Daily Links Apr 3

First direct observations of methane’s increasing greenhouse effect at the Earth’s surface
Scientists have directly measured the increasing greenhouse effect of methane at the Earth’s surface for the first time. A research team from the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) tracked a rise in the warming effect of methane — one of the most important greenhouse gases for the Earth’s atmosphere — over a 10-year period at a DOE field observation site in northern Oklahoma.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/dbnl-fdo033018.php

Antarctica retreating across the sea floor
Antarctica’s great ice sheet is losing ground as it is eroded by warm ocean water circulating beneath its floating edge, a new study has found. Scientists have tracked the movement of Antarctica’s grounding line using European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 across 16,000 km of the coastline.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uol-ara032918.php

Climate change could raise food insecurity risk
Weather extremes caused by climate change could raise the risk of food shortages in many countries, new research suggests.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uoe-ccc032818.php

Ice-free Arctic summers could hinge on small climate warming range
A range of less than one degree Fahrenheit (or half a degree Celsius) of climate warming over the next century could make all the difference when it comes to the probability of future ice-free summers in the Arctic, new University of Colorado Boulder research shows
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uoca-ias032718.php

Coalition MPs to lobby PM on energy policy
A group of coalition backbenchers are lobbying Malcolm Turnbull to consider new coal-fired power stations in any national energy guarantee.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/03/07/02/coalition-mps-to-lobby-pm-on-energy-policy

High power prices ‘here to stay’ [$]
High prices will remain until renewable energy can fill the void, says IFM Investors.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/ifm-investors-high-east-coast-power-prices-here-to-stay/news-story/c2f248070b225f9c0e377a916a475ca2

Australian organics industry shocked by official plan for forced chemical sprays
The range of organic vegetables available in Australia will shrink under planned changes to import rules, the industry has warned.
http://www.watoday.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/organics-industry-shocked-by-official-plan-for-forced-chemical-sprays-20180329-p4z714

Climate, clean air goals in danger
The Trump administration has launched such a dizzying array of attacks on environmental quality in its first year that it’s sometimes hard to keep track of them all.

Five ways the power grid changed for the better over summer [$]
Ben Potter
We sweated through the second hottest summer on record, Hazelwood’s eight 200-megawatt brown-coal-fired turbines were benched, yet the National Electricity Market made it through
http://www.afr.com/news/five-ways-the-power-grid-changed-for-the-better-over-the-summer-20180326-h0y07y#ixzz5BXqKyrZS

Decongesting our cities: It all starts with quality planning
Rolf Fenner
Our major cities are undergoing radical urban transformations but livability will decline unless a long-term planning approach is adopted.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/decongesting-our-cities-it-all-starts-with-quality-planning,11354

How Walsh started Rio’s coal retreat
Matthew Stevens
Over a morning tea with Sam Walsh in early 2015 it first became apparent that Rio Tinto had put an exit sign over its coal business.
http://www.afr.com/business/how-sam-walsh-started-the-retreat-that-earned-rio-tinto-us9b-20180329-h0y4fe

PM can’t ignore ginger group [$]
Dennis Shanahan
The creation of the Monash Forum is a bad sign for Malcolm Turnbull, and not just because of Tony Abbott’s endorsement.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/dennis-shanahan/abbott-aside-monash-forum-is-a-voice-turnbull-cant-afford-to-ignore/news-story/cbc84edb0c4296c7d88e8fd389d55fe3

Ethics failure imperils sustainability [$]
John Furie
Two academics argue many companies are focusing too much on the letter of the law and not asking ‘is this the right thing to do?’
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/john-durie/failing-ethics-test-imperils-sustainability/news-story/d9521cd25604a093b87560ce7996f282

High cost of energy ‘strangling our economy’ [$]
Satyajeet Marar
High power prices are slowly strangling our economy thanks to series of terrible policy and regulatory decisions by the federal and state governments. Fixing the problem is the only way to fix the nation’s economy.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/terrible-policy-decisions-by-state-and-federal-governments-has-led-to-high-power-prices/news-story/555dbbdfe311b01c9ba2b4a0b82826c7

‘If we do nothing, the market will die’: Fury at heritage ruling
The Queen Victoria Market will die a slow death unless major renovation works to heritage sheds are allowed to proceed, says Melbourne’s acting lord mayor and a prominent economist who wrote the business case for its redevelopment.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/if-we-do-nothing-the-market-will-die-fury-at-heritage-ruling-20180328-p4z6my.html

Victoria gas plant buy-up to meet demand
The owner of Yallourn power station has bought two Victorian gas-fired generators, which are turned on only to meet peak demand.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/energyaustralia-buys-up-victorian-generators-to-meet-peak-demand/news-story/95501db53d01f1dee0f808c15ae56b96

