Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
November 2009 | Blog home | January 2010
DATE |
Click on any blog entry to read it |
2 |
|
5 |
|
10 |
|
15 |
|
21 |
|
|
|
I just saw this on the news today. I had heard NZ was in the process of sending a rocket to space and immediately thought of the US space program (NASA). I enjoy learning about the history of the US program, especially the years of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. So I was thinking something similar with a large rocket and a team of scientists and engineers.
Turns out it's 3 young guys with what looks like a model rocket - the type I used to shoot off in the sports fields near where I lived in Colorado. They've set up on a small island just off the northeast coast and their command centre is a small tin shack. At least one of them is wearing a white lab jacket.
Here's the story and the link to the video of the take off - worth a watch to see how things are done Kiwi style.
Here's a web page from 3News dedicated to this feat.
Anyway, good on 'em.
We're recently back from Christchurch where we attend the Pearl Jam concert. Great show but cold, cold, cold (I'd say in the range of 4-6, the low was 2 that night) with a fresh breeze and drizzle. We certainly weren't prepared for the weather. Angela was cold for hours afterwards. Girl sitting in front of us was in a short sleeved shirt and we saw others in shorts. The smarter ones were in down jackets.
Check out the review from Stuff. This article offers some great insight into what really went on.
[Angela here: concert was great even tho Don's the real fan and I knew about five songs. But the crazy drunkards below us in general admission were worth the people watching. And it was cold, cold, cooooooold. And it didn't help that it was wet, wet, wet, raining the entire time.]
Here's our view (although a bit blurry - best Angela's phone could do).
A report published this week by Nelson's Cawthron Institute said that Nelson may look quite different in 2100 if climate change continues at its current pace. Here's the piece in full from the Nelson Mail, and the accompanying image of the map printed along with the article. The link to the full study is at the end. Keep in mind this is one institute's study.
The Nelson Mail
7 December 2009
Large parts of Motueka, central Nelson, the Wood and Tahunanui may be drowned by rising sea levels in 100 years, putting a billion dollars' worth of assets at risk, a new Cawthron Institute climate change report warns.
The report, commissioned by Nelson solar company SolarCity, also shows that Nelson Airport, the Boulder Bank, Trafalgar Park, Waimea Estuary and large parts of Farewell Spit will be at risk.
Cawthron Institute sustainable business group manager Jim Sinner said the estimates "could be considered a worst-case scenario".
"But it's in the likely range of facts if the world continues to experience rapid economic growth based on fossil fuel," he said.
The report was based on new scientific research from Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, including that of Victoria University's Tim Naish. It found sea levels were more likely to rise quicker, contrary to earlier projections.
SolarCity chief executive Andrew Booth said there had been little attention on how much climate change was going to cost communities like Nelson. He commissioned the report because he wanted to know what would happen to Nelson if carbon emissions were not drastically cut by 2020.
Mr Booth, whose business is as a provider in the Nelson City Council's solar-city scheme, hoped to encourage community action and business planning over climate change.
"I don't think any community wants to deal with the types of consequences that Cawthron Institute highlights," he said. "I think everyone would much prefer to pull together to try to reduce their own personal emissions now as much as they can to try to stop it happening."
The report said ratepayers would bear the cost of protecting or relocating community assets vulnerable to flooding. Mr Sinner said if there was a billion dollars at risk, "you don't just plan for the most likely scenarios; you also need to consider the plausible range of effects of what could happen".
However, Nelson MP and Environment Minister Nick Smith said putting the community to "huge expense" on the basis of one scientific report would be "unwise", although town planners needed to take long-term projections into account.
Dr Smith said a rise of 1.9m was significantly more than Niwa was advising the Government. Its prediction was between 0.5m and 0.8m. However, although there was uncertainty about the extent of sea levels rising, climate change still needed to be taken seriously.
"Nelson is responsible for only a fraction of global emissions ... but we still need to do our fair share," he said.
The report also showed a 1m sea-level rise would have water lapping the runways of Nelson Airport, while 1.9m would swamp them. Nelson Airport chief executive Kaye McNabb said that although the area had been flagged as an inundation area for a while, it was the first time she had seen such a "graphic" representation and the report was "sobering reading".
Nelson Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dot Kettle said the chamber welcomed the report, not least because it spelled out the consequences of climate change on the Nelson region very simply.
Ms Kettle urged all business to "take heed of emerging science". A business sustainability audit would help reduce energy costs as well as making a contribution on a bigger scale, she said.
Nelson Marlborough Seafood Cluster executive chairman Ron Heath said the report was based on extreme estimates.
Mr Heath, who is a former assistant vice-chancellor of sciences at Otago University, said the report was based on the Antarctic ice shelves melting, and there was conjecture over whether that would actually happen.
"The estimates are only as good as we understand the models themselves but we just don't understand all the processes. There is still a lot of work to be done."
Nelson city councillor Ian Barker said he thought the evidence to support the conclusions was not credible. There had been an effort in recent years to manipulate the record of temperature to show that there had been a rise in temperature when there had been none.
"So a pragmatic person like myself questions whether man-made emissions have had the effect that could lead to predictions like this. I think we should be more worried about how the world is going to be spending billions of dollars to try to fix something that is not a problem."
Red parts are vulnerable to sea level rise of 1m; yellow area vulnerable to a 1.9m rise.
