Daily Links Mar 3

I posted last year an article saying that Google was no longer bypassing paywalls. This has now happened with News Ltd papers so that it is almost impossible (I think there is an app available though) to read their articles without a subscription. I have indicated these with [$].

Top Post
Some of the world’s biggest lakes are drying up. Here’s why
Boats are stranded; the fish and waterfowl are gone. Fishermen who depended on the lake are moving elsewhere. It’s a diaspora born of drought.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/03/worlds-biggest-lakes-drying-heres/

Today’s Celebration
Declaration of Establishment of Authority of the People  Libya
Martyr’s Day      Malawi
Mother’s Day      Georgia
National Anthem Day    United States of America
National Day       Bulgaria   Morocco
National Unity Day    Sudan
Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival)  Japan
Fete Du Trone      Morocco
World Wildlife Day     http://www.wildlifeday.org/
Parks Week       http://www.parks-week.org/
More about Mar 3       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_3

Climate Change
The freak warm Arctic weather is unusual, but getting less so
Amelie Meyer et al
https://theconversation.com/the-freak-warm-arctic-weather-is-unusual-but-getting-less-so-92590

National
Recycling in Australia is in crisis. Can it be fixed?
It turns out recycling is not so simple, and there are major problems in the Australian industry. Industry leaders say there are some very simple ways it can be repaired.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-03-03/recycling-industry-in-crisis-can-it-be-fixed/9502512

Snowy adds to $60b in ‘off budget spending’
The Snowy-Hydro adds to what could soon grow to more than $60 billion in Commonwealth “off budget spending” that may create unforeseen risks for future governments.
http://www.afr.com/news/economy/snowy-deal-adds-to-60-billion-in-off-budget-spending-that-may-hide-risks-20180302-h0wwc5

Snowy Hydro’s federal takeover refuels debate over 2.0’s viability
Peter Hannam
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/snowy-hydro-s-federal-takeover-renews-debate-over-2-0-s-viability-20180301-p4z2g8.html

These waste tips are mostly rubbish [$]
Susie O’Brien
I’m all for cutting back on single-use plastics and waste — but only as long as we cut out hypocrisy and sanctimonious bloggers as well
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/susie-obrien/susie-obrien-calls-to-minimise-our-waste-sure-do-produce-a-lot-of-rubbish/news-story/3d3307f33e4b920a0c5833c6f2af1707

Inconvenient accounting for State renewables ambitions
Geoff Carmody
Do state and territory claims for renewable energy add up to more than our national total?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19599

Nationals upset farmers over water [$]
Mike Seccombe
A focus on hugely lucrative water buybacks has left the Nationals vulnerable to accusations they have abandoned family farmers.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2018/03/03/nationals-upset-farmers-over-water/15199956005890

Victoria
Aboriginal site steps closer towards world wonder [$]
A15-Year push to list the site of an ancient Victorian Aboriginal community among one of the world’s great wonders is a step closer.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/world-heritage-centre-accepts-nomination-for-budj-bim-cultural-landscape/news-story/b4a8a765af9cab4482d0cf15035bf1dd

New South Wales
How to save Sydney
Elizabeth Farrelly
Say you wanted a walkable, zero-carbon city centre, a genuine city of villages. What would you do?
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/how-to-save-sydney-20180301-p4z2eu.html

Queensland
Shorten says talk about Adani mine ‘dumbing down climate debate’
Labor leader dodges questions about plan to revoke Adani licence if he wins next election
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/02/shorten-says-talk-about-adani-mine-dumbing-down-climate-debate

Shorten ‘doesn’t like’ Adani mine but ‘can’t ban it because of sovereign risk’
After a week of pressure over his stance on the Adani coal mine, the Opposition Leader questions the project’s viability but says creating “massive sovereign risk” is out of the question.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-02/shorten-says-he-cant-ban-adani-mine-because-of-sovereign-risk/9503100

