Post of the Day
Cigarette butts are toxic plastic pollution. Should they be banned?
Trillions of cigarette butts are thrown into the environment every year, where they leach nicotine and heavy metals before turning into microplastic pollution.
Today’s Celebration
Carnival Tuesday – Grenada
Independence Day – Central African Republic
Women’s Day – Tunisia
Lao Issara Day – Laos
Obon – Japan
Climate Change
Tuvalu’s children, submerged in water, welcome Pacific leaders with a climate plea
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will face increased pressure to boost Australia’s climate change commitments when he attends the Pacific Island Forum in Tuvalu this week.
Morrison pledges $500 million to fight climate change across Pacific islands
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seeking to deflect criticisms of Australia’s climate change policies ahead of his arrival at a meeting of Pacific leaders in Tuvalu on Wednesday.
Global warming is changing the winds off Antarctica, driving ice melt
A new study connects the dots between climate change and faster melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which has consequences for sea level rise.
An Indian view of climate change, and where it led me
Don Aitkin
The IPCC summarises: estimates of global annual economic losses for an additional temperature increase of 2°C are between 0.2 and 2.0 per cent of income.
It’s hard to fathom Australia’s recklessness while our homes are disappearing
Raijeli Nicole
The Morrison Government’s recklessness in the face of the climate crisis — in full knowledge of its implications for Pacific Island people — is damaging Australia’s friendships in the region.
National
ASIC issues updated guidance for directors seeking to avoid climate lawsuits
Corporate regulator issues updated climate risk disclosure guidance as companies face growing calls to proactively manage climate risks to businesses.
Clean Energy Regulator slams Murdoch solar scare campaign
CER calls out Murdoch media for “inaccurate” reporting on the standard and safety of rooftop solar installations, based on its latest solar panel inspections data.
Stunning low costs inspire Alinta to ramp up renewables push, flag early coal exit
Australian utility Alinta Energy is ramping up its push into renewables, citing stunning low costs that will enable dispatchable wind and solar to compete with existing fossil fuel plant.
Electric vehicles and “robo-taxis” could deliver $92bn boost to Australia economy
New analysis finds shift to EVs and driverless autonomous vehicles could boost Australia’s GDP by up to $92bn by 2050, by boosting productivity and cutting insurance costs.
Australia must spend $40 billion a year on infrastructure to match population growth, audit says
Infrastructure Australia has warned a new wave of investment and planning reform is needed for the nation to keep pace with population and economic growth.
Australia combatting illegal fishing
Australia is continuing its contribution in the fight against illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Southwest Pacific, with the latest iteration of Operation SOLANIA launched today.
Farm trespass laws must strike the right balance
Proposed farm incitement of trespass laws would duplicate existing state and territory provisions and could stifle legitimate public debate, argues one legal advocacy body.
Labor senator says ‘unnecessary’ vegan activist bill ‘unlikely to actually be used’
Kim Carr concerned about unintended consequences on trade union activity and whistleblowers
Recycling industry calls for dollars and action after decision to end exports
Australian Council of Recycling warns 4.5m tonnes of waste could end up in domestic landfill without investment
PM’s $20m plan to boost domestic recycling
The prime minister is allocating $20 million to grow Australia’s recycling industry and start the transition to banning waste exports.
Chemical makers renew calls for cheaper gas [$]
The chemical industry underpins 80 times more jobs per petajoule of gas used than the LNG sector, a new report has found.
Wind farm bird extinction warning [$]
The growing number of wind farms have the potential to drive several bird species to extinction, an ecologist has warned.
Spending on big batteries to tipped to grow six-fold in five years, as utilities supercharge their wind and solar plans.
Australia urgently needs real sustainable agriculture policy
Jacqueline Williams
Australia has made a global commitment to “sustainable agriculture”, an endeavour seen as increasingly crucial to ending world poverty, halting biodiversity loss, and combating climate change. A recent report from the UN found land use – including food production – is responsible for around one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Creative solutions needed to bust congestion
SMH editorial
Freeways are only part of the solution to transport woes.
Playing catch-up on infrastructure [$]
Australian editorial
We should be ambitious to build a bigger, better Australia.
