Post of the Day
Australia’s climate response among the worst in the G20, report finds
Brown to Green report highlights Australia’s poor response on deforestation, transport, energy supply and carbon pricing
Today’s Celebration
Constitution Day – Azerbaijan
National Youth Day – East Timor
Guru Nanak Jayanti – India
Sun Yat-sen’s Birthday (Doctor’s Day) – Taiwan
Journée Nationale Maoré – Comoros
National Health Day – Indonesia
Birthday of Juana Inés de la Cruz – Mexico
Birth of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib Ji – Sikhism
Climate Change
New findings on nitrous oxide emissions from northern trees surprised scientists
A recent study demonstrates that boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere are sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). The study provides new information on the significance of trees as sinks and sources of greenhouse gases, proving that forests have relevance not only in the absorption of carbon, but also as a source of other greenhouse gases.
Telling stories to battle climate change, with a little humor thrown in
The women who make the podcast “Mothers of Invention” stand apart in the field of climate communication.
A legal approach to fighting climate change
Gillian Lobo is the senior lawyer for ClientEarth, an environmental law charity.
In addition to causing damage to natural resource and infrastructure, global warming is expected to disrupt business operations and economic activity in the coming years.
Attenborough’s new show treads fine line on climate change
Melinda Houston
The great documentarian pulls off a difficult balancing act between delivering an urgent message and keeping the viewer engaged.
Latest ‘big climate scare’ is simply a con [$]
Andrew Bolt
The media was quick to jump on a so called warning from “11,000 scientists” that climate change was “a catastrophic threat” but if they looked deeper they would’ve found the shocking truth on who these “scientists” actually are.
National
Switkowski preaches for nuclear energy invoking Bill Gates, Elon Musk
The former Telstra CEO said Australia was a nation of great technologists and great engineers that should give nuclear power a shot.
Climate experts call ‘BS’ as government offers only “thoughts and prayers” for fire crisis
Political leaders work to squash links between climate change and fires, saying now is not the right time, but the scientific community disagrees.
Now is time to talk climate change: expert
A bushfire expert has warned of the affect fires could have on coal regions as the NSW government prepares to debate new mining emissions legislation.
Renewables sector slams new network pricing proposals, says it will kill investment
Commission’s proposed approach to transmission investment and reform, saying it would increase the cost and complexity of connecting vital projects to the NEM, while undermining investor certainty, and bring a halt to new projects.
Australia’s climate response among the worst in the G20, report finds
Brown to Green report highlights Australia’s poor response on deforestation, transport, energy supply and carbon pricing
Q&A: Labor’s Mark Butler says climate debate should be put aside amid bushfires
ABC panel manages civil debate on climate change after shadow climate minister’s intervention
‘It is passing strange to me’: Howard tells entrepreneurs it would be odd to phase out coal
Former prime minister John Howard said he considered it “strange” that any Australians should suggest phasing out the nation’s coal industry while addressing a conference of Chinese and Australian entrepreneurs.
Explainer: ‘Old hat’: Is there a link between climate change and bushfires?
What is the connection between climate change and bushfires?
BHP doubles down on oil and gas [$]
The mining major has big plans to turn around the decline in its oil and gas business but it will involve heavy investment.
Westpac leads big four pack with green targets for lending [$]
Westpac will set the standard for the banks next year when it adopts emissions targets for its lending portfolio that correspond with the 2016 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2C.
Greens playing politics with fire, say Labor and Coalition [$]
Senior Coalition and Labor MPs have launched a bitter attack on the Greens for suggesting climate change policies are responsible for the catastrophic bushfire threat confronting NSW and Queensland.
Drought and climate change were the kindling, and now the east coast is ablaze
Ross Bradstock and Rachael Helene Nolan
They escaped to the coast for the quiet life, but now sea-changers are in the path of monster fires.
Shareholder activism might sound good, but it’s delusional to think it will change anything much
Warren Staples and Andrew Linden
Don’t expect institutional investors to become activists for change to make corporations more responsible. More direct approaches are urgently needed.
