Post of the Day
9 in 10 Australians see action on climate change as an ethical imperative
An overwhelming majority of Australians believe that governments, businesses and multinational corporations have an urgent ethical obligation to take action on climate change, according to new research.
Today’s Celebration
Feast of Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi – Georgia
Tree Day – North Macedonia
Climate Change
Bacteria may contribute more to climate change as planet heats up
As bacteria adapt to hotter temperatures, they speed up their respiration rate and release more carbon, potentially accelerating climate change.
Climate explained: how growth in population and consumption drives planetary change
Michael Petterson
Discussions about climate change often skirt around the issue of population growth, but it is the main driver of rising carbon dioxide levels and many other environmental changes on a planetary scale
National
‘How low can you go?’: Barnaby Joyce savaged over bushfire victims comments
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has faced a barrage of criticism after suggesting two people who died in NSW bushfires “most likely” voted for the Greens.
Greens senator brands major party politicians ‘arsonists’ over climate policy
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John has refused to back away from calling Labor and coalition senators “arsonists” during a fierce spray on climate action.
Liberal senator doubles down on accusing BoM of changing records to fit climate agenda
A Liberal Senator has again accused the weather bureau of deliberately changing temperature records to fit a global warming agenda.
Facing up to those ‘big C’ words the PM can’t bring himself to utter
First came the drought, then fire – and now the denials that a warming world has anything to do with bigger, more frequent blazes.
9 in 10 Australians see action on climate change as an ethical imperative
An overwhelming majority of Australians believe that governments, businesses and multinational corporations have an urgent ethical obligation to take action on climate change, according to new research.
Australia fires could be out of control for months, says fire chief
Concern grows over wind changes and high temperatures forecast for later this week
Army ready to be deployed as NSW and Queensland fires blaze out of control
‘This is our climate emergency’ say residents as fire chiefs warn dangerous conditions to return
Barnaby Joyce says sun’s magnetic fields cause bushfires. Science says…
Barnaby Joyce’s claim that changes to sun’s magnetic fields were linked to bushfires have been rubbished by climate scientists.
Intense dry spell across Australia set to persist into summer
Climatic influences from the Indian and Southern Oceans remain unfavourable for longer-term rainfall over south-eastern Australia, reinforcing the likelihood of a long summer ahead.
Scott Morrison’s crackdown on environmental protests
Katharine Murphy and Ben Butler examine the prime minister’s threats to outlaw climate activists from influencing businesses
The simple way national parks are worth $145 billion to the economy
Research has found national parks are worth billions to nation’s bottom line.
Australia fails on Sustainable Developent Goals, will miss targets and benefits
UNSW research shows Australia is missing opportunities for sustainable growth by failing to meet Sustainable Development Goals.
‘Big stick’ energy bill passes upper house
The Morrison government’s so-called “big stick” energy legislation has passed the Senate as the coalition aims to tackle soaring power prices.
Renewables growth will need to double to meet 2°C climate goal
S&P analysts finds renewables industry has become a mature market, but installs will need to be double BAU by 2040 to meet 2 degrees warming limit.
Australia’s largest banks make slow progress on decarbonisation promises
Australia’s largest banks make steps towards decarbonising their operations, but none have a comprehensive plan for zero net emissions, a ClimateWorks Australia assessment finds.
National transport regulatory reform: draft report
Productivity Commission
Reform in the transport sector has been disappointingly slow and has not delivered the expected productivity gains, according to this Productivity Commission draft report. The report suggests that moving to national regulation should be seen as one practical step towards improving safety and productivity.
I lost my home to bushfire and I don’t understand why we still ignore the risks
Janet Stanley
Scientists and meteorologists have for years warned of more frequent and extreme bushfires as climate change worsens. Their messages have been met by policy inertia
More people in the path of destruction than ever before
Ross Bradstock and Rachael Helene Nolan
Alarmingly, as Australians increasingly seek a sea-change or tree-change, more people are living in the path of these destructive fires.
I’d like a raving inner-city lunatic T-shirt for Christmas, please
Matt Holden
Michael McCormack’s attack on ‘woke capital-city greenies’ paints climate disruption as just another boutique cultural concern and not real politics.
The higher the flames in the bush, the lower the politics
David Crowe
A crisis is supposed to bring out the best in Australians. For too many of our politicians, it only brings out the worst.
Firestorms and flaming tornadoes: how bushfires create their own ferocious weather systems
Rachel Badlan
Large, intense bushfires can pump so much heat into the atmosphere they form their own thunderstorm system. And that can make the weather on the ground even more dangerously unpredictable.
