilot service to guide ship through it.
            It is not likely to silt up unless the whole Port Phillip Bay silts up first.

            60

            • #
              RB

              Yes! The rivers don’t provide enough flow to keep the entrance from silting up. They will not silt up because of drought but did 1000 years ago.

              Why?

              PS. Most of the evidence came from dredging because the tidal flow doesn’t scour it down to the bedrock.

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      • #
        el gordo

        RB it would have been catastrophic for the locals.

        “Radiocarbon dating of samples collected from existing gums revealed that the trees were of a modern age, with establishment in the last 250 years. This gives us an indication of the possible timing of the pre-historic flood of around the year 1750.

        “The researchers also undertook a survey to obtain the heights of individual trees at their bases. This showed that the palaeoflood reached a maximum height on the River Murray at Overland Corner of 18.01 metres, making it greater than the largest flood on record, rising 2.11 metres above the 1956 flood height.”

        Sulley and Snowball 2002

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        • #
          RB

          Depends on what you mean by the locals.

          I think that reference has an estimate of it requiring 4 times the water to be 2m higher, hence the 4 times bigger claim.

          There has been flood mitigation work since the 56 flood and after 74 but the recent floods didn’t come close to the Stobie pole at the Swan Reach ferry with the 56 flood marker at about 3m up. It kind of give you an idea of how much flooding over the whole basin there must have been.

          60

          • #
            el gordo

            Before the arrival of Europeans the rivers were clogged with fallen trees and the flood plains were enormous, so do you think the 1750 flood would have been equivalent to the 1956 flood?

            30

            • #
              RB

              I was wondering if the recent floods were close to earlier floods of 1886, 1917, 32, 74 that were marked on the pole. It didn’t come close to 1956 so I doubt it was anywhere near 1750.

              I wasn’t disagreeing with you but wondering what happened in the Eastern quarter of Aus. not just on the Murray’s flood plains. I was diverted from going north from Melbourne after the rains and was probably the last car to leave Kerang before it was cut off for a few days. I then had to take the long way around Hattah lakes. The destruction to the area in between was over a very large area.

              30

    • #
      RB

      I should have read the link, Handjive, before posting. They do mention some more recent floodings are basis for the stories.

      40

  • #
    King Geo

    Leonardo Di Caprio

    Acting skills – 5 stars; climate science skills – 1 star (at best).

    Future US President skills – not even close to Reagan but on a par with Obama.

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    • #
      AndyG55

      “Acting skills – 5 stars; climate science skills – 1 star (at best).”

      You are being WAY over-generous on both counts.

      100

      • #
        tom0mason

        King Geo,

        5 out of 100 is pushing it a bit.
        I would give him 2 maybe 3 at best.

        50

      • #
        King Geo

        Come on Leonardo won the Oscar – give him credit for his acting.

        As for his climate science skills – yes 1 star was rather generous.

        30

  • #
    pat

    uh oh, China hasn’t been a climate champion after all!

    29 Feb: ReutersCarbonPulse: Stian Reklev: Analysts revise down China 2015 CO2 reduction on fresh data
    Analysts have revised their estimates for CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption in 2015 to a 1-2% annual reduction, down from their previous 3% forecast, after China’s National Bureau of Statistics released final energy data for last year.
    The data, published on Monday, showed that China consumed 4.3 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent of energy in 2015, an increase of 0.9% year-on-year.
    But the consumption rise was fuelled by renewable sources, as actual coal use dropped 3.7%, the data showed. Crude oil consumption grew by 5.6% while natural gas consumption increased by 3.3%.
    These factors combined likely led to a drop in CO2 emissions of 1-2% in 2015 – the second consecutive year of falling output – energy analysts at Greenpeace said. In January they estimated the annual CO2 drop at 3% based on then-available data…
    Coal consumption still accounted for 64% of total China’s energy consumption in 2015, the data showed…
    Professor Boqiang Lin of China’s Xiamen University Institute for Studies in Energy Policy: “There will be huge uncertainty in China’s future energy consumption mix and carbon emission outlook. China’s demand for coal is likely to recover once the economy turns for the better and energy demand rebounds.
    ***Even if total energy consumption growth rate is zero, to replace 1% coal consumption requires 10% growth in clean energy. This is not an easy task and we should not overestimate the trend.”
    http://carbon-pulse.com/16260/

    29 Feb: ReutersCarbonPulse: Carbon traders Virtuse sees two staff depart China office -sources
    Two staff have left the China-based office of EU-headquartered carbon trading house Virtuse, leaving a sole trader to handle business from the Shenzhen and Guangdong ETS, according to sources.
    The sources declined to name the pair but said they resigned recently…
    There is no suggestion that their exit is linked to the departure of the firm’s managing director Jan Fousek.
    Fousek left the firm last week after selling his 49% stake in the firm to Virtuse CEO Rastislav Vasilisin, who now owns 100% of the company…
    Both markets struggle with low liquidity, and in the Shenzhen market in particular the vast majority of ETS participants are small and rarely engage in trades for more than a few thousand allowances.
    http://carbon-pulse.com/16287/

    50

  • #
    pat

    unfortunately, CAGW still gobbling up the $$$. China/Beijing figure will probably be revised!

