Date: 24 February 2019 at 08:07:49 AEDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Feb 24
Post of the Day
What worries voters – and how that’s changed since the last election
Matt Wade
The cost of living has become our gravest concern, and the Coalition no longer has the lead on which party is most trusted to manage the problem. A second big shift is rising voter anxiety about the state of the environment.
Today’s Celebration
Baire Proclamation – Cuba
Flag Day – Mexico
Independence Day (1918) – Estonia
National Engineer’s Day – Iran
Central Exercise Day – India
National Artist Day – Thailand
Dragobete – Romania
Climate Change
Climate change forces low-lying Marshall Islands to ‘elevate islands’
Climate change has left the low-lying Marshall Islands with little choice but to consider drastic measures.
UBC researchers explore an often ignored source of greenhouse gas
In a new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus, researchers have discovered a surprising new source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — bicarbonates hidden in the lake water used to irrigate local orchards.
More water resources over the Sahel region of Africa in the 21st century under global warming
Scientists from Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the projection uncertainty of Sahel summer precipitation among the climate models is closely related to the historical precipitation simulation in South Asia and the western North Pacific. They use the specified historical simulation biases to calibrate future projections and found that more water resources are available in the twenty-first century, with an increase of 119% after the calibration.
National
Poorer households switching to solar faster than the rich
As urban myths go, the one about solar panels being a luxury enjoyed mostly by the wealthy has endured beyond reality.
Government accused of ‘undue secrecy’ over refusal to release Murray-Darling advice
Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick says the Federal Government’s legal advice that disputes a royal commission finding that parts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan were unlawful should not be “cloak and dagger stuff” and calls for its release.
Simple question that saves you more than $200 off your power bills
Liam Phelan
Consumers are being ripped off by electricity retailers because of the complexity of the pricing system. But there are simple ways to reduce your costs.
What worries voters – and how that’s changed since the last election
Matt Wade
The cost of living has become our gravest concern, and the Coalition no longer has the lead on which party is most trusted to manage the problem. A second big shift is rising voter anxiety about the state of the environment.
Victoria
Victorians back duck hunting ban [$]
More than half of Victorian voters want the government to ban recreational duck hunting with women and older voters more likely to oppose the shootings.
New South Wales
Indigenous communities fight for traditional fishing practices to be recognised
Those living in coastal regions are fighting fisheries management regulations they say don’t go far enough.
‘Everyone loves solar’: Climate action heats up as NSW election issue
Polls show NSW voters, including conservative ones, want the state government to step up action on climate change, including boosting renewable energy.
‘Biggest fight yet’: NSW Nationals’ $5 billion battle for the bush
Deputy Premier Barilaro will make $3 billion worth of election promises as he launches the Nationals election campaign, taking the party’s war chest to $5 billion.
NSW election: our chance to vote 1 for climate and health
John Van Der Kallenon
The Lancet has described tackling climate change as the ‘greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century.’ The upcoming NSW election is one of those opportunities to improve our health, but we need to vote for politicians who will take climate change seriously.
‘Shockingly bad’: Is this the state’s worst election policy?
Jacob Saulwick
One policy will put billions into the pockets of private road owners, while encouraging more people to drive.
ACT
Banning single-use plastics could soon be law, but it’s nothing new to these Canberra businesses
The ACT Government wants to ban single-use plastics, but many Canberra businesses are already making it work.
Lake George landowner seeks help to remove glass from property
Caitlin Miller turns to crowdfunding in desperation at no action over piles of Canberra recycling glass.
Canberra to Eden railway line study set for June completion
A study to assess the feasibility of a Canberra to Eden railway line will be completed before the end of June, with the contract to carry out the study expected to be awarded by April 2.
Queensland
Farming to exercise: How Brisbane’s parks have changed through the years
From growing market crops to hosting high-flying exercise equipment, Brisbane’s parks have transformed over the years since the city was born.
Container refunds ‘not accessible to all’ [$]
The State Government has been accused of locking thousands of Queenslanders out of the container refund scheme, with some forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to get their 10c refund.
