So it’s come to this then.
Kevin Rudd doesn’t get to to go to Copenhagen with an ETS in his pants, which probably means he’ll sulk and won’t go at all.
This is clearly bad news, particularly if you live within a 100m flat stroll to the beach.
Actually, make that 140m, because up-to-the-minute science tells us sea levels are now going to rise 1.4m by 2100, not one metre as was originally suggested all of, ooh, two weeks ago.
Remember, kids - one centimetre up equals one metre in.
We found out about this new science just now because it was prepared in time for another impotent summit under way at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
Fifty years ago, almost to the day, the Antarctic Treaty Summit was signed by 12 nations because they too, realised the South Pole was a troublemaker.
These days it’s because bits of it on one side keep falling off into the sea at a faster rate than bits of it on the other side are growing, but way back in 1959, it was because bits of it were being eyed off by superpowers.
And given that in just under a weeks’ time, most of the discussion in Copenhagen will be centred around how to stop the profusion of greenery and aliens suddenly sprouting up all over the driest continent on Earth, perhaps more attention should be paid this week to the summit which centres around who actually owns the godforsaken thing.
Which is to say, nobody does, according to the Antarctic Treaty. Except Australia, NZ, France, Norway and the UK. According to the Antarctic Treaty.
In fact, the powers in Copenhagen could do a lot worse than run their eyes over the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which is about as pacifying and accommodating as treaties can get.
The 12 original signatories agreed that Antarctica would be neutral territory, owned by no nation, but with a clause that no interpretion of the treaty should be seen as “a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica”.
So while the rest of the world are free to pretend they can claim a slice of it in 2041, when the treaty expires, those who already claim a piece of it are also free to pretend they own it.
Everyone kicks a goal.
But while this sounds ideal, up until now that’s only been because Antarctica has been covered with a mile-thick sheet of ice and inhabited by singing penguins and algae.
Yet if the rate of melting continues at the same rate of scientists one-upping each other on accelerating predictions of ice-melt, dear old Antarctica will be looking more like the Andes by, say, 2140.
And because by then we’ll all be confined to Uluru, the Snowys and Tasmania, we’ll be cursing ourselves if we don’t do something about making Clause IV stick for eternity, mainly because as far as signatories go, we’re by far the biggest stakeholder.
Antarctica is about 1.3 times bigger than Europe, and according to Clause IV (agreed to by nearly 50 nations these days, but remember, only recognised by Australia, NZ, France, Norway and the UK), we own 60 per cent of it
It’s pretty high - some of the mountains rise to 4500m and most of it is 1500m above sea level, which in 2140 will put it a comfortable 1440m above sea level after the last block of ice drains away into the Great Southern Ocean.
It’s full of coal and surrounded by oil and gas. And by all reports - well, one - it’s believed to hold 50 billion barrels of oil, more than double the known reserves in the US.
Not altogether surprisingly, with peak oil approaching, the US has reserved the right to claim a slice of Antarctica in 2041, particularly given the current ban on mining in Antarctica ends in 2048.
The Russians will stake their 2041 claim on the assertion that the redivision should be based on who got to Antarctica first. Namely, the Russians.
Somehow, you can’t help but get the feeling Australia might be little short-changed when this wheeling and dealing begins.
So here’s my message to Kevin Rudd - pull our troops out of Afghanistan and send them to protect our wint’ry Southern wastes pronto.
We’re going to need all the elevated land we can get.
Kevin Rudd doesn’t get to to go to Copenhagen with an ETS in his pants, which probably means he’ll sulk and won’t go at all.
This is clearly bad news, particularly if you live within a 100m flat stroll to the beach.
Actually, make that 140m, because up-to-the-minute science tells us sea levels are now going to rise 1.4m by 2100, not one metre as was originally suggested all of, ooh, two weeks ago.
Remember, kids - one centimetre up equals one metre in.
We found out about this new science just now because it was prepared in time for another impotent summit under way at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
Fifty years ago, almost to the day, the Antarctic Treaty Summit was signed by 12 nations because they too, realised the South Pole was a troublemaker.
These days it’s because bits of it on one side keep falling off into the sea at a faster rate than bits of it on the other side are growing, but way back in 1959, it was because bits of it were being eyed off by superpowers.
And given that in just under a weeks’ time, most of the discussion in Copenhagen will be centred around how to stop the profusion of greenery and aliens suddenly sprouting up all over the driest continent on Earth, perhaps more attention should be paid this week to the summit which centres around who actually owns the godforsaken thing.
Which is to say, nobody does, according to the Antarctic Treaty. Except Australia, NZ, France, Norway and the UK. According to the Antarctic Treaty.
In fact, the powers in Copenhagen could do a lot worse than run their eyes over the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which is about as pacifying and accommodating as treaties can get.
The 12 original signatories agreed that Antarctica would be neutral territory, owned by no nation, but with a clause that no interpretion of the treaty should be seen as “a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica”.
So while the rest of the world are free to pretend they can claim a slice of it in 2041, when the treaty expires, those who already claim a piece of it are also free to pretend they own it.
Everyone kicks a goal.
But while this sounds ideal, up until now that’s only been because Antarctica has been covered with a mile-thick sheet of ice and inhabited by singing penguins and algae.
Yet if the rate of melting continues at the same rate of scientists one-upping each other on accelerating predictions of ice-melt, dear old Antarctica will be looking more like the Andes by, say, 2140.
And because by then we’ll all be confined to Uluru, the Snowys and Tasmania, we’ll be cursing ourselves if we don’t do something about making Clause IV stick for eternity, mainly because as far as signatories go, we’re by far the biggest stakeholder.
Antarctica is about 1.3 times bigger than Europe, and according to Clause IV (agreed to by nearly 50 nations these days, but remember, only recognised by Australia, NZ, France, Norway and the UK), we own 60 per cent of it
It’s pretty high - some of the mountains rise to 4500m and most of it is 1500m above sea level, which in 2140 will put it a comfortable 1440m above sea level after the last block of ice drains away into the Great Southern Ocean.
It’s full of coal and surrounded by oil and gas. And by all reports - well, one - it’s believed to hold 50 billion barrels of oil, more than double the known reserves in the US.
Not altogether surprisingly, with peak oil approaching, the US has reserved the right to claim a slice of Antarctica in 2041, particularly given the current ban on mining in Antarctica ends in 2048.
The Russians will stake their 2041 claim on the assertion that the redivision should be based on who got to Antarctica first. Namely, the Russians.
Somehow, you can’t help but get the feeling Australia might be little short-changed when this wheeling and dealing begins.
So here’s my message to Kevin Rudd - pull our troops out of Afghanistan and send them to protect our wint’ry Southern wastes pronto.
We’re going to need all the elevated land we can get.
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