Post of the Day
There has been a substantial increase in food production over the last 50 years, but it has been accompanied by a narrowing in the diversity of cultivated crops. New research shows that diversifying crop production can make food supply more nutritious, reduce resource demand and greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance climate resilience without reducing calorie production or requiring more land.
Today’s Celebration
Buß- und Bettag (Day of Repentance and Prayer) – Germany
Anniversary of the wedding of Elizabeth II – UK
20-N in Spain
Black Awareness Day in Brazil
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Climate Change
Global heating supercharging Indian Ocean climate system
Indian Ocean dipole events, linked to bushfires and floods, are becoming stronger and more frequent, scientists say
Young Climate Activists’ UN Complaint Against France
A 16-year-old boy named David is one of a group of children lodging a UN complaint against France and four other countries for its lagging efforts to fight the global climate crisis.
Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes
Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed an invisible world that affects the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is going to supercharge waves
We know about sea level rise, but new research shows that in some places waves will get bigger and stronger, too.
Climate explained: why coastal floods are becoming more frequent as seas rise
James Renwick
For every ten centimetres of sea level rise, the chances of a 100-year coastal flood increase three-fold. This means we’ll have to build flood defenses or retreat from the coast.
National
Rooftop solar owners more politically active, ‘ideologically diverse’ than their neighbours
Research shows that owners of rooftop solar come from diverse political backgrounds and substantially more likely to be politically active.
Business demand is helping drive the energy transition to wind and solar
Corporate energy users have supported 5.2GW of new renewable energy capacity and procured nearly 2.3GW of mostly solar and wind powered electricity, new report shows.
Australian scientists develop tech they say can recycle all plastic
Local scientists develop a system they say can turn all plastic back into oil, but the first commercial recycling plant using the technology will not be built in Australia.
Even if you don’t live near a bushfire, your health could be at risk
Just because you don’t live in the bush doesn’t mean you’re immune to the health effects of bushfires. Here’s how to manage the risks.
Angus Taylor to seek states’ support for emissions reduction fund overhaul
Long delayed meeting of federal and state energy ministers to discuss the $2.55bn ERF, now rebadged the Climate Solutions Fund
Australia needs policy to deal with health effects of climate change, Chris Bowen says
Labor’s health spokesman says the country and the world have not moved quickly enough to reduce emissions
Bolt kick-starts e-bike service catering to food delivery riders
Electric bike startup Bolt is looking to plug into the local food delivery market as it launches in Sydney and Melbourne after raising $4m in seed funding.
Aussie charity joins UN Green Climate Fund
The charity says it will use money from the fund to help local communities fight climate change
If Angus Taylor is so blinded by ideology, he should step down as energy minister
Giles Parkinson
If the energy minister can’t overcome his ideological opposition to wind and solar, or his aversion to new smart technologies, he really should get out of the way.
Marise Payne
Today I announce the appointment of Mr Jamie Isbister as Australia’s next Ambassador for the Environment. Mr Isbister will promote Australia’s interests on international environment issues including our efforts to address climate change as part of a coordinated global effort, cooperation on sustainable oceans management and UNESCO World Heritage. Mr Isbister will also lead Australia’s engagement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
How politics fails the evidence test [$]
Percy Allan
A ‘business case’ approach to public decision making is smart politics.
Morrison’s attack on activists left out one crucial fact
Clancy Yeates
When Scott Morrison picked a fight with climate activists, he ignored a key reason banks are wary about coal.
Australia is the great ‘white’ hope for the global nuclear industry
Noel Wauchope
The global nuclear industry is in crisis but that doesn’t stop the pro-nuclear lobby from peddling exorbitantly expensive nuclear as a “green alternative”.
The climate denialist IPA and its ‘public interest’ charity status
David Paull
Since the IPA and CIS organisations argue against the scientific consensus on the climate change emergency isn’t that against the public interest?