If now isn’t the ‘right time’ to ‘talk about’ climate change, when on earth is? [$]
Bernard Keane
Despite what politicians say, now is precisely the time to talk about the link between bushfires, drought and climate change. Anything less is recklessness and corruption that kills Australians.
The terrifying bushfire future we were warned about is here. This is how we can adapt
David Bowman
Fires are now exceeding all known firefighting technologies but what can be done to stop them? It’s a simple question with an incredibly complex answer and climate change is part of it
For farmers climate change is the headline to our lives, but McCormack’s Nationals avert their gaze
Gabrielle Chan
The deputy prime minister and his party poke their own constituency in the eye in favour of inexplicable political priorities
Dear Michael McCormack: the only ‘raving lunatics’ are those not worrying about climate change
Katharine Murphy
The Australian deputy PM has decried the ravings of people linking bushfires to global heating. But the consequences of a lack of action are not confined to an inner-city cabal
Climate leadership is alive and well across the ditch
Peter Boyer
But in this week of wildfires the PM is much too busy to think about such things.
Michael McCormack’s tough words only confirmed his weakness
David Crowe
Australian politicians prove their failings when they cannot address the reality of climate change when confronting the immediate crisis of drought and bushfire.
A firefighter on Q&A wanted to discuss the elephant in the room
Neil McMahon
With the eastern half of the country ablaze, bushfires and climate change were the focus of the night on Q&A.
Talking about climate change is the right thing to do by bushfire victims
SMH editorial
In a week when all Australians are concerned for the lives and property of residents and firefighters in NSW and Queensland, who continue to face the threat of catastrophic bushfires, climate change must be part of the discussion.
We need urgent and increasing action on climate change, not ambivalence
Patrick Suckling
How the world sees Australia on climate change was one of the more insightful aspects of my time as ambassador for the environment for the past few years.
Dear Michael McCormack, name calling won’t make fires go away
Canberra Times editorial
It’s difficult to know what exactly deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack was trying to achieve on Monday morning when he decided to kick off the parliamentary week with an extraordinary outburst about the unfolding bushfire crisis and those linking it to climate change.
Bushfire crisis is an urgent wake-up call for all [$]
Susie O’Brien
Much of the east coast of Australia is in flames as a monster fire season looms — and it’s only November. Yet Canberra is still in denial about how climate change contributed to the destruction and catastrophe.
Greens pour fuel on fire to score political points [$]
Australian editorial
Greens MP Adam Bandt has no need to battle bushfires in his downtown Melbourne electorate, but that is not the reason he should shut up until the crisis is over. He should do so out of basic human decency.
It’s time to call a national disaster [$]
Alan Jones
The government’s so-called plan for farmers in need is simply to saddle them with more debt, which they will never be able to repay, while foreign interests swoop in.
Tackling climate risk will put out bushfires [$]
Michael McCormack
Heated claims of ‘climate emergency’ won’t reduce the risk of devastating bushfires, it will only repeat the futile climate wars of the past decade.
Climate action, not hysteria, is what voters want [$]
A growing number of ordinary Australians want action on climate change. The key is finding the sensible middle, and ignoring the silly, childish screeching from activists and those who refuse to accept climate science.
Victoria
Testing underway for Australia’s first offshore wind farm
Site exploration tests for Australia’s first offshore wind farm, the massive 2000MW Star of the South, are set to begin off the south coast of Gippsland in Victoria.
BHP considers sale of Bass Strait assets as oil fields decline
BHP is considering a potential sale of its assets in Victoria’s Bass Strait oil fields as its Australian oil and gas production continues to shrink.
Victoria’s new bushfire survival ad
An advertisement from the Victorian Government’s bushfire survival and safety campaign.
Victorian households set for electricity price hike [$]
The price of power is set to increase from January 1 next year, with all Victorian households set to be affected. Here’s how much more you could be paying in 2020.
