Dear Ed,

During the recent Bali Conference on climate change attended by many world leaders, the focus was on trying to reduce green house gas emissions and that people themselves should be doing more to reduce gas emissions.

Not once during that conference, nor in the many statements made after, did anyone mention the huge greenhouse gas emissions being put out by Mother Nature herself every second of every day.

Has anyone noticed the increase in volcanic activity worldwide of late which would be the biggest polluters of the atmosphere anywhere? There are literally hundreds of volcanoes worldwide that are emitting poisonous gasses every hour of every day. They don’t have to be erupting at all, they are there releasing gas pressures that are continually building up inside them for if they didn’t release these poisonous gasses then a possible major eruption would be imminent.

Our closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, has several volcanoes emitting gasses and ash clouds into the atmosphere every day. I have been up close to three of PNG’s largest volcanoes in Bougainville, Rabaul in West New Britain and Mount Uluwin near Bialla in East New Britain and all are emitting gasses and light ash clouds into the air every day. Even in my trips to other Pacific Island nations most had some volcanoes that were emitting gasses into the atmosphere.

There are records throughout history where major volcanic eruptions have changed the earth’s climate and still do to this day. To name a few are Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoua, Mount St. Helens, and the list goes on and on and in each case whole cities and towns were wiped out, thousands of people perished, the landscape changed forever and they all affected the earth’s climate.

Not only does Mother Nature have volcanoes as one of its main polluters but what about the hundreds of lightning strikes worldwide that start major bush fires which in turn send volumes of smoke into the atmosphere virtually every day. Look at the huge number of bush fires in Australia alone that are created by lightning strikes.

What about earthquakes and tsunamis? Anyone of these can cause considerable damage to any place anywhere and in turn contribute to greenhouse emissions by the terrible damage each causes whenever they strike.

If anyone out there can stop Mother Nature from polluting the atmosphere then please let me know.

Charles Betteridge

Dear Ed,
The aftermath of the tornado that hit Dunoon on 26th Oct 2007 was a testing time for the community and although it was not surprising, it was comforting to witness how our community pulled together in a time of crisis.
Shortly after the tornado had passed I was on scene at the southern approach to the village to secure the area. On the whole the co-operation and assistance of residents was to be commended. However, it was a very stressful time for concerned parents trying to get home to their children and for parents in the village trying to get to their children trapped on the school buses on the edge of Dunoon.
Some aggression was directed at the RFS personell who were doing their best to secure the area because of fallen power lines. Members from Tullera brigade who were blocking traffic further down the road at the MIA factory also reported some conflict.
We did not take this aggression as a personal attack, but residents must understand that we are all members of the community who volunteer our services for your benefit. Ensuring everyones safety is our first priority. We were only doing our job – securing the area to prevent any further incident. Please trust us. We have the experience and training to deal with these situations.
To the local ladies who purchased tea, coffee and biscuits from our local store to set up a refreshment area for us in Tamarind Park -
A BIG THANK YOU!
Ross McDougall,
Captain
Dunoon Rural Fire Brigade