climate change

In the three presidential debates between Mitt Romney and Barak Obama climate change was never mentioned, despite it being raised in all previous campaigns going back to 1988. And then came Hurricane Sandy from the Caribbean. A late season category 1 tropical cyclone that combined with a north-easter from the Arctic to pummel the northern eastern coast of the United States, one of the most populous and industrialised areas on earth.

The Hurricane crossed the coast in New Jersey on Monday night, 29 October, at about 8pm not far from Atlantic City. The storm surge caused widespread flooding leaving coastal towns decimated. The winds of the hurricane caused trees to fall and whipped up a massive 3 to 4 metre storm surge. A full moon and a spring tide also exacerbated the storm surge. 10 metre waves were measured just outside New York Harbour entrance. (See Accuweather Superstorm Sandy Stats)

Related: Skeptical Science - Hurricane Sandy and the Climate Connection | Crops devastated, food crisis looms in Haiti from Hurricane Sandy | Inside Climate News: 3-D Maps Pictured Sandy's Devastation–Five Years Ago | Climate Change, Sea Level Rise and Australia

Newcastle residents and activists protested the lack of consideration of health and climate change effects in the proposed building of a fourth coal terminal at the port of Newcastle, already the world's largest coal port. A peaceful protest and 'lockon' occurred outside The office of NSW Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard last Thursday who is due to consider the merits of the proposal.

Related: Newcastle’s T4 project puts short-term profit before health | Something in the air: time for independent testing in coal areas | Coal Terminal Action Group

A banner drop at a construction site for a new coal loader terminal at the Port of Newcastle in the New South Wales Hunter Valley ended when police instructed the 60 metre crane be lowered to the ground. The Protestors say they were not given warning of this action and alledged it imperiled their lives.

“We are dismayed with the actions of police here today.” said spokesperson Steve Phillips. “We conducted a peaceful protest, with trained and experience climbers, and safety as our priority. NSW Police responded with gross negligence and dereliction of duty, and placed two lives at risk. Our climbers were not even warned before the crane was lowered.”

Related: Climate activists do banner drops in Boggabri and Melbourne against coal rush | Climate Citizen: Climate change causing increase in extreme weather in South Pacific | Not enough water: food production, carbon sequestration and climate change | Arctic sea ice Extent drops to lowest on record and still shrinking

Today (Monday 3rd September), 13 Quit Coal activists have brought the truth about dirty coal to the attention of Victorians in spectacular fashion. Ted Baillieu is planning to turn Victoria into a brown coal quarry, which is predicted to triple our greenhouse gas emissions and contribute significantly to more bushfires, floods, extreme weather conditions and catastrophic climate change. Nine activists locked themselves onto the pillars of Parliament, whilst four others dropped a banner of the roof which had to be removed by Search and Rescue.