Post of the Day
Researchers uncover new clues to surviving extinction
Ecological transformation in the wake of the ‘Great Dying’ moves scientists closer to understanding the nature of recovery
Today’s Celebration
Birthday of Bangabnadhu – Bangladesh
Camp Fire Boys & Girls Founders Day – United States of America
Evacuation Day (Boston only) – United States of America
National Muay Thai Day – Thailand
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Birthday – Bangladesh
National Children Day – Bangladesh
St. Patrick’s Day – Christianity
Climate Change
Hundreds of thousands leave schools world-wide to protest climate change inaction
Hundreds of thousands of students in more than 2000 cities from Australia to Uganda and Germany left the classroom on Friday to protest government inaction on climate change.
Ocean sink for man-made CO2 measured
An international research project led by scientists from ETH Zurich has determined the amount of man-made CO2 emissions taken up by the ocean between 1994 and 2007.
Sources and Sinks: What drives long-term climatic trends?
For the entire history of our species, humans have lived on a planet capped by a chunk of ice at each pole. But Earth has been ice-free for about 75 percent of the time since complex life first appeared. This variation in background climate, between partly glaciated and ice-free, has puzzled geologists for decades.
Swedish teen sparked school climate action
The Swedish teen who inspired worldwide school strikes to demand action on climate change says she has just showed a way to “make your voice heard”.
National
Australia bans use of data from animal tests in cosmetics
More than 500,000 animals – mainly rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats and mice – suffer and die in cruel and outdated tests of cosmetic ingredients globally each year.
Rabbit virus proves a killer but questions remain over failure to spread
Released two years ago, the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus RHDV1-K5 reduced rabbit numbers on some sites by about one third, but failed to spread further — and scientists say an exotic rogue virus is largely to blame.
Victoria
Battling families get energy bill boost [$]
Energy experts will help struggling Victorian families by delivering government-funded upgrades in a bid to cut down their power bills.
Melbourne’s fringe protected in planning overhaul [$]
Vast swathes of land on Melbourne’s urban fringe would be protected from development in a major government plan to shore up the state’s food bowl. Here’s where the farm zones will be.
More dangerous chemicals found in factory probe [$]
Safety authorities investigating chemical stockpiles in Melbourne’s north have discovered more illegal storage sites with materials similar to those believed to have contributed to the now notorious West Footscray blaze.
Feral deer causing havoc for homeowners, motorists [$]
A war on wild deer is brewing on Melbourne’s northern fringe, with the feral animals destroying gardens, colliding with cars and even fouling dam water. And the problem is getting worse.
Clothes made from plastic bottles catch the market [$]
Would you wear clothes made out of recycled plastic? A young entrepreneur has found her own solution to the recycling crisis — using discarded plastic to create activewear. This is how she does it.
Wild dog programs bringing communities together
Landholders in north-east Victoria say a collaborative effort with industry and government is helping keep wild dogs at bay, but warn a reduction in programs could quickly change that.
New South Wales
Labor promises $100 million for ‘solar schools’
Labor leader Michael Daley has pledged spend $100 million installing solar panels on hundreds of public schools across NSW.
NSW Labor vows to restore national parks
NSW Labor has pledged to employ more field officers to restore the state’s national parks while the coalition slams the party over its luxury car tax policy.
Viva cops ‘significant’ fine for ‘foreseeable’ Sydney Harbour oil spill
Viva Energy has been fined $100,000 for an oil spill in Sydney Harbour that took more than six months to clean up and was described by a judge as ‘foreseeable’.
Kangaroos raid country towns in search of water [$]
Starving kangaroos are invading drought-stricken country towns across NSW, resorting to eating old beer cartons, wastepaper and even trying to graze on astro turf in order to survive.
The cost of knowing how much river water is being pumped for irrigation, and when
Irrigation farmer Brett Shearwood says new laws requiring pumps to have meters providing real-time data on river water use will help his industry, but the spend comes at a difficult time during the drought.
ACT
Beware of adulterers and delivery drones
Ian Warden
The famous claim by some imaginative Bonython residents that the drones drove all of the wildlife out is reminiscent of the best work of the Brothers Grimm.
