Post of the Day
State of the Climate: Thank goodness for ocean sinks holding extremes at bay
BOM and CSIRO’s biennial State of the Climate report has just been released and there is no let up in rising trends with fire danger, extreme heat days, ocean temperatures, ocean acidity and heavy rainfall all up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-20/bom-csiro-biennial-state-of-the-climate/10631122
Today’s Celebration
Day of Mourning – Panama
Louisiana Purchase Day – United States of America
International Human Solidarity Day
Climate Change
Fact check: Is the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu growing, and not sinking?
Coalition backbencher Craig Kelly says that the low-lying Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is growing, rather than sinking. Fact Check finds that checks out.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/fact-check-is-the-island-nation-tuvalu-growing/10627318
EU coal subsidy phase-out ‘completely inconsistent with Paris deal’
Stay of execution for coal subsidies has been heavily criticised by climate analysts
What would Jesus do? Talking with evangelicals about climate change
In our new column about the American south and climate change, we go towards Christians who have been resistant to ideas of environmental stewardship – perhaps it’s a message they need to hear in their own terms
The doom effect: In adapting to climate threats, philanthropy can help reinvent U.S. politics
Coping with sea level rise, forest fires, and droughts will require new kinds of local collective action and governance. Philanthropy is uniquely suited to help lead the way—and is already starting to do exactly that.
‘Pause’ in global warming was never real, new research proves
Claims of a ‘pause’ in observed global temperature warming are comprehensively disproved in a pair of new studies published today.
https://phys.org/news/2018-12-global-real.html
Research sheds new light on what drove last, long-term global climate shift
The quest to discover what drove the last, long-term global climate shift on Earth, which took place around a million years ago, has taken a new, revealing twist.
https://phys.org/news/2018-12-drove-long-term-global-climate-shift.html
The disconnect over climate and coal
Global demand for coal is slated to grow over the next 5 years, despite its impact on global warming.
Climate change action in China is ′about science and not politics′
After COP24, there are big questions remaining about the global response to climate change. DW spoke with Li Shuo, who coordinated Greenpeace’s engagement on the UN climate negotiations, about China’s important role.
https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-action-in-china-is-about-science-and-not-politics/a-46791151
Cut carbon through innovation, not regulation
John Barrasso
People across the world are rejecting the idea that carbon taxes are the answer to lowering emissions
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/opinion/climate-carbon-tax-innovation.html
National
State of the Climate: Thank goodness for ocean sinks holding extremes at bay
BOM and CSIRO’s biennial State of the Climate report has just been released and there is no let up in rising trends with fire danger, extreme heat days, ocean temperatures, ocean acidity and heavy rainfall all up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-20/bom-csiro-biennial-state-of-the-climate/10631122
Australia experiencing more heat, longer fire seasons and rising oceans
State of the climate report points to a long-term increase in the frequency of extreme heat events, fire weather and drought
Coalition’s divides exposed at COAG energy meeting
A meeting of Australia’s energy ministers ends bitterly, with the country’s biggest Liberal-run state accusing the Commonwealth of blocking discussion on climate change.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/states-split-at-coag-energy-meeting/10636230
Why walkable city centres could make Australia richer
The ease with which people can move around their local CBD, even just to meet for coffee, will play an important role in the future success of business, a leading cities expert says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/why-walkable-cbds-could-make-australia-richer/10630546
States warned on rooftop solar safety
Australia’s energy ministers have agreed on changes to electricity laws that put more onus on power companies to be more productive and keep prices down.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/states-warned-on-rooftop-solar-safety
Federal government facing energy uproar as NSW distances itself from Canberra
States threaten to go it alone on energy and emissions, labelling Canberra out of touch with ordinary Australians.
This map should terrify us all
Australia — beautiful one day, an oven the next. Scientists warn that deadly fire seasons will get more extreme and last longer.
Why we must heed this expert’s advice [$]
Clare Peddie
Terrifying conditions Australia is experiencing the grim reality of global warming, including more extreme fire weather, as shown in the fifth State of the Climate report released today.
Victoria
Logging of old-growth forests should stop, Victorian environment department says
Court hears department and VicForests have not protected minimum area of old-growth forest required by law in East Gippsland
New South Wales
The town with two rivers but no water left to drink
The local dam near Walgett in the north-west of New South Wales is at 0.3 per cent capacity and has had to close. Residents are unhappily drinking bore water and want more to be done to ensure the town’s water security.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/walgett-has-two-rivers-but-no-water-left-to-drink/10558428
Festival organisers struggle to control waste as events ramp up
Festival organisers struggle to deal with the tonnes of waste generated by fans, with single-use plastic one of the biggest issues.
‘We will fight them’: Labor’s plan for rail line takes a hit
Labor’s plan to scrap a project to convert Sydney’s Bankstown rail line into one for single-deck metro trains if it wins the state election has become harder to achieve after the Berejiklian government vowed to get on with signing construction contracts.
Climate-push minister’s coal links [$]
NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin invited the state’s biggest coalminers to a $990-a-head Lib fundraising dinner last month.
‘The water is absolutely putrid’: 10,000 fish dead in Darling River as water quality declines
Dead fish lie on the riverbank of the Darling River.
The DPI expects more mass fish deaths with a blue-green algae bloom blamed for 10,000 dead fish in the Darling River.
Harwin’s target a bolt from blue [$]
Judith Sloan
It’s not uncommon for a minister or two at COAG meetings to go rogue.
