Australians Only Thread

[CaaC (John)]

Quote

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its coral

Scientists say drastic action is needed to help mitigate the damage to the Greet Barrier Reef © Michael Smith ITWP / Shutterstock

A new study of one of the most unique and important habitats on our planet – the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – has shown that it has lost half of its corals as a result of climate change. Conducted by the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland, Australia, the study showed that populations of its small, medium and large corals have all declined in the past three decades.

Lead author Dr Andy Dietzel said that science has been lacking thorough information and studies on the changes in coral populations over time, something that the study tried to address. Together with a team of co-authors, he assessed coral communities and their colony size along the length of the Great Barrier Reef between 1995 and 2017, with the results showing a depletion of populations.

“We found the number of small, medium and large corals has declined by more than 50 per cent since the 1990s,” said co-author Professor Terry Hughes, also from CoralCoE. “The decline occurred in both shallow and deeper water, and across virtually all species—but especially in branching and table-shaped corals. These were the worst affected by record-breaking temperatures that triggered mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017”. Coral bleaching is a result of corals being stressed due to changes in light, temperature and nutrients, a process that leads them to expel symbiotic algae in their tissue and become vulnerable.

Diagonal banded sweetlips fish swimming near coral at Agincourt Reef © Carl Chapman / Alamy Stock Photo

Branching and table-shaped corals provide the structures important for reef inhabitants. Coral loss results in a direct loss of habitat, which in turn diminishes fish abundance and the productivity of coral reef fisheries. One of the major implications of coral size is its effect on survival and breeding, with the reef’s recovery being compromised because there are fewer baby corals and few large breeding adults. Climate change is increasing the frequency of reef disturbances such as marine heatwaves, with the southern part of the reef being exposed to record-breaking temperatures in early 2020.

“We used to think the Great Barrier Reef is protected by its sheer size—but our results show that even the world’s largest and relatively well-protected reef system is increasingly compromised and in decline,” Professor Hughes said.

The authors of the study also said that better data on the demographic trends of corals is urgently needed in order to figure out the rate and possibility of recovery between disturbances, as well as taking major steps to address climate change right now. “There is no time to lose—we must sharply decrease greenhouse gas emissions ASAP,” they said

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/great-barrier-reef-lost-coral

 

[Bluewolf]

Just found this looking for something else... A bit old but Damn!! 

Grabbed him by the balls and squeezed until all that was left was a couple of shriveled up grapes... No quarter was given 

 

 

[CaaC (John)]

@DeadLinesman your Cats are through to the Grand Final, I presume you watched the game but they thrashed the Brisbane Lions 82-42, now your Geelong face last years winners Richmond and try and stop them doing the double 2019/20.

I just know you love the Tigers really and even if you lose you won't have any hard feelings against them...I think?   

[Spike]

7 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

Just found this looking for something else... A bit old but Damn!! 

Grabbed him by the balls and squeezed until all that was left was a couple of shriveled up grapes... No quarter was given 

 

 

Gillard is fine but her entire existence is 'I'm a woman, unmaried, and atheist' instead of 'I stabbed a popular PM in the back for my position'. Undermined the Labor's integrity and set up a future for seven straight years of Liberal hi-jinx. The idea was the Rudd would lose the upcoming election and a change in leadership would prevent that...guess what eventually happened, Rudd replaced Gillard because her popularity was plummeting and Labor lost the 2013 election. Brav-fucking-o. now Labor has the public image of instability further exasperated by 'da Liberals are better ecanomik managerz'. Though Gillard took the huge hit of handling immigration and asylum seeking, so she has the notch in her belt.

Yeah, it is nice that she skinned Tony Abbott alive in parliament but Tony Abbott is also a simple minded man whose incompetence can be read like a book, however in that incompetence you can at least admit Abbott has best intentions at heart and is a human being with moral compass however skewed by the Liberal party, which is more than can be said for Scotty from marketing.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

Gillard knifed the best PM of my lifetime in the back and undermined the labor parties integrity for years to come. 

I agree @Spike Tony Abbot is a simpleton, and representative of a party who are conservative simpletons at their best, and corrupt businessmen at their worst. However Abbot has some integrity, and is both respectable as a man and has some qualities as a leader. Neither of which Scomo possesses. 

[Spike]

39 minutes ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

Gillard knifed the best PM of my lifetime in the back and undermined the labor parties integrity for years to come. 

I agree @Spike Tony Abbot is a simpleton, and representative of a party who are conservative simpletons at their best, and corrupt businessmen at their worst. However Abbot has some integrity, and is both respectable as a man and has some qualities as a leader. Neither of which Scomo possesses. 

Scotty's shit eating grin brings about a furore that I've never had before in Australian politics save for when Mr. Abbott wanted to reinstate Australian knightdom, the later because of how hilariously delusional it was. Our cuboid shaped PM reeks like as limp-wristed elite private school chum, that revels in homoerotic initiation ceremonies and the authority bestowed in seniority over his peers. The cuntish entitlement of his own position is hallmark of his Sydney Boys School and University of New South Wales upbringing. Everything that is wrong with wealthy Australia, old boy's clubs, nepotism, Sydney, and Australian politics is neatly embodied by this man, a hollow vacuum, devoid of personality, charisma, integrity, and honour; a public servant that is infantilised by his donors while lauding over the people he is sworn in to serve with an underserved arrogance. 