Queensland
‘Latest trick’ to delay Adani megamine [$]
Environmentalists have launched a new front in their relentless campaign to block the Adani mine project.
South Australia
The Wilderness Society fights back in Bight battle [$]
On Saturday, The Advertiser quizzed Norwegian oil company Equinor about its controversial plans to undertake exploratory oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight. Today, The Wilderness Society answers its own questions about the future of The Bight.
Tasmania
Southern bluefin tuna swimming towards recovery [$]
While some trophy species are recovering, stock levels of other dinner-plate favourites remain a problem. Recreational anglers have been urged to further help species rejuvenate by not only staying within catch limits but below them.
Parking pressures a priority for new Freycinet master plan [$]
A revised Freycinet Master Plan, which has just been released for public comment, highlights two key concerns in the tourism mecca: an overloaded sewerage system and an overload of cars.
Northern Territory
After Cyclone Marcus, a new tree-planting scheme promises not to repeat history’s mistakes
After Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the NT government handed out African mahogany saplings with no idea of the damage they would do. Now, a new program to regreen the city promises things will be different.
School kids climate change protest in Darwin [$]
Hundreds of protesters of all ages gathered at NT parliament on Friday for an Australia wide climate change protest
Western Australia
A $215 million extension of the Mitchell Freeway — from Mindarie to Alkimos — will add 5.6km of road and 1200 new jobs to the economy, the State Government has revealed.
City in WA’s South West helps Perth councils watch their waste
As the WA Government moves ahead with plans to help introduce a three-bin system to all metropolitan areas by 2025, one regional town has stepped up to show other councils how it’s done.
Carbon emissions U-turn avoids enormous political headache, but questions set to linger
Jacob Kagi
The Environmental Protection Authority’s sudden decision to quickly reverse strict new carbon emissions guidelines after a meeting with the WA Premier raises doubt about its independence.
Sustainability
Meat production is central to the debate on climate change and ethical food. But how much is too much – for people and the planet?
Solar-powered moisture harvester collects and cleans water from air
A breakthrough by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin offers new solution through solar-powered technology that absorbs moisture from the air and returns it as clean, usable water. This ‘super-sponge’ could be used in disaster situations, poverty-stricken areas and developing countries.
Renewable energy won’t make Bitcoin ‘green,’ but tweaking its mining mechanism might
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is known for its energy footprint. Now, researcher Alex de Vries, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the Netherlands, suggests that renewable hydropower production cannot supply the large quantities of energy needed to power machinery used to validate Bitcoin transactions. In a Commentary publishing March 14 in the journal Joule, he highlights the vast quantities of electronic waste produced by the Bitcoin network and calls for alternative strategies to curb the cryptocurrency’s environmental impact.
New method to reduce uranium concentration in contaminated water
In a paper to be published in the forthcoming issue in NANO, researchers from China have proposed a way to reduce uranium concentration in contaminated water. As an essential nuclear fuel, uranium has been greatly used an inevitably released to the environment. Without proper disposal, exposure to uranium can result in serious harms to the ecology and health of humans.
Critical materials: Researchers eye huge supply of rare-earth elements from mining waste
Researchers have examined a method to extract rare-earth elements from mining waste that could provide the world with a reliable supply of the valuable materials.
15 Types Of Produce You Should ALWAYS Buy Organic and 11 Types To Buy Conventional 100%
by Jen Miller
Informed shoppers can make better decisions about when to buy conventional and when to buy organic.
Nature Conservation
Wildlife campaigners take legal action against ‘pest’ bird killings
New group Wild Justice challenging Natural England over licence to slaughter certain wild birds
Using Thoreau, scientists measure the impact of climate change on wildflowers
A new study is using observations made by Henry David Thoreau — 19th-century American naturalist, social reformer, and philosopher — to explore the effects of climate change on tree leaf-out and, as a result, the emergence of spring wildflowers.
Researchers uncover new clues to surviving extinction
Ecological transformation in the wake of the ‘Great Dying’ moves scientists closer to understanding the nature of recovery
Now for something completely different …
How to talk to your children about terrorism in the wake of Christchurch
Children experience higher levels of distress when witnessing traumatic events like terrorist attacks.
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