    29 Feb: FACTBOX-Which mega-cities offer best protection from climate change?
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation by Chris Arsenault
    TORONTO, Feb 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The world’s wealthy cities received a large part of the $323 billion governments spent on measures to adapt to climate change last year, but vulnerable cities in the developing world are falling behind, said a study published on Monday…
    New York, for example, spends about $269 per capita on climate change adaptation, while Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city which is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, spends just $8 per person annually.
    Developed-world cities, on average, spend about 0.22 percent of their GDP on climate change adaptation, while cities in developing countries spend about 0.15 percent.
    China’s capital, Beijing, is an exception in the developing world, allocating 0.33 percent of its total wealth to climate adaptation, said the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change…
    http://news.trust.org/item/20160229192648-vo4rb/?source=hpOtherNews1

    29 Feb: NatureClimateChange: Adaptation responses to climate change differ between global megacities
    Lucien Georgeson, Mark Maslin, Martyn Poessinouw & Steve Howard
    Affiliations
    Department of Geography, University College London, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK Lucien Georgeson, Mark Maslin & Martyn Poessinouw
    kMatrix Ltd, Greetham House, Greetham, Rutland LE15 7NF, UK Martyn Poessinouw & Steve Howard
    http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2944.html

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  • #
    el gordo

    “If you have do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths and you will be on the wrong side of history.”

    Actually I’m confident of being on the right side of history with global cooling set to kick in this year… sorry to interrupt.

    “And we need to all join together and vote for leaders who care about the future of this civilization and the world as we know it.”

    In a democracy that’s a big ask, 97 percent are career politicians who will bend with the breeze.

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  • #
    Geoffrey Williams

    Great work Jo;
    It is clear that Leonardo DiCaprio has his own agenda (and vested interests?) when it comes to climate change.
    The absolute conceit and hypocrisy of these Hollywood actors and their entourage is just unbelievable.
    I for one will not be donating to the “The Revenant” in order maintain his (DiCaprio’s) CO2 guzzling lifestyle.
    Regards Geoff W Sydney

    150

    • #
      OriginalSteve

      Hes like Turnbull… a champers socialist with stacks and stacks of dosh….

      To quote Alfred E Newman from Mad mag : “What. Me worry?”

      50

    • #
      Maverick

      The hypocrisy is mind boggling. Mind boggling because there appears to be no personal realisation that their careers are made possible from energy powered equipment made from gold, silver, copper and polymers and their lifestyle consumption, jets, cars, houses etc, is only possible because of energy powered equipment made from gold, silver, copper and polymers.

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  • #
    Alan Watt

    I think it’s great Hollywood actors want to do something about climate change. Someone should send Leo a list of solar energy companies that just need a few hundred million dollars to change the world. Sadly, the fabulous Solyndra opportunity is closed to new investors.

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    • #
      PeterS

      Good point. If he is so serious about doing something about climate change then he has to donate virtually all of his money to research and enterprises that might be able to do something about it. Otherwise, he’s just a total hypocrite. The same applies to anyone else with great wealth and has the same beliefs about climate change.

      100

      • #
        Geoffrey Williams

        Too right folks – if an asteroid were about to impact then they’d all be out there digging shelters!
        Geoff W Sydney

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  • #
    mem

    The American public isn’t that impressed with global warming hyperventilation and is deserting the mainstream media in droves according to a report in the UK Express.
    My guess is that the public in Australia is reacting similarly and that media that continue to bang on about settled science will be shooting themselves in the foot. No doubt Di Caprio will be rewarded by someone for his speech or perhaps he already has been, but regardless, I doubt that his mouthing of warmist lines will win him any long term respect.link

    50

  • #
    Peter C

    Lamar Smith seems to be widening his investigation into NOAA and the climate pause paper (Karl et al). It seems that he is far from satisfied by the response of NOAA to his previous questions.

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/02/29/uh-oh-u-s-lawmakers-expand-probe-of-hiatus-denying-noaa-study/

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  • #
    Analitik

    Cut him some slack people – the actors are only trying to help

    A little while ago but

    Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo have teamed up in a bid to widen access to clean energy.

    The movie stars launched “100%,” a campaign aimed at making energy from renewable sources available to everyone — and making it affordable.

