Date: 21 August 2019 at 9:01:44 am AEST
Subject: Daily Links Aug 21
Post of the Day
Plants could remove six years of carbon dioxide emissions — if we protect them
By analysing 138 experiments, researchers have mapped the potential of today’s plants and trees to store extra carbon by the end of the century.
Today’s Celebration
Youth Day / King Mohammed VI’s Birthday in Morocco
Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines
Constitutional Law Day – Latvia
Gospel Day – Kosrae
Senior Citizens Day – USA
International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
Climate Change
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is trying to warn you about climate change
The Handmaid’s Tale is full of warnings.
Carbon offsetting schemes may actually increase pollution and harm local communities, studies have shown, as UN environmental experts called for the rich to stop buying credits ‘in exchange for a clean conscience.
Scientists have been underestimating the pace of climate change
A book titled Discerning Experts explains why—and what can be done about it
Afrobarometer: Climate change literacy still low in Africa
Despite the fact that Africa bears the brunt when it comes to erratic global weather patterns, many people are still unfamiliar with the climate change phenomenon, a new survey reveals.
Thunberg’s voyage against hypocrisy [$]
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Greta’s choice to endure discomfort conveys a timely message: those who recommend renunciation must lead by example.
Greta Thunberg’s attackers are morally bankrupt, but her deification isn’t helpful
Julian Baggini
It is not at all normal to level such personal attacks at a 16-year-old with multiple mental health issues campaigning to make the world a better place.
National
Australia taking six years to list threatened habitats under environment laws
Senate inquiry hears that major threats to wildlife are not being recognised because of environment department budget cuts
Climate failures cost us: ALP election review [$]
A confidential submission to Labor’s post-election review found Bill Shorten failed a basic test of politics by not articulating who would pay for its policies and what they’d cost.
BHP boss digs in on climate [$]
BHP’s boss isn’t backing down from the champion of capitalism’s vocal stance on climate change.
The wheels turn as consumer interest in electric vehicles doubles
New data shows consumer interest in EVs in Australia has doubled, marking a turnaround moment for the local market and the battle to reduce transport-related emissions.
Prices fall to zero across mainland states in Australian’s main grid
Prices fall to zero across mainland states in Australia’s National Electricity Market on Tuesday.
Climate policy vacuum boosting investor focus on low-carbon assets
A new survey shows the lack of climate policy guidance from Canberra has given rise to a new breed of utlra-engaged, low-carbon focused investors.
Schwarzenegger-backed start-up helps Australia wind farms duck negative prices
Start-up backed by Arnold Schwarzenegger launches AI trading that help wind and solar farms duck negative prices, and can more than triple battery revenues.
When it comes to coal, Australia has transitioned away from economics and common sense
Richard Denniss
Our political leaders have switched from pretending they can’t hear the Pacific to pretending they don’t understand them
Recycling is all about being taken for a ride
Ross Gittins
Another day, another crisis. The crisis in kerbside recycling has been building since China effectively refused to take any more of our rubbish about 18 months ago. Then we sent it to other Asian countries, but now they’re jacking up, too.
Australian editorial
Labor leader Anthony Albanese needs a pragmatic climate change policy.
BHP’s weird future without customers [$]
Terry McCrann
BHP needs its buyers to use a lot of carbon-based energy, so it is plain weird it is effectively trying to get its customers to cut steel production.
Patriarch Scott Morrison tells Pacific Islanders about coal
Mungo MacCallum
Prime Minister Scott Morrison pretends we have no responsibility for coal because we ship it overseas — this is the mendacity that sustains climate denialists.
Victoria
Inner-city ‘narrow-mindedness’: Council’s meat-free Mondays stir up industry anger
The meat industry says a Melbourne council’s decision to take meat off its menu on Mondays could damage regional economies for little environmental gain.
Government seeks heritage protection for notoriously jammed freeway
The State Government has applied for sections of the Eastern Freeway, one of Melbourne’s most congested motorways, to be granted heritage status.
Church must not treat Victoria’s proposed confession law as the enemy
Age editorial
If archbishops were to carry the sentiment of their congregations back to Rome, real change might be possible.
Solar Insiders Podcast: What next for Victoria’s solar rebate?
Victoria premier hints at changes to solar rebate scheme. Meanwhile, why some installers go to jail. And some good news.
New South Wales
Big irrigators take 86% of water from Barwon-Darling, report finds
Lower Darling pushed into drought three years early because of sheer volume of water extraction by just a few licence holders
‘Rolling the dice’: Sydney faces challenging fire season, charts show
The Sydney region will enter spring primed for large bushfires after another dry winter, with maps showing moisture levels are below those in the run-up to most big fire season in 2013.
Sydney commuters were left stranded as ‘mechanical issues’ brought the Metro line to a halt for the third Tuesday in a row.
Landmark deal to power Coles underpins three NSW solar farms
Construction of three large-scale solar farms proposed for regional New South Wales could be underway as early as next month, after a landmark deal between Australian supermarket giant Coles and UK-based renewables developer Metka EGN.
Demand may delay Kembla gas [$]
The NSW LNG plant backed by Andrew Forrest may be delayed as demand has backers rethinking capacity.
Virtue-signalling council strikes out [$]
Chris Kenny
Sydney’s Lord Mayor and her allies voted to join kids skipping school in a climate protest.
Parliamentary red tape hinders the survival of koalas [$]
Sue Arnold
A lengthy Parliamentary Inquiry into the future of koalas may take too long to ensure their survival.
