Post of the Day
The climate change policy with the most potential is the most neglected
According to the climate scientists at the IPCC, the world needs to transition entirely to clean energy by midcentury.
Today’s Celebration
Naadam Festival – Mongolia
Statehood Day – Montenegro
Sea and Fishermen’s Festival – Latvia
Martyrs’ Day – Kashmir
Climate Change
‘Is 2 degrees warmer really that bad?’: Scientists answer your questions
Hundreds of ABC contributors sent in questions to our Curious Climate project. Here’s what some of the sceptics wanted to know.
US philanthropists vow to raise millions for climate activists
Fund donates £500,000 to grassroots Extinction Rebellion and other groups, with promise of more to come
Climatic effects of cosmic changes [$]
Researchers suggest temperatures on Earth don’t fluctuate only because of greenhouse gases.
Climate change may thin high-altitude clouds and trigger more warming [$]
The climate could warm more than models suggest, because as temperatures rise high-altitude clouds will reflect less sunlight back into space.
The climate change policy with the most potential is the most neglected
According to the climate scientists at the IPCC, the world needs to transition entirely to clean energy by midcentury.
Macron’s dream of a climate bank gets boost from new EU leader
The leader designated to take over the European Commission endorsed the idea of creating a bank to concentrate on climate change, giving traction to a French proposal that would scale up green investment across the continent.
Climate change fills hurricanes with more rain, analysis shows
The Gulf Coast is being inundated with rain and preparing for possible landfall of a tropical storm.
Climate refugee crises are happening right now. Here’s how you can help
24/7 Wall St. reviewed five ongoing global refugee crises today related to climate change.
Our ageing world rulers are unfit to tackle climate change
Like frogs in a pot, most of our global leaders have been boiling for too long in ‘business as usual’ politics to suddenly jump out and take radical action on drastically reducing emissions
Dozens of universities are declaring a climate emergency
Along with educational networks representing more than 7,000 other schools, a long list of higher learning institutions are publicly declaring that we are in an environmental crisis.
Pacific leadership on climate change is necessary and inevitable
Katerina Teaiwa
All but one of the 33 islands in Kiribati are less than two metres above sea level. Large parts of the country are expected to be under water by 2050.
National
The ‘unintended consequences’ of water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin
As Australia’s competition watchdog prepares to study the Murray-Darling Basin’s $2 billion water trade, a trip up the river finds irrigators are worried about the way the market is unfolding.
Healthier cities to tackle climate change
A research group is hoping for $45 million in federal government funding to help reduce the carbon footprint of Australian cities through better design.
Uranium exporters winners as Trump dumps quota plan
Australia’s uranium export industry has dodged a bullet with Donald Trump set to
Murray–Darling recovery in peril
As attempts to restore water to the river basin fail to meet their targets, scientists warn irrigator subsidies may cost 10 times initial estimates.
Updating the Authority’s previous advice on meeting the Paris Agreement: consultation paper
Climate Change Authority
The Climate Change Authority has released this consultation paper on updating its previous advice to the federal government on policies to meet Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. Stakeholder contributions will inform the Authority’s final report, which it is aiming to release at the end of 2019.
How lobbyists confected a Four Corners backlash – weeks before the show went to air
Amanda Meade
Emails show cotton industry was screaming ABC bias before it saw a single frame.
Problems with the Murray-Darling Basin can’t be skimmed over
Maryanne Slattery
The Murray-Darling Basin is broken. Literally. As in its parts aren’t joined up anymore – the Darling River/Barka hasn’t flowed into the Murray since 2017. The Murrumbidgee isn’t flowing into the Murray either and will be disconnected from the rest of the basin more regularly due to new irrigation development.
Night-time power generation is going to collapse [$]
Alan Kohler
If she isn’t quite hitting the panic button, it’s probably fair to say that AEMO chief Audrey Zibelman’s finger is hovering over it, and so it should be.
We create 20m tons of construction industry waste each year. Here’s how to stop it going to landfill
Salman Shooshtarian et al
China has put the onus back on Australia to take responsibility for our waste, and Germany has shown us the way with extended producer responsibility for construction and demolition waste.
Victoria
Workers exposed to asbestos at power station
At least two workers have been exposed to asbestos at the Jeeralang power station in the Latrobe Valley, east of Melbourne.
Thirteenth toxic chemical dump discovered by drone
Authorities have discovered another massive stockpile of toxic waste hidden in the city’s northern suburbs, the thirteenth site linked to a network allegedly responsible for running the biggest illicit chemical dumping operation in the state’s history.
Libs defend beach boxes, Labor says plan shouldn’t be taken literally
The State Government has dismissed as “nonsense” claims that it plans to remove the iconic bathing boxes from Melbourne bayside beaches.
Melbourne, it’s time to grow up: experts urge bold new plan for city
New homes and renovations mean that 1.5 per cent of backyard trees are lost each year across the city. The new plan seeks to fix that immediately.
‘Sludge free by summer’: the $250K beach ooze solution
Also known as the “black death”, Sandringham’s despised beach ooze has long trapped kids and dogs, but urgent action was taken after it mired an Olympic sailing qualifier. Here’s the plan to banish black sludge for good.