    Leo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo join forces for the environment
    INSIDE LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S CRUSADE TO SAVE THE WORLD
    The Solutions Project

    /SARC

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  • #
    David Legge

    Has anyone notified Leo that sea ice is increasing at both poles? These chicken littles love to go around telling us
    how the world will end when the poles melt, but when science tells us no, they actually try to tell us that too, is also a sign of global
    warming. These people amaze me. Check this from James Delingpole…http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/617144/Antarctica-not-shrinking-growing-ice-caps-melting

    51

  • #
    pat

    26 Feb: UK Telegraph: Emily Gosden: UK energy supply forecasts ‘into the red’ for first time next winter
    Britain will be forced to rely on imports and costly emergency measures to prevent blackouts, official data suggests
    Figures from National Grid show that on current plans there will not be enough power plants operating in the UK market to keep the lights on for most of December, January and February…
    A separate, “last resort” reserve of back-up power plants is highly likely to be called upon to bolster supplies through much of the winter, adding tens of millions of pounds to consumer energy bills, experts have warned…
    However, they also assume only average weather conditions, while a cold spell could further increase demand.
    ***The forecasts also assume that UK wind farms will be generating more than 3GW of power, despite the fact they could produce almost nothing on a still day…
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/12175367/UK-energy-supply-forecasts-into-the-red-for-first-time-next-winter.html

    unconscionable:

    29 Feb: Guardian: Terry Macalister: Top lobbying group in historic green energy U-turn
    Lawrence Slade, the chief executive of Energy UK, which represents the big six providers and has been regarded as a defender of fossil fuels, said the shift was urgent in order not to be left behind…
    Energy UK now officially supports the government’s phasing out of coal-fired power stations and is critical of ministers over the way they have cut subsidies to wind and solar power so deeply and suddenly…
    Slade said: “It would be quite a sensible thing to have an Energiewende [Germany’s plan to move to a majority of renewable energy sources] but the emphasis would have to be on our own version not a direct cut and paste.” The German energy transition programme has attracted support but also some criticism.
    Slade, who formally took over the top job last summer, was talking following the publication of Energy UK’s Pathways to 2030 policy document prepared with the help of professional service company, KPMG…
    ***Energy UK wants to see more demand reduction, plus regulatory changes, to help support electricity storage projects that help balance out the peaks and troughs caused by wind and solar power…
    Richard Black, the director of the non-profit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, also viewed Energy UK’s new stance as positive. He said: “The report shows that experts across the industry see a time of tremendous change ahead for the electricity system, with the traditional utility model increasingly outdated.
    He added: “Falling demand, increasingly competitive renewables, storage, interconnectors, demand response – this is the blueprint for the electricity system just 15 years hence, and it’s telling that it comes from an industry body rather than a ‘green’ thinktank.”
    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/28/top-lobbying-group-green-energy-u-turn

    30

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      pat:

      it looks like DiCapio isn’t the only one who doesn’t know what he is talking about. What were Energy UK thinking in appointing Slade? Richard Black is just the standard ignorant parrot repeating the buzz words of the Greens, as does The Guardian. I wonder if either of them will be personally doing this?

      40

    • #

      (Read this Comment also in conjunction with what pat mentions at Comment 45 just down from this one)

      There’s something worrying about the way these Green urgers think, and it’s not just in the UK, but virtually everywhere.

      It’s all me, me, me, me. In other words, what we can do on the tiniest of scales.

      No one looks at the overall huge amount of electrical power consumed, and thinks about that. It’s all about what we can do at a ….. personal ….. individual ….. scale, and as an example, these greenies seem satisfied to have solar panels on their roof and then say that we all should be doing this, and hey presto, problem solved. This amounts to the absolute tiniest fraction of a fraction of a fraction of power consumption.

      No one looks at the overall big picture and here, as this is about the UK, I’ll use that as the example but the same applies anywhere else.

      As a whole, the UK consumes the equivalent total power generated from around 55GW of power each day at the Peak.

      Probably 5GW of that alone is consumed just by London, everything in it and around it. Not a rooftop here and there but a huge Monster city, and everything in it, all requiring absolute 24 hour electrical power to keep it going.

      You can’t do that with wind. You can’t do that with solar. You definitely can’t do it with panels on the roof.

      That’s a huge amount of power required on an absolute basis. You can’t shut even part of it down.

      You can fiddle with reducing personal demand, you can use less in your home, you can change bulbs. All of it is amounts to such a tiny amount it doesn’t even register.

      And yet all of these fiddly little things are their big hope, their answer to all of this.

      The only way it will ever sink home is if it all just fails, stops, no power, not just for part of a suburb of some residential homes, but the whole of a large city like this. The chaos will be unthinkable.

      People, especially these green urgers, just have no concept of what that means, just how much power a big city actually does consume.

      Here in Australia, try the Eastern State Capitals.

      Until the politicians in charge actually realise this, they’ll just go on with doing what they are currently doing, and when it all crashes, they will be the most bewildered of all, only when it happens, they’ll be looking for somewhere to hide.