Mower shortage blamed for long grass in Melbourne’s north [$]
Public parks and gardens on Melbourne’s urban fringe are being overrun with weeds, shrubs and grass just weeks out from fire danger season, and it’s being blamed on a council contractor not having enough mowers.
Victoria hits opposition to summer emergency power plan [$]
Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio has declared that negotiating contracts for reserve electricity over several years would be cheaper but big energy users oppose the plan.
‘300 years to repair’: Could a subterranean national park restore a devastated wetland?
It could take centuries to properly rehabilitate a Victorian wetland that was devastated by a water authority, and its Landcare group fears water extraction could resume.
New South Wales
Everything NSW fire services could have bought if their budget wasn’t cut [$]
While Scott Morrison offers thoughts and prayers to bushfire victims, the NSW Liberal Party has cut tens of millions from state fire services.
‘Not a normal day’: Grim warning as more than 600 schools shut due to catastrophic bushfire risk
More than 1,300 firefighters are battling raging flames across New South Wales as the Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter and Illawarra/Shoalhaven regions brace for “catastrophic” fire conditions on Tuesday.
NSW mayor slams deputy PM’s ‘insulting’ climate change attack during bushfires
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has attacked people for linking climate change to conditions which enabled fires in NSW and Queensland to take hold.
Scientists say the NSW mega fires are linked to climate change. Here’s why
A war of words has erupted around Australia’s bushfires and climate change. But most scientists say the link is clear.
Due to the extreme fire conditions across much of New South Wales, MOST national parks and reserves in NSW from the Queensland border to Victoria are closed. This means no public access at all and includes tracks, trails, campgrounds and picnic areas.
Bushfire safety ‘can’t be put on the back-burner’ [$]
Lynette and Robert McGlade have not seen one hazard-reduction burn since they moved into their Mount Coolum home 10 years ago.
Ryde Liberals call for mayor and his deputy to stand aside
Ryde Council will debate a motion calling on the mayor and his deputy to stand down amid calls for an inquiry by the state’s corruption watchdog.
Climate talks for another day: NSW premier
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she is disappointed at questions on the potential links between climate change and the state’s unprecedented bushfires.
‘We should have done more to reduce the risk’ [$]
On the eve of a potentially catastrophic day of bushfires, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has admitted not enough had been done to reduce the risk.
Bushfire app could save your life
People living in areas being threatened by bushfires should listen to local radio, install the Fires Near Me app and regularly check the Rural Fire Service website for updates.
21m ago
Even hippies of Nimbin blame greenies [$]
The greenies have a lot to answer for over the incendiary state of the Australian bush.
This is the view of Michael Balderstone, hemp candidate, deep environmentalist and leading figure in the Nimbin community, which is now beset by fire.
Greens policies increasing bushfire threat, Barnaby Joyce says [$]
Barnaby Joyce says the policies of the Greens have increased the bushfire threat, as he claims a lack of hazard reduction burning has helped fuel fires in regional NSW and Queensland.
Carbon claims fanciful when the climate jury’s still out on drought [$]
Judith Sloan
Your heart goes out to the people in NSW and Queensland affected by the bushfires. In many instances, the very same people are also being weighed down by the damaging impact of a prolonged drought.
Fires rage as Berejiklian ignores advice and decimates what’s left
Sue Arnold
Perhaps the most serious aspect of this appalling start of the bushfire season is the big question: Why are we facing such catastrophic conditions greatly exacerbated by the worst drought in Australian history?
ACT
ACT region firefighters prepare for potentially devastating fire season as NSW burns
As devastating fires across northern NSW and Queensland threaten lives, properties and destroy massive swathes of land, Canberra authorities warn of similar conditions closer to home.
Tuesday’s gusty winds and hot, dry conditions force authorities to initiate total fire ban
In a grim foreboding of the long, hot, dry summer ahead, the ACT has joined New South Wales in declaring a total fire ban on Tuesday.
Queensland
If you’re finding it hard to breathe in Brisbane today there’s a good reason — thanks to the smoke haze from southern Queensland bushfires the air quality is currently worse than Beijing.