Queensland premier backs renewables over Adani
Federal Labor Leader Bill Shorten this week cast further doubt on whether a future Labor government would support the project.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/queensland-premier-backs-renewables-over-adani-20180302-p4z2l1.html

Severe weather warning as Queensland deluge heads west
Parts of inland Queensland are already copping a drenching as the weather system that caused flooding around Townsville moves west.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/qld/a/39376733/north-qld-deluge-to-ease-on-friday/

Integrated effort driving clean-up challenge [$]
When it comes to giving back to the community, Adam O’Malley believes there’s no better time than on Clean Up Australia Day.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/cairns-man-says-best-back-to-give-back-is-to-clean-up/news-story/3f0142035b1b3418f2e42c428a101d45

Dogs killing Straddie wildlife a public safety risk, traditional owners warn
A pack of dogs is killing native wildlife on North Stradbroke Island and it is only a matter of time before a person is injured, traditional owners say.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-03/wild-dogs-attack-kangaroos-public-safety-risk/9503874

Shorten slip-slidin’ on Adani [$]
David Speers
The Opposition Leader has issued a statement that stopped short of promising to review the mine’s approval, but didn’t rule it out either. In other words, Labor’s position is as clear as mud.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/david-speers-cash-just-a-distraction-while-shorten-slipslidin-on-adani/news-story/0a61be3ee5fa0280feb69177b3153ed2

Labor can’t have it both ways on Adani [$]
Courier Mail editorial
On the issue of Adani’s proposed $16.5 billion Carmichael mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, the Labor Party, at both a federal and state level, reeks right now. They need to stop walking the middle road and come up with clear policy.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-labor-cant-keep-on-middle-road-on-adani-mine/news-story/8fde752b52ce78e1158a83f6451fff3c

Loss of topsoil a disaster waiting to happen [$]
Des Houghton
It was a dramatic event that blotted out the sun and may have been an omen of an ecological disaster to come. But it’s been forgotten amid our obsession with the Great Barrier Reef
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/this-broken-land-part-2-loss-of-topsoil-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen/news-story/6bea5fc7956ad40264664d8877e1e0cc

South Australia
We’re heading to annihilation, warns SA’s nuclear warrior [$]
Anti-nuclear campaigner Helen Caldicott is about to turn 80, but the SA-trained doctor hasn’t lost her fear for the future of the world — or the fire in her belly.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/antinuclear-movement-founder-helen-cadicott-on-nuclear-arms-in-the-era-of-trump-and-putin/news-story/b0a1c3ea794e95e8ce9efbb36aea5879

Sally makes $1.2m donation to the Libs (we think)[$]
Chinese mining magnate Sally Zou has tweeted out an image of a cheque for $1.2 million, made out to the South Australian Liberal Party.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/chinese-mining-magnate-sally-zou-has-tweeted-an-image-of-a-12-million-cheque-made-out-to-the-sa-liberal-party/news-story/838d762e865b3ccb4a3db38a7eb88ce6

Former senator lobbies for gas project [$]
Former federal Labor senator Chris Schacht is now lobbying for Leigh Creek Energy — a company aiming to develop a controversial gas project in the Far North.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/former-federal-senator-chris-schacht-is-lobbying-the-government-on-behalf-of-a-controversial-gas-project-in-sa/news-story/de8ba07e18d6b987d430f9439dc19e0a

Sacred peak should be there for all to climb[$]
Marc Hendrickx
Climbing the highest peak in the Flinders Ranges should be a right of all walkers, without having to pander to Aboriginal cultural beliefs, writes geologist Marc Hendrickx. He urges the government not to ban this hike as Uluru has been.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/marc-hendrickx-indigenous-beliefs-on-flinders-ranges-st-marys-peak-should-not-override-the-right-of-all-to-enjoy-hiking-it/news-story/af955f33de433bce40fe023da8f96f2b

