Daily Links Apr 26

Read this article – it is important!

 

“What do we value more: an economic system which privileges profit above all other considerations, or the continued existence of human civilisation as we recognise it?”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/25/climate-change-oil-companies-extinction-rebellion

Post of the Day

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: vast expanse of rainforest lost in 2018

Pristine forests are vital for climate and wildlife but trend of losses is rising, data shows

 

Today’s Celebration

Confederate Memorial Day – United States of America

Union Day – Tanzania

Arbor Day – USA

Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl Tragedy – Ukraine

Orthodox Good Friday – Orthodox Christianity

World Intellectual Property Day

Alien Day

Lesbian Visibility Day

More about Apr 26

 

Climate Change

Tackling climate change can help economy: UK trade minister

Britain’s trade minister Liam Fox said tackling climate change can bring economic benefits as activists blocked key parts of London’s financial district on the final day of protests that have caused mass disruption in London.

 

Oil companies’ environmental plans to become more transparent under new rules

A new government regulation was enacted today which forces oil companies’ environmental plans to be made public for consultation before they are approved.

 

Climate change threatens chubby, older men

A toxic microbe found on the coast is a threat to people with open cuts who are exposed to seawater.

 

New view of how ocean ‘pumps’ impact climate change

A new Rochester study has found that factors such as wind, currents, and even small fish play a larger role in transferring and storing carbon from the surface of the ocean to the deep oceans than was previously thought.

 

Microbes may act as gatekeepers of Earth’s Deep Carbon

Two years ago a team of scientists visited Costa Rica’s subduction zone, where the ocean floor sinks beneath the continent and volcanoes tower above the surface. They wanted to find out if microbes can affect the cycle of carbon moving from Earth’s surface into the deep interior. According to their new study in Nature, the answer is affirmatively – yes they can.

 

A climate change controversy: Whether to engineer the planet in order to fix it

We need to reduce our emissions. But some think Earth also needs a more radical solution.

 

Ocean waves are getting bigger and climate change appears to be to blame

Extreme ocean winds and waves have become more common over the past three decades, according to scientists who warn climate change could be causing the trend.

 

How to stop climate change? Nationalise the oil companies

Owen Jones

Extinction Rebellion got the ball rolling, but more radical action is now necessary if humanity is to survive.

 

National

Scientists are on the hunt to discover the culprit behind the Murray-Darling fish deaths

Blue-green algae that was involved in the deaths of up to a million Murray cod earlier this year is being studied at the National Algae Culture Collection in Hobart.

 

Renewable energy investment looks to be going from boom to bust as prices collapse

Developers and investors in large-scale renewable energy projects are being squeezed between falling long-term contract prices and a wave of new supply set to hit the grid in coming years.

 

Murray-Darling in worse condition despite $8.5b spend [$]

Angus Taylor and Watergate have captured the headlines but a larger scandal is the billions wasted on water projects as the health of the river system worsens.

 

Bill Shorten rules out joint climate policy process with Greens if Labor wins power

Labor leader says ‘I’m not going to have this argument that somehow, we are going to go into coalition with the Greens’

 

Fact or fiction? The Guardian checks Coalition’s claims about Labor’s climate change policy

After the government said the opposition’s emissions reduction policy would cost $26bn, should you believe it?

 

Bush bash: This election, regional Australia is waiting – with baseball bats

Regional Australia is angry – and the government knows it.

 

Boost in Chinese coal raises hopes of end to Australian import curbs

China’s decision to boost its domestic thermal coal mining industry has raised hopes the country’s unofficial restrictions on Australian imports may soon end.

 

Electric cars boost mines [$]

Moves by carmakers to avoid Congo as a source of ­cobalt could revive Australia’s nickel mines.

 

Go-ahead for giant U-mine [$]

Melissa Price gave the go-ahead for a uranium mine one day before the election was called.

 

Barnaby Joyce and Watergate: the water buybacks scandal explained

Maryanne Slattery

Here we explain everything from overland flows to water buybacks and why they’re gripping the nation’s politics

 

Bill Shorten must take a stand on Adani [$]

Telegraph editorial

It is quite a divide Shorten is caught between. Voters have the right to know which side he’ll back. Take a stand on Adani, Bill.