‘No car, no excuses’: Brisbane mum ditches family car for climate change
Most of us reach for the car keys every day, but could you ditch the car to make way for your bike for 365 days? Meet the Grade One teacher who plans to survive a year without using a motor vehicle.
Electric car charging stations to connect eastern state capitals [$]
The first link in a chain of electric fastchargers connecting Australia’s eastern capitals will be opened in Queensland on Tuesday by a company determined to lead the charge into battery car infrastructure.
Full list of alerts and evacuations for bushfires
NINE homes have been lost and 100,000ha of land razed in the Queensland as a result of dozens of bushfires. The fire warning is this morning sitting at a severe grade, however, it was expected to rise to extreme in parts of the state later today.
South Australia
Underground oases could save ailing Murray floodplains
Underground bodies of freshwater could hold the key to the health of the fragile floodplains of the Murray Darling Basin.
Anger at Equinor plan to use banned substance [$]
Norwegian oil giant Equinor plans to use a banned dispersant in the event of a major spill if supplies of other chemicals run low, enraging Greenpeace and Doctors for the Environment Australia.
Tasmania
State unprepared for fire season, warn Greens [$]
Under-staffed Interstate fires and a shortages of specialise remote firefighting teams will make this summer’s bushfire fire problem more difficult, the Greens have warned.
Western Australia
Western Australia set to decide on 180MW solar farm for state’s south west
Plans to build a 183MW solar farm with 20MW of battery storage in Western Australia’s south west looks set to be approved this week.
Sustainability
Villagers in Guinea say Australian joint-owned mine is polluting their community
Australian mining giant Rio Tinto jointly owns a company which has been accused of human rights breaches over the treatment of people living near a mine in the African nation of Guinea.
Rothschild bets against ‘the Greta Thunberg set’ [$]
People “have forgotten what their mobile phone they are tweeting on is actually made from,” said Ben Cleary of Tribeca, which Rothschild is doubling its stake in.
‘Nobody gets out without damage’: What fighting fire does to the body
The quest to understand the toxic effects of fighting wildfires has taken on a new urgency in California.
Using mountains for long-term energy storage
The storage of energy for long periods of time is subject to special challenges. A researcher proposes using a combination of Mountain Gravity Energy Storage (MGES) and hydropower as a solution for this issue.
As electric vehicles age, here’s how the batteries are finding a second life
A study published in the journal Nature finds that while the EV “revolution” is crucial to a greener future, it presents a battery waste management problem.
When a tree dies, don’t waste your breath. Rescue the wood to honour its memory
Cris Brack et al
City trees are often short-lived and many others get cut down in their prime. Turning them into mulch both wastes timber and releases stored carbon. A wood rescue program creates a more fitting legacy.
Nature Conservation
‘Extinct’ mouse-deer caught on camera 30 years after last sighting
A tiny species of ungulate that resembles a miniature deer has been caught on camera for the first time, more than 30 years after the last dead specimen was recorded.
How the US betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster
During the Cold War, the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs on, in and above the Marshall Islands. The U.S. also conducted a dozen biological weapons tests and dumped 130 tons of irradiated soil, now vulnerable to rising seas.
Moth populations in steady decline in Britain, study finds
Long-running survey finds 1976 heatwave boom has been followed by dropping numbers
Ecuador’s vanishing jaguars: the big cat vital to rainforest survival
Industries such as coffee and cacao have devastated the jaguar’s habitat, but its dwindling numbers leave a delicate ecosystem hanging in the balance
Mosquito nets: Are they catching more fishes than insects?
Mosquito nets designed to prevent malaria transmission are used for fishing which may devastate tropical coastal ecosystems, according to a new scientific study. The researchers found that most of the fish caught using mosquito nets were smaller than a finger and potentially collect hundreds of individuals.
New study first to reveal growth rates of deep-sea coral communities
Researchers revealed for the first time growth rates of deep-sea coral communities and the pattern of colonization by various species over time scales of centuries to millennia. Age-dated submarine lava flows helped constrain maximum ages of coral communities.