Just imagine if he were intelligent, then you'd have another Gladys Berejeklian or Malcolm Turnbull. Well, at least the latter embodies some modicum of hard work and integrity despite being closer to English nobility of the 18th century than a modern Australian.

[Harry]

I cannot convey in words how pissed off I am at the liberal party and the Murdoch press for the extent to which they have polarised Victoria over the second lockdown. They have chosen to play politics in a way that actively  undermined the public health response in Victoria.

In my opinion Andrews (who I did not vote for) deserves the most credit overall for Australia's response to COVID. People forget but Scomo was demonstrating a UK like fear for the economy and an extreme reluctance to shut down at the start of COVID. He wanted to delay and hope things got better. Gladys and Dan led the way. Dan in particular put huge pressure on the PM to move fast and either endorse the big lockdown that Andrews was going to announce whether he liked it or not, or oppose it (and embrace the label of being Pro death).

 

 

[Toinho]

Scumo has no likeable qualities. It really is painful having him as leader. I thought Abbott was the worst ever but he’s been out done by our current bloke. He doesn’t even look sincere. He is out of touch.

I thought Turnbull was going to be good, I do not support the liberals and have never even remotely voted for them as a preference, but I thought he was going to be okay - instead he just became weak and shite.

It’s unbelievable all the hate on Dan Andrews, who from afar, seems to be making good decisions but there’s always been something wrong with a lot of victorians  

Gladys.... Jesus Christ. I have no words on how bad she is.

 

Meanwhile over the ditch, our progressive neighbours have re-elected  a true leader. We kid ourselves if we think we are a smarter and better country than NZ.

As for Aussie rules, shite. Port and Brisbane best teams all year and won’t be in the final. Instead same old boring shite in Geelong and Richmond. 
 

 

[Harry]

17 minutes ago, Toinho said:

Scumo has no likeable qualities. It really is painful having him as leader. I thought Abbott was the worst ever but he’s been out done by our current bloke. He doesn’t even look sincere. He is out of touch.

I thought Turnbull was going to be good, I do not support the liberals and have never even remotely voted for them as a preference, but I thought he was going to be okay - instead he just became weak and shite.

It’s unbelievable all the hate on Dan Andrews, who from afar, seems to be making good decisions but there’s always been something wrong with a lot of victorians  

Gladys.... Jesus Christ. I have no words on how bad she is.

 

Meanwhile over the ditch, our progressive neighbours have re-elected  a true leader. We kid ourselves if we think we are a smarter and better country than NZ.

As for Aussie rules, shite. Port and Brisbane best teams all year and won’t be in the final. Instead same old boring shite in Geelong and Richmond. 
 

 

The problem with Turnbull was that he did not achieve the leadership on his terms. If he had fight a battle against the conservative wing and won then he'd have the mantle to implement his agenda, but instead he did a deal with them and got scuppered at every turn.

[Spike]

23 minutes ago, Toinho said:

Scumo has no likeable qualities. It really is painful having him as leader. I thought Abbott was the worst ever but he’s been out done by our current bloke. He doesn’t even look sincere. He is out of touch.

I thought Turnbull was going to be good, I do not support the liberals and have never even remotely voted for them as a preference, but I thought he was going to be okay - instead he just became weak and shite.

It’s unbelievable all the hate on Dan Andrews, who from afar, seems to be making good decisions but there’s always been something wrong with a lot of victorians  

Gladys.... Jesus Christ. I have no words on how bad she is.

 

Meanwhile over the ditch, our progressive neighbours have re-elected  a true leader. We kid ourselves if we think we are a smarter and better country than NZ.

As for Aussie rules, shite. Port and Brisbane best teams all year and won’t be in the final. Instead same old boring shite in Geelong and Richmond. 
 

 

Progressive or not (I hate that term and it ultimately means nothing), she is a leader despite some silly things she does, I'd always pick Arden over Morrisson. There is no circumstance that I'd pick vote for Morrison over Arden, none.

 

31 minutes ago, Harry said:

I cannot convey in words how pissed off I am at the liberal party and the Murdoch press for the extent to which they have polarised Victoria over the second lockdown. They have chosen to play politics in a way that actively  undermined the public health response in Victoria.

In my opinion Andrews (who I did not vote for) deserves the most credit overall for Australia's response to COVID. People forget but Scomo was demonstrating a UK like fear for the economy and an extreme reluctance to shut down at the start of COVID. He wanted to delay and hope things got better. Gladys and Dan led the way. Dan in particular put huge pressure on the PM to move fast and either endorse the big lockdown that Andrews was going to announce whether he liked it or not, or oppose it (and embrace the label of being Pro death).

