Our speaker last week was Lauriston Muirhead. His talk was about climate change caused by humans. He told us that there is no doubt that there has been natural climate change over the history of the earth. However, this has accelerated since the industrial revolution and in particular since 1900. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are formed from plants etc that die and decompose. As part of this process, CO2 is stored. When we take these resources out of the ground and use them, the CO2 is released into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning that the net result is that temperatures rise. There is no doubt that this can also occur due to natural reasons. The issue is that they CO2 is currently being released at such a fast rate that the earth is no longer coping. We know that CO2 levels are increasing because we can take ice core samples that contain bubbles. We can then measure the amount of CO2 in these bubbles and map them against the era in which they were formed. Increasing amounts of CO2 result in:

1. Melting snow and ice with the attendant increase of sea levels
2. Longer droughts
3. More intense bushfires
4. More intense rainfall events that occur less frequently
5. More energy from CO2 results in weather systems becoming more powerful i.e stronger winds, hotter sun, different rainfall patterns etc

To help fix this, we need to:

1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
2. Increase non-carbon energy alternatives
3. Contain population growth
4. Extract carbon from the atmosphere by planting more trees and similar activities
5. Climate engineering.

There are moral and risk management issues with dealing with this problem. Lauriston was adamant that it’s time to act!

It was fantastic to present David Gordon with his PHF last week. It’s hard to imagine a more committed Rotarian. There doesn’t appear to be a job description that he doesn’t know and has quietly done for us over the years. He has his finger on the finances, conference, Foundation, attends all social functions, quietly checks on welfare of members, keeps a photo record of our club, backs the arts, has a wealth of corporate knowledge and never seeks praise. We are lucky to have him!

Last week’s speaker was Arran MacDougall, from Albury Wodonga Men’s Group. The aim of this group is to improve mental health. Arran told us that suicide is still the leading cause of death for young men. Often, this is because they allow things to fester rather than confiding in people that they trust. This is particularly damaging for their well-being; participating in the Men’s Group gives them a chance to speak in a safe environment. Arran said that boys are tender when young and this is conditioned out of them as they get older. Within the Men’s Group, it’s ok to have conflicting ideas, although all participants need to approach issues from a position of compassion and understanding. We were told that it simply isn’t possible to be positive all the time and that men often express sadness through anger. The aim of the group isn’t to give advice – rather, it’s all about talking through things in a non-judgemental environment.

Kitty Rentsch, (our Rotary Exchange Student, From Norway in 1985), then made a short presentation about what she has been up to for the past 34 years since we last saw her. The most disturbing thing she had to say was about reliving the moment when she saw Ron dancing in a Kilt!

It has been raised by members that they would like to be more fully informed as to Board activities, so I thought that I would devote one President’s Notes per month to letting you all know what the members of the Board have been up to.

At the last meeting, the Board made decisions about the following:

• It was decided to continue offering financial support to the CSU Foundation
• It was decided that we should donate $300 as support to the upcoming Sidney Nolan exhibition at MAMA. This will help enable free entry as a way to make the exhibition more accessible
• It was agreed that the Club will support Happy Family Day, to be held 8 December in the Botanic Gardens. This event is designed to help victims of domestic violence and we will be doing a BBQ
• Around 70-80% of members made a donation to Foundation by paying extra for half yearly subs. This is a very pleasing result
• The Board accepted the quote of $7,238 for a new BBQ trailer
• In relation to Kitenden, Howard reported the following; “Deborah and I will be meeting with Future Warriors in Brisbane on the 15^th and 16^th of November. The objective is to plan the next few years for the Pre School and possible establishment of an English language Primary School located at the same site. We also will be receiving an update on the equipment provided to the Medical Clinic and the Chicken project progress”