Post of the Day
Environment laws have failed to tackle the extinction emergency. Here’s the proof
Human activities have destroyed more than 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat.
Today’s Celebration
National Day in Belize
National Day in Gibraltar
Amerindian Heritage Day in Guyana
National TV Dinner Day – USA
Children’s Day – Honduras
Day of Ashura – Islam
Out of the Shadows and into the Light
Climate Change
Hundreds of climate sceptics, including politicians and academics, are reportedly mounting an international campaign to stop commitments to net-zero carbon emissions in Europe.
Summer heatwave killed 1,500 in France, Minister says
The European summer heatwaves caused close to 1,500 deaths in France, the country’s health minister said.
How to fight fake climate science on YouTube
A study finds that fake science videos get millions of hits on YouTube. But scientists can help fix misinformation about climate change and other topics.
For youth, climate isn’t partisan
Recent surveys suggest that Gen Z and millennial Republicans care about the climate much more than their older counterparts – and, get this, maybe as much as their peers across the aisle.
Climate crisis is greatest ever threat to human rights, UN warns
Rights chief Michelle Bachelet highlights role in civil wars. ‘The world has never seen a threat to human rights of this scope’
UK to impose carbon tax after no-deal Brexit
In the event of a no-deal Brexit that sees the UK leave the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, a tax of £16 per ton of carbon will be immediately applied, according to government plans.
Why Canada’s environmental charities are afraid to talk about climate change during the election
Dianne Saxe
Elections Canada is muzzling public outreach by charities about the climate crisis, just when it has never been more urgent for the public to understand it.
National
Environment laws have failed to tackle the extinction emergency. Here’s the proof
Human activities have destroyed more than 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat.
Survey says Australians want urgent action on climate change
A majority of Australians believe climate change is driving more droughts and floods, and that increasing electricity prices are the result of “excessive profit margins” among private energy companies.
More homes lost as ‘nightmare’ bushfires continue in Queensland and NSW
Some families have returned to see their homes in fire-ravaged Queensland, but the “nightmare” bushfire crisis is far from over with several homes reportedly lost in a new emergency on the Sunshine Coast.
Extreme heat a far greater threat for most Australians than extreme cold weather, study finds
Research published on Tuesday in the Climatic Change journal examined the deaths of 1.717 million Australians between 2006-2017.
Drought, floods ‘link’ to climate change [$]
More Australians now believe climate change will trigger droughts and floods.
Macquarie bets on green revolution in finance [$]
Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake wants to put Macquarie’s $116 billion infrastructure funds at the forefront of the next wave of climate change-related investment called “climate adaptation”.
ACCC blasts gas pipe operators [$]
Australia’s competition regulator has lashed gas pipeline operators for poor price disclosure.
Price slump threatens viability of coal projects [$]
A coal price slump has left 19 per cent of global exports in the red and is raising doubts about the viability of Australian coal projects under development
Gulfs emerge on electricity market overhaul [$]
Stark divisions have been exposed within the electricity industry, investors and politicians about the urgency and need for an overhaul of electricity market rules to extend the life of coal power plants.
The federal government has ordered a crackdown on alleged ‘unconscionable conduct’ on water.
Why electric vehicles could kill the market for household batteries
Jet Charge founder says electric cars will be an energy asset first, and a mobility asset second, and will largely displace residential storage.
Affordability in retail energy markets
Australian Energy Regulator
This report provides a high-level retrospective analysis of energy affordability in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania, covering the past three years, with a focus on energy affordability for low income households.
Accept climate change and move forward
Rob Lee
We’ve had a warm winter, but the main issue for us is that it has been our third very dry winter in a row.
Do Australia’s coal generators need another subsidy?
Giles Parkinson
The owners of Australia’s coal generators might have gotten a little excited over the weekend if they took a headline in Murdoch’s The Australian newspaper at its word: “Power pricing overhaul ‘should reward coal’.”
The music has stopped but the record keeps playing
Peter Boyer
The PM’s choice of energy and resources ministers signifies a deep antipathy toward renewable energy and a deep scepticism about the role of man-made climate change
Small modular reactors — same nuclear disasters
Helen Caldicott
The Morrison Government has opened the door to the notion of nuclear power as peddled by the nuclear sociopaths.
Climate change, fire debate reignited [$]
Graham Lloyd
Bushfires ravaging the Queensland-NSW border have renewed debate over whether climate change has contributed to the blazes.
Australian editorial
Basin’s farmers are facing financial and emotional hardship.
Victoria
‘Lives are depending on it’: No way but Western Highway, Allan says
The controversial Western Highway Upgrade will save lives and must go ahead, the government says, despite the storm of protest surrounding the project
Could your commute be making you sick? [$]
One in three businesses are reporting an increase in sick leave taken by employees in the past year, and experts believe that our city’s gridlock and long commute times could be to blame.
Farmers face crisis as water prices surge [$]
Fed-up Victorian farmers are demanding greater transparency on water trading as the cost for the precious commodity skyrockets, raising fears of farmers being forced off the land and rural communities plunged into crisis as summer looms.
Cooper strikes gas off Victoria [$]
Cooper Energy says it has discovered a new gas field 9km off the coast of Victoria, the first such find for 11 years.
