Post of the Day
Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage
The catalogue of planetary devastation that is the human footprint is assembled in a new study by US and European scientists in the journal Nature Communications: Earth and Environment.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
International Snow Leopard Day
Coronavirus Watch
Climate Change
‘It keeps CCP leaders up at night’: Why the environment might just be Beijing’s ultimate threat
China has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2060, responding to the need to drastically bring down its overwhelming share of global carbon emissions. Experts say it’s also critical for the communist party’s survival.
Will climate change increase the presence of pathogens in drinking water?
As storms grow more severe and temperatures climb, contamination of groundwater by animal and human waste could be on the rise as well.
There’s nothing sacred about nine justices; a livable planet, on the other hand . .
Bill McKibben
The composition of the Supreme Court has varied over time, but another number is constant: without fundamental transformation to emissions by 2030, the chances of meeting the Paris climate targets are nil.
National
Japan, Australia’s biggest coal and gas customer, to adopt 2050 zero emissions target
Australia’s largest buyer of gas and coal, Japan, set to announce a commitment to zero emissions by 2050.
Australia urged to create new Pacific visa due to climate change displacement
With climate-fuelled disasters and displacement expected to intensify, authors of a new policy paper urge Australia to create a new visa to help 3,000 Pacific Islanders a year permanently relocate.
Mathias Cormann talks up green recovery as part of his pitch to lead OECD
The outgoing finance minister in 2016 said Australia’s economy was ‘in better shape because we scrapped Labor’s carbon tax’
While the world races to net-zero carbon, Australia is a non-starter
The net-zero goal is more than political sloganeering. It is a vital tool to reduce emissions that the Australian government is rejecting at a critical time.
Bob Brown is right – it’s time environmentalists talked about the population problem
Colin D. Butler
In all the talk of tackling environmental problems such as climate change, the problem of population growth often escapes attention. Politicians don’t like talking about it. By and large, neither do environmentalists – but former Greens leader Bob Brown has bucked that trend.
Jane McAdam and Jonathan Pryke
The effects of a warming planet are no longer far away in time or distance. We are witnessing transformed landscapes, mass extinctions and people on the move, whether by force or choice.
Government wants military response to climate change breakdown
Kellie Tranter
A bill being rushed through federal parliament is raising concerns that the Government is preparing for a militarised response to climate breakdown.
Uncosted wishful thinking kills Labor energy policy [$]
Theo Theophanous
If Mark Butler has his way Labor will repeat its energy policy mistakes
Tilman Ruff and Margaret Beavis
The Japanese government recently announced plans to release into the sea more than 1 million tonnes of radioactive water from the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Victoria
When works on airport rail link will finally start [$]
The long-awaited Melbourne Airport rail link will kickstart the state’s economy and create 11,000 jobs, with federal money set to flow sooner than expected. Here’s when works will finally begin.
Underwater survey reveals biodiversity off Victorian coast
A biodiversity survey conducted by Star of the South wind farm off the coast around Gippsland shows a huge range of fish and sea creatures.
New South Wales
Proposed 80km cycle and walking path linking Opera House to Parramatta would be ‘great for Sydney’
A proposal for an 80-kilometre cycle and pedestrian path that would wrap all the way from the Opera House to Parramatta’s CBD will be considered at the upcoming NSW budget.
More than 95% of $252m NSW grant scheme went to councils in Coalition seats, Greens say
David Shoebridge says a handful of emails is the only documentation of the massive Stronger Communities Fund
Climate activists challenge Whitehaven on coal’s weaker outlook
The coal miner has been grilled by climate activists at its annual general meeting about its resilience against forecasts of a downturn in coal demand by 2030.
Mental health spending tops list of new government spending on fires
The Berejiklian government will outlay another $192.2 million over five years as part of its response to the bushfire inquiry, including increased spending on mental health and equipment for firefighters.
Queensland
Queensland farmers to be paid “reef credits” to reduce coral-killing pollutants
HSBC and the Queensland Government become the first buyers of ‘reef credits’, under a new scheme to limit pollution flowing into the Great Barrier Reef.
Teenagers lodge last ditch legal action against Adani coal mine
Two teenagers are mounting legal action in a final attempt to overturn the approval of Adani’s Carmichael coal mine and rail project to save the Great Barrier Reef and limit the effects of climate change.
Queensland investigating possible illegal clearing of critically endangered black grevillea plant
Authorities are investigating after 20 per cent of the critically endangered wild black grevillea population was allegedly illegally cleared in Queensland.
Reef Credit scheme a positive step forward on water quality
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has welcomed the Palaszczuk government’s funding announcement for tackling water quality on the Great Barrier Reef.
South Australia
Negative prices: South Australia solar farms had to pay to produce in September
South Australia’s solar farms paid to produce in September with an average price of nearly minus $10/MWh, while grid constraints also hit hard in Queensland.
Four years and $4 billion – Minister says SA will still get its water [$]
Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt says any court action is unlikely in the Murray water dispute – because there’s still plenty of time and money to deliver.