      Tony.

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      • #
        Analitik

        I feel sorry for the South Australians but hopefully their grid falls over catastrophically in the near future to shock the general population into the fundamental limits of “renewable” energy, before the contagion spreads too far into the eastern grids. WA would also benefit from their neighbor’s blackout as they also seem hell bent on following SA to a “green” future.

        And in the spirit of Tony’s words about the limits of the self-centric, green viewpoint, David Mackay pointed out that “if everyone does a little, we’ll achieve only a little”
        Sustainable Energy – without the hot air

        30

      • #
        Carbon500

        Tony from Oz: I enjoyed reading your comments about the ‘greenies’ faiing to grasp the ‘big picture’ regarding power consumption. I thought you and other readers might like to see my contribution to the fight against windfarms over here in the UK. It’s my objection to a proposed windfarm in Rutland, the smallest county in England.

        “I write to register my objection to the proposed erection of nine wind turbines at Woolfox. These machines are colossal, and surely nothing like this could ever have been envisaged when planning laws were drawn up.
        Wind turbines of this size are a blight, and an industrial nightmare which threatens to destroy the heritage of the beautiful Rutland countryside for very little electricity generation.
        Chris Banks, Development Manager for RES, comments on their website:
        “The concept of bringing together a number of renewable energy technologies at one site, such as RES is proposing for the former Woolfox airfield, is a very new concept for the UK. We believe that Woolfox Wind and Solar Farms together present an exciting opportunity for Rutland to become a leading ‘green’ authority capable of generating sufficient renewable electricity to meet the needs of all the homes in the county from a single renewables hub. What other county in England could make that claim?”
        This statement masks the true state of affairs. A more accurate perspective is to consider what fraction of electricity relative to the UK’s annual needs will be generated at Woolfox.
        The latest data regarding electricity supplied in the UK is available online from the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES), and relates to 2013.
        In that year, the total UK electricity supplied by all methods of generation was 356,253 GWh, a figure broadly in line with other years.
        Of this, 23,830 GWh were supplied by just over 4,000 operational wind turbines – a total of 6.7% of our national supply.
        RES state on their website that the annual yield of the website will be over 56,407 MWh. This translates to 56.407 GWh, which is 0.016 or sixteen thousandths of the UK’s energy supply.
        It’s worth repeating this. The proposed turbines at Woolfox will generate a mere sixteen thousandths of the UK’s annual energy requirements.
        Is it worth letting the wind turbine industry gain a foothold in Rutland for this? I say no.”

        You’ll be pleased to hear that the application was rejected – but no doubt the company concerned will appeal. The fight goes on!

        30

        • #
          Carbon500

          Whoops! In my post (42.2.2) I said “RES state on their website that the annual yield of the website will be over 56,407 MWh. This translates to 56.407 GWh, which is 0.016 or sixteen thousandths of the UK’s energy supply.”
          Annual yield of the website?
          Since when have websites generated electricity? I suppose it could help to generate money….
          I apologise for the typing and brain error!

          00

      • #
        Mari

        We did long power outage here – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 – my power was out for the full week; I seem to keep thinking it was 10 days, but that might be bad memory. No drop into chaos, but my ex went into TV withdrawal and spent close to $400 USD on a tiny portable TV and batteries to run it. It was summer-ish, too, so no freezing to death. The worse part was no water for several days – no power for the pump stations.

        00

  • #
    KinkyKeith

    A convincing portrayal of a concerned scientist – Oh the humanity of it all – our world hanging on the edge of reality – another puff of

    smoke and we are all gone for good – another lost species.

    61

  • #
    Peter

    I had an interesting exchange on Facebook relating to this. When I made the point that people who question Global Warming are dismissed as not Climate Scientists, but Leo, an non Climate Scientist who supports Global Warming is cheered, the point was made that Leo is allowed to speak in favour since he obviously got his information from Climate Scientists, and is therefore qualified to speak…

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  • #
    pat

    Guardian/Macalister – where’s the Energy UK/Slade “U-turn” of which you write?