Climate polls suggest most Australians are ‘raving inner-city elites’ [$]
Kishor Napier-Raman
The Coalition would like us to believe that climate change is only a concern for a hysterical group of fringe-dwellers. But polling data says otherwise.
We modelled 4 scenarios for Australia’s future. Economic growth alone can’t deliver the goods
Cameron Allen et al
A fairer, greener and more prosperous Australia is possible – so long as political leaders don’t focus just on economic growth.
Our land is burning, and western science does not have all the answers
David Bowman and Ben J. French
Indigenous people used small fires skilfully to prevent larger bushfires. In this time of crisis, we must learn from them.
Putting homes in high-risk areas is asking too much of firefighters
Mark Maund et al
Land-use planning should give more weight to the increasing risks of natural hazards like bushfires as the first step in reducing the impacts.
Alarmists insist that where there’s fire there are facts
Nick Cater
Every modern cause needs its polar bear, a totemic victim adrift on a chunk of ice, rendered incapable of swimming by the monstrous injustice of capitalism, or something along those lines.
Burning questions and politics can wait til disaster ends [$]
Dean Jaench
What is urgent, and should be the focus of everyone, is what needs to be done to do in the wake of bushfire devastation. But the politics should wait.
Victoria
Transport Infrastructure Minister hoses down Metro Tunnel budget blowout reports
The state government insists the Melbourne Metro Rail project is on track and within budget despite concerns it is facing a major cost blowout and could be delivered up to a year late.
Melbourne’s drinking water at risk after ‘widespread’ illegal logging, scientists say
A Government-owned logging company has put Melbourne’s drinking water at risk by illegally logging steep slopes in important water catchments, a report by ANU scientists says.
Early coal plant closure to force up prices, cause blackouts, Victoria opposition leader says [$]
Victorians should brace themselves for higher electricity prices and more blackouts, according to opposition energy spokesman Ryan Smith, who has blamed the Andrews government as energy giant Alinta foreshadows the early closure of one of Australia’s largest coal-fired power stations.
Why bumper-to-bumper roads are good news [$]
Five central Melbourne streets are being resurfaced in recycled car bumper bars, reusing the plastic material that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
Victoria’s virtue signalling on gas ignores common sense [$]
Robert Gottliebsen
What does the nation do when the resource minister of a major state tells at best a half truth and at worst grossly misleads? At stake is the price and quantity of gas the nation has available and desperately needed water for farmers.
New South Wales
Wollongong Uni unlocks potential of large-scale sodium-sulfur batteries
University of Wollongong researchers claim breakthrough that could see sodium-sulfur batteries compete with lithium-ion in large-scale energy storage.
Doctors ‘obliged to speak on climate risk’ as smoke blankets Sydney
High temperatures mixed with changeable winds will likely spread flames in different directions and pose challenges for tired NSW firefighters.
Sydney Water proposes increase in price as drought hits revenue, supply
Sydneysiders are using higher than average amounts of water and face the prospect of four more years of restrictions and a hike in bills from next July if the drought does not break.
Coal exporter heads for record figures while working to keep Novocastrians onside
One of Newcastle’s main coal loaders is heading for a record year of tonnage through the world’s largest coal export port as it weathers criticism about its product.
‘NSW still headed for a fish kill disaster’ [$]
Critical water in the northern Murray Darling River Basin will be protected from livestock contamination under a plan to fence riverbanks but residents further south say the rest of NSW is still headed for a fish kill disaster.
Queensland
Can you drink water from the Brisbane River?
The Brisbane River used to be “treated like a toilet” for many years, but substantial investment to improve treatment has boosted the system’s health.
Climate change the biggest threat to Great Barrier Reef: Ley
But the minister was happy with the current policies to protect the reef.
Town fights for soul as mine debate rages [$]
As debate rages over a proposed mine near her Queensland hometown, writer and former army captain Catherine McGregor finds a tiny community fighting for life amid a devastating drought and the climate culture wars.
South Australia
The Federal Government is pitching in to increase Tesla’s giant battery output and storage by 50 per cent, bringing total capacity to 150 megawatts and allowing it to operate at full power for more than an hour.
