Daily Links Apr 17

Post of the Day

Will the pandemic stall action on climate change?

When the global shutdown eases and things return to “normal”, business as usual may not be an option.

On This Day

Apr 17

Good Friday – Eastern Christianity

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases: 6,468. Deaths: 63

Last week: Confirmed cases: 6,013. Deaths: 50

The next four weeks will shape how and when Australia’s coronavirus restrictions will be lifted

Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledges strict rules around gatherings and social distancing are testing Australians’ patience, so he has outlined three things authorities need to see before restrictions can lift.

Unlocking Australia: What can benefit-cost analysis tell us?

John Quiggin

When we unlock, we should do it cautiously, starting with small social gatherings, and we should test widely.

Eradicating the COVID-19 coronavirus is also the best economic strategy

Brendan Coates  and Jonathan Nolan

It is commonly assumed that the public health and economic objectives of managing COVID-19 are in conflict. That’s wrong.

Climate Change

US to have major floods on daily basis unless sea-level rise is curbed – study

New Orleans, Honolulu and Miami expected to be vulnerable

Research: advancing tides will ‘radically redefine the coastline’

Half UK’s true carbon footprint created abroad, research finds

Half of real carbon footprint comes from ‘invisible’ cost of goods made overseas – study

The next multitrillion-dollar crisis is coming right at us

Addressing climate change is a big-enough idea to revive the economy.

Greenland ice sheet melts at near record rate in 2019

Last year was one of the worst years on record for Greenland’s ice sheet, which shrank by hundreds of billions of tonnes in a high-pressure environment brought on by unusually clear skies and warmer temperatures.

Will the pandemic stall action on climate change?

When the global shutdown eases and things return to “normal”, business as usual may not be an option.

Climate-driven megadrought is emerging in western US, says study

A new study says a megadrought worse than anything known from recorded history is very likely in progress in the western United States and northern Mexico, and warming climate is playing a key role.

National

What governments are hiding behind coronavirus

While the country’s attention has been focused on the fight against coronavirus, Energy Minister Angus Taylor has forged ahead with a plan to prop up a coal-fired power generator

Nine in 10 Australians are worried about post-bushfire extinctions: poll

Almost nine in 10 Australians (87 per cent) are worried wildlife species are at risk of extinction unless something is done now to protect natural habitats following the bushfires, new polling shows.

Australians installed 22,661 home battery systems in 2019

Australian households invested in almost two-and-a-half “Big Batteries” worth of home energy storage in 2019, installing 22,661 systems over the course of the year with a total capacity of…

Climate Change Authority launches review into stalled Emissions Reduction Fund

Climate Change Authority launches a fresh review of the Morrison Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund, following flatlining project participation.

Australia deploying new renewables at ten times global average

New report confirms special status of Australia as “global pathfinder” for renewable energy, deploying new wind and solar 10 times faster per capita than the global average.

Falling electricity prices could favour shift to “mega” wind and solar projects

Australia’s wholesale electricity prices are forecast to continue to fall over the short and medium term – due to the combined impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on demand, and the growth of renewables on supply – and will likely shift investments towards new “mega” projects over smaller wind and solar farms.

Retirement dreams ruined and finances ‘stuffed’ as PFAS water contamination class action launched

Gary and Karen Breadsell were devastated when the Department of Defence gave them bottled water to drink while it investigated whether it had contaminated their water supply. Now they are about to have their day in court.

‘Significant risk’ that nuclear waste dump law breaches human rights, committee finds

The cross-party group says the Federal Government’s decision to press ahead with a bill to build the facility risks infringing on traditional owners’ rights to culture and self-determination.

Royal Commission begins into ‘Black Summer’ that killed 33 people

The chair of Australia’s Bushfire Royal Commission says the evidence from those affected by the nation’s catastrophic bushfire season will be critical in “applying the lessons learnt so that we can do things better in the future”.

Staff, volunteers pay for zoo animals’ food as coronavirus cripples wildlife parks, sanctuaries

Wildlife sanctuaries, zoos and animal hospitals are being crippled by the coronavirus, with the ban on gatherings robbing them of the funds needed to feed the animals and retain staff.

The coronavirus, climate change and my fears as a doctor

David Shearman

As a medical doctor, my role in this terrible COVID-19 crisis should be to calm your anxieties and not to relate my own. As a doctor and scientist another concern engulfs my mind – the impending world chaos not only from COVID-19 but from the relentless climate crisis when government action is sidelined.

The smoke from autumn burn-offs could make coronavirus symptoms worse. It’s not worth the risk

Don Driscoll et al

Expanding planned burning is often touted as a way to lessen the risk of bushfires. But this burn-off season is bad news for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Victoria

Council refuses to give up land for North East Link ahead of court date

A local council is refusing to grant the Andrews government access to land needed for the North East Link’s early works, as it battles over the design of the 26-kilometre road ahead of a showdown in the Supreme Court.

Powercor to fork out $17.5m to farmers over fire [$]

Victims of a bushfire that was sparked by a substation and ravaged homes, farmland and livestock in southwest Victoria are to be paid $17.5 million in compensation as details of a class action settlement against Powercor are revealed for the first time.

