Post of the Day
The invisible cost of Australia’s bushfires
Vivien Thomson
It gets a little harder each day because virtually everything about the nature of our work is changing thanks to climate change.
Today’s Celebration
Duarte Day – Dominican Republic
Foundation Day (Santos) – Brazil
Republic Day – India
NRM Liberation Day – Uganda
Day of the International Recognition of Latvia
World Environmental Education Day
Climate Change
Climate change creates a new migration crisis for Bangladesh
The country, already grappling with the Rohingya crisis, now faces a devastating migration problem as hundreds of thousands face an impossible choice between battered coastlines and urban slums.
Warming oceans, melting ice: New studies record hurricane-boosting trends
Studies have established that record-warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico supercharged” Harvey.
Pentagon climate change report ignores its own role in fueling the crisis
The Department of Defense produces more hazardous waste than the five biggest U.S.-based chemical companies combined.
Playing for the planet: How scientists use gaming to talk about climate change
The idea — to use video games to make the impacts of climate change “tangible,” in a virtual way — came to Manjana Milkoreit after her research showed a problem with how the topic was being handled at the political level.
Extreme weather events could worsen climate change
Weather fluctuations change how much excess carbon soil can absorb from the atmosphere
The year was at least the fourth in a row a full degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than the late 19th century.
Lagarde: even central banks need to take climate change into account
Terming climate change as one of the most pressing issues for the global economy, IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday said even central banks would need to take it into account in their policy decisions.
‘Our house is on fire’: Greta Thunberg, 16, urges leaders to act on climate
Greta Thunberg
Swedish school strike activist demands economists tackle runaway global warming. Read her Davos speech here
Some Myths Presented by Climate Change Deniers (Part 1)
Keith Antonysen
We all want to believe that Earth will remain a safe place to live. It has, in the main, provided a stable climate since man has inhabited Earth.
National
The quiet death of hard rubbish week [$]
Ever wondered what happened to neighbourhood-wide hard rubbish collection? We did some sleuthing.
Conflicts, cost blowouts, time delays in Murray-Darling plan says commission
Productivity Commission’s review of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan finds costs and time blowouts and recommends the MDBA be split in two.
Climate change effects recorded over decades in our backyards, researchers say
A science paper detailing the land-based effects of climate change over several decades uncovers flora diebacks and extinctions, insect booms and out-of-whack orchids.
Where do kangaroos come from, why do they hop, and should we kill them?
Love them or hate them, this national icon is unique. With their big teeth and big feet, kangaroos have come a long way since they climbed down from the trees.
Gum trees and the fight against global warming
Australia has been placed on a WWF International list of global deforestation hot spots – the only one in the developed world.
The Australian plants that could become our daily fare [$]
It’s a factor of Australia’s history that, unlike most countries, virtually everything we eat originally came from somewhere else.
How AEMO shorted day of hell [$]
The boss of Australia’s power grid, Audrey Zibelman, returned to her Melbourne home just before midnight on Thursday.
Power cut blame game begins [$]
As extreme heat leaves 160,000 Victorian homes without power, the Morrison government has come under attack over the blackouts.
Australia’s coal and nuclear lobbies have just recruited a new puppet
Noel Wauchope
Newly-appointed Mining Council CEO Tania Constable has been championing nuclear power at a time when we should be discussing renewables
Australia, we have bigger issues to tackle than boardies and thongs
Ebony Bennett
It’s much easier to talk about dress codes at citizenship ceremonies than it is to make sure Walgett has clean drinking water.
The invisible cost of Australia’s bushfires
Vivien Thomson
It gets a little harder each day because virtually everything about the nature of our work is changing thanks to climate change.
Big stick just poor use of power [$]
Adam Creighton
The government’s plan to wave a “big stick” at electricity giants would throttle investment and push up electricity prices.
Victoria
Power grid fails hundreds of thousands in Victoria
More than 200,000 Victorians experienced power cuts after temperatures peaked at 42.8 degrees Celsius in Melbourne.
‘Highly unfortunate’: Energy chief says system caught by surprise
Victoria’s heatwave-induced power crisis has touched off a new round of criticism of the nation’s energy system and calls for immediate action from the federal government to secure electricity supply for industry and consumers.
New South Wales
Record Philanthropic Purchase to Protect Murray Darling Wetland
The Nature Conservancy has raised a record $55 million to buy two cattle stations, which will see one of the most important wetlands in the Murray Darling Basin protected from conversion to rice or cotton farms.
Murray-Darling plan needs reform: report
The Productivity Commission has recommended splitting the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in a five-year review of the plan for the river system.
Sydney light rail works ’caused distress’
An inquiry into Sydney’s light rail project has recommended the NSW government order a review of the effectiveness of “significant” public-private partnerships.
When the river runs dry: the Australian towns facing heatwave and drought
Usually rivers provide relief from the searing summer heat, but this year water mismanagement and drought combined to create an outback disaster
‘Game on’: What happens when Sydney’s desalination plant gets turned on
Head of Sydney’s desal plant says authorities have ‘never seen anything like’ the drop of reservoir levels. How will his plant respond when it is switched on within days.
As the desal plant is turned on, Sydneysiders are using less water than ever
Despite water usage across Sydney increasing year-on-year, household use has actually declined. How has our behaviour changed, and what else can we do?