Nationals’ climate hysteria exposes party’s fundamental flaw [$]
Bernard Keane
The National Party has failed to move with its own base in accepting the need for climate action — because it simply can’t.
The National Party v rural Australia [$]
Guy Rundle
The Nats have made themselves the enemy of rural Australia’s survival. If the party becomes a casualty of climate change, it will be the only one deserved.
Raging fires spark political risks for Morrison [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The Coalition’s challenge is to show its environmental credentials while managing the pitfalls of climate change policy.
Climate change is not the only man-made reason for the fires [$]
Paul Read
Global warming may be responsible for the bushfire catastrophe. But we also need to tackle the other human-induced cause – arson.
The Greens — not climate change — are to blame for infernos [$]
Miranda Devine
Their aim is to scare people into buying their climate “emergency” hyperbole, but it is that same green influence on government policy that has fuelled the cataclysmic bushfires.
Time to use Aboriginal knowledge of land to fight fires [$]
Warren Mundine
In this time of catastrophic drought and bushfires, when is modern Australia — with all its technology and science — going to listen to Aboriginal people and how our ancestors survived this harsh continent?
After the fires, we’ll have combustive issues to resolve [$]
Paul Kelly
It is an unfortunate truth that there is no silver bullet for politicians or firefighters to protect against raging bushfires — but such fires are now a political commodity in the transformed norms and values driven by climate change.
NSW, Queensland bushfire emergency: Left’s climate lunacy is dangerous, offensive [$]
Chris Kenny
I am not going to go quiet on this crazy debate about bushfires and climate.
Victoria
Victoria braces for own ‘dangerous summer’
Victorians have been told they will face a long, hot, dry and dangerous summer, as dozens of bushfires burn out of control in New South Whales and Queensland.
‘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.
‘World’s most sustainable shopping centre’ takes root in the suburbs
In a nondescript shopping mall in middle Australia, a quiet building revolution is taking place.
Victoria pushes for urgent overhaul of energy rules as blackouts loom
Victoria will fight to overhaul energy market rules in a bid to prevent summer blackouts amid concerns that ageing power plants are increasingly unreliable during heatwaves.
Fresh problem hits Hobsons Bay’s new recycling plan
Residents in Melbourne’s inner west have been urged to hold onto their recyclables for a fortnight or have it sent to landfill after the waste crisis hit the council just weeks after it announced a new recycling plan.
New South Wales
Bushfire status downgraded but danger still there
All bushfires now sit at a watch and act level at worst after the remaining emergency warnings were downgraded early this morning.
Firefighting efforts continue in NSW, with warnings of ‘volatile’ conditions ahead
NSW remains in a state of emergency as a change in wind direction threatens to move fires in a different direction.
300 new fires across New South Wales on Tuesday and a dozen homes damaged – as it happened
Rural Fire Service says a firefighter has been injured in Sydney as New South Wales faced catastrophic fire conditions, and dozens of bushfires continued to burn across Queensland and Australia’s east coast
Catastrophic fire danger: what does it mean and what should we do in these conditions?
For the first time since new fire ratings were introduced in 2009, the highest fire danger has been forecast for Sydney
Climate activists rally outside NSW parliament
Climate activists have rallied outside New South Wales parliament following comments by the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday. Michael McCormack slammed comments that linked climate change to the unprecedented bushfire danger across NSW and QLD.
Lionel built a bushfire bunker out of concrete and stone. He thinks it’s a good thing to have
Lionel Buckett has nearly completed his own fire bunker in the Blue Mountains, rated to last for an hour in full flame — but it’s not a practice encouraged by fire services.
‘This is about people’s lives’: Fire victims demand climate action
Moments after tipping the burnt remains of his family home onto the footpath outside NSW Parliament, Aaron Crowe declared now was precisely the right time to talk about climate change.
Factcheck: Is there really a green conspiracy to stop bushfire hazard reduction?
Firefighters are trying to contain dozens of fires across two states, but a familiar blame game has already begun
‘I won’t allow our rangers to be used as scapegoats’: Minister [$]
Environment Minister Matt Kean will not allow National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers – who perform hazard reduction burns – to be used as “scapegoats” for the fire crisis after the public sector union claimed that fire-trained ranger numbers had been slashed.
NSW Planning Minister rejects claims of mining lobby influence as bill delayed
NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes says he did not cave to demands from the NSW Minerals Council in preparing a controversial mining bill.
NSW residents warned over ‘damaging’ smoke
As Sydney’s air pollution hits hazardous levels amid raging bushfires, authorities are warning asthmatics and others to remain wary of the smoke.