$2m artificial reef to bring back the fish [$]
A new shellfish reef the size of Adelaide Oval is planned for the metropolitan coastline – and it’s expected to provide a big boost for the environment and fishermen.
Tasmania
Tasmania sees renewable hydrogen as major economic opportunity for island state
Tasmania has ‘competitive advantages’ for renewable hydrogen production, which could deliver major economic benefits to the state, according to Hydro Tas.
Australian Education Union first Tasmanian union to declare climate emergency
The Australian Education Union has declared a climate emergency and called for urgent action from state and federal government to protect students’ futures.
Tarkine protesters vow to hold firm [$]
A band of protesters in the Tarkine say new anti-protest laws will not make them pack up to make way for loggers.
Western Australia
LNG come hell or high carbon price [$]
For investors and politicians, Woodside’s enthusiasm for the Browse and Scarborough projects has taken too many years to move from promise to reality.
‘No loyalty’: WA consumers the real winners in the gas wars, but discounts won’t last forever
South-eastern suburbs resident Karen Riley’s loyalty lies only with her wallet when it comes to her gas bill.
Sustainability
Can carbon offsets tackle airlines’ emissions problem?
EasyJet is the latest firm to adopt offsetting – but is it a solution to the climate crisis?
Bill Gates backs startup using sunlight to create 1,000C-plus heat
Heliogen uses mirrors to concentrate solar energy that can power heavy industry
Local water scarcity spilling over into global crisis, researchers warn
Population growth and climate change are putting increasingly intense pressure on the planet’s limited water supplies, with worsening shortages emerging from the Middle East to Asia and Latin America, researchers and bankers said on Monday.
Time to look at overcapacity in global motor vehicles [$]
The next decade will bring more change in the way that people and products move than any decade since the invention of the Ford Model T.
There has been a substantial increase in food production over the last 50 years, but it has been accompanied by a narrowing in the diversity of cultivated crops. New research shows that diversifying crop production can make food supply more nutritious, reduce resource demand and greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance climate resilience without reducing calorie production or requiring more land.
Scientists engineer ‘Venus flytrap’ bio-sensors to snare pollutants
The biological sensors change color once they have successfully snared a target molecule, and will soon have a host of important environmental, medical and security applications.
Decarbonizing the power sector
Using a first-time combination of multiple modelling systems, an international team of researchers has now quantified the actual benefits and downsides of three main roads to decarbonization.
How toilets and bugs bind us together
Assa Doron and Alex Broom
Today is World Toilet Day, and this week is Antibiotics Awareness Week. The coincidence provides an opportunity to analyse two pressing and connected problems: a lack of basic sanitation for the world’s poor and the rise of “superbugs,” the bacteria that has become resistant to some or all antibiotics.
Six reasons why living in a small house is better for you
Susannah Hardy
It’s no secret that I harbour a desire for a spacious home. However, rather than dwell on our lack of living space, I’ve decided to take a more positive approach and celebrate it.
Nature Conservation
Nearly all America’s endangered species will struggle to adapt to climate crisis
All but one of 459 species have traits making them vulnerable to rising temperatures, study finds
Endangered whales react to environmental changes
Some ‘canaries’ are 50 feet long, weigh 70 tons, and are nowhere near a coal mine. But the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale is sending the same kind of message about disruptive change in the environment by rapidly altering its use of important habitat areas off the New England coast.
Mangroves, hardy shore-bound plants vital to many coastlines, are under threat
A Smithsonian site examines how climate change both aids and endangers the hardy plants.
Conserving wildlife is key to tropical forests’ carbon storage, study finds
“People realize that forests are the lungs of the earth. But we must also be mindful that wildlife is the blood of the forest.”
Now for something completely different …
Say bye to Bali: The popular travel destinations you should stop visiting
Travel publisher Fodor’s annual list of travel destinations to reconsider reveals the darker side of mass tourism.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
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