 

Victoria

Brimbank Council prepares for e-waste ban from 1 July 2019

Brimbank Council will introduce new ways to dispose of electronic waste (e-waste), following the Victorian Government’s state-wide ban on e-waste being sent to landfill from 1 July 2019.

 

No butts for Bayside beaches

Bayside City Council will move to ban smoking at all of Bayside’s valued beaches, including Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, Dendy Street beach and the Brighton Dunes.

 

Staff laid off as solar panel companies struggle with temporary halt to rebate scheme

Dozens of workers from a Melbourne-based solar panel company are laid off, as the company claims customers are cancelling orders due to a three-month freeze on new applications for the Victorian Government’s rebate scheme.

 

Critics attack massive widening of Eastern Freeway to up to 20 lanes

The Eastern will be widened up to 24 lanes at its widest point, and critics have attacked the Andrews government for the massive promised expansion.

 

Another recycling plant catches fire

A recycling site in Melbourne’s west has caught fire and sent large smoke plumes across homes and businesses, in the latest blaze at a waste plant.

 

New South Wales

Peel Street to undergo vegetation revitalisation

Peel Street, the leafy heart of Tamworth and commonly referred to as the “Boulevard of Dreams” among country music fans and artists, is set to undergo an upgrade to its vegetation and irrigation with the aim of enhancing the aesthetics and sustainability of the street.

 

ACT

Pet tax: ACT government canvasses annual animal registration

Pet owners in Canberra could be forced to pay a fee to register their animals each year, under plans being canvassed by the ACT government.

 

Queensland

Dingoes ‘hunting’ children on Fraser Island, incident reports reveal

Dingoes using “hunting tactics” towards children are responsible for frightening encounters reported to rangers on Queensland’s popular Fraser Island.

 

‘Worse than GetUp’: Coalition slammed over ‘misleading’ Adani billboard

The Morrison government has been accused of misleading Queensland voters in a seat set to benefit most from the controversial Adani coal mine with a billboard that appears to show Labor leader Bill Shorten participating in a campaign to stop it.

 

Ski field hopes after Mt Coot-tha zipline canned [$]

There will not be a zipline but thousands of Brisbane residents hoping for a ski field to open on Mt Coot-tha this June.

 

Tensions mount: Undercover cops on anti-Adani convoy [$]

Police are secretly travelling with the Bob Brown-led anti-Adani convoy heading to Clermont, where tension is mounting, as pro-mining supporters prepare for their own counter protest.

 

Libs MP silent on support for mine [$]

A Brisbane Liberal Party MP has broken ranks with the Liberal National Party over the controversial Adani mine and is refusing to tell voters whether he supports the project.

 

‘Stop Adani’ convoy an attack on regional communities

Anne Baker

Adani convoy Bob Brown’s Stop Adani Convoy is an absolute affront to the proud resource communities of Queensland


Tasmania

CSIRO climate science boost on Labor’s agenda [$]

A $10 million boost in funding for CSIRO climate research would create jobs in Hobart, Federal Labor has pledged.

 

One Nation ‘less objectionable’ than Labor and Greens [$]

The Nationals will recommend voters preference One Nation ahead of Labor and the Greens, the party’s Tasmanian Senator Steve Martin has announced.

 

Northern Territory

Labor’s support for ‘carbon disaster’ in Betaloo basin condemned

Lock the Gate says fracking in Northern Territory basin would be the equivalent of 50 new coal-fired power stations

 

Sustainability

India’s solar power capacity addition to grow 15 per cent to 7,500 Mw this fiscal

By contrast, last financial year’s solar capacity addition is estimated to have remained subdued in a range between 6,000 Mw and 6,500 Mw because of weak trend in award of solar projects in calendar year 2017

 

China coal investments unpopular in ‘new Silk Road’ nations: Poll

Environmental group E3G, which commissioned the poll, said the results showed there was little support for investment in coal, despite China’s role as a major funder of new plants

 

Controversial uranium mine approved day before election called

The world’s largest uranium producer, Canada’s Cameco, wants to develop the mine potentially leading to the clearing of 2,500 hectares of native vegetation, causing environmentalists and traditional owners deep concern.

