I NOTE John Mulhearn's assertion that "The northern hemisphere had a severe winter with Greenland ice caps increasing in size" (Letters, 11/6). To clarify what I believe he is referring to, a single glacier (the Jakobshavn glacier) was reported to have gained mass over the past three years due to a periodic shift in ocean currents called the North Atlantic Oscillation. This short-term increase in ice thickness has not reversed the total ice loss in that glacier documented over the previous two decades due to global warming. Meanwhile, Greenland's entire ice sheet has continued to melt at a rate that has been unprecedented for centuries. The progress of global warming, unfortunately, can not be predicted or denied by a single glacier or a single cold day. The scientific evidence has been evaluated comprehensively in the reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which cites a wide variety of interdisciplinary research. The best available evidence over the last three decades indicates that slowly but surely the world is heating, and unless we act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions our children face an unhealthy future due to climate breakdown.
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Dr Kathleen Wild, Mayfield
Vibe of annexation
THANKS to The Castle just about everyone knows about "...justice, Mabo and the vibe.....yeah it's the vibe". Our problem with Maitland City Council over the bicycle path through the front of our property on Cessnock Road, Maitland, is that we, despite our best efforts, have been unable to find, and council has been unable to produce, any evidence of payment to anyone for the approximately 936 square metres of land in question. We believe the council is confusing annexation (resumption by Gazettal in 1969) with possession. The land has never been occupied or possessed by the Crown or council. The Valuer-General considers the bounds of the property to be at those set by the subdivision of 1950. We believe Maitland council concurs having set and accepted payment of rates based on the valuation of the land area established by the Valuer-General. In our opinion, the passage of time since the alleged annexation well exceeds limits set by the annexing power itself.
Anne Maree and Terry Bourke, Maitland
Going down with the ship
JOHN Mulhearn, (Letters, 12/6), atmospheric warming or cooling, changes climate. That explains the two terms, warming from more GHG, which causes change.
The reporting, not a matter of belief, of the supreme authority on climate and weather, of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's meticulous monitoring, of climate and weather, means it is now a civilisation caused emergency, from increasing heat in the atmosphere.
The world seems helpless to act. Titanic's Captain Smith had a shipload of those who believed the vessel was unsinkable, the Captain not one of them. The designer was on board, to advise the ship would soon sink. Many of the lifeboats were not even half full, for people would not listen to the experts. Planet Earth has no lifeboats. All that fossil comes from "quick" climate change, not allowing buried carbon-rich life to decompose.
The record lows were expected, but disappear in the next 50 years. Stronger and changing air currents are carrying polar air to far flung places.
In recent years the US has been stopped in its tracks, snap frozen. The strongest economy looked like Bambi caught in the headlights.
Graeme Tychsen, Rankin Park
No surprises in raid
RECENT raids by Australian Federal Police (AFP) have stirred up great media interest. An early morning raid on the home of News Corp journalist, Annika Smethurst, was briefly covered by the ABC. But the so-called "raid" on ABC offices the next day had the ABC talking about it on-air all day. ABC staff was outraged. Like witches to their broomsticks, the ABC rushed to victimhood. But was it a raid? It occurred at a mutually-agreed day/time in ABC offices in business hours. Not at a private home. Six ABC cameramen and some lawyers were there to meet the two or three polite and well-dressed officers when they arrived. They then followed and filmed the AFP officers as they worked through offices. What was found? I believe the only thing the AFP found in the ABC was left-wing bias. A futile, but intimidating gesture really since we already knew about ABC bias.
Peter Devey, Merewether
Plenty in war chest
FOR those who wonder why I persist in writing letters about Australia's involvement in the Middle East's civil wars that was deceitfully initiated nearly two decades ago by the Howard government, consider this. Putting aside the loss of life and the fact that it put Australia in more unnecessary danger than it should have been in, the financial cost to this has been enough to wipe out all our debt and have all services fully funded and doing the job they were designed for. Therefore I believe the government has an obligation to explain to the public why there is an unlimited line of credit to fund a controversial and what is now considered an unwise decision (though never talked about) but the Australian people have got to accept broken understaffed systems, which is in reality putting a handbrake on the development of the country.
Allan Earl, Beresfield
City needs services
I AM writing to register my deep concern at the statistics presented in the article, "Maitland Hospital experiences increase in emergency department presentations," (Maitland Mercury,12/6). As the Mercury article points out, effectively one-tenth of the Maitland population went through our local emergency department in the first three months of the year, and more of them arrived by ambulance than ever before. While the statewide trend shows growth in both emergency department patients and ambulance responses across the state, research by my office confirms Maitland is well above the NSW average on both counts. This is not surprising. Our city has consistently recorded the state's fastest-growing population outside of Sydney. Our population jumped by 25 per cent in the decade to 2018 and shows no signs of slowing down. The Berejiklian government must deliver adequate resources to the Maitland area and our abysmal per capita ratio of road ambulances must be addressed as a priority. We have an estimated population of around 85,000 and one dedicated road ambulance. This is simply not good enough. I will continue to make representations to Brad Hazzard, Minister for Health, and the Premier to support the calls of our paramedics as they fight for more ambulance resources in regional areas including Maitland.