    5 Nov 2015: CarbonBrief: The Carbon Brief Interview: Lawrence Slade
    (This interview was conducted at Energy UK’s offices in central London by Simon Evans on 28 October 2015)
    Lawrence Slade has been chief executive of Energy UK, the trade association for the UK energy industry, since July 2015.
    SLADE: …I mean you see what Germany is going with the Energiewende, and how that has transformed their market. Now, OK, they had the political shutdown of nuclear over the next few years, but you can also see how they’ve really got engaged at a community level in terms of bringing forward local projects and getting local people involved. So, that’s a really good example of what can be done when you involve local communities, and you give planning down to that level. But, at the same time, there are obviously risks associated with that model in terms of how at peak periods for solar and wind, you can see German activity flooding the rest of the continent which has impacts that are yet to be resolved, I think, in terms of how you manage that over a much greater interconnected Europe, and how that flows through. So, I think across Europe there are good and bad examples. But I think we’ve got to work very closely with the European Union, in terms of how we actually get this Energy Union together, and how we see interconnectors working from a continental Europe perspective…
    CB: If you ruled the world, what would the UK’s electricity system look like in 2030?
    SLADE: If I ruled the world, then I think that we would probably still have some baseload capacity, but I think we would have a much larger role that decentralised energy was playing, and we would have more local grid operation, and much more local community engagement, and a different style of consumption at an individual household level, but also I think we should be, we would be looking at how we’re managing on a community basis, in terms of community heating and other things like that…
    SLADE: Well, we’re already seeing coal come off the system now in response to the market conditions, or the actual charges that they incur. We had last February a commitment from the three then party leaders to have coal off the system by 2025 [CB: the pledge did not actually commit to a phase out date]. And that’s, in theory, being talked about to bring back to 2023. I mean I think coal has to come off the system. Coal will come off the system…
    CB: In a recent interview Steve Holliday, who’s the boss of the National Grid, talked about the idea of baseload generation being outdated, and I just wondered what your view was on that?
    SLADE: I think if you look in the broader context – again you asked me if I was king of the world in 2030, what would be my vision – I think if you move out into that horizon then you’re seeing a world where the baseload capacity that we’re used to today and previous decades, may not well be there in the same fashion. Do I think that we would need some form of baseload? Yes, I do, because I think the way other areas of our market will evolve you will need these big chunks of capacity. But we’re certainly evolving into a market that is looking at more localised, distributed generation, than I think anyone dreamed possible. Certainly, if you look at the speed of uptake for solar, it’s outstripped any projections. So, I think we are moving into this new world, this exciting world that I referred to earlier, and I think those are the kind of points that people are, that are bringing forward here. You know, on the one hand you could view it: “Oh my god, this is a vast challenge.” On the other: this is actually really exciting and let’s embrace the innovation that we need…
    CB: In terms of coming back to capacity markets, the main reason for that has been the so-called “capacity crunch”. Every winter, or every autumn, we see headlines talking about the potential for blackouts. Do you think that’s actually likely, and if not, why do you think we keep seeing those headlines?
    SLADE: I think one reason we keep seeing those headlines is that they make quite good headlines, from the public’s point of view, or from a newspaper sales’ point of view. Do I think the lights will go out? I’m actually confident that they won’t. I’m confident that the grid and the industry have the tools available to keep those lights on…
    CB: One of the ways that the grid’s ensuring the lights do stay on next winter is demand response, where they’re contracting with large energy users. That’s often caricatured in the press as…
    SLADE: Closing down the industry for the day [laughs]…
    http://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-interview-lawrence-slade

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  • #
    Athelstan.

    I don’t really mind Leo, he’s quite good at his day job and has starred in some bland but watchable movies. Lordy and heavens above, that’s all he is, a very rich luvvie with pretensions in delusions of grandeur.

    What grates is, his propensity to mouth off about things of which he knows not much at all and on some things, which his mama tells him to say.

    120

    • #
      gnome

      What screwed him all these years is that he was nominated for “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” and his acting skills were directly comparable with (and clearly inferior to) Johnny Depp. Ever after, whenever he is nominated people remember that he isn’t all that good an actor, even though he was very pretty when he was a boy.

      It would be interesting to hear Johnny Depp’s take on global warming. He is so obviously much smarter than leo.

      50

      • #
        beowulf

        Not sure that being “obviously” smarter than Leo is much of an accolade for Depp. Like saying a chook is obviously smart because it has more brains than a grub.

        Two prima donnas as bad as each other. Ego has given both the gift of omniscience.

        Main difference is that Depp shoots off his mouth on talk shows about issues other than global warming – such as inconvenient quarantine laws in stupid little foreign countries. How dare we have laws and how dare we apply them to movie stars and other higher beings.

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  • #
    pat

    26 Feb: BBC: Pallab Ghosh: EU exit ‘risks British science’
    Prof Sir Paul Nurse has said that UK research would suffer if the country were to leave the EU.
    A British exit would make it harder to get funding for science and sell “future generations short”, the Nobel Prize winner added.
    But a group of scientists arguing to leave the EU counters that UK research would not be adversely affected.
    They say British institutions would receive similar amounts of European funding as they do now…
    Prof Angus Dalgleish, of St George’s Hospital, University of London, is a spokesman for “Scientists For Britain”. This is a group of researchers arguing the case for an EU exit…
    “We are standing up against what is a very large body of people who feel that if we leave the EU it will be a disaster for funding and collaboration – and we completely refute that,” he said.
    “The bottom line is that we put far more into Europe than we get out. Any difference we can more than easily make up with the money we would save.”
    Prof Dalgleish’s organisation claims to have 150 members who are involved in science. He is the organisation’s only spokesman, he says, because arguing the case for a British exit is unfashionable in research circles, and individuals who do so, especially if they are junior, find themselves “belittled” by their superiors…
    Prof Dalgleish says that arguments in favour of the UK remaining are motivated by the “narrow self-interest” of large scientific institutions and universities that receive millions of pounds of funding from the European Union. But he says that 13 countries outside the European Union successfully apply for and receive EU funds.
    He also argues that some of the largest and most successful European collaborations the UK has, such as Cern and the European Space Agency, are not run by the EU…READ ALL
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35668682