 

Human-caused climate change played limited role in Beijing’s 2013 ‘airpocalypse’

Although the particulate matter that filled the winter skies resulted from both human and natural emissions, a new study concludes that human-caused climate change played only a minor role in the air’s stagnation.

 

Saudi study links phthalate exposure in couples to failed pregnancy

A study of almost 600 couples in an IVF clinic in Saudi Arabia has found an apparent association between phthalate exposure and an increased risk of failed clinical pregnancy and live birth.

 

Fighting climate change by tackling food waste

One-third of all food worldwide ends up in the garbage, with industrialized countries contributing the most. A new foodsharing platform wants to help tackle the impact this has on our climate.

 

How to take the ‘petro’ out of the petrochemicals industry

University of Toronto Engineering researchers chart a course for how an alternative technology — renewable electrosynthesis — could usher in a more sustainable chemical industry, and ultimately enable us to leave much more oil and gas in the ground.

 

Using DNA templates to harness the sun’s energy

As the world struggles to meet the increasing demand for energy, coupled with the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere from deforestation and the use of fossil fuels, photosynthesis in nature simply cannot keep up with the carbon cycle. But what if we could help the natural carbon cycle by learning from photosynthesis to generate our own sources of energy that didn’t generate CO2?

 

Many investors still shy about putting money into climate change, social equality

An Allianz Life survey shows investors care equally about environmental, social and governance issues but don’t always apply them to their investments.

 

Unravelling the complexity of air pollution in the world’s coldest capital city

A joint Mongol-Japanese research team conducted the first detailed study of organic air pollutants in Ulaanbaartar city. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents of airborne particulates were determined, and indicated that the degree of air pollution varies markedly by district and season.

 

Caffeine gives solar cells an energy boost

Scientists have discovered that caffeine can help make a promising alternative to traditional solar cells more efficient at converting light to electricity. Their research may enable this cost-effective renewable energy technology to compete on the market with silicon solar cells.

 

Los Angeles is still the smoggiest US city, report says

Los Angeles kept its dubious distinction as the U.S. city with the dirtiest air, the American Lung Association’s annual report said.

 

Nature Conservation

In France, people living by protected areas are more environmentally conscious

When compared with their fellow citizens, French people residing near a protected area (PA) exhibit more environmentally friendly behaviors. That is the conclusion of scientists from the CNRS and the University of Montpellier. The direct impact PAs have on the promotion of proenvironmental behavior among people living within their borders has thus been proven for the first time. The researchers suggest that PAs preserve the connection between humans and nature.

 

Massive ecological and economic impacts of woody weed invasion in Ethiopia

Scientists have revealed the massive ecological and economic impacts that the invasive alien tree Prosopis juliflora has had across the Afar Region of north eastern Ethiopia.

 

Place-based management can protect coral reefs in a changing climate

Scientists from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa apply new computer models to identify where cesspool conversion and marine conservation efforts will minimize human impacts on coral reefs.

 

Indigenous protesters march on Brazil Congress over land rights

Thousands of indigenous people converged on Brazil’s capital to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

 

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: vast expanse of rainforest lost in 2018

Pristine forests are vital for climate and wildlife but trend of losses is rising, data shows

 

Americans’ beliefs about wildlife management are changing

A new 50-state study on America’s Wildlife Values led by researchers at Colorado State University and The Ohio State University describes individuals’ values toward wildlife.

 

Maximizing conservation benefits

Overexploitation and population collapse pose significant threats to marine fish stocks across the globe. While certain fish populations have already collapsed, research indicates that nearly one third of fisheries worldwide are currently impacted by overharvesting.

 

Pole-to-pole study of ocean life identifies nearly 200,000 marine viruses

An international team has conducted the first-ever global survey of the ecological diversity of viruses in the oceans during expeditions aboard a single sailboat. They identified nearly 200,000 marine viral species, which vastly exceeds the 15,000 known from prior ocean surveys of these waters and the approximately 2,000 genomes available from cultured viruses of microbes. Their findings have implications for understanding issues ranging from evolution to climate change.

 

Can humans help trees outrun climate change?

A dark synergy of extreme weather and emboldened pests could imperil vast stretches of woodland. Foresters are only starting to wrestle with solutions.

 

 

Maelor Himbury

6 Florence St Niddrie 3042

93741902

0432406862