Tropical Island Paradise

There are many times when I realise that I am living on a tropical island paradise. These islands are very beautiful – no cats, no cane toads, no broad acre farming, no wide spread logging. In many ways the islands are as they were in 1788.

In the evenings out fishing on one of the many creeks the still water reflects everything.

The waterfall at Taracumbi on Melville Island runs clear and clean all year.

At the Nine Mile waterhole on the road to Milikapiti. This waterhole is clear and fresh during the wet, and becomes stagnant during the dry.

The yellowing grass at the Nine Mile waterhole, clouds and rain coming in. The end of the wet.

Long grass at Purrampurnali near Milikapiti at the end of the wet.

How Much is the Earth Worth?

The European Union pledged US$10 billion at Copenhagen to fight global warming over the next four years.

To put this in perspective:

US$2 trillion: global entertainment and media spending by 2011;
US$1.46 trillion: global military expenditure at current prices, and has been rising in recent years;
US$700 billion: banks’ bailout
US$144 billion in 2011: global gambling industry estimate up from the current $101.6 billion;
US$210 to $665 billion: global cost of alcohol-related problems in 2002;
US$141 billion in 2012: global sports market.