Extra 100bn litres of water is heading our way...

AN EXTRA 100 billion litres of water - on top of the 400 billion announced during the election campaign - is now likely to flow into South Australia because of the Queensland floods.
It is understood government officers in NSW and Queensland have calculated there is more floodwater flowing across the border than originally anticipated and this will give SA a greater volume.

Extra water is already flowing down the river because of good rains in NSW and the NSW Government decision in January to release an extra 148 billion litres. Water levels at Lake Alexandrina have already risen 3cm.

According to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's latest bulletin, this level is "forecast to continue gradually increasing over the coming weeks".

It states that during the past week, the average flow of water into SA is seven billion litres a day.
The water from the Queensland floods is starting to flow into the Menindee Lakes and once it has been stored it will be released slowly over the coming months. Government sources said it had to be released carefully over a long period. The flows will reduce the risk of acidification, lower salinity levels and improve habitat for wildlife.

A spokesman for Federal Water Minister Penny Wong said advice was that SA could expect "considerable water" but it was unclear how much and when. Meanwhile, Senator Wong and the state's newly promoted Water Security Minister, Paul Caica, have met officially for the first time to discuss water issues.

The issue of water from the Queensland floods provoked a row in the recent election when the Opposition claimed Premier Mike Rann had taken credit for getting 400 billion litres of water that SA was already due to receive.

However, Mr Rann said without the support of NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, SA's share of the floodwater could have been held up.

Greg Kelton, State editor

What are the potential effects of global warming in terms of climate change and how can they be arrested?

Nowadays, global warming becomes a hot issue to be discussed on. From day to day, it becomes worse and this caused our mother of nature, Earth has suffered a lot especially in term of climate change. Global warming can be explained in term of increasing of the Earth’s temperature that could change our planet by making the climate much more unpredictable, extinction of many species and making people’s life more difficult. Global warming is caused by a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. The natural greenhouse effect is a good thing as it helps to warm out earth. However, as the industrial revolution become more important, more carbon dioxide gas is emitted to the atmosphere as a by product of the combustion of petrol in this industrial. The carbon dioxide gas makes Earth’s greenhouse gas become thicker from day to day. Hence, more of the Sun’s heat gets trapped inside the atmosphere and our planet become warmer. This causes the global warming to occur. The global warming gives various impacts to the climate change and also to the human being. Thus, the best solution should be discovered in a way to arrest these problems from become worst.


Global warming has various impacts to our environment. The most obvious one is the changes in the temperature which lead to coastal erosion; lengthen the growing season, and melting of ice sheets and glaciers. Global warming result in more hot days and fewer cool days for certain places. The drought will happen frequently in a long time and the probability for hurricanes to occur also high as oceans getting warmer (Holli Riebeek,2007). In addition, the sea level also rises and hence leads to erode coasts and cause coastal flooding. The rising of the sea level happen due to the warming of the earth which warm up the oceans too. Hence, the sea water molecules expand and take up more volume causing the level of sea rises. The increase in temperature also make the melting of glaciers and ice sheets happen faster which can speed up the rises of sea level. The rising of the sea level will cause the low-lying country to disappear underwater. For instance, Bangladesh has a higher probability to disappear as it is one of the low-lying countries (NASA,2009).


The effect of global warming not only can be seen in term of increasing in temperature but also to the ecosystem including plants, animals and human itself. In many parts of the earth, the four seasons have already changed. Spring occur earlier than usual. The migrating animals have to move in order to survive. The species those are unable to move will facing extinction. The risk of for plague to destroy an ecosystem also increases as the shorter and milder winters fail to kill in insects. For the people of the residents of poor countries, they will suffer a lot as they don’t have enough resources to survive (Holli Riebeek,2007). According to some prediction, the climate change could make about 200 million of people become homeless in 2100 because of flooding and other phenomenon likes hurricanes (NASA,2009).


In order to overcome this problem from getting worse, the right steps should be taken. As a consumer, we can try to use energy as efficiently as we can. To do so, we can use the efficient electrical appliances and also use renewable technology. These steps are believable to reduce the producing of carbon dioxide below 1970 emission (Al-Gore,2007).


Global warming has various potential effects such as increasing in temperature and rising in the sea level. It also gives an effect to the variety of living things. In order to prevent this effects from become more worsen, the right steps should be taken. The main solution is by reducing the emission of carbon dioxide gas by using energy efficiently. Our planet will continue to warm and things getting worse if the right steps to reduce the global warming are not be taken. As a conclusion, all party should lend a hand and give a full commitment in order to save our mother of nature.

RUDD'S NEW TERROR TRAP

by MICHELLE GRATTAN AND DANIEL FLITTON

AUSTRALIA will target people from 10 countries for stringent new visa checks in a push to prevent terrorists getting through the security net.

Visa applicants from countries identified as high-risk will soon have to submit to fingerprinting and facial imaging, known as biometric checking.

