Post of the Day
There is hope! Five recent developments which might actually help fight climate change
In October 2018 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, which provided a sobering update on the state of the environment.
Today’s Celebration
Battle of Adowa – Ethiopia
Peasants’ Day – Myanmar / Burma
Texas Independence Day (Texas) – United States of America
Birthday of Pope Leo XIII b. 1810
The Fast of Nineteen Days – Baha’i
Climate Change
There is hope! Five recent developments which might actually help fight climate change
In October 2018 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, which provided a sobering update on the state of the environment.
Is the fight against ocean plastic a distraction?
The ocean is heating up, acidifying, and rising.
Wars and threats to our coffee supply: Lessons from covering climate change
As she headlines a Houston symposium on climate change, Somini Sengupta discusses what she’s learned as the global climate reporter for The New York Times.
Youth climate strikers: ‘We are going to change the fate of humanity’
Students issue an open letter ahead of global day of action on 15 March, when young people are expected to strike across 50 nations
National
Renewables super grid proposed to solve Europe’s energy dilemma
Pan-European decentralised renewable electricity system connected across a high-volume super grid described as least-cost option to achieve Paris Agreement goals and power EU.
Who’s watching the water? Experts urge better groundwater monitoring
With groundwater use almost doubling during drought there is concern that the national bore monitoring network, by falling into disrepair, is hiding a crisis.
Morrison’s pivot to hydro may not be the best money can buy [$]
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his energy minister Angus Taylor needed to announce something big and hydro power fitted the bill.
Rulemaker warns current ‘patchwork’ of policies won’t fix power prices
The energy market rule maker has slammed the government’s “patchwork” approach to policy, warning a focus on short term fixes was undermining the prospect of lasting solutions to high power prices.
Australia’s hottest summer beats previous record by ‘large margin’
NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Northern Territory all just had the hottest summer ever as a new national record was also set.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan has launched an attack on AMP for its pursuit of Australian corporates on climate change.
ExxonMobil tells Canberra to stop ‘feeding on debate and division’ [$]
The world’s biggest oil company, ExxonMobil, has called for Australia’s politicians to stop “feeding on debate and division” and address meeting the nation’s energy needs and cutting emissions rather than arguing about the role of renewables.
Woodside, Santos feel the heat [$]
Energy producers Woodside Petroleum and Santos face a new wave of climate change activism.
It’s time for Australia’s renewables industry to go all in
Eytan Lenko & Nicky Ison
Given the rapidly falling cost of solar and wind, the renewables industry should be actively fighting for Australia to rapidly move to 100% renewables and beyond.
How do we save ageing Australians from the heat? Greening our cities is a good start
Claudia Baldwin et al
Heatwaves have killed more Australians than road accidents, fires, floods and all other natural disasters combined.
My older patients suffer most during hotter and longer heatwaves
Marianne Cannon
On the third day of a heatwave we typically see droves of elders in hospital
10 things to know about Scott Morrison’s so-called climate “pivot”
Giles Parkinson & Sophie Vorrath
Prime minister Scott Morrison has spent all of this week trying to shore up the Coalition government’s climate credentials, or at least to diffuse the idea that it doesn’t have any.
Australia, much of our ‘population problem’ is our own making
Liz Allen
Past successes and policy and funding complacency have created a ticking time bomb. Politicians no longer have the luxury of looking away.
An elegy to the backyard incinerator
Richard Glover
Keeping the backyard incinerator stoked all year was a moral imperative in the suburbs of the ’60s and ’70s. In autumn, our streets were bathed with smoke.
Inconvenient truths for our coal-cuddling PM
Peter Hartcher
Scott Morrison’s coal stunt in Parliament was a job application to his conservative colleagues. His sudden conversion to renewables a job application to voters.
Mike Seccombe
Scott Morrison says his new $3.5 billion climate fund will cut Australia’s emissions, but experts warn he is playing a numbers game that is ‘essentially dishonest’.
Climate of fear as election campaign begins [$]
Paul Bongiorno
Liberal MPs need no persuading they are in the fight of their lives. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, facing a challenge from independent Liberal climate change advocate Oliver Yates, already has his posters up in prominent places around his electorate, Kooyong.
Nuclear our energy panacea [$]
Chris Kenny
We exaggerate the threat and despair about the future, when all the while there is a silver bullet waiting to be used.
Victoria
More Victorians disconnected as power price rises bite into bills
Victoria’s energy consumer watchdog has lashed power companies for cutting off a record number of households in the face of rising prices.
Emergency alert for Vic lightning fires
Lightning has sparked multiple fires in a Victorian state park, with some residents being told it is too late to leave.
Fire crews battle flaring Gympie bushfire
A bushfire in Queensland’s Gympie region has been downgraded to advice level as crews work to contain the blaze.