New South Wales
Irrigators reject claims that taxpayer-funded water-saving scheme is not audited
Murrumbidgee irrigators featured in Monday’s Four Corners program deny they are not being audited.
Sydney turning into a Swiss cheese of motorway tunnels
Sydney is set to become a Swiss cheese of motorway tunnels for motorists to navigate.
Queensland
Adani land-use agreement: court dismisses Indigenous group’s appeal
Group of five Wangan and Jagalingou people ordered to pay miner’s costs in case over native title
Adani swings to loss on impairment and exchange hit
Adani’s local mining arm has posted a $273 million loss blaming continued delays in its signature Carmichael mine for a significant writedown in its value.
There flows the neighbourhood: living, working and playing on the Brisbane River
How some people (and a dog) have turned the Brisbane River into a workplace, backyard or playground.
Explained: Future of nine major new mines [$]
With the gate to the Galilee Basin now open, here’s how one of the world’s largest untapped coal fields could become the powerhouse of Queensland’s economy
State fails mine safety checks [$]
Queensland’s mines inspectors have failed to conduct enough coalmine inspections and safety audits to meet their targets.
South Australia
Court rejects Indigenous bid to stop nuclear waste facility
The Federal Court has dismissed action by the Barngarla people who are angry at the process to possibly establish a nuclear waste facility in South Australia.
‘Like a horror movie’: Dozens of corellas dead after falling from sky in suspected poisoning
The native birds were bleeding from their mouths, according to rescuers at One Tree Hill near Adelaide
Koala and kangaroo culling considered as numbers become ‘overabundant’
Species’ expansion threatens South Australia’s habitat and biodiversity, report says
Why we can’t just move the koalas [$]
Relocating koalas from overpopulated Kangaroo Island to Queensland and NSW where they are in catastrophic decline sounds like a win-win solution. But it’s not.
SA researchers import Cypriot vines in response to climate change
Climate change is prompting South Australian wine researchers to trial drought-tolerant grape varieties from Cyprus.
Tunnels could add decade to corridor build [$]
Tunnels for the North-South Corridor — which would save heritage buildings such as the Thebarton Theatre from demolition — could mean 10 more years of construction work.
Our recycling crisis reveals a huge opportunity for South Australian businesses [$]
Disposable coffee cups, plastic straws, foam food containers and plastic bags are becoming the new enemies as we wage a war on waste.
Northern Territory
Pink diamond mines aren’t forever [$]
But Rio Tinto sees a future in tourism once mining ends at the Argyle site.
Saturday Paper editorial
For so long, the Anangu people have asked visitors not to climb Uluru.
We can’t climb Uluru?? But we have larrikin spirit coming out our mateholes
First Dog on the Moon
You tell settler Australians we can’t do something and we completely lose our wild colonial minds
Just because you still can climb Uluru doesn’t mean you should [$]
Lauren Roberts
As the ban on climbing Uluru approaches, tourists are flocking to the Northern Territory to snap the ultimate Instagram brag photo before it’s too late. But they’re forgetting one crucial thing.
Western Australia
The push to protect one of WA’s most prized catches gets a boost
Pink snapper is one of the most prized catches off the West Australian coast, and now the species will benefit from better protections for its breeding stock with the spawning closure season to be extended by one month.
Sustainability
Soviet-era nuclear sub still leeching radiation 30 years after sinking
Researchers say the levels of radiation detected near a sunken Russian submarine are higher than normal, but are not “alarmingly high” and pose no risk to humans or marine life.
Why the Durban nurdle is different from other plastic rubbish
When tiny pieces of plastic that were spilled on other side of the world start washing up on your beaches, who is responsible for cleaning them up?
Banning cars? 5 drastic steps to cut emissions
Paris made headlines last week by banning cars from its streets on weekdays. The move was part of a growing trend as cities around the world take extreme measures to confront climate change and air pollution.
Norway′s sovereign wealth fund backs away from fossil fuels
Coal and oil have long been sought-after investment targets, but that is changing. Norway is increasingly withdrawing its huge sovereign wealth fund from fossil fuels. But for finance, not climate protection.
Billions of air pollution particles found in hearts of city dwellers
The hearts of young city dwellers contain billions of toxic air pollution particles, research has revealed.
The sticky problem of plastic wrap
It may save your sandwich, but plastic wrap pollutes the planet. Is there a better solution?
How to stop accidentally consuming plastic particles from packaging
The average person has been said to consume a credit-card size amount of plastic every week.
Nature Conservation
Corals killed by back to back heatwaves
New research in the Indian Ocean shows how two heatwaves between 2015 and 2017 have killed off as much as 70 percent of the coral reefs in the region.
Trump administration to approve pesticide that may harm bees
EPA said studies it considered, most of which were sponsored by industry, found sulfoxaflor isn’t dangerous for the pollinators
Ecuador tribe wins case over land rights
An Ecuador court has ruled the government cannot sell land in the Amazon rainforest to oil companies, ending a years-long legal battle.
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