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Science: Fagus Nothofagus gunnii is Australia's only temperate deciduous tree. Australia has always been very hot. So hot in fact that only a few deciduous trees ever evolved. True some have been brought from other countries and the trees do grow in the cooler regions of Australia today. However, except for small pockets in the tropics evergreens predominate. Trees which drop there leaves prefer a fixed unchanging climate. Australia is where the unexpected happens. Like the present where we are having a long hot end to summer and it is unusually wet. Evergreens can adapt and take off when conditions are favorable. When deciduous trees lose there leaves it could rain heavily, but they can no longer absorb the moisture. Conversely, putting out leaves when it dry for months on end is totally ineffective. Hold onto your leaves is the moto. When it rains evergreens are ready to push on to further growth. Australia has one lonely temperate deciduous tree. And wouldn&

"Will it ever stop raining?" Funny Animal Photos frog raining leaf umbrella Adventure Australia Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews ● ✤ Vista Computer Solutions Blog ✤ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . brown frog leaf umbrella leaves wet make sitting shelter dry hiding cover protection hold CLEVER FROG MAKES UMBRELLA FROM LEAF

Man like other animals has inherited a fine sense of smell from ancestors who did not have technology to know things that would help them survive. The environment gives out smells when something changes. Because we now mostly live indoors these smells do not come to our attention. However, they still exist. Before it begins to rain the air falls and oil is released from the earth. A special odour is notable. CSIRO has named this smell " petrichor" . It seems no one had given it a named before. The particular smell was made public in 1964 when Isabel Bear wrote a paper which was published in Nature journal. Mineralogists were first aware of it and mentioned the odour in text books but little was made of the smell. Aboriginals would have know of it because oils given off before rain are stronger after drought. The word "mattiak ka attar" is used in Asia to describe the odour trapped in sandalwood oil to enhance the perfume. Scientists at CSIRO i

While a new very strong El Niño is on the way, fears of continuing La Niña are real as well. Although Australia is known as a drought country, severe floods are damaging. This is because the continent is flat with a few mountains in the east of the country. If the El Niño does not arrive flooding will continue. Furthermore, the drought in the US will cause further damage to their economy. The odd thing at the moment is that Australia has drought inland with flooding along the coast. This isn't s normal state of affairs. It could be due to global warning. We have had a very long intermediate period where La Niña persists and El Niño threatens. Research shows that La Niña will return every 13 years instead of 23 years. It seems to Australians that La Niña has been here for ever with the long intermediate period persisting. There are extreme El Niño and La Niña though. And it is these that do the most damage economically and socially. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴

The future does not look good for Australia. People fail to grasp the fact that as climate change "bites" the economy will suffer. Erratic weather patterns will affect food production. There will be shortages and prices will rise. Insurance will become unaffordable as claims get bigger and disasters happen more often. Just one incident on November 27 caused a half a billion dollars of damage in Brisbane. At present, crises seem to be occurring more often. We are told this isn't yet the case, but they are getting stronger. Hotter more humid conditions are causing this. Water will surely lead to some damage. Strong winds will be the greatest danger. Only strong storms hitting populated areas are reported, yet they happen all over the country. There is a concentration on the Eastern Seaboard, however. Another increasing problem is hail. More of it means a higher number cars will be written off. Storms are predicted to double by the end of the cen

As soon as inland rain arrives at Australian lakes, the banded stilt water bird makes its presence felt as well. It somehow knows that the rains have started from several hundred miles away.  This useful ability determines their way of life. They don't hang about long. Rainfall will be limited so they move on to the next fresh rains spot. Birds were tagged with satellite transmitters. One bird flew directly to a saline wetland 1,000 miles away in two days. Another bird got there four days later, but the destination for both was the same. Banded stilts do not have to migrate for improved feeding conditions. Their inbuilt system allows them to always find water. Why don't other birds do this? Obviously, evolution is "hit-and-miss". Animals develop abilities purely by chance. This is why evolution is successful. Animals move into niches that line up with their attributes. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/

"Sod off!  This one's taken." Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vista Computer Solutions Blog        Australian Blog ★                          ALL BLOG ARTICLES · ──► ( BLOG HOME PAGE) Share Article

Everyone knows that Australia is a hot country, perhaps not as hot as Africa. Nonetheless, it can get "stinking hot" here. In the past, some regions have experienced 10 days or more with temperatures close to 40 degrees Centigrade (100 Fahrenheit). We are going through a cool period now with La Niña . However, this winter has been the warmest on record. There seems to be rain along the coast, hardly any inland. This is an odd situation. La Niña should make it wet everywhere. Australians treat heat as a way of life, knowing that the cool will end and the scorchers will soon arrive. Most do not know that heat is the country's greatest killer. If asked in the street, most would not believe this. Combine deaths caused by bushfires, storms and cyclones. The number will not be near as many who die from heat. Research has shown that most heat related deaths occur on January 27. This is a day after Australia Day, a bank holiday where people celebrate wit

As carbon pollution continues what will happen to the Australian climate? We have just had the warmest May on record and are heading for the mildest winter ever. This will probably mean a stinking hot summer. Heat is rising while places like the United States are getting extremely cold conditions. This is mainly due to a permanent change in the Gulf Stream. Because Australia is large open savannah, it does store carbon, but storage is only short term. It will be released again further down the track. Ironically, plants are absorbing more anthropogenic CO2 (man-made) than ever before. It seems the high level of carbon is making flora work harder. Forget pollution from cars it is maintenance of the Amazon Rain Forest that is important. As more land is cleared to make money residual carbon in the atmosphere will rise. A change "is" taking place. Arid areas like Australia are getting greener. Warmer conditions seem to increase rain and plant growth. This

It seems the first signs of general acceptance of extreme weather from climate change are forming. Some scientists are openly declaring that change in weather patterns will be permanent or worsen as climate change takes hold. This past year has been one of the wettest on record in eastern Australia. This is blamed on damage to the environment by human activity. Change is regional with heavy rains in Europe, east Asia and Oceania. The US and Africa were very dry. Greenhouse gasses caused a warming of oceans. This put more moisture into the atmosphere to fall as rain in the large land masses of Europe, Asia and Oceania. A downpour occurred in New Zealand that was a once in 500 years event. Just  why the US remains dry is a problem. It should have received more rain, but weather patterns tends to vary around the world due a balancing effect in humidity. Hurricane Sandy indicates the probable future damage from extreme weather due to climate change. Rising sea levels inc