Post of the Day
The UN says we’re destroying the world. This should change everything
Caitlin Fitzsimmons
We can’t afford business as usual. We need action, optimism and relentless focus.
Today’s Celebration
State Flag and State Emblem Day – Belarus
Environmental Education Day – Russia
Day of the Finnish Identity – Finland
Father’s Day – Romania
Fibromyalgia Awareness Day United States of America
Saint Andrew the First-Called Day – Georgia
Buddha’s Birthday – East Asia
Mangers pour divers loas Voudon
Climate Change
Comparison of global climatologies confirms warming of the global ocean
A report describes the main features of the recently published World Ocean Experiment-Argo Global Hydrographic Climatology. This climatology is based on profile data from ships, Argo floats, and sensors attached to marine mammals. As an important deviation from the widely used climatologies produced previously by the National Oceanographic Data Center, the spatial interpolation was performed on local potential density surfaces, so that no ‘artificial water masses’ were created.
National
Climate change still key in election social media
Australians were keen to talk about climate change and civil rights on social media in the fourth week of the election campaign.
Climate, not Greens, the threat: Di Natale
Greens Leader Richard Di Natale says climate change is the biggest threat to Australia, not his party, as the prime minister suggests.
‘Missing in action’: hunt goes on for Coalition’s invisible environment minister
It’s supposed to be the climate change election, and the UN says the planet’s ecosystem is under existential threat. But Melissa Price is nowhere to be seen
‘Five little killers’: He used a knife to cut their heads off
The fight is on to rid Australia of millions of cunning killers hurting native wildlife.
Why philosopher wants Aussies to stop helping farmers [$]
Australians should stop sending money to drought-stricken farmers who have access to support and won’t die of starvation, says a world-renowned philosopher.
A letter to my fellow evangelicals about the environment
Mick Pope
Dear fellow evangelicals, I write to you at this hour born of a sense of frustration, of fear, and of hope. I felt compelled to write this.
Australians can’t afford a reckless pursuit of utopia [$]
Sunday Mail editorial
When Aussies vote next Saturday they face the starkest choice in decades – a Coalition with a conviction that a strong, growing economy benefits everyone, or an ALP big on expensive promises and raising taxes.
Sunday Telegraph editorial
Saturday’s election must mark a turning point in Australian life — not just the change or re-election of a government, but the end of the worst period of instability and political cynicism since Federation.
Victoria
PM, Shorten pledge Melbourne rail funding
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten are expected to pledge multibillion dollar funding boosts to Melbourne rail projects as the election race enters its last week.
New rules on e-waste pending – East Gippsland
New laws on e-waste are being introduced to protect our environment and recover more precious resources. The Victorian Government is banning all e-waste from landfill from 1 July 2019, e-waste will no longer be accepted in any household bin.
We’ll fund East West link, says PM [$]
The East West link would get a $4 billion cash injection from a re-elected Coalition government — and the resurrected project would see commuters skip 23 sets of lights and cut travel time from the Eastern Freeway to CityLink by 20 minutes.
Whatever the election result, we must tackle climate emergency
Age editorial
To do nothing abrogates our and every government’s responsibility to future generations.
Ten good reasons why the LNP has to go
David Donovan
IA Managing editor Dave Donovan shares ten good reasons why the LNP needs to be voted out.
New South Wales
Libs, Labor urged to reveal dam wall plans
Ex-Greens leader Bob Brown has called on federal coalition and Labor to declare their position on the raising of NSW’s Warragamba Dam wall before the election.
Putting the gloss back on a wildlife corridor for a threatened cockatoo
Trees are being grown on a stretch of land from the Blue Mountains to the NSW Southern Tablelands to protect the threatened glossy black cockatoo, delivering positive results.
ACT
Frogs, birds and orchids added to list of critically endangered ACT species
A frog species whose habitat was decimated by the 2003 bushfires has been added to the list of critically endangered species in the ACT, along with two types of birds and two species of rare orchids.
Queensland
Overhaul of Brisbane vegetation protection sent to state for approval
A major overhaul of Brisbane’s biodiversity mapping, which influences property development, has been sent by Brisbane City Council to the state government for approval.
South Australia
What am I looking at exactly? We explain those Lake Eyre photos
For natural history buffs, the flooding of the Lake Eyre Basin is something very important to document. For a photographer, it’s a dream assignment.
The highs and lows of summer power costs [$]
Soaring summer temperatures smashed records in the SA electricity market — with new highs in spot prices. Interestingly, a new low in seasonal demand was also experienced.
Tasmania
Crustacean key to saving fisheries [$]
A sea urchin crisis that threatens the future of critical fisheries has led to calls for greater protection of one of the urchin’s only predators.
Winds of change for Tassie’s centre [$]
Energy Minister Guy Barnett has labelled the Cattle Hill Wind Farm a “game changer” for the Central Highlands as the first wind turbine was unveiled last week.
Baby mutton bird migration landed [$]
A record number of baby shearwaters have been rescued after their attempt to migrate to the North Pacific was cut short soon after setting off.
Crowds gathered and placards raised in a rally against helicopter access at Lake Malbena on Hobart’s parliament lawns.
Hunt begins for new wildlife warriors [$]
The 24-hour animal rescue service at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is on the hunt for new volunteers, running a free wildlife rescue course in Hobart.
Sustainability
When no experts would help their kids, these mums built a lab of their own
What do you do when your children live in a nuclear fallout zone? These mums in Fukushima put on lab coats, taught themselves to be radiation experts, and opened up their own clinic.
Ask Fuzzy: Riding a wave of ocean power
What is Tidal Energy?
Army discovery opens path to safer batteries
In the latest issue of the journal Nature, Army researchers and the University of Maryland demonstrate a transformative step in battery technology with the identification of a new cathode chemistry.
The end is nigh: what extinction has to do with our evangelism
David Robertson
Did you hear the news? In 12 years time the world could come to an end. Rising sea levels, coastal flooding, crop failures, carbon in the atmosphere will cause the earths temperature to rise by up to 7 degrees with all the problems arising from that.
Nature Conservation
Vets perform world-first brain surgery on endangered NZ parrot chick
Surgeons take inspiration from human medicine to save the life of kakapo chick Espy 1B, one of just 144 of the flightless native New Zealand parrots left in existence.
Native plants regenerate on their own after invasive shrubs are removed
Invasive shrubs have become increasingly prevalent in the deciduous forests of eastern North America — often creating a dense understory that outcompetes native plants. Many land managers would like to remove the invaders, but worry about whether a costly remediation program will be needed to help the native plant community rebound.
Birds outside their comfort zone are more vulnerable to deforestation
Members of the same bird species can have dramatically different responses to deforestation depending on where they live, finds a new study.
Climate change responsible for severe infectious disease in UK frogs
Climate change has already increased the spread and severity of a fatal disease caused by Ranavirus that infects common frogs (Rana temporaria) in the UK, according to research led by ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, UCL and Queen Mary University of London published today in Global Change Biology.
Hundreds of Himalayan yaks starve to death
Hundreds of dead Himalayan yaks have been discovered in northeast India months after their passage to the nearest village became blocked by snow.
The UN says we’re destroying the world. This should change everything
Caitlin Fitzsimmons
We can’t afford business as usual. We need action, optimism and relentless focus.