New South Wales

Warning about amount of toxic sludge to be dug up for harbour tunnel

The state’s transport agency has been warned that the amount of highly contaminated sludge dredged from Sydney Harbour for a multibillion-dollar road tunnel and barged to White Bay in the city’s inner west could be “more significant” than predicted.

NSW grab for environmental river flows dead in the water

A call from senior NSW Nationals for Commonwealth-owned environment water to be redirected to farmers is set to sink almost as quickly as it was floated with Victoria and South Australia opposing the move, and experts declaring it illegal.

‘Unbelievable what’s happening’: Fire inquiry reviews 1000 submissions

NSW inquiry will examine as many as 1000 submissions as it investigates successes and shortcomings of the recent record fire season in the state.

Whitehaven Coal shares fall as it puts off Vickery mine decision [$]

Shares in Whitehaven Coal took a 10 per cent hit on Thursday after the company downgraded sales expectations and pushed back an investment decision on its $700m Vickery coal mine in NSW, citing volatile market conditions.

Queensland

Reef resilience projects like ‘pushing water uphill’ without cutting emissions

Marine conservationists have highlighted the priority of tackling global warming following the announcement of new projects to build the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.

Can cloud-brightening help save the Great Barrier Reef? Trials have begun – video

Teams of Australian marine scientists have tested a technique they hope may give the Great Barrier Reef respite from coral bleaching caused by global heating.

South Australia

SA Water to build solar farm on former oil refinery site

SA Water to build a solar farm on a former oil refinery site to help power the Adelaide desalination plant.

Powerful surge in interest for home batteries [$]

It may have been a slow started but the State Government’s home battery scheme is suddenly generating a lot of buzz.

Green future for Port Stanvac land [$]

It has been almost 20 years since the Port Stanvac oil refinery closed – now part of the land will be transformed into a multi-million dollar solar farm.

Northern Territory

It’s raining good tucker in the bush for Aboriginal hunters

Aboriginal families on hunting expeditions across northern Australia are encountering an abundance of fattened goannas, bush turkeys and river fish after an arc of above-average rainfall swept across parts of the Kimberley, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Sustainability

Dam displacement destroys livelihoods in Guinea

The Guinean government’s failure to provide adequate land, compensation, and other forms of support to those displaced for the Souapiti hydroelectric dam has devastated the livelihoods and food security of thousands of people, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The coronavirus offers a radical new vision for India’s cities

A nationwide lockdown has given Indian cities the kiss of life—the sky is clearer, rivers are less contaminated, and people have awakened to the possibility for change.

Coronavirus risks a return of the throwaway culture

‘People don’t have faith anymore in these products without the packaging,’ says an industry lobbyist.

The coronavirus pandemic is not a natural disaster

Kate Brown

Are pandemics inevitable, when living things are bound so tightly together in a dense, planetary sphere?

‘Wet markets’ launched the coronavirus. Here’s what you need to know.

Most of the earliest COVID-19 cases trace back to one of these sites, but what are they and what do they sell?

Untwisting plastics for charging internet-of-things devices

Scientists are unraveling the properties of electricity-conducting plastics so they can be used in future energy-harvesting devices.

Economists find carbon footprint grows with parenthood

Two-adult households with children emit over 25% more carbon dioxide than two-adult households without children, according to researchers.

Healthy climate news: Fava beans could replace soy

The end of soy as a protein substitute? Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have found a way to make protein powder using fava beans — a far more climate-friendly alternative.

Chernobyl fire under control, Ukraine officials say

Firefighters are tackling remaining “hot spots” near the abandoned nuclear plant, officials say.

Scientists fit two co-catalysts on one nanosheet for better water purification

Scientists have designed and tested a new two-dimensional (2-D) catalyst that can be used to improve water purification using hydrogen peroxide.

The Covid-19 pandemic shows we must transform the global food system

Jan Dutkiewicz et al

Our global, profit-driven, meat-centered food system is making us sick. We need a radical rethink

Instead of challenging Joe Biden, maybe the Green Party could help change our democracy

Bill McKibben

Ranked-choice voting is not some impossible dream of a reform but, rather, an achievable initiative that’s gaining momentum.

Nature Conservation

Northern white rhinos: The audacious plan that could save a species

With only two northern white rhinos left in the world – both female – extinction seems a certainty.

Can coral reefs ‘have it all’?

A new study outlines how strategic placement of no-fishing marine reserves can help coral reef fish communities thrive

Returning land to nature with high-yield farming

The expansion of farmlands to meet the growing food demand of the world’s ever expanding population places a heavy burden on natural ecosystems. A new study however shows that about half the land currently needed to grow food crops could be spared if attainable crop yields were achieved globally and crops were grown where they are most productive.

The Guardian view on nature’s return: humans making way

Guardian editorial

From coyotes in San Francisco to deer in Romford, animals are taking over streets vacated by people

Polluted, drained, and drying out: new warnings on New Zealand’s rivers and lakes

Troy Baisden

A new report on New Zealand’s lakes and rivers confirms that many freshwater ecosystems are in decline and warns that climate change will exacerbate existing threats.