AT A GLANCE
Nelson in 100 years – impact of a 1.9m rise in sea level and a 2.5-degree rise in temperature:
- Source: Cawthron Report 1699: Effects of Climate Change on the Nelson-Tasman Region. Link to the full report
SmartGate has hit New Zealand. A Mensa scandal you say? Nope, just New Zealand's move to the 21st, uh hold on...22nd century. This state of the art system has just been implemented at Auckland airport and soon to be released in Christchurch and Wellington. It uses facial recognition to confirm identity and should speed up customs processing. Of course as unemployment rates rise, I'm not sure innovating people out of jobs is the best practice but it's cool. Personally I would rather the spend some time and money on figuring out a way to get Ben & Jerry's ice cream delivered to my doorstep but this will be cool once I get a NZ passport, travel overseas, then return.
Check out the video from 3News or read the article.
I've been taking in some of the news on CNN about the abysmal, tragic, worthless Copenhagen debacle - I could keep using dreadful adjectives but I'll spare you. That's all we heard on the news, that is until the very last day when Obama apparently flew in and swooped up an agreement, of sorts.
Copenhagen is a big story here, we are a small country being adversely affected by climate change and what bigger, more powerful countries do matters. I know when I was immersed in American news, rarely did I get an external viewpoint, so I'll share a smattering of news I've collected from this part of the world for you to draw on.
NZ Herald
20 December 2009
Copenhagen deal 'modest start' - NZ ambassador
The United Nations process at Copenhagen was slammed as "appalling" by New Zealand's climate change ambassador yesterday, in comments to international media.
Adrian Macey's strong words were overshadowed only by those of the Sudanese ambassador, who compared the deal to the Holocaust and said it would condemn Africa to widespread deaths from global warming.
Ian Fry, delegate for the low-lying Pacific island state of Tuvalu warned the goal for limiting global warming to a maximum rise of 2C above pre-industrial times would spell "the end for Tuvalu".
Macey emphasised that the deal, brokered by United States president Barack Obama, was a first step in the right direction - but "modest".
Prime Minister John Key had agreed to fly to the Copenhagen summit at the last minute in the hope of an agreement between the 120 world leaders who attended. He was to be disappointed.
Yesterday, Key said the deal - rejected by some Pacific and Latin American countries - didn't go far enough. "What we have at this point is a political statement; we don't have a legally binding agreement," he told reporters.
NZ Herald
19 December 2009Eleventh hour climate deal not enough - Key
By Eloise Gibson
EDITED FOR BREVITY
[picture of article shows Copenhagen protester with big picture of President Obama and a sign on his forehead saying, "Climate Shame."
Big emitters are backing a deal for rich countries to slash emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 under a "Copenhagen accord" that is being hammered out in the dying minutes of climate talks.
The deal falls far short of what was hoped for from Copenhagen and leaves much to be agreed at a follow-up meeting in Mexico to be held sometime next year.
...
Mr Key admitted the outcome would be disappointing to developing countries and said there would be those who thought leaders should have done better. "It is progress but I think it falls well short of expectations and aspirations," he said.
Many world leaders had already left.
Mr Key said New Zealand could meet the draft agreement without budging from its planned cuts of 10-20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2050.
Its contribution to the US$30 billion fund for developing countries would be within the range of NZ$10-50 million a year announced by the Government before the talks.
He said the United States, China, Brazil and India had big roles in drafting the text, which is not legally binding.
It was unclear whether all 193 countries would sign up, and there was doubt over the ability of some countries to meet their pledges, he said.
Rich countries failed to get the two negotiating texts - one for Kyoto parties and one for developing countries - merged into a single document which could have included the United States.
That is a small victory for developing nations, who want Kyoto to carry on but believe that only rich nations should be bound because they carry the lion's share of responsibility for past emissions.
Asked whether the next round of talks in Mexico could be brought forward to the middle of next year, as some have suggested, the Prime Minister said it was possible but the next round should not go ahead without broader agreement.
He said too little had been agreed ahead of Copenhagen: "We've turned up to a blank sheet of paper and that makes the starting point very, very difficult" he said.
"If gains are going to be made in Mexico we need to have greater agreement before we get there."
What do you think of the climate agreement reached at the Copenhagen summit?
By NZ Herald
20 December938 Total Votes
- Good starting point: 89 (9%)
- Ineffective, will make no difference: 849 (91%)
Holiday break'Tis time to ring sleigh bells, build snowmen, and unwrap gifts under the tree next to the fireplace -- except in New Zealand it's more like time to pull out the barbie, fry up the sausies, and put up the fake tree. Christmas in summer, maybe one of these year's it'll catch on. At least this year we have a tree, kinda sorta.
In the spirit of Christmas, we wish you all a happy Christmas, as they say here, and your gift to tide you over while we take a wee break from the website and blog to enjoy time off are pictures of our adorable kitty angel, Livvy.
Here too is a link to a story last Friday about Nelson getting to host three teams from Rugby World Cup, great shots of the city and I was present for a lot of this filming as I'm on communications duty for RWC, so it's cool to see us on TV! (Not me, Nelson!)
Here is our precious angel standing firm wanting some of the good food - she's been spoiled with tuna lately because she's needed to take some medicine, and the only way to get that down her gullet without a battle is with tuna. However, she comes to expect it and here she is trying to get her ways with her sad, 'feed me tuna' eyes.
And then we said no, and she didn't like that answer.
Not settling, she gave us this cross, yet adorable, face.
Later, she's forgotten and is slightly more content, we caught her wee tongue peeking out too!