 

 

Just imagine if you didn't have Andrews in Victoria. Maybe a second Ruby Princess, open borders to NSW, infecting other states. Ludicrous how people are treating him, as if they are slaves to him and not at the whim of a dangerous virus.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Spike

[Spike]

If QLD votes out Labor and Anastacia Palazchuzhauzhauy, I'lll headbutt my bedroom wall several times till I forget. God forbid we have that atrocious creature Frecklington as MP, probably worse than Campbell 'Can I be Bjelke-Petersen, too?' Newman. It's a good thing my friends are largely Labor supporters aside from those that can be swayed with 'oi mate, you should vote labor aye'

[Toinho]

37 minutes ago, Harry said:

The problem with Turnbull was that he did not achieve the leadership on his terms. If he had fight a battle against the conservative wing and won then he'd have the mantle to implement his agenda, but instead he did a deal with them and got scuppered at every turn.

That’s a fair point.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

QLD is weird. No senate = unparalleled state level power. Which means the libs get 4 outrageously dangerous years for the state, but even qlders who can't so much as read understand their world has gone to shit and boot them out again. 


If WA splits I'm jumping over, hot weather or no 

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

QLD is weird. No senate = unparalleled state level power. Which means the libs get 4 outrageously dangerous years for the state, but even qlders who can't so much as read understand their world has gone to shit and boot them out again. 


If WA splits I'm jumping over, hot weather or no 

To understand QLD first you need to read about the Bjelke-Petersen government. It will blow your mind

[Spike]

@Devil-Dick Willie

https://theconversation.com/issues-that-swung-elections-the-dramatic-and-inglorious-fall-of-joh-bjelke-petersen-115141

[Harry]

What a shitty newspaper. The guy in the much larger federal electorate pulled a higher volume of votes than the guy in the much smaller state electorate.... I guess it's game on

[Toinho]

So many of Murdoch’s papers have been slamming Arden and NZ. The mind boggles. Coupled with the outright deniers of so many factual things.  I think as humans we are reaching a very dangerous point in history. Civil War in the US within 25 years. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Toinho

[CaaC (John)]

Quote

Drones to drop seeds to boost koala gum tree numbers after devastating Australia bushfires

Story by Reuters
Updated 1314 GMT (2114 HKT) October 20, 2020

A person prepares to conduct drone seeding to help regenerate Australia's forests in Queensland after the devastating bushfires.

Specialized drones are being tested in a program to boost koala numbers on Australia's east coast, dropping seeds of gum trees as part of a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) scheme to regenerate bushland torched in the country's historic bushfires.

Gum tree leaves are koala's main food source, and restoring bushland and forest habitat razed in the 2019-2020 fires is key to their long-term survival in New South Wales state.

The fires killed or displaced 3 billion mammals, birds and reptiles, the WWF estimates and destroyed or damaged up to 7 billion trees across 11 million hectares (37 million acres) of Australia's southeast, equal to half the area of the United Kingdom.

WWF's Australia unit is seeking to raise 300 million Australian dollars (about $211 million) over five years to fund the initiative to try the seed drones and other methods to revive forest habitat, aiming to double koala numbers on the east coast.

"The magnitude of the bushfire crisis requires us to respond at a scale that's never been done before," said WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O'Gorman.

"One of the new ways we're doing this is using drones that can put large amounts of seed across landscapes and... reach inaccessible areas much easier," he said.

Some of the WWF drones can plant 40,000 seeds a day and will help create corridors so that koalas and other wildlife can move across a landscape fragmented by fire and land clearing, O'Gorman said in a statement.

In June, a parliamentary inquiry found that koalas in New South Wales state could become extinct by 2050 unless immediate action is taken to protect them and their habitat.

Australia's most recent bushfire season was one of its worst-ever, killing 34 people and destroying nearly 3,000 homes, after years of drought left bushlands unusually dry.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/20/asia/drones-gum-trees-australia-scli-intl/index.html

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by CaaC (John)

[CaaC (John)]

Well, that's me settling down on the sofa with a cup of coffee watching the Australian Football Grand Final Geelong (Cats) v Richmond (Tigers), it should be a good game.  

 

 

 

[Harry]

Swap it for a beer. That's how we roll.

[CaaC (John)]

Low scoring game but the Cats are dominating  so far.

[DeadLinesman]

Fuck Richmond. I’d love to burn that shit club down to the ground. Especially Tom Lynch and that chopstick stabbing twat Dustin Martin. Horrible bastards. DIAHF.

[Danny]

11 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Fuck Richmond. I’d love to burn that shit club down to the ground. Especially Tom Lynch and that chopstick stabbing twat Dustin Martin. Horrible bastards. DIAHF.

Signs of a mental health issue getting this worked up over AFL mate

[DeadLinesman]

27 minutes ago, Danny said:

Signs of a mental health issue getting this worked up over AFL mate

Fuming.

[CaaC (John)]

1 hour ago, DeadLinesman said:

Fuck Richmond. I’d love to burn that shit club down to the ground. Especially Tom Lynch and that chopstick stabbing twat Dustin Martin. Horrible bastards. DIAHF.

The Tigers came good in the last quarter and your Cats stamina vanished, up to the 3rd quarter you played good but the last 20 minutes you were fucked and Lynch & Martin destroyed you lot in a 2 man show, hard luck Phill, better luck next season to stop Richmond winning 3 in a row.