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      OriginalSteve

      The globalist Brit PM and pollies always bang on about leaving the EU to placate some of the growing nationalist forces within the UK. However, when push comes to shove, the UK has signed up to the European Soviet to the ( economic & cultural ) death ( which will come…. ).

      The reality is the the european royals ( all of them ) are powerful globalists who stand to make even more emoney and gain more power through turning the EU into a fermented cauldron of chaos and communism….witness the UK being destroyed from within culturally and externally via green decrees…..the mass immigration from africa / mid east is cleaverly designed happening, and not some historical haphazard event.

      I suspect once WW3 actually kicks off, the UK will “detonate” culturally and have the equivelent of a new Dark Ages caused by cultural clashes internally. RIght now the globalists are just priming the pumps. Same goes for the USA…..

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    handjive

    Ch9 and Richard Wilkins interviewed George Miller this morning and Miller commented that they were going to film Mad MaxII where Mad MaxI was originally done, but it was green grass and shoulder high with flowers of all colours.

    DiCaprio was unavailable for comment.

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      John of Cloverdale WA Australia

      Must be the extra CO2. I heard they were going to make Happy Feet 3 in the Antarctica, but there was too much ice (sarc).

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        Graeme No.3

        No. Prof. Turney assured them that the ice was disappearing rapidly. They have decided that Leonard would make a good leading actor for the film as he has the requisite bird brain.

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      handjive

      Here is the video of Richard Wilkins interviewing George Miller post-oscars 2016.

      You might need to become a member of Channel 9 to view it.

      There is no video timer, but, at the beginning of the interview it is noted how the movie was shot in Namibia, because of the floods.

      It is near the end where Miller says that they had sets & props built, and it rained and turned green and how they were allowed to keep tax benefits even though it was shot in another country.

      Here is the 97% Doomsday Global Warming BS:

      Huffingtonpost: ‘Mad Max’ Is A Lot Scarier When You Realize That’s Where We Could Be Headed

      “Specifically, some scientists say it could be possible for the Earth to one day resemble the arid wasteland depicted in “Mad Max: Fury Road” if we don’t take steps to curb climate change.”
      . . .
      That is a lie.

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    Dennis

    Happy Oscars Day a CH7 journalist commented on the yesterday afternoon early news, and I switched to another channel immediately.

    What is it about these airheads? What exactly does an actor contribute to society apart from entertainment, or attempts to entertain?

    Yet so many of them seem to believe that they are above mere mortals and know all. Poor little rich kids.

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    pat

    29 Feb: UK Daiy Mail: Colin Fernandez: RSPB puts up 330ft turbine at its own headquarters despite leading campaign against wind farms killing birds
    Charity RSPB often leads complaints that wind turbines can harm birds
    The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds often leads complaints that wind turbines can harm birds.
    So a few feathers might be ruffled by the charity’s decision to build a 330ft turbine above its own headquarters…
    But the RSPB said it had worked with the energy firm Ecotricity on three years of research to confirm the location at its Lodge headquarters near Sandy, Bedfordshire, was suitable for a turbine.
    RSPB director of conservation Martin Harper said: ‘Climate change is the single biggest threat to our planet. This is about our birds and wildlife as well as our way of life…
    Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, a former New Age traveller who has become a multi-millionaire from wind and solar power, said green energy ‘puts power in the hands of the people’…
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3468722/RSPB-puts-330ft-turbine-headquarters-despite-leading-campaign-against-wind-farms-killing-birds.html

    26 Feb: Financial Times: EU pulls plug on kettle rules to take steam out of Brexit campaign
    Alex Barker and Jim Brunsden in Brussels
    Britain’s love of tea and toast has convinced Brussels to shelve plans to ban high-powered kettles and toasters, due to fears that a clumsy intervention could send Brexit passions boiling over.
    Mindful of a spirited public outcry in Britain over a recent ban on powerful vacuum cleaners, the European Commission has delayed a second eco-friendly assault on household goods such as hairdryers and hostess trolleys, at least until after the UK’s EU referendum in June…
    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/36642906-dc0e-11e5-9ba8-3abc1e7247e4.html

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      Graeme No.3

      pat:

      The UK can’t win. Stay in and they get kettles that take forever to boil, vote to leave and they have to keep Dale Vince – ( to coin a cliché ) the unacceptable face of wind energy.