New South Wales
Brumby management to commence in Kosciuszko National Park
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro and NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean today announced the next step to address the number of brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park, with the appointment of the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Community Advisory Panel.
Rob Stokes lashes Inner West Council over tree-clearing policy
Anger over the Inner West Council’s controversial new tree-clearing policy – which gives private landholders the right to remove the vast majority of trees in the area – has spread beyond environmental campaigners to the state Coalition government.
Sydney CBD gets air pollution monitor 15 years after previous one was removed
A device will be installed in the plaza near St Mary’s Cathedral to record and stream data for a range of pollutants.
Rescued fish from last summer’s mass die-off set to spawn within days
Last summer’s rescue effort to truck 20 giant Murray cod 700 kilometres to a fisheries centre will soon face its first test as females start to lay eggs.
Elders say artefacts not to blame for Darling dam delay [$]
Indigenous landowners believe the discovery of significant artefacts near some dams — delaying floodwaters from reaching the Darling River — should not stand in the way of improving flows; citrus farmer watches life’s work die (pictured); and, plan to rescue fish ahead of summer.
Sydney’s Groundhog Day water crisis returns
Charles Essery
Sydney’s existing water policy guarantees shortages and an increasing reliance on expensive desalination plants, to the delight of rent seekers.
Queensland
More than climate change driving Queensland fires, explain climatologists
The record drought has combined with a record warm winter to fuel this year’s grim fire outlook, according to climatologists and bushfire experts.
Explainer: The red-hot question after destructive hinterland fire — can rainforests burn?
Acting Queensland Premier Jackie Trad says the Gold Coast hinterland fire that swept through the area over the weekend included areas of rainforest — a highly unusual event, but one that experts say is occurring more frequently in recent times.
Injured koala and her joey Rupert among hundreds of animals rescued from fires
A singed and injured koala and her joey, who have become a symbol of hope and resilience amid Queensland’s bushfire emergency, are slowly recovering in a Brisbane wildlife hospital.
‘Not in the clear yet’: Wind-fanned bushfires to test containment lines
Gold Coast hinterland residents were told it was “too late to leave” on Sunday night as a bushfire flared up again, but relief came in the early hours of Monday when the warning was downgraded.
South Australia
Moving sand along Adelaide’s beaches ‘an absolute disaster’, protesters say
Residents of a seaside Adelaide suburb — including a former Australian cricket captain — press the SA Government to reconsider a plan to remove sand from their beach to address erosion down the coast.
Call for greater domestic violence awareness at city council
Adelaide City Councillor Arman Abrahimzadeh is pushing for the council to adopt better strategies to protect its staff from what he calls the “horrendous” effects of domestic and family violence.
Irrigation trade squeezes grower [$]
Third-generation farmer Peter Barry has raised citrus and grapes in South Australia’s Riverland all his life. He is heartbroken.
Tasmania
ARENA backs wave power generation pilot project off King Island
Australian Renewable Energy Agency will tip $4 million into a $12.3 million trial of Australian made wave energy technology off the coast of King Island, Tasmania.
Western Australia
A gift to make a billionaire blush: Near-extinct skink handed its own tropical island paradise
A tiny rainbow-hued lizard which all but disappeared from the wild 10 years ago has been given the run of a brand new home, its very own tropical island off the WA coast, to bring its population back from the brink.
Sustainability
This concept gadget scans your trash to tell you if it’s recyclable
This concept device could help end confusion about what bin to put your trash in—and take some pressure off our failing recycling system.
How tampons and pads became unsustainable and filled with plastic
A combination of technology and social pressure drove us toward sanitary products shot through with plastic. Is there a better solution?
These innovative designs will help save the planet
The 2019 Innovation by Design Awards honor the designers and businesses solving the problems of today and tomorrow, by either reducing our carbon footprint or reminding us of our consumerism.
The science is clear; we’ve more to fear from baby monitors than 5G
Adam Turner
Danger claims don’t stack up when you examine the radio frequencies used, or measure the power levels compared to common household appliances.
Urban growth, heat islands, humidity, climate change: the costs multiply in tropical cities
Taha Chaiechi and Silvia Tavares
The world’s fastest-growing cities are in the tropics. They are highly exposed to climate change, especially as urban heat island effects and humidity magnify the impacts of increasing heatwaves.
Europe’s Opportunity to Ban a Dangerous Pesticide
Cara Schulte
In several European countries, pregnant mothers risk consuming food contaminated with the pesticide chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxin that could be harmful to their unborn children.
Nature Conservation
Forest built inside soccer stadium delivers powerful environmental message
A forest planted inside an Austrian soccer stadium has opened to the public with a message that one day nature might only be enjoyed in a museum.
Chaos, chaos, chaos’: a journey through Bolsonaro’s Amazon inferno
A 2,000km road and river odyssey in Brazil reveals consensus from all sides: Bolsonaro has ushered in a new age of wrecking
Climate crisis drives Tunisia fishing trade into troubled waters
As dwindling stocks sound the death knell for their industry, fishermen face difficult and often dangerous choices
Now for something completely different …
‘Spine-tinglingly beautiful’: Indigenous youth choir perform at Parliament House – video
A musical collaboration by Spinifex Gum and the Marliya Choir have performed in the Marble Foyer at Parliament House, Canberra.
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