Government creates list, but does not follow it, on train station upgrades
The state government is not upgrading rail stations across Sydney and NSW in line with its own analysis of where improvements are most urgent, attracting accusations of political bias.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/government-creates-list-but-does-not-follow-it-on-train-station-upgrades-20180402-p4z7fb.html

Sydney mayor ridicules ‘absurd’ plan to remove trees to protect bridge from bird droppings
A proposal to cut down trees to protect a pedestrian bridge from bird droppings is causing a stink on Sydney’s north shore.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-mayor-ridicules-absurd-plan-to-remove-trees-to-protect-bridge-from-bird-droppings-20180329-p4z6yf.html

Great news for commuters — prices cut for public transport [$]
The daily commuter will be up to $306 better off each year after bus, train and tram fares are slashed on Tuesday.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/adelaide-metro-public-transport-tickets-price-cut-for-bus-tram-and-train-routes/news-story/5b0f17540197ae5f187800a30c94d16b

Prince Charles on wearing wool and saving the Great Barrier Reef
The shift from natural fibres such as wool to synthetic fibres when making clothing has been an environmental catastrophe which future generations will pay for if current trends do not change, said Prince Charles in an exclusive interview with The Australian Financial Review Magazine.
http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/fashion/prince-charles-on-wearing-wool-and-saving-the-great-barrier-reef-20180329-h0y41t#ixzz5BXqfSMEy

Most PCBs are decreasing near the Great Lakes—but one’s not. Why?
Toxic PCBs are on a steady decrease in Great Lakes region air but over the past decade one type remains constant—it’s likely due to yellow pigment manufacturing.
http://www.ehn.org/one-pcb-remains-in-great-lakes-2554796287.html

Central Texas city wants to pay people to install solar panels.
A central Texas town that already uses 100 percent renewable energy is working out a plan to generate more electricity locally so it can stop buying power to meet demand.
http://www.kxan.com/news/local/williamson-county/central-texas-city-wants-to-pay-people-to-install-solar-panels/1089026249

Building Lithium-Sulfur Batteries With Paper Biomass
A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material, which is typically combusted on site, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180402160835.htm

Agricultural Fires Can Double Delhi Pollution During Peak Burning Season
Researchers have demonstrated that in October and November, a peak burning season in nearby Punjab, about half of all pollution in Delhi can be attributed to agricultural …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180402123250.htm

Climate, clean air goals in danger
The Trump administration has launched such a dizzying array of attacks on environmental quality in its first year that it’s sometimes hard to keep track of them all.
http://www.dailycamera.com/editorials/ci_31772173/editorial-climate-clean-air-goals-danger

Putin’s imperial rule spurs trash protests in Moscow suburbs
Thousands of residents of the Moscow suburbs have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest foul odors from overflowing trash dumps, in an unusual surge of anti-government activism that’s set off alarm bells in the Kremlin.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-30/putin-s-imperial-rule-spurs-wave-of-trash-protests-around-moscow

Forest schools grow in Scotland as grasp of benefits takes root
Educators see benefits of outdoor learning for children, from fitness to resilience.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/02/forest-schools-grow-in-scotland-as-grasp-of-benefits-takes-root?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

Given room, Arizona’s bald eagles soar beyond endangered species list
Bald eagles were on the brink of extinction and listed as an endangered species until 2007. They now nest in dozens of places around Arizona
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2018/04/01/arizonas-once-troubled-bald-eagle-population-recovery-nest-lake-pleasant/450773002/

New study shows vegetation controls the future of the water cycle
Columbia Engineering researchers have found that vegetation plays a dominant role in Earth’s water cycle, that plants will regulate and dominate the increasing stress placed on continental water resources in the future. ‘This could be a real game-changer for understanding changes in continental water stress going into the future,’ says Professor Pierre Gentine. In this paper, he demonstrates vegetation’s key role in responding to rising CO2 levels and shows how plants will regulate future dryness.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/cuso-nss032818.php

Study suggests estuaries may experience accelerated impacts of human-caused CO2
Rising anthropogenic, or human-caused, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have up to twice the impact on coastal estuaries as it does in the oceans because the human-caused CO2 lowers the ecosystem’s ability to absorb natural fluctuations of the greenhouse gas, a new study suggests.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/osu-sse032818.php

To Prevent Collapse of Tropical Forests, Protect Their Shape
Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how fires on the edges of tropical forests control their shape and stability. The study implies that when patches of tropical forest lose their …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180330171305.htm