Breakthrough in underground Santos project [$]
Santos has ticked off a key milestone in its bid to start a viable project in SA to capture and store carbon dioxide. Now it needs one more thing.
Tasmania
Barbs exchanged before Premier Peter Gutwein and Extinction Rebellion talk it out on St John Street [$]
Premier Peter Gutwein said Extinction Rebellion protesters outside of his St John Street office should go protest in front of a coal-fired power station before walking out and chatting with the group for about five minutes.
Wine Tasmanian launches 2021 Vin program
Climate change poses such a significant threat to the wine industry that a program aimed at sustainability has added a new module dedicated to the topic.
Chopper checks out eagles nest at prison site [$]
Eagle nests including the one at the Northern Regional Prison site have been checked for activity, chicks and eggs as routine surveys are carried out by experts in helicopters.
Former North West farmer Malcolm Ryan has serious concerns over ‘suffocating’ weed [$]
The fields of gold dotted throughout the state may look pretty, but many of the bright blossoms are actually an insidious weed suffocating the state.
Northern Territory
NT’s holiest of days arrives thanks to National Barramundi Day
Barramundi will get its share of the spotlight today, with Australians urged to buy and eat their favourite style barra to celebrate National Barramundi Day.
Western Australia
Renewable energy hub in Pilbara to get ‘major project’ status [$]
The Asian Renewable Energy Hub’s wind and solar farms will together make up the largest power station on earth, renewable or otherwise.
Woodside to ‘upsize’ Scarborough gas plan as COVID-19 pummels prices
Woodside, the nation’s top oil and gas producer, has begun working with BHP to increase the scale of their proposed $17 billion Scarborough project off the coast of Western Australia in the hope of improving its viability in a tougher market and giving a go-ahead next year.
Sustainability
New theory sheds light on how the environment influences human health
Researchers have proposed a groundbreaking new way to study the interaction between complex biological systems in the body and the environment. Their theory suggests the existence of ‘biodynamic interfaces,’ an intermediate entity between the two realms, as opposed to conventional approaches that analyze individual aspects of the interaction between the environment and humans in isolation, according to a new article.
Europe’s green ambitions run into an old foe: Farmers
The farm industry lobby and leading agri powerhouses like Italy are thwarting the EU’s promises of a Green Deal.
Charting the way for resilient economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
A new RMI report articulates six principles of strategic stimulus interventions for global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn that can simultaneously benefit sub-Saharan African economies, the environment, and local communities.
Funding the next generation of efficient, electric, grid-interactive communities
The Department of Energy is providing $65 million for “connected communities,” expanding projects to embed clean energy and grid services in new buildings.
The low-carbon jet fuel market is cleared for take-off
This week, Microsoft and Alaska Airlines launch the first pilot project as partners in the Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Credit program. This program is a game changer for the aviation industry and can serve as a model for other industries with similar challenges.
Turning streetwear into solar power plants
Researchers have developed a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities for producing energy directly where it is needed, i.e. in the use of everyday electronics.
Empowering Greens around world
Many Green parties – particularly in non-OECD countries – are still emerging, lack resources and are capacity-deficient. This year, the Asia Pacific Greens worked to develop customisable Green policy frameworks to help empower them.
Aggressive push to 100% renewable energy could save Americans billions – study
As much as $321bn could be saved with complete switch to clean energy sources, Rewiring America analysis finds
Bill Gates backs start-up to eliminate harmful ‘forever’ chemicals
Allonnia is trying to engineer microbes to get rid of harmful chemicals created by big manufacturers that never break down or disappear.
A new report finds cities must take more action to curb climate change
Of the largest 100 U.S. cities, only 45 have fully established greenhouse gas reduction targets, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.
A brave new electric world – if your power supply can cope [$]
Jimmy Thomson
Environmentally-friendly apartment residents will either have to find a way of paying the owners corporation for the power they use to charge their cars or investigate communal charging stations.
It is well past time for urgent, global nuclear disarmament
Jordon Steele-John, Jo Vallentine
There is no way a rational person can think the world is made a safer place by giving Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un access to nuclear weapons.
Green groups sue over study of Deepwater Horizon impacts on endangered species
Conservation groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday, arguing it failed to fully consider the effects on endangered species when reviewing the environmental damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Declining marine health threatens traditional subsistence fishing for tribes
“Climate change and other changes in the ocean are having an impact on our ability to access some of these traditional foods for our family.”
Tackling alarming decline in nature requires ‘safety net’ of multiple, ambitious goals
A “safety net” made up of multiple ambitious and interlinked goals is needed to tackle nature’s alarming decline, according to an international team of researchers analyzing the new goals for biodiversity being drafted by the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The next generation of biodiversity conservation targets must aim higher than ever
Writing this week in Science, 40 researchers argue for a set of holistic actions for new biodiversity goals that are unambiguously clear, sufficiently ambitious, and based on the best knowledge available. Most importantly, the goals need to aim higher if they are to be successful in the face of worsening trends for the climate and life on Earth.
Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage
The catalogue of planetary devastation that is the human footprint is assembled in a new study by US and European scientists in the journal Nature Communications: Earth and Environment.
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