Post of the Day
The world lost $160 billion to disasters last year, and climate change played a big role
2018 was the year climate change became ever clearer, with wildfires, cyclones, and hurricanes ravaging the world.
Today’s Celebration
Traditional Day (Vodoun) – Benin
Climate Change
Future of planet-cooling tech: Study creates roadmap for geoengineering research
A new study sets out to establish a roadmap for responsible exploration of geoengineering.
More heating and fuel pushes US carbon emissions up in 2018
US carbon emissions spiked 3.4 per cent in 2018, the most since 2010, on the back of higher gas demand for heating and a growing economy.
Not all environmentalists eat tofu: the hunters fighting climate change
Progressives should think twice about who their allies are. Conservatives, especially those who hunt, can be alarmed about climate change too
Once derided, ways of adapting to climate change are gaining steam
Recognition is spreading that communities need to build resilience to climatic and coastal threats even as the world seeks ways to curb emissions driving global warming.
Study suggests that fear and anger had different effects on conservatives and liberals
The emotional underpinnings of political ideology motivated how the electorate sought and processed information about the 2016 presidential election and the major issue of climate change. “This has important implications for how political dialogue is shaped,” said Janet Yang, an expert in the communication of risk information related to science, health and the environment. “It’s not just what the candidates are saying; it’s also how we communicate with one another.”
The world lost $160 billion to disasters last year, and climate change played a big role
2018 was the year climate change became ever clearer, with wildfires, cyclones, and hurricanes ravaging the world.
Climate is getting more extreme in every possible way
Coleman Harris
From precipitation to the carbon cycle to natural disasters, the outliers are now the norm.
National
‘Equivalent to taking rhino horn’: Tracking the decline of near-extinct sawfish
A new citizen science survey calls for pictures of sawfish — dead or alive — in an attempt to understand why so few remain in the wild.
Bushfire season: What are firestorms and how can we fight them?
New research has helped develop a model for predicting firestorms which it’s hoped can save lives by informing firefighters’ decisions.
2018 was Australia’s third-hottest year on record
BOM’s annual climate statement has just been released and no surprises, it was the third-hottest year on record.
Sydney and Melbourne playing catch-up with transport infrastructure
Sydney and Melbourne will need to maintain their infrastructure investment at a cracking pace to retain their standard of living and remain globally competitive.
Peta Credlin’s preselection could be the spark that blows up the Liberal party
Oliver Yates
Credlin has put short term political interests, and the interests of the coal industry, before the future of our country
So long, fish, and thanks for nothing, Murray Darling planners
Rod Campbell
The emptiness of the “historic” pledge by state and federal governments to save the Murray Darling Basin is now laid bare.
Australia major player in gas [$]
Perry Williams
Australia has just completed one of its biggest ever commodity bets, moving above Qatar as the largest natural gas exporter.
Victoria
Adidas recycles plastic at Aussie Open {$}
Recycled plastic is the unlikely fashion centrepiece of this year’s Australian Open, as sportswear giant adidas debuts a collection developed with New York-based environmental non-profit, Parley for the Oceans.
New South Wales
Thousands of cane toads trapped in battle to stop pests marching south
Thousands of juvenile cane toads are being bagged by conservationists in a crucial bid to stop the creatures spreading beyond northern New South Wales.
Water Minister gets online threats as video of mass fish kill goes viral
A NSW Government Minister receives online threats as the fallout over a mass fish death in the Darling River intensifies and two emotional farmers become the face of the ecological disaster in a viral video.
Darling River fish kill: minister’s office says threats prompted decision to bypass residents
Office of NSW primary industries minister Niall Blair blames security concerns for not stopping at boat ramp where residents wanted answers on hundreds of thousands of deaths
NSW mass fish deaths a ‘man-made disaster’
The NSW government has called for an urgent report into the mass fish deaths in far western NSW which residents are calling a “man-made disaster”.
Vital frog habitat turned to ‘wasteland’ by deliberately lit fires near Newcastle
A wildlife ecologist is fed up with deliberately lit fires that are killing threatened species and ruining valuable research.
Are Huawei 4G boxes dangerous, or are we worrying ourselves sick?
Adam Verrender
Residents are raising concerns as Huawei 4G small cell boxes are installed in suburban Sydney. But if you’re worried about phone and wireless radiation, scientists have a message for you.
Queensland
Hanson’s ‘terrible’ cash-for-cane-toads idea won’t work, experts say
Pauline Hanson wants you to collect cane toads for 10c to stop their spread, but ecologists say it’s an old idea that ignores the birds and the bees — with the pests mating faster than they can be collected.
Thousands of budgies flock to outback Queensland after rain
A murmuration of thousands of green budgies is spotted flying en masse over grazing land in north-west Queensland, fascinating local residents as they are seen pulsing across the landscape and following grain trucks.
13,500 square metres of contaminated soil to be removed from West End park
Aerial view of Riverside Drive, West End.
The contaminated soil was put down to the region’s historical industrial use as a tar processing plant.
How controversial $443m reef grant will be used
A charity that never asked for a $443 million grant to save the Great Barrier Reef but got the money anyway has revealed its investment strategy for the funds.
