Climate predictions should include impacts of CO2 on life
Climate change predictions are not taking account of the full range of possible effects of rising carbon dioxide levels, researchers say.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uoe-cps062818.php
Today’s Celebration
Bank Holiday – Taiwan
Canada Day – Canada
Communist Party Foundation – China
Emancipation Day – St. Eustatius
Freedom Day – Suriname
Heiva i Tahiti – French Polynesia
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day – Hong Kong
Independence Day South, ex-Italian Somaliland – Somalia
National Day – Burundi, Rwanda
Republic Day – Ghana
Sir Seretse Khama Day – Botswana
Territory Day – British Virgin Islands
The Precious Blood – Haiti
International Joke Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/international-joke-day/
International Reggae Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/international-reggae-day/
More about Jul 1 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_1
Climate Change
Climate predictions should include impacts of CO2 on life
Climate change predictions are not taking account of the full range of possible effects of rising carbon dioxide levels, researchers say.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uoe-cps062818.php
National
How the iconic sites of the Murray-Darling Basin are doing under the plan
Billions of dollars are being spent on infrastructure and environmental water to save the Murray-Darling Basin environment. Is it working?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-07-01/murray-darling-basin-plan-enviroment-iconic-sites/9772392
‘We’ve turned a corner’: farmers shift on climate change and want a say on energy
National Farmers? Federation head Fiona Simson says people on the land can?t ignore what is right before their eyes
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/30/weve-turned-a-corner-farmers-shift-on-climate-change-and-want-a-say-on-energy
‘Real wake up call’: Two activists who helped stir anti-plastics wave
That Australia’s on the verge of near-national ban on plastic bags owes much to tenacity of campaigners like Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and Jon Dee.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/sustainability/real-wake-up-call-two-activists-who-helped-stir-anti-plastics-wave-20180628-p4zo6d.html
The great plastic bag ban debate: Too far, or not far enough?
Alexx Stuart and her family haven’t used a plastic bag in five years. Others are struggling. One thing both sides can agree on? Supermarkets are the real winners.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-great-plastic-bag-ban-debate-too-far-or-not-far-enough-20180627-p4zo5t.html
New South Wales
‘Like a scene from Utopia’: how NSW botched plastic bag ban
As of July 1, NSW has the dubious distinction of being the only state in the nation not to have in train a ban on single-use plastic bags.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/sustainability/like-a-scene-from-utopia-how-nsw-botched-plastic-bag-ban-20180626-p4znrz.html
Hundreds of kilometres of weekend clearways for Sydney at what cost?
Weekend clearways are being added and extended across Sydney to speed up traffic but local businesses fear that the strategy will kill off their trade as parking is lost.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hundreds-of-kilometres-of-weekend-clearways-for-sydney-at-what-cost-20180626-p4znsr.html
Queensland
Qld shopping bag ban comes into force
Single use plastic shopping bags will be banned from outlets from Sunday as part of a push to slash plastic waste.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/qld-shopping-bag-ban-comes-force-173043686–spt.html
Tasmania
Tasmanian farmers lead boom on global organic farming trend
Global health and wellbeing movements are driving demand for Australian organic food products, and Tasmanian farmers are being urged to help supply the demand.
https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5498116/tasmanian-farmers-lead-boom-on-global-organic-farming-trend/?cs=95
The Obsessive Search for the Tasmanian Tiger
Brooke Jarvis
Like the dodo and the great auk, the Tasmanian tiger is more renowned for the tragedy of its death than for its life, about which little is known.
http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/the-obsessive-search-for-the-tasmanian-tiger/
Sustainability
US intelligence believes North Korea making more nuclear bomb fuel despite talks: report
US intelligence agencies reportedly believe North Korea has increased production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites despite recent talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-30/believes-n-korea-making-more-nuclear-bomb-fuel-us-intelligence/9927908
Surrey makes breakthrough in perovskite solar cell technology
The University of Surrey has helped to create a technique that has produced the highest performing inverted perovskite solar cell ever recorded.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uos-sm062918.php
Researchers report novel hybrid catalyst to split water
Researchers from the University of Houston and the California Institute of Technology have reported an inexpensive hybrid catalyst capable of splitting water to produce hydrogen, suitable for large-scale commercialization.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uoh-rrn062818.php
Air pollution contributes significantly to diabetes globally
New research links outdoor air pollution — even at levels deemed safe — to an increased risk of diabetes globally, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. The findings raise the possibility that reducing pollution may lead to a drop in diabetes cases in heavily polluted countries such as India and less polluted ones such as the United States.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/wuis-apc062718.php
Let it rain! New coatings make natural fabrics waterproof
Fabrics that resist water are essential for everything from rainwear to military tents, but conventional water-repellent coatings have been shown to persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies, and so are likely to be phased out for safety reasons. That leaves a big gap to be filled if researchers can find safe substitutes.
https://www.enn.com/articles/54801-let-it-rain-new-coatings-make-natural-fabrics-waterproof
Nature Conservation
Britain’s biggest butterfly threatened by rising seas
New charity warns Britain?s largest butterfly could be lost within four decades as rising seas turn its habitat into saltmarsh
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/29/sea-level-rise-could-wipe-out-swallowtail-butterfly-in-40-years
Climate change has turned Peru’s glacial lake into a deadly flood timebomb
Lake Palcacocha is swollen with water from melting ice caps in the Cordillera Blanca mountains. Below, 50,000 people live directly in the flood path
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/29/climate-change-has-turned-perus-glacial-lake-into-a-deadly-flood-timebomb
Maelor Himbury