Post of the Day
Australia failing to meet nature protection targets, UN finds
Report points particularly to important habitats in Queensland and NSW where land clearing is prevalent
Today’s Celebration
Anniversary of Moquegua – Peru
Independence Day – Suriname
National Day – Bosnia-Herzegovina
National Statehood Day – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Thanksgiving Day – Palau
St. Catherine’s Day – France
Mange Yam (fete de la moisson) – Voudon
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
International Aura Awareness Day
Climate Change
Climate report: Trump administration downplays warnings of looming disaster
Democrats ramp up pressure to act in wake of most sobering government analysis yet
Why aren’t they doing anything?: Students strike to give climate lesson
A 15-year-old Swedish student’s demand for climate action is resonating half a world away in Australia.
Could an anti-global warming atmospheric spraying program really work?
A program to reduce Earth’s heat capture by injecting aerosols into the atmosphere from high-altitude aircraft is possible, but unreasonably costly with current technology, and would be unlikely to remain secret. Those are the key findings of new research published today in Environmental Research Letters, which looked at the capabilities and costs of various methods of delivering sulphates into the lower stratosphere, known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI).
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/ip-caa112118.php
National
Australia failing to meet nature protection targets, UN finds
Report points particularly to important habitats in Queensland and NSW where land clearing is prevalent
Govt to introduce ‘big stick’ energy laws
The federal government will introduce divestment laws to parliament this sitting fortnight while threatening future intervention in Queensland’s energy market.
Wanted: citizen climate scientists for nationwide study
Fancy yourself as a climate scientist? Now is your chance to put your skills to good use.
Why the blue tongue? Things you should know about these common lizards
It’s that time of year when blue-tongued lizards are out and about, and while they’re spotted in many backyards across south-eastern Australia, they have some traits you may not be aware of.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-24/busting-myths-about-the-blue-tongued-lizard/10492492
Immigration claims par for the course with a new PM
Joanna Howe
Julia Gillard was less than a week into her prime ministership when she made the same move, denouncing a “big Australia”.
We pay the price for climate policy lunacy [$]
Peta Credlin
Climate change activists are merely pushing modern-day socialism, and anyone who questions them is accused of wanting to destroy the Great Barrier Reef or raze bushland.
Victoria
Preference deals pay off for microparties and wipe out Greens in Victoria’s Upper House
A new party set up by frustrated taxi drivers appears likely to win two seats in the next Legislative Council, despite winning only a tiny percentage of votes.
Cloud over inner-city seats shocks Greens
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam has told Victorian party faithful to hold tight for key inner city seats while the party’s Richmond candidate has conceded defeat.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/cloud-over-inner-city-seats-shocks-greens
Queensland
Queensland coal mega-mine approval ‘reckless’, conservationists say
The $6.7 billion China Stone thermal coal mine, planned to sit alongside Adani’s proposed operation, is a step closer after gaining approval from Queensland’s coordinator-general, but conservationists are not happy.
Unpredictable fire threatens homes
Firefighters are battling several bushfires in Queensland, with two separate blazes putting homes at serious risk.
Qld community prepares for new mega-mine
A north Queensland regional council is preparing for talks to ensure a company behind a $6.7 billion mega-mine operates responsibly.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/qld-community-prepares-mega-mine-163037930–spt.html
The answer to SEQ growth is planning, not immigration cuts, experts say
Scott Morrison’s proposal to cut immigration is “not the answer” to south-east Queenslanders’ concerns about population growth, experts say. Rather, better planning is.
The prickly issue facing $7b mega-mine [$]
Greenies are trying to use an elusive echidna to spike plans for a $7 billion new mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin that would create nearly 4000 jobs.
Tasmania
Brutal beauty on the Three Capes Lodge Walk – a picture essay
A new private hiking trip through the Tasman national park, starting at Denmans Cove and finishing at Fortescue Bay, is worth every effort
Female devils kicking cancer faster [$]
When it comes to fighting disease, girl Tasmanian devils are proving to be the stronger sex. But University of Tasmania but researchers hold out hope for the boys.
Northern Territory
Retirement of gas turbines could turn up the heat on NT’s solar sector
Both the Prime Minister and the Chief Scientist have told Territorians about a global race to “ship sunshine” to Asia, which could prompt the NT to power up its fledging solar sector.
Western Australia
Night parrot’s location under wraps after fresh evidence of rare bird emerges
Indigenous rangers in Western Australia’s Kimberley region capture the second-known photo of the elusive and mysterious night parrot in the Great Sandy Desert in just over a year.
Sustainability
UK environmental protesters block access to Parliament Square
Demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion aims to highlight government failure on the environment
She trolled Trump, but can she lead a green wave across Europe?
Swedish minister Isabella Lövin found fame in a jibe aimed at the White House. Now she aims for change beyond Twitter
Crowdsourced field data shows importance of smallholder farms to global food production
A new global field size data set collected as part of a crowdsourcing citizen science project by IIASA researchers has shown that the proportion of smallholder farms may be much larger than previously thought, contributing much more to global food production.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/iifa-cfd112018.php
The emperor has no clothes in driverless car debate
Graham Currie
The rhetoric that autonomous vehicles will take over public transit is nothing but a lie. In fact, driverless public transport vehicles dominate land-based passenger travel across the world today and probably will continue to do so for the next decade. https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-emperor-has-no-clothes-in-driverless-car-debate-20181122-p50hpl.html
Nature Conservation
Brazil records worst annual deforestation for a decade
Nearly 8,000sq kms lost in the year to July amid alarm new president Jair Bolsonaro will make situation worse
Wild coffee plants, Christmas trees and chocolate’s tree are surprisingly poorly protected
An indicator to measure plant conservation shows a wide range of wild plants used for food, medicine, shelter, fuel, livestock forage and other valuable purposes are at risk.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/icft-wcp112118.php
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