Post of the Day
New report suggests ‘high likelihood of human civilization coming to an end’ in 2050
The climate change analysis was written by a former fossil fuel executive and backed by the former chief of Australia’s military.
Today’s Celebration
Emancipation Day – Tonga
Revolution Day – Ghana
Anniversary of Khomeini’s Death – Iran
Flag Day – Estonia
Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim – Finland
National Unity Day – Hungary
Freedom and Civil Rights Day – Poland
International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day
Haemochromatosis Awareness Week
Climate Change
Climate crisis seriously damaging human health, report finds
National academies say effects include spread of diseases and worse mental health
Downpours of torrential rain more frequent with global warming
The number of extreme downpours increased steadily between 1964 and 2013 — a period when global warming also intensified, according to new research.
Climate change risk is chronic and acute. What it means for portfolio managers.
We can no longer talk about global warming as a niche issue that affects only certain industries.
New method to gauge atmosphere’s ability to clear methane
Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Hydroxyl radicals (OH) react with methane and break it down, but it’s been hard for scientists to get a handle on how much OH is present in the atmosphere at high-enough spatial and temporal resolution to be useful. New research got creative and correlated data from a NASA research plane and orbiting satellites to devise a new way to determine OH levels worldwide.
We asked every 2020 Democrat about climate change. Here are the most interesting answers
The Post did a comprehensive overview of where each candidate stands.
New report suggests ‘high likelihood of human civilization coming to an end’ in 2050
The climate change analysis was written by a former fossil fuel executive and backed by the former chief of Australia’s military.
Question of the century: Do we have a right to a livable climate?
The Youth v. Gov lawsuit moves forward this week, and it could help determine if U.S. citizens have a constitutional right to a safe environment.
National
Morrison government fails first climate test – Greens demand answers on missing emissions data
Greens demand answers and the Climate Council slams the Government for once again sitting on greenhouse emissions data, ignoring release deadline.
Australia still has work to do on gender equality
Australia is performing poorly on gender equality issues related to climate action and gender data, according to a global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index.
Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia, Mar 2019
The trend estimate for total mineral exploration expenditure increased 1.7% ($9.4m) to $573.9m in the March quarter 2019. The largest contributor to the increase in the trend estimate this quarter was Western Australia (up 2.6%, $8.8m). The current quarter estimate is 11.9% higher than the March quarter 2018 estimate.
Australian musicians band together to invest in solar farms
Midnight Oil, Cloud Control, Vance Joy and Regurgitator join FEAT., a new platform encouraging their industry to back sustainability
Nuclear power doesn’t stack up without a carbon price, industry group says
Nuclear could provide cheap energy but would only be competitive with gas and coal if carbon pollution is priced, nuclear association says
Roundup woes: Nufarm defends glyphosate as lawsuit risk rises
Agribusiness Nufarm has said it is at risk of litigation because it is a supplier of glyphosate based herbicides used widely in agriculture
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is still splitting farming communities.
Gupta urges backing for energy [$]
Sanjeev Gupta has called on the re-elected Liberal government to expand its underwriting generation scheme.
Climate change: Australia’s election has far-reaching consequences
Australia’s recent federal election was touted as the “climate change election” with many seeing it as a potential turning point that could change the nation’s environmental policies.
Rivers feel climate effects [$]
Ean Higgins
If things look bad in the Murray-Darling now, just wait: the climatic trend points to things getting far worse.
It’s a gas, man — how government failure is killing manufacturing [$]
Bernard Keane
Manufacturers are closing their doors as higher gas prices again bite, but it seems there’s no one home on energy policy in the Morrison government.
Residential batteries are five times more expensive than electric car batteries
David Leitch
Residential battery storage systems cost five times those for electric vehicles. Why is that?
Three reasons why a Labor and Greens coalition wouldn’t work
Colin Jacobs
The red and green shades of leftwing politics are too divided on fundamental issues – but it might have to happen to tackle the climate crisis
We must mobilise for the climate emergency like we do in wartime. Where is the climate minister?
Ian Dunlop and David Spratt
Unfortunately, much scientific knowledge produced for climate policymaking is conservative and reticent
Victoria
Council closing loop with recycled road surface
This week, the City of Stonnington will roll out its first sustainable road surface, when a South Yarra street is resurfaced using asphalt containing recycled plastic bags and toner cartridge ink.
Major Melbourne dam needs repair to lower risk of catastrophic flood
The water level in one of Melbourne’s most important dams has been restricted because of an “intolerable” risk that the dam wall could fail, causing catastrophic flooding as far afield as Melbourne’s inner suburbs.
Possum group takes fight to loggers [$]
The group has sought to stop the Victorian government-owned company from logging areas home to the endangered species.
Toxic time bomb fears at netball centre site [$]
The EPA will test for chemical contamination at the site of a multimillion-dollar bayside netball centre, which used to be a landfill tip.
New South Wales
Water levels in crucial NSW dams drop to record lows
With towns across New South Wales at risk of running out of water within months, there are renewed calls for an urgent upgrade of water storage infrastructure.
Compensation payment takes Sydney light rail bill to more than $3bn
The NSW government has settled a year-long legal dispute with construction company Acciona over Sydney’s light rail project, agreeing to a $576 million compensation payout.
Energy switch to slash gas bills from today
More than 1.3 million households across the State can now save potentially hundreds of dollars a year on gas bills thanks to an expansion of the NSW Liberals and Nationals Government’s popular Energy Switch service.
Let’s hope light rail can be a success [$]
Telegraph editorial
Good news — the state government has done an admirable job delivering infrastructure projects and asset sales. But the bad news is one project, the light rail, continues to be a problem for Gladys Berejiklian.