‘This is our new normal’: regional mayors on bushfires and climate change
Claire Pontin and Dominic King
It’s no longer enough for our communities to be bushfire prepared. We urgently need to address the root cause
We thought we had protected these living relics forever
Dailan Pugh
The devastating fires in northern NSW have burnt the iconic rainforest in Terania Creek – site of the first forest blockade.
Prayers aren’t enough Prime Minister
Shiann Broderick
I’ve lost my home and I want to see action on climate change.
Morrison and Berejiklian can’t see the forest for the burning trees
Jennifer Wilson
Berejiklian and Morrison have avoided any discussion of climate change as a contributing factor in the current catastrophic bushfires.
ACT
New Yutong electric bus to be trialled in Canberra over next 12-months
A new electric bus will join the Canberra transport network in a 12-month trial as the ACT government begins transitioning to wholly electric bus fleet by 2040, it was announced on Monday.
Plans for a future residential development bordering the Red Hill Nature Reserve in Deakin have been delivered a setback, while a proposed retirement village on the Federal Golf Club has been given a boost.
Queensland
‘No end in sight’: Severe fire danger in Queensland amid soaring temperatures
The bushfire threat in Queensland is set to ramp up, with high to very high fire danger forecast and severe conditions expected amid soaring temperatures.
‘Noah’s ark’ bus rescues koalas, monkeys, crocs from Qld bushfire danger
In the midst of horror bushfires, with flames licking the tops of trees in the distance and embers falling, staff and volunteers have frantically crated more than 150 vulnerable animals to safety.
Locals ‘disgusted’ army live ammunition exercises possibly ignited Gold Coast bushfire
Defence accepts its activities can pose a fire risk as residents at the site of Saturday’s Lower Beechmont fire are frustrated by reports it started during training at Kokoda Barracks.
Full list of bushfire alerts and evacuations
As catastrophic fire conditions continue across the state, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services continue to battle fires on multiple fronts.
Queensland’s 110MW Darling Downs solar farm officially launched
APA Group’s 110MW Darling Downs solar farm officially – and finally – launched, after a tortuous path to commercial operation.
South Australia
Remembrance Day fire one Port Lincoln ‘won’t forget’ soon, with two homes lost
Two houses have been destroyed in a fire near Port Lincoln, which has been contained by firefighters. Resident Doc Halliday says the fire came within metres of his home.
Adani mine could snuff out black-throated finch’s last chances of survival
Development has long been given priority over the endangered bird’s welfare – and is set to again with the Carmichael coalmine
Price cut for water – and more in the pipeline
After years of rising bills from SA Water, the corporation is now promising cuts averaging $26 for city households. And Treasurer Rob Lucas may have a bigger cut in store.
Race to bring doomed Kosciuszko brumbies to SA
An SA couple is on a mission to save feral NSW horses from euthanasia – and has already found new homes for some after bringing them to Gawler.
Rooftop solar delivers yet another record low in grid demand for South Australia
AEMO confirms new minimum operational grid demand of 458MW on Sunday afternoon, replacing previous summer minimum record set in December 2018.
Tasmania
Two of nine 2018-19 bushfire review recommendations in place
Two of the nine recommendations from a review of last year’s Tasmanian bushfire season – the worst since 1967 – have been implemented and a further three will be ready by December, the state government says.
Tasmanian Government’s tourism project scheme drawn into question after Federal Court decision
The Federal Court has thrown an eco-tourism venture at Lake Malbena into uncertainty after it called into question the federal government’s approval of the project.
Call for shopping boxes over bags
Would you prefer to reuse a cardboard box rather than a plastic shopping bag?
Sustainability
The Silicon Valley multimillionaire who puts his money where his mouth is
Impact investor Charly Kleissner says private capital will dry up for fossil fuel companies as their liabilities mount. He will speak this week at the Impact Investment Summit in Sydney.
Fukushima to turn unusable farmland into wind and solar “mega park”
Fukushima, host to one of world’s worst nuclear disasters, set to start work on 21 solar and wind farms, in a $US2.7 billion renewable energy rebirth.
Own a bike you never ride? We need to learn how to fail better at active transport
Glen Fuller et al
Where bikes are kept is a strong pointer to the place of cycling in the owner’s life. Effective active transport policy starts with understanding what stops people using their bikes instead of cars.
Nature Conservation
Ancient India temple promotes forest preservation
An ancient temple in India’s southern Shivamogga city has not only been an important spiritual center but has also been promoting forest preservation.
What is a ‘mass extinction’ and are we in one now?
Frédérik Saltré and Corey J. A. Bradshaw
The Earth has experienced five periods of mass extinction. Scientists can’t quite be certain yet, but they’re fairly sure we’re now well into the sixth.