Rameka Track Updates

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Martin Langley from the Quiet Revolution Cycle Shop in Takaka called today to report on progress at Rameka. On Sunday he had been up at Canaan Downs in foul weather, so they bailed out early and headed down the Rameka Track to Project Rameka, with Big Bruce taking their vehicle back to Takaka.

Down in the Project they found the first 1.8km of ‘Great Expectations’ in good condition. Then they came across Mr Baigent, accompanied by his two dogs on the track. And the Track! Along the ‘Cliff’ section it was now almost four feet wide!

Rolling on down, Martin passed a lot of his own recent handiwork, as the track now winds out of the pines and down into the scrub for 100 metres. Then it’s time to carry your bike. But at least you can walk through now, and this is largely thanks to Ricky and Patrick Ward who have been hard at work, designing and clearing the route right through to the Rameka Creek Road (just a few hundred metres above the ford).

Good going everyone. We can’t wait to get over there and check it out. For now though, big thanks to Martin for the up-date. We’ll see you in the last week of August for tree planting 🙂

Latest science on sea level rise

Last Tuesday I attended the Inaugural Lecture by Professor Tim Naish – Understanding Ice Sheets and Sea-levels

Project Rameka Trustee Simon Johnson suggested I put some lecture notes on this blog as Dr Nick Smith is currently travelling around the country consulting with the public on emissions targest for 2020. He will be in Nelson on Friday the 17th July. Paul Kennett has put further details on http://www.myonlinediary.com/

Professor Naish gave a fascinating lecture to a packed house. Here is a summary of the notes:

Background: In 2001 IPCC said the max expected sea level rise this century would be 0.88m. Then in 2007 IPCC decided to remove all scientific uncertainties and said it would be 0.18 min to max 0.59m (the range is because there are a range of emissions scenarios – note that earlier this year IPCC said global emissions were higher than their highest scenario had projected). This has resulted in a lot of scientific work to remove the uncertainties.

Prof Naish has specialised in sea level rise, and recently managed the Andril Program in Antarctica where four nations collaborated to get the best icecore samples ever (98% readable), and deeper than ever (1000m). The results correlated surprisingly well with scientific work done in other parts of the world.

In summary, 1.0 m sea level rise this century is now the mainstream expectation in the scientific community.
2m by 2100 is possible if there is ‘Runaway Retreat” (ie, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet erodes rapidly) and some scientists believe that we are seeing the start of this now.

This rise will not be globally uniform.

If, as some expect, runaway retreat happens then parts of the northern hemisphere (ie Canada and the USA) will have 4m sea level rise by 2200.

He finished by saying that Copenhagen negotiations later this year were critical to determine future pathways. The last time we had 350-400 mil ppm co2 in the atmosphere the world was +3-4 degrees warmer (in 1900 we had 280-290 co2 ppm).

He pointed out that 60 million people now live within 1 m of sea level, and that that will grow to 130 million people this century.

In a nutshell, he didn’t want to be scare mongering, but the less that is done, the faster and more severe will be the climate change.

Unfortunately, judging from Dr Nick Smith’s address, our government will be using 2007 science at Copenhagen. This underestimates the impacts of climate change.

Professor Naish’s final slide was of his two small children.

It’s Official!

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Monday 15 June 2009

At long last Project Rameka Incorporated has had its registration accepted by the Charities Commission. This means that you can get a third of your donation to Project Rameka back from IRD.

You can make a donation at the same time as you renew your membership and we will send you a receipt to claim the rebate. You can also tag your donation to anything you’d like the project to focus on (ie, tracks or trees or pest control, etc).

Here’s the membership form again: Membership%20form%202009.doc

Coming Up

For your diaries, tree planting is going to take place on the Project over the last weekend in August. So pencil Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August “Tree Planting Project Rameka” onto your calendars and make the pilgrimage up to the Project for a 10 am start.

Last year, we put 400 plants in the ground. This year, the aim is 1,000 plants. Lots of people have asked to be involved in the tree planting on the project, so we’re confident 1,000 trees can be snuggly rooted into the ground by the end of August.

As an added bonus, the Global Volunteer Network (a tourist venture, offering overseas visitors the chance to give something back to New Zealand’s environment with some serious conservation work) has pledged to come across to the Project every three months from November to get involved in the all essential weeding, watering, and pest control. These trees are going to be given the Rolls Royce treatment.

So, start sharpening your grubbers, booking your tickets, and limbering up for the end of August. See you there!

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