South Australia
Country avoids water price hike [$]
Regional South Australia will not be slugged more for water under any change to the valuation of SA Water’s asset base, Treasurer Rob Lucas has guaranteed.
More than 2000 people have signed a petition urging Salisbury Council to protect open space around Salisbury Oval from development.
Granite Island seal cull a ‘fool’s errand’, say penguin experts [$]
Environment Culling seals around Victor Harbor may be the only way to protect Granite Island’s vulnerable little penguin colony, a former mayor says — but the experts disagree.
Call for koala bridges over busy SA roads [$]
Environmental groups want wildlife bridges to be installed on busy, high-speed roads — like the Southern Expressway — following a spike in the number of koalas being hit by cars.
Tasmania
Tasmanian tourism ‘jewels’ not keeping pace with international visitor surge, says industry
More than 300,000 overseas visitors landed on Tasmanian shores over a 12-month period but the industry says hotspots need more investment to protect the environment they are coming to see.
Wombats on Maria Island so cute that tourists urged to take pledge to keep distance
Tourists visiting Maria Island, the Tasmanian holiday destination and wombat stronghold, are being invited to take a pledge to keep a safe distance from the furry residents.
Urgent summit call as fires devastate wilderness [$]
The firefighters’ union, tourism industry and Aboriginal community have added their support to a push for a summit on responses to fires in Tasmania’s wilderness.
Northern Territory
Are there Christmas beetles in Darwin?
With Christmas and New Year’s behind us again, it’s time again to pause in reflection. In reflection, that is, about the myths surrounding Christmas beetles and Darwin
Harbour croc cull call shot down by critics [$]
Experts, politicians and even fishos have delivered a biting rebuke to calls from a top croc scientist to eradicate saltwater crocodiles from Darwin Harbour
Cattlemen send NTG warning [$]
The Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association continues to warn the NT Government about its Non-Pastoral Use Permits/Environment Legislation
Western Australia
Bushfire contained at WA pine plantation
A watch and act alert has been downgraded to an advice for a bushfire near the Gnangara Pine plantation in northern Perth.
Sustainability
Fighting Human Disease With Birth Control … for Mosquitoes
A newly discovered protein that is crucial for egg production in mosquitoes opens a possibility for ‘mosquito birth control.’
The new green alternative for drug production
For the production of drugs, pesticides and smartphone displays, most of the processes are cost-intensive and generate a large amount of waste. Scientists have now succeeded in developing a resource-saving ‘green’ alternative.
Engineers identify improved membranes to capture CO2 at coal-fired power plants
A computational modeling method may help to fast-track the identification and design of new carbon capture and storage materials for use by the nation’s coal-fired power plants that would provide a more economical solution than current methods, with a predicted cost of less than $50 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) removed.
‘It’s a nightmare’: Americans’ health at risk as shutdown slashes EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency has been cut to a skeleton staff, meaning work to ensure clean air and water is left undone
Buy an e-bike and turn over a new motor this year [$]
Riding an e-bike is certainly better than nothing, and that’s exactly what you need when it comes to new year’s resolutions.
Which electric car is right for you? There are now models to meet all your needs [$]
Electric vehicles have reached another milestone – in Norway.
California’s car population is exploding
A new state report says increasing automobile traffic is derailing California’s climate goals.
Model predicts lithium-ion batteries most competitive for storage applications by 2030
Researchers at Imperial College London have developed a model to determine the lifetime costs of 9 electricity storage technologies for 12 different applications between 2015 and 2050. The model, which predicts lithium-ion batteries to be the cheapest technology in the coming decades, appears Jan. 9 in the journal Joule, and is available open access.
Toxic fumes threaten our children. We have to take on the pollution lobby
George Monbiot
The growth in emissions is creating a ‘diesel generation’ of unhealthy youngsters.
Don’t fall for the doomsday predictions
David Von Drehle
Resources may be scarce, but we have an abundance of human ingenuity.
Nature Conservation
New study looks at costs and benefits of paying for ecosystem services
People who live within a particular ecosystem can have great influence on its ecology, particularly if they are motivated by economic forces. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs may lead to improved environmental health by offering landowners economic incentives to use their land in ecologically sound ways. A recent study by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) scientists and collaborators evaluated the economic feasibility of PES programs within the Panama Canal Watershed (PCW).
Experts warn against mega-dams in lowland tropical forests
Mega-dams should not be built in lowland tropical forest regions due to the threat they pose to biodiversity and ecosystems, according to experts.
Joshua Tree national park announces closure after trees destroyed amid shutdown
Maintenance and sanitation problems also reported 18 days after government shutdown furloughed the vast majority of park staff
Palm oil lobbies like tobacco, alcohol:WHO
A study by the World Health Organisation says the palm oil industry is trying to influence research with tactics similar to the alcohol and tobacco industries.
Sunscreen and cosmetics compound may harm coral by altering fatty acids
Although sunscreen is critical for preventing sunburns and skin cancer, some of its ingredients are not so beneficial to ocean-dwelling creatures. In particular, sunscreen chemicals shed by swimmers are thought to contribute to coral reef decline. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry say that one such chemical, octocrylene (OC), which is also in some cosmetics and hair products, accumulates in coral as fatty acid esters that could be toxic to the marine organism.
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