Adventure Ausrama Blog

Insects and animals are moving to different regions. As climate changes with Queensland and Western Australia becoming tropical far down the coast insects are leaving their native areas. Mosquitoes are in epidemic proportions in Brisbane and they are even reaching Sydney. More than a million people a year die from malaria. Many recover but become very sick. The illness does return to sufferers in future years. It is not just the warmth that attracts mosquitoes thus spreading the disease. A hotter climate means more rain that the insects thrive in. They breed in pools of water trapped in all kinds of crevices. Certain kinds of mosquitoes transmit different disease. Dengue fever,  Yellow fever virus,  chikungunya, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria are all spread by mosquitoes. They get to new regions in people's belongings due to increasing world travel. The dangerous insect is taking over virgin ground rapidly. A few years ago the chikungunya virus ...

Human societies change as the climate changes. Man is a clever animal. He uses his mind to overcome obstacles in nature. When we came down from the trees the first changes were made. This sped up our evolution to become more intelligent. With evolutionary advancement certain things are lost. Tree clearing has led to an unforeseen event : languages are disappearing. Some, usually forest living , people speak more than a dozen languages. However, their tribes are decreasing in number as more contact with advanced societies and destruction of the environment they live in continues. Papua New Guinea still has about 1,000 languages. Isolation is diminishing so more dialects are lost as times goes on. It has been said that as biodiversity falls so languages decrease in number. However, less biodiversity is an effect of less forestation rather than a causal factor. Forest living people are moving to cities to find work as their livelihood disappears. Furthermore, g...

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 ...

Be careful when you travel abroad - you could bring something unwanted home with you. In 2002 Alfred Heliah and his wife Helene accompanied research scientists on a trip to Peru. They volunteered to assist in the study of red and green macaws. During their visit they were constantly attacked by biting insects. Though they wore protection right down to their wrists they were bitten black and blue. On their return home the wounds slowly healed. While shaving one morning Alfred noticed what he thought were pimples on the side of his chin. They didn't hurt, but over time they grew larger. They eventually burst, becoming shallow ulcers oozing a yellow discharge. Treating them with antibiotic ointment had no affect.  A new lump appeared and he thought it was time to see a doctor. After being told by Alfred that he had recently returned from the tropics in Peru, doctors at the local hospital believed that he had leishmanisis that could devour the flesh on his face. It causes maj...

Be careful what you put on your skin - the skin absorbs chemicals on its surface. In other words your body consumes and ingests things like soap and toxins in engine oil, etc. Little research is done on this serious issue. In New Zealand a dangerous chemical which lowers IQ in children has been found in sunscreens. It is as damaging as lead paint. Even spraying the chemical into the air where is can be breathed in and ingested can lower IQ. Piperonyl butoxide is also present in insect spray. Cancer Society products even contain the substance. Low vitamin D has been blamed for many diseases when in fact it could be trace chemical in commonly used household goods. If vitamin D deficiency is causal then people in temperate countries would have higher cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, autism, depression and ADHD than those in tropical regions. This is only true for some of these illnesses. Too say 31 per cent of Australians in this hot country are deficient is ridiculous. h...

The northern part of Australia is getting hotter, but it is no drier. A comparison of data from the 1950s and the present shows the borders between rain forest and eucalyptus forest remained the same. However, the density of rain forest increased by 732 ha. Neither drainage, geology, topography, aspect or elevation are responsible. The climate has definitely changed. Despite a series o f El Nino dry spells since the 1950s, the country is becoming wetter. This rain forest expansion has slowed over the last 2000 years, with 25 per cent being tall open forest. Eucalyptus forests are spread out in irregular shaped pockets which are very stable. Higher CO 2 is responsible for the increasing density of rain forest. The humidity keeps damage from fires low. Overall, this is good news for the world generally. Brazilian rain forest stores 250-300 C ha –1 (carbon per hectare) . Though Australian rain forest stores less, it is still significant. There is a possibility that local f...