Voters get sinking feeling they still can’t trust Labor [$]
Piers Akerman
Labor is again split over the party’s decision to ignore the pleas of workers in northern Queensland in favour of Green-Left activists in the inner-urban areas of southern cities who have adopted the global warming cult as their creed.
South Australia
Elder’s call for Indigenous unity against Bight drilling [$]
Whale whisperer Bunna Lawrie says oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight will have catastrophic consequences for the sacred waters.
Murray millions poised to flow [$]
More than half a billion dollars, set aside for returning environmental water to the River Murray, will flow in coming months, Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has vowed.
Tasmania
Cable car opponents sign on for ‘direct action’ protest training
Experienced forest protestors are running training sessions for people who want to stop Hobart’s kunanyi/Mount Wellington cable car, but they are not likely to be chaining themselves to machinery.
Tasmanian fallow deer hunting season opens for 2019 with three new areas
Three additional areas of reserved land and two areas of Hydro Tasmania land have been opened for recreational deer hunting for this year’s season.
UCF study finds high IQs won’t be enough to prevent ecological disasters
High IQs aren’t going to be enough to stop an ecological disaster. It’s going to take social intelligence, too. That’s the conclusion of a new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher and published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications.
Giant crays face a giant problem [$]
Northern Tasmania’s giant crayfish are being smothered by a build-up of sediment in rivers and water catchments, a crayfish expert has told an inquiry into Australia’s extinction crisis.
Sustainability
Captured carbon dioxide converts into oxalic acid to process rare earth elements
Removing carbon dioxide from power plant emissions is a good idea to start with — and it may have an extra economic benefit. A Michigan Tech engineering is presenting their results this week on turning carbon dioxide into oxalic acid, which is used to process rare earth elements for electronic devices.
Haunting Chernobyl photos 33 years on
Harrowing pictures show what is left of the towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat in Ukraine more than three decades after nuclear disaster.
Expanding the use of silicon in batteries, by preventing electrodes from expanding
Silicon anodes are generally viewed as the next development in lithium-ion battery technology. Silicon’s ability to absorb more charge translates to longer battery life and smaller batteries, if researchers can check the physical expansion of the silicon that comes with charging. Research from Drexel University and the Trinity College in Ireland, suggests that adding MXene ink to the silicon electrode-making process would do just that.
No backyard, no problem. You can still recycle your food waste
There are a number of ways people living in apartments and tiny houses can recycle their food waste. And it’s not only the environment that benefits.
Postcard: How I became obsessed with Jakarta’s air quality
James Massola
Living in a megacity like Jakarta was always going to be challenging. But was the air making my kids sick?
Why the next Apple will be a food company
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Food producers are set to be forced to step up to the plate on climate change – and there are fortunes to be made.
Nature Conservation
Botswana unveils plan to kill elephants and turn them into pet food
Botswana banned big game hunting in 2014, but now there are plans to start culling elephants in a bid to address what the government says is a growing conflict between humans and wildlife.
There’s a terrying trend emerging: oceans are turning green. And the shift in colour could spell disaster for our planet’s ecosystems.
Good news: Habitats worthy of protection in Germany are protected
The world’s largest coordinated network of protected areas is not located at the South Pole or in Australia, Africa, Asia or on the American continents — but in Europe. As part of an international team, researchers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries have examined how effectively Natura 2000 protects listed habitat types in Germany. The result: although the existing network includes sites of special interest, not all habitat types are represented proportionally.
Method assesses health and size of lizard populations
Monitoring programs that survey many wildlife species at the same time across large geographic regions are important for informing conservation decisions, but reptiles are often missing from these efforts because they are difficult to survey. As described in a new Ecology & Evolution study, researchers have now developed a way to provide accurate estimates of lizard populations.
Scientists reveal impacts of anthropogenic nitrogen discharge on nitrogen transport in global rivers
Scientists found that riverine dissolved inorganic nitrogen in the USA has increased primarily due to the use of nitrogen fertilizers. In contrast, European rivers were affected mainly by point source pollution. However, both aspects are equally important for aquatic environments in China.
Climate change may affect ecological interactions among species
Predator-prey equilibria are being disrupted by climate change, according to a study led by Brazilian researchers and published in Nature Climate Change.
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