Tasmania
Tasmanian election: on all sides, forestry is the issue that dare not speak its name
Labor doesn’t want to remind people of its government with the Greens, and the Liberals are shy about a policy even the timber industry doesn’t want
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/02/tasmanian-election-on-all-sides-forestry-is-the-issue-that-dare-not-speak-its-name

State climate policy remains stagnant [$]
Rohan Church
After four years of stagnation it is time for local action on climate change.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/state-climate-policy-has-stagnated-in-tasmania-in-the-last-four-years/news-story/9625933f56c9a2e4d40fe540cf285e2a

How archaeology helped save the Franklin River
Billy Griffiths, Deakin University
The Franklin River campaign is commonly seen as a green victory; a fight for the right of ‘wilderness’ to exist. But archaeological research revealing the region’s deep Aboriginal history was crucial to it.
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-archaeology-helped-save-the-franklin-river-92510

Sustainability
Japan undecided on what to do with 1 million tonnes of radioactive water
There are more than 1,000 tanks of contaminated water at the site of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant — and Government authorities have still not decided what to do with it all.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-02/fukushimas-radioactive-water-still-a-dilemma-for-japanese-gov/9504072

Rechargeable battery weathers extreme cold conditions
Rechargable batteries perform poorly when it’s cold out. Now researchers have designed a new lithium-ion battery that still works at –70 °C.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/i10/Rechargeable-battery-weathers-extreme-cold-conditions.html

Here’s why Lego is swapping plastic for plants
Lego has been searching for a sustainable alternative to plastic since 2015, and it has found a solution in sugarcane fields.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40538201/lego-is-swapping-plastic-for-plants-with-new-sustainably-made-elements

EPA eased herbicide regulations following Monsanto research, records show
Drift from dicamba damaged more than 3.6 million acres of soybeans in 2017.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/epa-eased-herbicide-regulations-following-monsanto-research-records-show/article_0c1ca214-f845-5c60-813b-a9e05f3f76c6.html

China beats 2017 coal-fired power capacity reduction target
China eliminated or suspended 65 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity in 2017, exceeding the national target of 50 GW, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday, citing the State Council.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-coal/china-beats-2017-coal-fired-power-capacity-reduction-target-xinhua-idUSKCN1GD43K

Electric vehicles benefit more than just their owners
Recharging electric vehicles at off-peak hours could mean lower rates for all utility customers
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/03/01/electric-vehicles-benefit-more-than-just-their-owners/

Forget China’s red dragon, fear the green renewable one
Crispin Hull
China is freeing itself of fossil-fuel dependency and will dominate world energy markets.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/forget-chinas-red-dragon-fear-the-green-renewable-one-20180302-h0ww5w.html

A plea for the environment: Let’s build a circular economy
Dermot Daley
Most of the pressing environmental problems could be quite easily solved if we just possessed the will
https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/a-plea-for-the-environment,11256

Nature Conservation
Controversial weedkiller could spell big trouble for monarch butterflies: Report
By 2019, a weed killing chemical—designed to be used in tandem with genetically modified cotton and soybean seeds—is projected to be sprayed on more than 60 million acres of monarch butterfly U.S. migratory habitat, according to a report released today by the Center for Biological Diversity.
http://www.ehn.org/weedkiller-dicamba-monarch-butterfly-monsanto-2541418769.html

As offshore wind power picks up, do seabirds need to suffer?
By tracking birds off the east coast of the United States, scientists identified hotspots of bird activity.
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/as-offshore-wind-power-picks-up-do-seabirds-have-to-suffer/

Some of the world’s biggest lakes are drying up. Here’s why
Boats are stranded; the fish and waterfowl are gone. Fishermen who depended on the lake are moving elsewhere. It’s a diaspora born of drought.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/03/worlds-biggest-lakes-drying-heres/

Chile creates five new marine protected areas
This week, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet signed a decree allowing the creation of the Network of National Parks of Patagonia and the protection of marine areas in different areas of the South American country.
http://santiagotimes.cl/2018/03/01/chile-creates-five-new-marine-protected-areas-video/

Maelor Himbury