Post of the Day
Researchers are now much more able to pinpoint air pollution’s direct and indirect effects, and the news has been uniformly bad.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Coronavirus Watch
Confirmed cases: 23,287. Deaths: 396
How to talk to someone who doesn’t wear a mask, and actually change their mind
Claire Hooker
Becoming defensive makes people not only less willing to listen, but less able to take in information.
Climate Change
Mumbai must face up to climate change’s existential threat
As early as the year 2050, great chunks of Mumbai could be permanently underwater, according to a 2019 report by the US-based climate science group Climate Central. All those people now living on the Mumbai coastline would have to find another place to live.
National
How to spot a frog and be a citizen scientist
Head out to the backyard, wet parklands or into the bush and keep your eyes and ears out for a croaky creature.
Want to know if the spider in your garden is deadly? There’s an app for that
Ever wondered if the snake or spider you’ve come across in your backyard or a hike up Mount Ainslie is friendly or a venomous species to be avoided at all cost? There’s now an app for that.
AGL boss Brett Redman walks the tightrope on energy transition
In the fight against global warming, the energy sector matters. The objective, of course, is obvious: energy production must move from coal and gas-fired power stations to wind and solar sources supported by batteries, pumped hydro, possibly hydrogen. But in a nation reliant on coal for nearly two-thirds of its electricity, breaking up is hard to do and the speed at which we need to make this transition is bitterly contested.
Solar offers big carbon cuts for LNG [$]
Using solar to help power LNG plants in Australia could cut carbon emissions from the operations by 10-11 per cent and free up gas for the local market, Wood Mackenzie finds.
Bill Shorten fuels ALP battle on energy [$]
Bill Shorten said Australia’s shift to renewable energy would require transitionary baseload energy sources, of which gas would play a key role.
Communities placed to lead the renewables revolution
Helen Haines
This year has given Australians a once-in-a-generation moment to decide what we want our future to look like.
Enele Sopoaga
Exactly one year ago, as then prime minister of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, I hosted the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in our capital Funafuti. The theme of the meeting was “Securing our future in the Pacific”, and, like at many other events, Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, referred to Australia and the Pacific as “family”.
Energy efficiency is a jobs machine – and local governments can start it up
Holly Taylor
The momentum towards renewables is unstoppable. However, there is another, often unsung, side to the energy transition: how efficiently and productively we use our energy.
A Biden win will expose climate fault line in the alliance
Thom Woodruffe
Joe Biden’s demands for all major economies to make big cuts in their emissions will complicate Australia’s relationship with the US if he wins the US election.
Dishing the dirt: Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change
Robert Edwin White and Brian Davidson
A federal government plan to increase soil carbon stores is a folly that misunderstands the technology.
New South Wales
Tree removals surge in Sydney’s inner west under council clearing policy
The Inner West Council’s controversial tree-clearing policy which makes it easier for owners to chop down trees has led to a surge in the number of trees being removed from private land.
Flying foxes trigger federal government review of South Coast development
An endangered colony of grey headed flying foxes has triggered a federal government review of a controversial NSW South Coast development near the bushfire ravaged Conjola National Park.
ACT
Five in six ACT commuters drive to work, and only one in 12 catch public transport. Can these habits be undone? And what would it take for a city with roads designed for cruising to get Canberrans to climb on board instead?
‘Bill shock’ as home-working pumps up gas, electricity costs
There’s been a big shift in energy bills from employers to employees since office workers were sent home in the coronavirus lockdown.
Conservationists band together to save Lawson grasslands
A government agency has been urged to rethink a development which would destroy critically endangered grasslands in Canberra’s north-west.
Queensland
How 11yo turns rubbish into $100 a week [$]
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – and doesn’t Sam Longhurst know it! The 11-year-old has built up a steady pocket money earner from other people’s rubbish.
