Disappointing cat strategy
It is disappointing that the Southern Downs Regional Council’s recently adopted cat management strategy has failed to propose any meaningful action on effective cat control.
After receiving a grant of over $90,000 from the Federal Government in 2020, council has little to show for it. Public education programs are all well and good but they need to be run in conjunction with other control strategies.
The public was invited to complete a survey on cat control last year and then to comment on a draft strategy in July this year. Responses to this showed overwhelming support for compulsory registration and desexing programs and more effective control of feral cats. What is the point of having surveys and inviting public comments on a draft strategy if these are then ignored?
Many other councils throughout Australia have been far more proactive and apart from compulsory registration and desexing, many have also implemented cat confinement policies.
Why is our council missing in action? Responsible cat owners surely want their animals to be safe and healthy and not roaming about causing death to wildlife and a nuisance to neighbours.
Cats have a significant and devastating impact on our native wildlife and as a region with bushland areas of high biodiversity values, uncontrolled cats are decimating wildlife and contributing to the rising feral cat problem. Even if the council does not care about protecting our native wildlife, it surely should be concerned about the impact of cat transmitted diseases on livestock and humans. For example, it has been estimated that cat transmitted toxoplasmosis is costing the Australian health budget $6 billion a year.
The council needs to get serious about this issue and commit more money and staffing resources to tackling this significant environmental problem. After two years, the expenditure of a significant amount of public money and much time of council officers, we haven’t much to show for it except the on-going destruction of our native wildlife.
Liz Bourne, Stanthorpe.
Earth is not a Greenhouse
Warming alarmists claim: “Earth’s atmosphere acts like the glass in a greenhouse“.
This is false.
Glass is largely transparent to incoming solar radiation which warms whatever is inside the greenhouse. If the greenhouse had no walls (like the atmosphere), warmed greenhouse air would rise by convection, escape out via the open sides, and heavy cooler air near to the ground would flow in to take its place. This open “Greenhouse” would stay close to outside temperature.
What causes a real greenhouse to warm is the solid transparent roof and the closed walls. The glass roof welcomes incoming solar radiation but the solid enclosure prevents this warmed inside air from escaping.
In a real greenhouse, operators shut vents to prevent warm air from escaping (or open them when they wish to lower the inside temperature). They also pump CO2 into their greenhouses to encourage plant growth (but the Anti-Greens want to starve plants by restricting CO2).
Earth’s atmosphere has no firm roof or walls. Solar heating at the surface just causes that hot air to rise and it cools either by radiation or adiabatic expansion. It is replaced by cooler air.
Earth is not a greenhouse.
Viv Forbes, Washpool.