ACT
Electric car sharing company Evee returns to Canberra
Three years ago, when Slava Kozlovskii launched his electric car sharing service, he was bogged by insurance issues.
Queensland
Queensland cracks down on climate change protesters with new laws
Devices sometimes used by climate change protesters to lock themselves together and block traffic will be made illegal in Queensland.
QRC supports new law to crack down on dangerous rail protests
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s announcement of new powers to crack down on extremist activists who are risking their own lives and the lives of others with their reckless tactics.
Queensland government accused of ‘fabricating’ claims about climate activists
Premier claims Extinction Rebellion using ‘sinister tactics’ such as traps, but police have never laid charges with such an offence
Walking could be the key to reducing traffic woes
With good weather nearly all year round, why do Queenslanders shun walking? A new plan hopes to get people walking not only for health but to aid their daily commute.
Koah near Kuranda – vegetation fire
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) crews are on scene at a vegetation fire burning near Koah Road and Kennedy Highway, Koah. The fire is contained and there is no threat to property at this time.
Contractor washes its hands of Adani work [$]
Adani has been blindsided after a major contractor to its north Queensland coal port decided to walk away.
Tasmania
Master plan revives hopes for Battery Point walkway [$]
Before the building heights debate in Hobart, there was the Battery Point walkway debate. And a new council master plan may breathe life back into the proposal.
Sustainability
Mysterious explosion none of your business, Russia tells nuclear monitoring group
Russia’s foreign ministry tells an international organisation set up to verify a ban on nuclear tests that handing over radiation data on a military accident in northern Russia is entirely voluntary.
Why carbon offsetting is not the panacea Harry and Meghan might think it is
Elton John claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s private jet use was ‘carbon neutral’. The reality is more complicated
New rechargeable CCNY aqueous battery challenges Lithium-ion dominance
A new rechargeable high voltage manganese dioxide zinc battery, exceeding the 2 V barrier in aqueous zinc chemistry, is the latest invention by City College of New York researchers. With a voltage of 2.45-2.8V, the alkaline MnO2|Zn battery, developed by Dr. Gautam G. Yadav and his group in the CCNY-based CUNY Energy Institute, could break the long dominance of flammable and expensive lithium (Li)-ion batteries in the market.
Is pollution linked to psychiatric disorders?
Researchers are increasingly studying the effects of environmental insults on psychiatric and neurological conditions, motivated by emerging evidence from environmental events like the record-breaking smog that choked New Delhi two years ago. The results suggests a possible link between exposure to environmental pollution and an increase in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders.
China sorted out local firms for damaging the environment
China”s Ministry of Ecology and the Environment reprimanded several local companies for using traps to mask damage to the environment and said that these actions contravene the efforts the Ministry is currently making to look after the environment.
Water pollution an ‘invisible threat’ to global goals, economists warn
Water pollution threatens nearly all the globally agreed development goals to end environmental destruction, poverty and suffering by 2030, economists warned in a report on Tuesday, citing the largest-ever database on the world’s water quality.
‘We can’t waste a drop.’ India is running out of water
Water crises are unfolding all across India, a product of population growth, modernization, climate change, mismanagement and the breakdown of traditional systems of distributing resources.
Researchers at the University of Delaware have identified ammonia as a source for engineering fuel cells that can provide a cheap and powerful source for fueling cars, trucks and buses with a reduced carbon footprint.
City parks lift mood as much as Christmas
The greener the greenspace, the happier and less self-absorbed people are
Here’s what I learned from my privileged, western failure to go plastic-free for a month
Van Badham
I tried to re-enact my nanna’s depression-mindset, zero-waste home, but no victory over plastic went unpunished.
Nature Conservation
What would happen if the oceans are completely covered with plastic?
If plastic were to cover the ocean surface, it can have ripple effects on marine ecosystems and affect the planet’s climate system, scientists warn.
Connected forest networks on oil palm plantations key to protecting endangered species
Set-aside patches of high-quality forest on palm oil plantations may help protect species like orangutans, as well as various species of insects, birds and bats — many of which are threatened with extinction in areas of Indonesia and Malaysia, where 85% of the world’s palm oil is produced.
Plants could remove six years of carbon dioxide emissions — if we protect them
By analysing 138 experiments, researchers have mapped the potential of today’s plants and trees to store extra carbon by the end of the century.
In Nepal, out-migration is helping fuel a forest resurgence
An exodus for jobs abroad has played an important role in the reforestation of Nepal, as rural people leave and workers send money back to their families, reducing reliance on the land. Migration has had unexpected benefits for forest recovery in other nations as well.
Study reveals profound patterns in globally important algae
A globally important ocean algae is mysteriously scarce in one of the most productive regions of the Atlantic Ocean, according to a new paper. A massive dataset has revealed patterns in the regions where Atlantic coccolithophores live, illuminating the inner workings of the ocean carbon cycle and raising new questions.
African elephants demonstrate movements that vary in response to ecological change
Wild African elephants show markedly different movements and reactions to the same risks and resources, according to a new study.
Longline fishing hampering shark migration
Longline fisheries around the world are significantly affecting migrating shark populations, according to an international study. The study found that approximately a quarter of the studied sharks’ migratory paths fell under the footprint of longline fisheries, directly killing sharks and affecting their food supply.
Now for something completely different …
Money can buy anything, so why not Greenland?
Warwick McFadyen
If Trump does want to buy a large island, he could make an offer for Australia.
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