We have seen the future of water, and it is Cape Town
Peter H. Gleick
Water crises are getting worse all over the world.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-gleick-cape-town_us_5a7cac75e4b08dfc93019ac2?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
Today’s Celebration
Armed Forces Day Liberia
Kenkokukinen no Hi / National Foundation Day Japan
Youth Day Cameroon
Anniversary of Lateranensi Pacts Vatican City State
International Day of Women & Girls in Science http://womeninscienceday.org/
World Marriage Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/marriage-day/
Make a Friend Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/make-a-friend-day/
Satisfied Staying Single Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/satisfied-staying-single-day/
Get Out Your Guitar Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/get-out-your-guitar-day/
More about Feb 11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_11
Climate Change
Trump’s infrastructure plan may ignore climate change. It could be costly.
President Trump wants to spend $1.5 trillion on rebuilding roads and bridges, but failing to account for climate change could add to costs later.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/climate/trump-infrastructure-climate-change.html?mtrref=t.co&gwh=2EE6FFBF7F4A4BF2F2A875F4FCE8BDB3&gwt=pay
Climate cabal purges ‘deniers’
Julie Kelly
The climate cabal is in a panic. The Trump Administration is systematically dismantling President Obama’s climate change legacy: Federal agencies are scrubbing references to climate change, President Trump announced the United States would exit the Paris Climate Accord, and his cabinet is peddling American-made fossil fuels around the world.
https://amgreatness.com/2018/02/09/climate-cabal-purges-deniers/
Victoria
Wild thunderstorms lash Victoria
Thousands are without power after wild storms have hit Victoria.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/38898451/severe-thunderstorms-hit-victoria/
Victorian bushfire under control
Emergency services will remain overnight at the scene of a bushfire in Victoria’s northwest.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/38898369/water-bombers-help-fight-vic-bushfire/
State’s recycling crisis set to overflow
Last-minute talks have failed to find a solution to Victoria’s looming recycling crisis after Visy said it would no longer accept rubbish from as many as 20 regional councils.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/deadline-talks-fail-to-solve-regional-councils-recycling-crisis/news-story/499a66a69a0dfaaa13ec24229d9a61e2
Power customers to get up to $180 for outage
Victorians left without power for long periods during last month’s heatwave will receive financial compensation under a $5 million package to be announced on Sunday.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/electricity-suppliers-agree-to-compensate-outage-customers-in-5m-plan/news-story/dce1ae84fe237b190a8eb310c1a4bc01
Recycling crisis: True goal is zero waste going to landfill
Richard Fine
After years of doing the right thing by separating our garbage Victorians are now being told that all that recycling could be, well, a waste of time.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/recycling-crisis-true-goal-is-zero-waste-going-to-landfill-20180208-h0vs3r.html
New South Wales
Bushfire burns out of control near Orange
A bushfire is burning out of control in the Great Dividing Range, just near Orange.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/38899817/bushfire-burns-out-of-control-near-orange/
Queensland
Heatwave to hit Queensland with temperatures tipped to reach up to 46C
Queensland is set to experience a heatwave early next week, with some towns reaching higher than average temperatures for this time of year as part of a stretch of hot weather that could last as long as a week.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/heatwave-to-hit-queensland-with-temperatures-as-high-as-46c/9417732
Report warns of dire future for Coral Triangle reef fish
Popular species like grouper and wrasse could be gone from dining tables in decades as trade drives wild populations to the brink of collapse.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2018/feb/10/report-warns-of-dire-future-for-coral-triangle-reef-fish
Queensland mining council calls for Adani support
Queensland Resources Council boss Ian Macfarlane has called on Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government to put its weight behind Adani as it faces further setbacks to its proposed coal mine.
http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/queensland-mining-council-calls-for-adani-support-20180209-p4yzvi.html
The truth about Adani coal project
John McCarthy
Adani’s Carmichael coal project has entered a weird neverland where politics and business clash. It should never have been this difficult, this complex or this divisive
http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/adani-mine-future-still-up-in-the-air-as-business-and-politics-collide/news-story/49be803efdf3778dc180b3c626e039cc
South Australia
SA picks site for state-owned power plant
A permanent site has been selected for South Australia’s state-owned gas power plant.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/a/38895598/sa-picks-site-for-state-owned-power-plant/
SA’s bushfire complacency must be hosed down
Lainie Anderson
Bushfire prevention is lagging in SA — and residents in danger zones are entitled to ask if the Weatherill Government is taking this burning issue seriously, asks Lainie Anderson.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/lainie-anderson-fire-safeguards-lagging-so-where-does-all-the-emergency-services-levy-money-go/news-story/47e9e24e709d58b632048be934069dec
Tasmania
Man-made nests boost shy albatross breeding season
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/5219280/man-made-nests-boost-shy-albatross-breeding-season/?cs=95
Libs stole Sorell bus solution: ALP
Labor has come out spruiking its public transport solution for Sorell a day after the Government, accusing the Liberals of stealing its policy.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/liberals-stole-sorell-bus-solution-says-tasmanian-labor/news-story/ef8a37e285295ed62f3c7d18ca401687
Northern Territory
Fracking fight must be honest
NT News editorial
In a few weeks time we will have a clear picture of the economic direction the Northern Territory will take.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/opinion/fracking-fight-must-be-honest/news-story/b74a1ad5164b5d13a12f2534bc98f4f0
Western Australia
Port Kennedy fire ‘deliberately lit’
A fire burning close to homes in Perth’s south appears deliberately lit.
https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/port-kennedy-fire-deliberately-lit-bc-5730686071001
Sustainability
Architecture was meant to solve the housing crisis, instead it betrayed us
Once driven by social responsibility and the dream of affordable housing for all, architects now favour profits over people, architectural theorist Reinier de Graaf says.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/architecture-nearly-solved-the-housing-crisis/9409818
Landowners and companies in new battle for mine that triggered Bougainville Crisis
The race to reopen one of the world’s biggest copper mines, Panguna, is dividing landowners and the wider community in Bougainville as a referendum for independence looms.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/bougainvilles-panguna-mine-continues-to-divide/9406322
We have seen the future of water, and it is Cape Town
Peter H. Gleick
Water crises are getting worse all over the world.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-gleick-cape-town_us_5a7cac75e4b08dfc93019ac2?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
Nature Conservation
These city dragons are ‘evolving at a pace we can witness’
Humans are now driving environmental change so quickly that we are witnessing what is called “rapid evolution” and water dragons found in city parklands — island-like, human-made ecosystems — are starting to move away from being water dragons, and evolving into something else.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/water-dragons-are-evolving-at-a-pace-we-can-witness/9415990
Now for something completely different …
Australia not a country: Sacked professor
An online adjunct professor incorrectly told a student that Australia isn’t a country and gave her a failing grade, prompting Southern New Hampshire University to replace the instructor.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/australia-not-a-country-sacked-professor/news-story/0ef781b7e016185fa793bc50a5871624
Maelor Himbury