NSW energy boost saves Victoria from rolling blackouts [$]
Australia’s desperate need for new reliable power stations has become undeniable as NSW yesterday pumped massive amounts of energy interstate to save Victoria from rolling blackouts, even as NSW residents prepared for a long weekend of heatwave conditions.
Queensland
Qld cyclone could form on Australia Day
Residents in far north Queensland are on high alert as the threat of another tropical cyclone looms.
Queensland slams ‘privatisation by stealth’ federal electricity law
The Queensland government has slammed proposed “big stick” federal energy legislation, saying it will allow for “privatisation by stealth”.
Government set to commit $84m to vital dam [$]
A new dam in a Queensland regional centre will help create a major new food bowl in Australia, says drought envoy Barnaby Joyce.
Bill Shorten plays good politics with National Hydrogen Innovation Hub
Crispin Hull
It was not so much a pork barrel, but a hydrogen barrel, that was rolled out in the knife-edge marginal Queensland seat of Flynn this week.
South Australia
In diesel we trust: Record-breaking heat ignites power fight
South Australia’s record-breaking temperatures have reignited the political battle over the state’s electricity grid, after the diesel generators purchased by the previous Labor Government were brought online by the market operator to meet high demand.
Heatwave triggers major blackout [$]
South Australia has been hit by a major electricity blackout after a severe heatwave buckled local poles and wires networks.
Thousands of bats killed along River Torrens [$]
More than 2000 dead bats have been picked up along the banks of the River Torrens following Thursday’s record-breaking heat — with volunteers having to wait for the deceased animals to drop from the trees.
Daniel Wills
As the cool change brought sighs of relief across the state late on Thursday after a record-setting day of blistering heat — some of the loudest would have been heard in the offices of the State Government on Victoria Square.
Tasmania
‘This is my house, I don’t want to leave’: Residents in Tasmania’s west grapple with bushfire threat
With a 4,000-hectare fire threatening their town, residents of Zeehan on Tasmania’s west coast are forced to make the decision of whether or stay or go.
State avoids disaster but threat remains
The state may have avoided any loss of life or homes, but the Tasmania Fire Service has revealed the extent of bushland lost as a result of the uncontrolled fires continuing to put some communities at risk.
Northern Territory
Kakadu has busiest year in a decade despite overall fall in NT tourism
New data shows visitation to Kakadu National Park has reached its highest point since 2009, despite grim outlooks for the Northern Territory’s tourism sector elsewhere.
Western Australia
Water for struggling WA farmers cut to save town’s supply
Agricultural water usage from state-owned water pipes are compromising drinking water supply to a regional WA town.
Bushfire threat in Perth’s south
Lives and homes are under threat from an out-of-control bushfire in Perth’s south, with authorities issuing a watch and act alert.
Tropical Cyclone Riley intensifies off WA
Tropical Cyclone Riley has intensified to a category two and is continuing to track parallel to the Pilbara coast in northern Western Australia.
Sustainability
Doomsday Clock remains at two minutes to midnight
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists adjusted the hands of its famous Doomsday Clock, but left it at two minutes until midnight. The hypothetical Doomsday Clock was created to reflect how close humanity is toward worldwide catastrophe.
How to solve the world’s plastics problem: Bring back the milk man
Loop, a shopping service from Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé and others seeks to reduce plastic pollution by delivering your household items in reusable packaging just like milk men of the past.
‘Out of hand’ haze over Bangkok a symptom of invisible killer pollution in city every day
Bangkok has been gripped by a prolonged, suffocating period of dire air pollution over recent weeks.
German population hits record high of 83m
Germany’s population last year reached a record high of 83 million people.
Industrial farming encourages practices that degrade the soil and increase emissions, while leaving farmers more vulnerable to damage as the planet warms.
5 things you need to know about e-waste
Never have we been in possession of as many electronic gadgets as now, in this brave new world or ours. But what happens to them when they stop working? All too often… not that much.
Even out at sea, the air on cruise ships may be dirtier than you think: study
The study found measurements from the air on cruise ships similar to prominently polluted places such as Beijing and Taipei, Taiwan.
Blanket ban on glyphosates in France not possible: Macron
It will not be possible to do without glyphosate-based weed killers in certain French agricultural sectors in three years because some sectors would not be able to survive economically, President Emmanuel Macron says.
The dirty truth about cigarette filters
Plastic straws and bags have received widespread attention as pollutants. But another, even bigger, plastic problem has been slipping under the radar — cigarette filters.
Nature Conservation
Cod stocks on course to crash if ocean warming continues
Barents Sea is key source of UK cod imports and could see temperature rises of over 6C
Bye bye blackbird?: RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch marks 40 years
World’s biggest wildlife citizen survey maps changing fortunes of Britain’s bird populations
Deadly rabbit virus threatens UK brown hare population
Cases confirmed in Dorset and Essex with public urged to report sick or dead animals
Can his super oysters survive climate change?
Joth Davis is breeding an experimental line of shellfish to feed us when climate change makes that more difficult.
How social media is inspiring children to save the natural world
Stephen Moss
It’s true that many young people stare at screens instead of being out in the wild – but others use technology to form a global community of conservationists
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