Daily Linka Apr 21

Post of the Day

Fossil fuel lobby to use Covid-19 to push for weaker climate laws

ANU researchers warn that fossil fuel interests will use Covid-19 crisis to pressure governments for repeal of environmental regulations and climate laws.

 

On This Day

Apr 21

 

Ecological Observance

National Tree Planting Day – Kenya

 

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases: 6,619. Deaths: 71

 

Can your boss make you to take a pay cut, do a different role or work more hours?

Workplace laws have changed amid the economic fallout of coronavirus — so what can and can’t your employer ask you to do, and what should you do if you need help?

 

600,000 people out of a job, 1.6 million with no income from work: ABS estimates the initial cost of coronavirus

A new survey from the ABS shows the extreme effect of coronavirus social-distancing measures on employment, with well over a million workers losing their incomes in the space of a month.

 

Up to twice as many men as women are dying from coronavirus. Here’s why

Jenny Graves

All over the world — in China, Italy, the United States and Australia — many more men than women are dying from COVID-19. Is it genes, hormones, immunity or behaviour that makes them more susceptible?

 

Climate Change

Why relying on new technology won’t save the planet

Over-reliance on promises of new technology to solve climate change is enabling delay, say researchers. They argue instead for cultural, social and political transformation to enable widespread deployment of both behavioral and technological responses to climate change.

 

North pole soon to be ice free in summer

The Arctic Ocean in summer will very likely be ice free before 2050, at least temporally.

 

National

Fossil fuel lobby to use Covid-19 to push for weaker climate laws

ANU researchers warn that fossil fuel interests will use Covid-19 crisis to pressure governments for repeal of environmental regulations and climate laws.

 

Why Covid-19 could create “perfect storm” for wholesale electricity prices

Coronavirus pandemic could help to create a “perfect storm” for the wholesale electricity market, with the potential for lower demand, lower gas prices and new renewable projects to depress…

 

How rooftop solar owners are saving more while #stayinghome

#Stayinghome to help fight Covid-19 is not all bad news for power bills. We asked a number of solar households what they were experiencing at home.

 

‘Can the Plan’ protesters sparked inquiry from the wrong parliament, Mick Keelty says

Protesters who stormed Federal Parliament calling for farmers to have more access to water should have directed their anger at the NSW Government, Mick Keelty says.

 

Five big solar farms set to increase energy output after tests

Grid constraints that have forced the electricity regulator to deliberately halve the output of five big solar farms in Victoria and NSW could soon be lifted if tests on the utilities succeed this week.

 

Miners seek assurances on fuel excise rebate [$]

The mining sector is seeking assurances it will continue to receive billions a year in diesel excise rebates as the government starts exploring options to repay debt.

 

Bushfires released two years’ worth of CO2 into atmosphere [$]

Australia’s bushfire crisis burnt about 7.4 million hectares of temperate forests and released 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, an amount almost double the nation’s annual emissions from energy, industry and transportation.

 

Bat-borne viruses a deadly threat to koalas [$]

Bats carrying viruses that trigger an AIDS-like disease are threatening the future of Australia’s vulnerable koala population.

 

Taking out the trash: what’s been hidden under the cover of COVID-19? [$]

Charlie Lewis

Crikey takes a look at the bills and changes governments have been sneaking through while we’re all distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Pandemic a chance to reshape our cities [$]

Peter Konidaris

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed our society. But we now have an opportunity to re-imagine our cities so they enhance the way we live, work and play well beyond this pandemic.

 

Australia’s inland rivers are the pulse of the outback. By 2070, they’ll be unrecognisable

Zacchary Larkin et al

Over the next 50 years, the arid zone – containing the areas of true desert – is projected to expand well into the Murray-Darling Basin and almost entirely envelope the Lake Eyre Basin.

 

Victoria

World-class wetlands take flight

The future Sparrovale Nature Reserve will provide environmental and community benefits, as well as an important drainage solution for Armstrong Creek’s growing urban area. The 500-hectare site which adjoins the Barwon River, Lake Connewarre and Hospital Swamps, was acquired by the City of Geelong last year.

 

New South Wales

‘No more wake-up calls’: Fire survivors in legal push for action on climate change

Bushfire survivors have launched legal action to try and force the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority to develop a climate change policy.