Strange case of a minister’s warmist campaign [$]
Andrew Bolt
Climate concern NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin on Wednesday called the Morrison Government “out of touch on energy and climate policy” but there’s so much going on with renewable energy in NSW, you have to ask what’s behind it all.
The human cost of zero emissions targets [$]
Daniel Wild
The state government’s push to bring emissions down to zero pits out political class against ordinary people.
Zero emissions targets end political careers [$]
Telegraph editorial
The state government’s zero emissions target will put thousands of jobs on the line — including those of Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Energy Minister Don Harwin.
NSW Libs make life still more hellish for Morrison’s rabble [$]
Bernard Keane
The NSW Liberals are scrambling to dissociate themselves from a toxic, shambolic clutch of climate denialists in Canberra.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/12/19/nsw-coalition-scott-morrison-conflict/
Queensland
Extreme heat wipes out 23,000 flying foxes
An extreme heatwave in far north Queensland last month is estimated to have killed a third of spectacled flying foxes, sparking calls to class the species as ‘critically endangered’.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/heat-wipes-out-one-third-of-flying-fox-species/10632940
Life on the land with the Lama Lama rangers
The Indigenous rangers in this Cape York national park are driven by their love of country and deep satisfaction to be finally back on their homelands
South Australia
Review to put brakes on ‘over development’ [$]
Urban infill Increasing minimum block sizes and carparking could be among changes to curb “over-development” across a council at the centre of community concern over higher density living.
Climate change chairman forecast is Haese [$]
Former Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese has been named the new chair of the Premier’s Climate Change Council.
Tasmania
New coral species discovered in dense ‘underwater garden’ south of Tasmania
A Tasmanian museum researcher resists the temptation to name a newly discovered coral after herself, settling instead on “purple coral” for one of more than 100 unnamed corals and marine organisms identified on seamounts in a major CSIRO project, south of Tasmania.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/new-coral-species-discovered-off-tasmania/10631130
Environment Protection Authority considers legal action on Derwent River oil rig
Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority is considering legal action so it can inspect the hull of a huge oil rigged moored in the River Derwent.
Tasmanian Premier can be the Tarkine Santa or Christmas Grinch
Bob Brown Foundation
Conservationists have been camped in a Tarkine threatened rainforest for the past three months and have today sent Premier Hodgman a Christmas card offering him the opportunity to be a world leader on environmental and climate action in 2019.
Northern Territory
X
Western Australia
No-guilt fishing is here: WA company invents plastic-free bait system
A West Australian company has developed new burley and lobster bait boxes to let anglers and crayfishers go plastic-free, paving the way for cleaner fishing in a plastic-filled world.
Sustainability
Houseplant with added rabbit DNA could reduce air pollution, study shows
Devil’s ivy with synthetic animal gene inserted helped reduce benzene and chloroform levels
A generation without grass: The problem of growing up in units
According to child psychologist Dr Kimberley O’Brien, having time outside is “absolutely essential” to the development of a child.
https://www.allhomes.com.au/living/kids-growing-up-without-backyards-792477/
Plastic Waste Disintegrates Into Nanoparticles
There is a considerable risk that plastic waste in the environment releases nano-sized particles known as nanoplastics, according to a new study.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219115557.htm
How to fight the global plastics problem
A handy toolkit for those ready to take on the plastics crisis.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-fight-the-global-plastics-problem?verso=true
Powder Could Help Cut CO2 Emissions
Scientists have created a powder that can capture CO2 from factories and power plants.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219075917.htm
Team Locates Nearly All US Solar Panels in a Billion Images With Machine Learning
Researchers have identified the GPS locations and sizes of almost all US solar power installations from a billion images.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219115513.htm
What is ‘green’ dry cleaning? A toxics expert explains
Dry cleaning isn’t really dry – it uses chemical solvents. Perc, the most common option, has contaminated soil and groundwater and poses serious health risks, but safer choices are emerging.
https://theconversation.com/what-is-green-dry-cleaning-a-toxics-expert-explains-99830
Greener days ahead for carbon fuels?
A discovery shows that recycling carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels can be economical and efficient — all through a single copper catalyst.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181218144230.htm
How to make new buildings from old clothes
Researchers at UNSW have discovered a way to deal with one of the planet’s greatest waste problems: the clothing we wear.
Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?
Todd May
Our species possesses inherent value, but we are devastating the earth and causing unimaginable animal suffering.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/opinion/human-extinction-climate-change.html
Nature Conservation
Post-Brexit green watchdog could sue ministers, says Gove
But Green groups say proposals will mean weaker protection for nature after UK leaves EU
Loss of intertidal ecosystem exposes coastal communities
Artificial intelligence and extensive satellite imagery have allowed researchers to map the world’s intertidal zones for the first time, revealing a significant loss of the crucial ecosystem. The study has shown that global foreshore environments declined by up to 16 percent between 1984 and 2016.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219133222.htm
Changing climate, longer growing seasons complicate outlook for coniferous forests
For decades, ecologists have differed over a longstanding mystery: Will a longer, climate-induced growing season ultimately help coniferous forests to grow or hurt them? A new study may help researchers find a more definitive answer.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181219075904.htm
Now for something completely different …
How to get your teenagers to read more
In the age of Netflix, social media and video games, it can be hard to get teenagers to switch off the screen and pick up a book instead. Hard — but not impossible.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/how-to-make-reading-fun-for-teenagers/10281350
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