The move will be announced today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he releases the government's white paper on counter-terrorism.

The paper warns that since 2004 there has been an increase in the threat from home-grown terrorists - people born or raised in Australia who have been influenced by violent jihadist messages from overseas.

Its assessment is that terrorism has emerged as a persistent and permanent feature of Australia's security environment. The main threat comes from a global jihadist movement, including al-Qaeda and those inspired by a similar world view.

The government will spend $69 million over four years to bring in biometric checks for visa applications from high-risk countries. The program is being undertaken in collaboration with Britain, which already has an extensive screening system.

The 10 locations have been selected but will not be immediately disclosed, to try to stop people slipping through the net before the system is in place. The nations will be announced over the next year.

The profiling of countries risks upsetting some by singling them out while leaving out borderline cases.

The government says the new system will make it easier for immigration authorities to detect people trying to hide their identity, and will lessen the danger of terrorists entering Australia undetected. Biometric data on visa applicants will be matched against data about terrorists, criminals and other ''people of concern'' held by Australia and its foreign partners.

The biometric checks come after the government recently announced $200 million to strengthen aviation security, and amid heightened terrorism concerns in Western countries following the attempt by a Nigerian man with explosive powder in his underwear to bring down a commercial flight in the US on Christmas Day.

In January, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown singled out Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel - areas from Eritrea across Africa to Nigeria - as regions vulnerable to terrorist influence. The US has also increased airport checks, with all citizens from Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen subjected to a pat-down search and extra baggage checks before boarding US-bound planes.

People from nations deemed by the US to be state sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - are also singled out.

Indonesia is not singled out by either the US or Britain, and Australia is likely to follow suit, given its close ties on counter-terrorism with Jakarta.

But Somalia is of special concern to Australian counter-terrorism agencies after four men were arrested in Melbourne in August for allegedly planning an attack on a Sydney army barracks.
ASIO's annual report last year warned that small numbers of Australians continued to look to overseas conflicts for inspiration and to learn tactics and techniques used by extremists.
Links to terrorist outfits in Pakistan are another big focus, with al-Qaeda's leaders thought to be hiding in the lawless tribal lands along the border with Afghanistan.

The white paper says there have been counter-terrorism successes since 2004, including pressure on al-Qaeda leaders and action against terrorists in South-East Asia. But these have been offset by the rise of groups, such as in Somalia and Yemen, inspired by al-Qaeda.
The paper cites the July 2005 London bombings as a turning point in locally generated attacks in Western democracies.

Five men sentenced in Sydney this month for up to 28 years for terrorist-related crimes included Australian-born and naturalised citizens.


http://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/news/national/national/general/rudds-new-terror-trap/1758252.aspx?storypage=0

Only renewable energy for Adelaide in 40 years
By Brett Williamson

A fully sustainable and 100 per cent renewable energy source for Adelaide within four decades, that is the hope of Dr Harry Lehmann, a visiting energy expert.

Dr Lehmann, head of Environment Planning and Sustainable Strategies for the Federal Environment Agency of Germany is visiting Adelaide this week as a guest of the Australian Solar Energy Society and UniSA, hosting lectures and speaking with community leaders about how our city could turn off the coal fired power stations and move completely to renewable energy.
"With the right types of demand and supply management, it is possible to achieve a fully renewable energy supply," Dr Lehmann said.

"Not today clearly, we will need time to ... build up not only wind energy but the other renewable energies."

By utilising storage systems and managing supplies, Dr Lehmann believes the Adelaide could be self-sufficient on renewable energy sources, with the country eventually becoming a power exporter.

"You have much more potential; you have much more renewable energy than we [have] in Europe."

Dr Lehmann believes SA will strive forward in the areas of wind, solar and geo-thermal production, and will be able to make strong inroads into cutting power consumption by utilising solar heating and cooling, and wave energy.

To be a strong user of renewable energy, Dr Lehmann says we need to quickly become an industry producer of the technology that is used to convert the resources into power.
"This industry that produces the technology is a start up industry which, in future, will have a much higher importance than the automotive industry.

"In Germany, for example, we have already over 300,000 people working in the renewable energy industry, more or less half of that linked to export technology."

By increasing our current renewable energy production and investing in other types of production and storage, Dr Lehmann believes we could accomplish a fully renewable power supply within 40 years.

"I'm very optimistic that I will see the first 100 per cent renewable energy region in the next decade in Europe, in communities, and then it will grow and probably South Australia and Australia will be in the game of being 100 percent in three or four decades."

Dr Lehmann will speak at the Structure and Dynamic of a 100 percent Renewable Energy Supply for South Australia conference at the University of South Australia City campus from 7:30pm, Thursday 18 February 2010.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/02/17/2822625.htm

Miss this kids very much...Husna,Nani,Humaira & Nina...
Spent the 2 months holiday with them such a meaningful time to me..their crying, coquettish and 'naughty' make me happy even so tired....next holiday we meet again k...:)