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      ianl8888

      Diktat delayed …

      If Brexit fails, diktat in force in a week

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    Dennis

    Off Topic: Why is Australia donating to a US political campaign?

    It’s now 8.30PM Monday on the East Coast of the United States and I have spent a very long night (daytime New York/Boston) on the phone and email with US regulatory authorities.

    As a result of what I have been told by regulators I have a few questions for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs about the $70M (according to its own FOI release) or $88M according to Julie Bishop (2006 to 2014 source) we have donated to the Clinton Foundation.

    Yesterday I advised DFAT in writing of the background to the enquiries I would be making, informing Minister Bishop’s Department that a formal request for comment would soon follow. I’ll be back online no doubt during the day – and I hope to have DFAT’s answers for you by COB.

    Michael Smith News

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    Bob Fernley-Jones

    I watched an SBS doco last night: ‘Dr Michael Mosley: Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ which is available online for two weeks: http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/310415939727/news

    Apparently there is a high probability that DiCaprio will die significantly younger than your average optimist. Mosely, a confessed and brain-diagnosed pessimist was able to measurably physiologically improve his brain with seven weeks of therapies.

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    Bite Back

    Fame and money will give you a swelled head faster than anything else. And DiCaprio has a lot of both. So much for the great Leonardo. I could hope a gag comes with his Oscar but that may be too much to ask for.

    I am glad I didn’t waste my time watching that mutual back patting society strut around all evening doing nothing useful.

    BB

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    Rosco

    Surely people should know that DiCaprio is setting himself on course to be a future democratic nomination for public office and most probably President.

    Everything he does is carefully crafted to give the right political message – although he might have rethought his role in Django Unchained.

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      ianl8888

      Yes, his objective has been obvious for quite a long time

      He’s already given a truly weaselly “How difficult a role that was for me to do” hand-wringer about the Django Unchained sequence – which I agree with a comment earlier in the thread was the only really interesting sequence in the film … primarily because we were in suspense about how he’d finally get it between the eyes

      In the course of events, he’ll try a Ronald Reagan, I think. Mercifully, my age likely precludes me from having to watch it

      If you haven’t guessed, I despise hypocrisy. And he does it without shame

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      Yonniestone

      DiCaprio/West 2020! 🙂

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      beowulf

      Governor of California first? Follow in the footsteps of Reagan and Big Arnie. When does Moonbeam’s term end? Leo would slot right in after Arnie and Moonbeam.

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      Roy Hogue

      Surely people should know that DiCaprio is setting himself on course to be a future democratic nomination for public office…

      That may be, I don’t know. But of this I’m quite certain, he does not have the leadership skills, the managerial ability or the vision for where we should go as a nation that the kind of public office he would run for would need.

      Dog catcher? Maybe? Though even that is questionable. But president? No way. He’s a typical big mouth with nothing behind it and he appears to have a messiah complex.

      How many others do we see that meet that basic description?

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    Wally

    Limousine leftist DiCaprio a classic example of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.

    ‘Why Leo DiCaprio is just another climate hypocrite’
    http://nypost.com/2016/01/24/why-leo-dicaprio-is-just-another-climate-hypocrite/

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    Owen Morgan

    It’s conceivable that neither front-runner in the US election will still be available, come January, 2017. I don’t think that there is any room to doubt that Hillary Clinton is as bent as the proverbial not-quite-half-a-quid, but Trump’s promises to change the rules about defamation suggest he, too, has quite a bit to hide.

    If either front-runner ends up in the Oval Office, not just America, but the entire world, is completely Bombayed.

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      doubtingdave

      Owen , at least Trump is a sceptic , and Hillary still has her ” emails ” scandal to navigate , they say that Donald is keeping his ” Trump ” cards up his sleeve until the right time like a good card player should . Runours suggest that Cruz has phoned Trump and Rubio offering to stand down if they offer him a place in the supreme court , but i got that from Alex Jones of Infowars so not the most reliable of sources

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        Owen Morgan

        I’m not at all convinced Trump is a sceptic. It’s hard to tell, when he is so vague about his beliefs and intentions. Mark Steyn, as a Canadian resident in New Hampshire, has been admirably neutral (while typically perceptive) in the endless presidential campaign. Trump referred to the Michael Mann “case” against Mark Steyn a while back, not in Steyn’s favour. He has now added to that his intention to make defamation cases easier for the litigant. Mark Steyn has sardonically suggested that that is what Mann has been holding out for, all this time, while refusing to produce evidence pertinent to the case. Hillary Clinton, for pretty obvious reasons, could be expected to do likewise.