 

UPC/AC scopes 400MW solar farm in NSW renewable energy zone

Stubbo Solar Farm proposed for construction on sheep grazing land 115km east of Dubbo, in an area with “excellent potential” for large-scale solar generation.

 

33 lives and 3,000 homes lost, but bushfire royal commission receives just a few hundred submissions

Black Summer survivors say the deadline for submissions to royal commission must be extended, with some victims — some of whom are living in tents — unaware that the probe is underway.

 

NSW bushfire survivors take environment watchdog to court over climate change

Bushfire victims will try to compel stronger climate change action when they take the NSW Environmental Protection Authority to court.

 

AFPA welcomes NSW government bushfire recovery package and focus on forest product industries

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has welcomed today’s announcement by the NSW Government that it is establishing a $140 million Bushfire Industry Recovery Package and ensuring a strong focus on the State’s forest product industries damaged by the catastrophic fires.

 

Second wave of mega projects ‘silver bullet’ to reviving NSW economy

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance says a second wave of mega transport projects, and the sale of assets to reinvest in new infrastructure, will be part of a “silver bullet” to revive the economy.

 

Port Kembla gas import terminal set to expand

The NSW government has approved a plan to nearly double the capacity of the Port Kembla gas terminal, which could begin supplying imported liquified natural gas to NSW and Victoria by 2023.

 

Queensland

“Performance issues” hobble output at ground-breaking solar farm

The output at one of Australia’s landmark solar projects, and one of the biggest solar farms in Queensland, has been hobbled by “performance issues.”

 

South Australia

South Australia could reach stunning 87 per cent wind and solar in four years

South Australia – already leading the country, if not the world, with the amount of wind and solar in its electricity grid – could reach a level of 87 per cent renewables within four years, according to the latest scenarios published by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

 

SA dog plan will save dingos: minister

The South Australian government says its proposed wild dog policy will serve to protect pure-bred dingoes in the state’s north.

 

Sustainability

Europe can reach net-zero by 2050 with 100% renewables, study shows

New modelling shows that Europe could reach climate neutrality before 2050 through a 100% renewable energy scenario.

 

Coronavirus crisis fast-forwards green energy 10 years into the future

As businesses shut down and many work from home around the world, electricity demand has reduced in COVID-19 hotspots. This could have a knock-on effect for the renewable sector.

 

Green energy could drive Covid-19 recovery with $100tn boost

Speeding up investment could deliver huge gains to global GDP by 2050 while tackling climate emergency, says report

 

Wind turbine noise affects dream sleep and perceived sleep restoration

Wind turbine noise (WTN) influences people’s perception of the restorative effects of sleep, and also has a small but significant effect on dream sleep, otherwise known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, a study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows. A night of WTN resulted in delayed and shortened REM sleep.

 

Princeton scientist solves air quality puzzle: Why does ozone linger long after its ban?

As global climate change leads to more hot and dry weather, the resulting droughts are stressing plants, making them less able to remove ozone from the air — despite laws successfully limiting pollution.

 

A cheap organic steam generator to purify water

A high-efficiency steam generator for the purification and desalination of water can be built using cheap and natural materials such as cellulose.

 

Aquaculture at the crossroads of global warming and antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is responsible for some 700,000 deaths each year worldwide. In relation to this phenomenon, researchers have raised the alarm regarding the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in aquaculture, which is affecting fish production and human health worldwide.

 

Faster-degrading plastic could promise cleaner seas

To address plastic pollution plaguing the world’s seas and waterways, chemists have developed a new polymer that can degrade by ultraviolet radiation.

 

Physicists develop approach to increase performance of solar energy

Experimental condensed matter physicists in the Department of Physics at the University of Oklahoma have developed an approach to circumvent a major loss process that currently limits the efficiency of commercial solar cells.

 

3 ways nature in the city can do you good, even in self-isolation

Lucy Taylor et al

Noting nature around you – it could be a glance outside, tending plants, or ‘green’ exercise – will improve your well-being, research shows. The coronavirus pandemic has made it even more important.

 

Don’t blame big cities for the COVID-19 pandemic [$]

Shane Geha

There’s a growing fear that big cities are bad for our health and in a post-pandemic world we should avoid living in high-density areas. In reality, it’s our cities that will save us.

 

Nature Conservation

Rising carbon dioxide levels will change marine habitats and fish communities

Researchers showed that elevated dissolved CO2 conditions can lead to a 45% decrease of fish diversity.