PROGRAM FOR THE 2014 WEEREEWA FESTIVAL/ SUPPLEMENT TO THE BUNGENDORE MIRROR/ MIDDLE PAGES
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ABANDONED TO WW1 VETERAN ROY WOOD BADGE RAIN LIFTS B’WOOD ‘WEEREEWA-INTERP- FABULOUS WEEKEND P IN T HYLES HONOURED AWARDED TO ‘BALOO’ SELF-INTEREST CATTLE MARKET RETATIONS’@BWWG OF TRAINING DISTRICT NEWS 3 COMMUNITY NOTES 5 LETTERS & OPINION 7 LAND & FOOD 8 SPORTS REPORTS 12 ART & CRAFT 9 Bungendore’s Community Newspaper Wednesday 12 March 2014 Year 2014/ Week 11 www.bungendoremirror.com.au IRRO
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Small & game
Bungendore residents are dismayed that Palerang Council has ignored a report which encouraged the retention of all of the almost 100 year old pines in Bungendore Park. Instead, the Council has adopted a Plan for Bungendore Oval which includes the removal of eight of these mature ‘iconic’ pine trees. REPORT PAGE 2
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Time for climate denialism, scepticism is over By John Mitchell Every two years the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO release a State of the Climate (SoC) report which focuses on climate observations and trends across Australia. The 2014 SoC launched recently showed a further warming of the atmosphere and oceans around Australia and warned that the warming is set to continue. The rate of warming will depend on how fast greenhouse emissions can be reduced. The oceans are doing most of the work in absorbing increased atmospheric heat with sea surface temperatures around Australia rising by 0.9°C since 1900. When it comes to air temperatures across
Australia, on average, they are 1°C warmer than they were a century ago, and most of that increase has been since 1950. Last year was the warmest on record in Australia and, while there will still be cold days in the future, predictions are that there will be heat records broken. “Seven of the ten warmest years on record in Australia have occurred since 1998,” BoM chief Dr Vertessy said. “When we compare the past 15 years to the period 1951 to 1980, we find that the frequency of very warm months has increased five-fold and the frequency of very cool months has decreased by around a third. “The duration, frequency and intensity of heatwaves have
increased across large parts of Australia since 1950. Extreme fire weather risk has increased, and the fire season has lengthened across large parts of Australia since the 1970s. “We have also seen a general trend of declining autumn and winter rainfall, particularly in
southwestern and southeastern Australia, while heavy rainfall events are projected to increase. Australian average annual rainfall has increased slightly, largely due to increases in spring and summer rainfall, most markedly in northwestern Australia.”
“..the time for climate denialism and even scepticism is over. Strong government and community action is now required to reduce emissions.”
Rob Vertessy and Megan Clarke
CSIRO boss Megan Clark said Australia has warmed in every State and Territory and in every season. “Australia has one of the most variable climates in the world. Against this backdrop, across the decades, we’re continuing to see increasing temperatures, warmer oceans, changes to“The sea when and where rain falls and higher sea levels,” Dr Clark said. The report describes future climate scenarios for Australia •Temperatures are projected to continue to increase, with more hot days and fewer cool days. •A further increase in the number of extreme fireweather days is expected in southern and eastern Australia,
with a longer fire season in these regions. •Average rainfall in southern Australia is projected to decrease, with a likely increase in drought frequency and severity. •The frequency and intensity of extreme daily rainfall is projected to increase. •Tropical cyclones are projected to decrease in number but increase in intensity. •Projected sea-level rise will increase the frequency of extreme sea-level events. President of Climate Action Monaro, Ms Jenny Goldie, says the public cannot ignore a report from its two foremost research institutions dealing P3 with climate.
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