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    Another Ian

    “Morgan Wright says:
    March 1, 2016 at 12:02 am

    I admire Leonardo for vowing to sell all his cars and start riding horses, sell all his mansions and live in a house with no heat or air conditioning, sell his private jets and stop riding commercial airplanes because they produce CO2, and never use electricity again. Oh, he didn’t vow all that? He blamed CO2 production on the big evil corporations who produce everything he owns? It’s all their fault and we need to hit them with a carbon tax? Oh, I take it back. He’s just another total complete shithead”

    From comments at

    https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/1980-carter-accused-reagan-of-being-kkk-and-starting-wwiii/#comments

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    el gordo

    BoM stations automated, presumably with adjustments.

    http://cobarweekly.com.au/?p=1320

    h/t Warwick Hughes

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    Turtle of WA

    All humans are indigenous to the planet earth. So what did he mean by indigenous? Answer at your peril.

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      beowulf

      To misquote Orwell: All humans are indigenous, but some humans are more indigenous than others.

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      Ted O'Brien.

      My thought on the matter, too. I am indigenous right here.

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      Roy Hogue

      All humans are indigenous to the planet earth. So what did he mean by indigenous? Answer at your peril.

      I can suggest that what he means by indigenous is simply, approved of by those who think it necessary to “save the planet” from being ravished by human kind. With that mind set humans are interlopers, not native to Earth or not being in concert with the rest of nature or similar meanings. I suppose that’s a little strong but not very far from the truth for some of them.

      Unfortunately for Mr. DiCaprio we are native to Earth and as entitled to modify it to suit our needs as any other species. Every living thing has its impact on its environment. So why not us? Who sets the criteria for what is and is not an acceptable impact on the Earth? Certainly not DiCaprio and his ilk. Civilization may be in a crisis these days but our footprints are here to stay. And rightfully so.

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    cedarhill

    There were about 34 million watching the Oscars on TV (likely included the household kids and babies) out of about 340 million. Although a very small percentage it is large considering everyone with a brain knew it was going to be a political campaign featuring rape, racism and rudeness on a truly Hollywood scale.

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    Dennis

    The Australian newspaper

    12:00AMSID MAHER

    Coal-fired power generation is quietly being phased down, with eight of the nation’s 12 dirtiest stations shuttered.

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    Reed Coray

    Church Lady to Leonardo: “Isn’t that special?”

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    ScotsmaninUtah

    Never ask advice from people who pretend !

    I generally make it a point never to ask actors and/or actresses to service my car.
    However they are very good at pumping gas.

    As for understanding Scientific issues, actors should simply stick to the script otherwise they will hurt themselves.

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    artwest

    “I just want to say this — making “The Revenant” was about man’s relationship to the natural world”

    A natural world which will do its best to kill you in the most miserable ways possible if you don’t have affordable energy and the benefits which come from that.

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    el gordo

    ‘Much of Australia is set to bask in unusually warm and dry weather for the start of autumn, with little sign of a seasonal cooling off.

    ‘The sixth-warmest summer on record for the country by mean temperatures masked some regions of exceptional heat.’

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/autumn-may-not-start-until-april-as-warm-summer-maintains-grip-on-australia-20160301-gn78fn.html#ixzz41gqlS4Ex
    Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

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      AndyG55

      UAH, has finally indicated a solid El Nino peak for February, above 1998, and warmest anomaly in 38 years of satellite records.

      However, for Australia, UAH has December 2015 in 15th place for Decembers, and January in 34th place out of 38 years.

      Waiting for Feb 2016 for Australia. I’m expecting somewhere around half way.

      I will do a DJF position when UAH for Australia is posted in about a week, but I doubt very much it will be even in the top 10.

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    […] To some in the glitzy audience, it sounded like an extract from The Climatobabble Handbook for Beginners. “It’s the politics of greed sayeth the man who flies in private jets, has four houses and is taking a trip on Virgin’s Galactic SpaceShip,” posted Joanne Nova. […]

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    Sick of the hypocrites

    Perhaps Mr Di Caprio could arrange to ‘pass the hat around’ amongst his millionaire mates to raise some funds to ‘help fight climate change’. Lord knows they can afford a hundred thousand here or a hundred thousand there!!!

    I am so sick of these ‘celebrities’ using their status, patronise, speaking down to the rest of us. Seriously I’m sick of it.

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    Greebo

    “Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now, It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

    Now, where have I heard that before? Ah, yes; Leo’s speech was perfectly predicted by Dr Michael Crichton in 2004. In State of Fear, the actor Ted Bradley said much the same thing. So, I guess reading lines is what Leo is good at.

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    Maria

    That remembers me when mrs. Penelope Cruz talked about the importance of fresh water for our survival, a year after an awful drought in California, where she has a big house with a gigantic swimming pool. Hypocrites!

    00