What’s really behind the new trespassing laws?
Paula Hough
Here’s the fundamental question: if farmers are so proud of what they do, why do they want to do it in utter secrecy?
Better land management can help fight climate change
Mark Howden
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms the world has a double-edged sword hanging over it when it comes to climate change and land.
Judith Sloan
There are no easy solutions to what is becoming a national crisis.
Time to get on with new dams [$]
Australian editorial
In a land of drought, our flooding rains need to be captured.
Victoria
Woman’s sudden death highlights the danger of Melbourne’s ageing elm trees
An arborist urges the City of Melbourne to avoid a “knee-jerk” response to the death of a 36-year-old woman, who was crushed by a falling 106-year-old elm tree on a popular inner-city walking path.
Overhaul set for household recycling to combat crisis
Households may receive more recycling bins to deal with the recycling crisis.
Melbourne rail action called off
Victoria’s public transport union has called off industrial action planned across Melbourne’s rail network over a pay fight with the city’s train operator.
Where our worst traffic will be in a decade [$]
You know the West Gate and Monash Freeways are the busiest roads in Australia. But what else can be done to get Melburnians moving faster on their daily commute?
Councils sitting on waste solution [$]
Kelvin Agg says just one plastic park bench his company makes removes more than 21,000 plastic bags from the waste system.
Nature calls for environmental action
City of Greater Geelong media release
The City is seeking community views on how we can enhance Greater Geelong’s natural assets and reduce our impacts on the environment.
“Your recyclables are not going to landfill”
City of Ballarat media release
The current crisis in the state’s recycling sector is deeply concerning for Council and for residents, especially those of us who are concerned about the environment, and diligent about separating recyclables from other waste.
New South Wales
Huge Bango wind farm gets underway, to provide cheap power to Snowy Hydro
Bango Wind Farm near Yass will use some of the largest wind turbines deployed in Australia, as developer CWP lands finance for project.
Strict environmental controls for bypass construction
Work on the Byron bypass is continuing with contractors focusing on the construction of the road at the northern end of the bypass near the Butler Street Reserve.
Snow survivors: endangered Australian animals adapt to the chill – in pictures
For the threatened and endangered native animals in breeding programs at the Aussie Ark wildlife sanctuary at Barrington Tops, New South Wales, the weekend’s unusually cold snap proved quite a curiosity.
How fatbergs are clogging Sydney’s sewerage system
Sydney Water is becoming increasingly concerned over the number of people flushing wet wipes and clogging the sewerage system.
Trapped in a transport ‘black hole’ [$]
Commuters in Sydney’s west are fed up with hours of commuting each day and a failure to provide adequate public transport.
Gupta questions need for Liddell [$]
The Liddell coal-fired power station should only be extended beyond 2023 if there is a clear projected shortfall in electricity.
ACT
Road congestion in Canberra could increase according to Infrastructure Australia audit
The cost of congestion on Canberra’s roads will nearly double over the next decade without big-ticket investment, with the Civic to Canberra Airport corridor predicted to overtake William Slim Drive to become the city’s worst road by 2031.
Queensland
Queensland coalmine increases greenhouse gas emissions without penalty, FOI reveals
Under a policy that promised to put a limit on industrial pollution, Anglo American was given the green light to increase annual emissions
Outdoor cinema and beer garden latest ideas for Brisbane’s ‘Central Park’
Would you like a huge maze to be built in Brisbane’s proposed mega-park?
When traffic congestion will cost us $6b a year [$]
A new report from Australia’s peak infrastructure body has painted a grim picture about congestion on southeast Queensland roads and called for immediate action to fix the gridlock.
Canegrowers worried reef laws will sour industry’s future [$]
Canegrower Wayne Baldry is fearful about the future because of proposed new water-quality legislation for the Great Barrier Reef.
Mongrel acts right under our dogs’ noses
John Birmingham
There is something really wrong with whoever is laying poison in Brisbane’s riverside parks.
Balanced conservation for reef [$]
Australian editorial
Science and technology can help stakeholders’ interests.