ACT
New territories minister Nola Marino no roadblock for Canberra light rail stage two to Woden
The new assistant minister for territories has hosed down ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s claims the Coalition’s election victory would be a roadblock for light rail, saying the project would have to clear the same hurdles regardless of who was in power.
Queensland
Slow poison: how Queensland government workers paid the price for fruit fly eradication
During the 1990s, workers were told not to worry about breathing in the poison, but years later they suffer debilitating illnesses
ABC says it didn’t reject Adani story because of company pressure
Radio story looking at economics of the Adani mine was killed off after call to news director, but ABC says it didn’t fit line-up
Adani job forecast slashed as low as 800 [$]
The workforce at Adani’s mine in jobs-starved central Queensland could be as low as 800 once the Carmichael facility is operational.
Meet the Queenslanders changing the energy mix
In Queensland’s coal heartland, a number of locals are trading in their mining jobs to work in the renewables sector.
London-style public transport ticket system expected to rake in $8 billion
Testing of plans to let commuters tap their bank card, phone or watch to pay for transport is expected to start this year.
Massive Brisbane airport expansion plans revealed [$]
Brisbane Airport has revealed multi-billion dollar expansion plan to build as many as three new terminals as it prepares for passenger numbers to double.
Plan to protect city from rising sea levels [$]
Brisbane will develop a long-term plan to ensure the city remains “resilient, safe and ready” amid concerns some suburbs could be affected by rising sea levels and even cyclones.
Why the coal lobby has misled Queensland on value of thermal coal
Michael Mazengarb
Thermal coal projects, such as Adani’s Carmichael mine will deliver a fraction of the claimed economic benefits, new analysis from IEEFA has shown
South Australia
$50 million budget fix for coastal degradation
Around 500,000 cubic metres of “newly-sourced” sand and an extra 10 kilometres of pipeline are part of a $52 million budget bid to fight erosion along our South Australia’s metropolitan and regional coastline.
Tasmania
Free access to Tasmanian parks for all Australian seniors after constitutional stuff up
An election promise by Tasmania’s Liberal Government comes unstuck after a scheme to allow free entry to parks for Tasmanians over 60 has to be widened to all Australian seniors, due to the constitution — blowing out the cost to the budget.
Northern Territory
A private company is seeking to build a major new water storage near Darwin
A private company wants to build a major new water storage facility and 10,000-hectare farming precinct near Darwin.
Western Australia
The mysteries of this rare pristine wilderness are being unravelled at last
It’s home to as much biodiversity as the Great Barrier Reef, but this remote area of Western Australia has been largely a mystery to scientists, until now.
LNG ceasefire in Western Australia [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The state government and the powerful resources industry in Western Australia are quietly trying to negotiate a joint emissions reduction plan to try to head off radical proposals from the state’s environmental watchdog.
Sustainability
Germany renewable energy share jumps to record 47% for first five months of year
Share of renewable energy in Germany jumps to record 47% for first five months of 2019, with the amount of coal generation down significantly.
Balkans facing alarming levels of air pollution: UN report
People in all major cities across the western Balkans face alarming levels of air pollution that are reducing their life expectancies because the underdeveloped, politically fragile region is still heavily reliant on burning coal to generate power, the UN said Monday in a new report.
Eco-watchdog gives warning after days of extreme pollution in Nikel
The spring is silent in Nikel, the industrial town near the border to Norway where Russia’s ultra-profitable smelter for nickel for decades has poisoned the surrounding nature.
Pop-up parks deliver big benefits in small spaces
‘Pop-up parks’ represent one possible means to help meet the demands of urbanites for more opportunities to connect with nature in their neighborhoods, serve important conservation functions by providing small-scale habitat refuges for a wide variety of threatened plants and animals in urban environments, and deliver a suite of ecosystem services to urban residents and wildlife alike.
Nature Conservation
Psychologists target root cause of soil erosion
Researchers are investigating obstacles and opportunities for the adoption of sustainable land management approaches by Maasai pastoralists (livestock farmers).
Long-term ecological research threatened by short-term thinking
“If we want to know what we are doing to ourselves as well as the rest of life on Earth, we must engage in long term ecological research,” conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy says.
Improvements in water quality could reduce ecological impact of climate change on rivers
Efforts to improve water quality of rivers could off-set the impact of climate change on river invertebrates
Collapsing environmental state of Gaza poses threat to Israel’s national security, report warns
Sewage dumping and air pollution could severely effect desalination plants and smog levels, experts say, warning none of Gaza’s groundwater will be fit for human use by next year.
Grassland areas should be chosen wisely
According to researchers, choosing the best areas to convert from cereals to grasslands depends on whether you prioritize improvement of nature and the aquatic environment, how much biomass you can produce, or how much land is needed to so do — or a combination. The researchers developed a method that enabled them to optimize selection of the best areas, where multiple benefits were taken into consideration.
Why we should save the last tiny scraps of nature
William Laurance
Scientific thinking changes as new evidence comes to light. One vital new insight is the importance of saving even tiny, isolated remnants of native vegetation.
A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here’s how it can be stopped
Deborah Bower and Simon Clulow
The horned land frog (Sphenophryne cornuta) carries babies on its back. New Guinea must be protected from the deadly chytrid fungus, or we could see around 100 frog species be wiped out
Now for something completely different …
Farmer Sutra! Are gay rams really a problem in the sheep industry?
One in 12 sheep shows same-sex preferences, according to a Channel 4 documentary. Unfortunately, there are commercial ramifications
Maelor Himbury
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