South Australia
Rolf says nearby powerlines limit the money he can make from solar. Data shows he may be right
When engineer Rolf Wittwer retired, his dream project was designing an energy-efficient home in regional South Australia. But his solar system kept shutting down and he says local powerlines are too blame.
Happy Valley solar jobs come online
The installation of 30,000 panels at the Happy Valley Reservoir solar farm has created 50 jobs as construction work begins near South Road.
Tasmania
‘Totally unacceptable’: Government website misleading Tasmanians about fire risk
Thousands of people living in bushfire-prone areas are being told by a government website there is “no foreseen risk” to their homes due to a known gap in the system.
Gunns growers win in bid to sue insurance companies [$]
The NSW Supreme Court has allowed former Gunns growers to sue two insurance companies for losses over the collapse of the “woodlot” managed investment schemes in Tasmania.
Degrowth and food – Toward a democratic food system
The coronavirus crisis has given Tasmania cause to rethink its supply lines. Can we feed ourselves? Is our food system equitable and sustainable? Can we have good health outcomes and decent livelihoods for farmers? These issues and more were addressed in thoughtful presentations to Degrowth Vienna 2020: Strategies for Social-Ecological Transformation.
TWS on Forest Stewardship Council Audit of STT
Media release – The Wilderness Society
STT’s 2nd FSC-fail sends market signal Tasmanian logging still equals native forest & wildlife destruction
John Powell
You can find it here and it is important background to the issue. I wish to advise that the situation has worsened.
Western Australia
‘Irreparable destruction’: Plans for 15-gigalitre dam divides South West tourist town
Plans to clear 290 hectares of forest to make way for a concrete dam with the capacity of 6000 Olympic pools has outraged locals in one of Western Australia’s most picturesque towns.
Solar, batteries could save WA schools ‘millions’ [$]
New research from a WA-based think tank shows state schools would save $17.4 million each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 130,000 tonnes if they were fitted with solar panels and batteries.
Sustainability
Online shopping and PPE drive huge rise in plastic use in Italy
The amount of rubbish Italy makes drops 10 per cent during the country’s lockdowns but with a rise in online shopping and protective masks and disposable glove use, an extra 300,000 tonnes of plastic waste is created.
Researchers are now much more able to pinpoint air pollution’s direct and indirect effects, and the news has been uniformly bad.
With better soil, farmers can fight climate change, make agriculture more sustainable
Climate change is forcing farmers to make adjustments to ensure their crops can withstand evolving weather conditions. At the same time, many aspects of agriculture – from tilling to raising livestock – contribute to increased levels of carbon in the atmosphere, which exacerbates global warming.
Forest fires are setting Chernobyl’s radiation free
Trees now cover most of the exclusion zone, and climate change is making them more likely to burn.
We’ve got to start thinking beyond our own lifespans if we’re going to avoid extinction
Sonia Sodha
Coronavirus or not, we remain locked into a treadmill that measures progress by growing GDP rather than by wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
Mauritius oil spill ship breaks up on reef with high seas forecast
With 4.5 metre waves forecast in coming days, authorities are racing to protect ecologically sensitive sites from about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil spilled by the MV Wakashio.
Plan to fence off Nairobi national park angers Maasai and conservationists
Ten-year management strategy aims to combat habitat loss and dwindling wildlife in Kenya’s oldest national park
‘The fish rots from the head’: How a salmon crisis stoked Russian protests
Plentiful salmon used to be one of the few perks for residents of Russia’s Far East. Then the fish vanished, and many local residents blamed President Putin.
Light pollution from coastal cities reaches seafloor
The artificial night sky brightness could harm creatures that dwell in the ocean depths
US allows killing of hundreds of sea lions to save struggling salmon
Permit lets Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Native American tribes kill 540 California sea lions and 176 Steller sea lions
Here be dragonflies, thriving in Britain as never before
Climate change has encouraged a wave of insect migrants from across the Channel. Should we celebrate or fear for the future?
Maelor Himbury
6 Florence St Niddrie 3042
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0432406862
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