South Australia
Congestion or buses: How to beat future traffic jams [$]
The daily cost of traffic congestion in Adelaide is expected to almost double in the next 12 years – and the solution could be as simple as expanding our bus network.
Ban climbing at Wilpena Pound – traditional owner [$]
A day after two people died in a climbing accident, an Adnyamathanha leader says it’s time to ban the scaling of Wilpena Pound for safety and cultural reasons. The two bodies have now been recovered.
Health of Lower Lakes, Coorong rated only a C in report card [$]
The latest report card from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is showing an environmental mixed bag for important River Murray sites.
Tasmania
Sewage spills into Hobart’s river after power failure
Six million litres of untreated sewage and stormwater spills into Hobart’s main waterway but authorities seek to reassure the public that it is a “very large and deep” part of the river.
Peter Boyer
Julie Gough’s art takes us to places we’d rather forget, but must come to terms with.
Northern Territory
All systems go for Jabiru transition money
Jabiru’s transition from a mining town to tourism hub for Kakadu National Park and the West Arnhem region takes a major step forward tomorrow
Western Australia
Alinta sees sub 5-year payback for unsubsidised big battery at Newman
Australian energy utility Alinta says it expects to get a sub five-year payback for its ground-breaking big battery that is attached to the company’s Newman gas fired generator in the Pilbara region of West Australia.
The Perth roads that will be buried under congestion
Delays on Perth’s congested roads will get worse and public transport more crowded without further commitments towards transport infrastructure, Australia’s peak infrastructure body has warned.
West gets it wrong in solar attack
Brad Pettitt
A response from Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt to Paul Murray’s opinion piece published in The West Australian on Saturday 10 August: The West Australian has published another misleading and inaccurate diatribe by Paul Murray (Tipping point for solar plan, 10 August 2019), this time attacking the City of Fremantle’s efforts to establish a solar farm on the former South Fremantle tip site.
Sustainability
‘Coal is over’: the miners rooting for the Green New Deal
Appalachia’s main industry is dying and some workers are looking to a new economic promise after Trump’s proves empty
Russia holds memorial service for nuclear workers killed in mysterious accident
Russia held a memorial service on Monday for five scientists killed in a mysterious explosion last week after an official at their research institute suggested they had been working on developing a small nuclear reactor.
A hard day at work: interviewing Hiroshima survivors
What easily crawls into your head sometimes takes up an uneasy residence there, like the human toll of Hiroshima.
Cigarette butts are toxic plastic pollution. Should they be banned?
Trillions of cigarette butts are thrown into the environment every year, where they leach nicotine and heavy metals before turning into microplastic pollution.
For a sustainable climate and food system, regenerative agriculture is the key
The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that agriculture is responsible for 37% of greenhouse gas emissions. There’s hope—and a solution.
Nature Conservation
Indigenous women protest Bolsonaro environmental policies
Indigenous women have arrived in Brazil’s capital to take part in the first-ever March of Indigenous Women. They’re protesting for Indigenous rights and against Bolsonaro’s environmental policies.
Tree-damaging pests pose ‘devastating’ threat to 40% of US forests
About 450 overseas pests that damage or feed on trees have been introduced to US forests due to international trade and travel.
Trump officials weaken protections for animals near extinction
Changes to how Endangered Species Act is implemented come as world scientists warn biodiversity crisis will put humanity at risk
Tree-damaging pests pose ‘devastating’ threat to 40% of US forests
About 450 overseas pests have been introduced to US forests, a climate crisis resource, due to international trade and travel
India’s Ganges River is drying up
At a nature sanctuary on the Ganges, both dolphins and humans are in trouble.
Structurally complex forests better at carbon sequestration
Forests in the eastern United States that are structurally complex — meaning the arrangement of vegetation is highly varied — sequester more carbon, according to a new study led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. The study demonstrates for the first time that a forest’s structural complexity is a better predictor of carbon sequestration potential than tree species diversity. The discovery may hold implications for the mitigation of climate change.
Study examines a million corals one by one in urgent call to save reefs
University of California, Irvine biologist Joleah Lamb has contributed one of the largest amounts of data to a landmark study on how to save coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. She is among more than 80 marine researchers worldwide who produced the report.
Now for something completely different …
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