Burning issue: are waste-to-energy plants a good idea?
Narelle Towie
Victoria’s first waste-to-energy project is going ahead but these projects threaten recycling and could pose health concerns
Get set for the disruption we need to have [$]
Matt Johnston
There will be no escape from chaos on many Melbourne rails lines in April but as Premier Daniel Andrews says, it’s the price of progress.
New South Wales
Mardi Gras puts glitter on notice as industry works to clean up its act
Despite a declared war on glitter at Sydney’s Mardi Gras, the industry wants you to know they are still coming to the party.
New cycleway for eastern suburbs as govt doubles bike, walking paths spend
The NSW government will more than double its spending on bike and pedestrian paths and, in a calculated move, has announced a new cycleway.
Daley to bring back Aboriginal cultural burning [$]
Traditional Aboriginal burning practices — used to manage and revive the land — will be brought back under a state Labor government.
Spill at a nuclear facility shows potential burn risks from a household chemical
Martin Boland
Three people were taken to hospital following a chemical spill at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation facility at Lucas Heights this morning.
Queensland
Mystery condition paralysing rainbow lorikeets
Vets and carers in the Whitsundays are baffled and concerned by a condition that has suddenly left dozens of rainbow lorikeets unable to use their wings.
High temperatures see south-east Queensland set power consumption record
The operational demands for energy this year broke last year’s record of 9796 in February.
Rogue dingo ’responsible for previous attacks’ [$]
Authorities are investigating whether the rogue dingo who mauled a boy and his mother on Fraser Island was the same animal responsible for the two other most recent attacks on the sandy paradise.
This is why you should never run from a dingo
Running from a dingo is a bad idea, an expert says.
Queensland researchers track koalas using heat-seeking drones
Queensland researchers have been internationally recognised for their groundbreaking use of drones to track koala populations in south-east Queensland.
Adani push to nail ‘anti-coal zealots’ [$]
Adani wants zealot protesters prosecuted after deliveries to its north Qld port were disrupted for more than 24 hours.
South Australia
Six councils could combine to combat rubbish [$]
Burnside could join other local councils in a bid to tackle illegally dumped rubbish, as incidents surge “substantially”.
Western Australia
Residents warned to evacuate as bushfire rages near Esperance
Cape Le Grand National Park has closed as the fire, which was started by lightning, burns near Esperance.
Discovery’s Rottnest Island eco-resort opens [$]
SA-based national business Discovery Parks has opened its most “up-market” tourism offering — a $25 million eco-resort on Rottnest Island in WA — with chief executive Grant Wilckens saying it’s the first of a number of opportunities.
Cash-strapped WA wave power company suspended from ASX
The cash-strapped company that received WA government funds despite not meeting milestones attached to a wave power project has been suspended from trading on the Australian stock exchange for failing to lodge its half-year financial report.
Big donor quits board after plan to dump millions of tonnes of toxic soil in Peel region revealed
One of the state’s biggest political donors has quit a board post on a regional development commission after an explosive meeting in which he tried to secure a deal to dump millions of tonnes of toxic soil in the Peel region.
Sustainability
Activist wants to convince the world to live without plastic
After years of seeing garbage pile up on the beaches and waterways where she lives, activist Dianna Cohen decided to attack the pollution at its source: by removing plastic from her life. She wants to convince the world to do the same.
Travel and tourism industry takes aim at plastic pollution but more action needed
With some of the world’s most beautiful beaches paying a heavy price for our plastic addiction, the travel and tourism industry is taking action to reduce its plastic footprint and encourage its customers to do the same.
Forget recycling, we need to fix ‘wish-cycling’
We may not be as good at recycling as we think we are, and experts say it’s hurting an already crippled system.
The age of congestion pricing may finally be upon us
Some US cities might start charging extra to drive on crowded, busy roads.
US factories are polluting less, but regulation rollbacks threaten air quality
In the 1960s, there were worries that U.S. economic growth would lead to increasingly dangerous levels of pollution, and that by the year 2000, air pollution would make cities like Los Angeles and New York uninhabitable.
The $32 trillion push to disrupt the entire oil industry
Cyril Widdershoven
Increased shareholder activism, combined with global warming policies of institutional investors and NGOs, are pushing IOCs in a corner, constricting financing options for oil companies.
Ask yourselves, fellow Homo underevolvus, what planet are we on?
Ian Warden
Do you sort of half-believe our dear planet is terribly menaced, while, somehow, feeling able to go on living your everyday lives as if everything is eternally tickety-boo?
Nature Conservation
A team of experts convened by Professor Sir Charles Godfray of the Oxford Martin School has assessed the evidence base of key chemicals known to disrupt the endocrine system of wildlife.
Warming oceans are hurting seafood supply—and things are getting worse
Fisheries’ productivity has plummeted by as much as 35% in some places.
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