Sorry I was distracted this morning and sent the wrong list through.
Post of the Day
We’re so nature-deprived that even footage of wilderness lifts our spirits
Adrienne Matei
Around 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Simulated nature is better than none – but it’s not nature
On This Day
Coronavirus Watch
Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout will take time. How long are we talking?
It could take up to 12 months to roll out a coronavirus vaccine in Australia, the Federal Government says. Why is it going to take so long?
Climate Change
New Japanese PM announces 2050 zero emissions target
New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announces the world’s fifth-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide is aiming to cut greenhouse gases to zero by midway through this century and become a carbon-neutral society.
Greenhouse effect of clouds instrumental in origin of tropical storms
With the tropical storm season in the Atlantic Ocean underway and already well into the Greek alphabet for naming, better storm track prediction has allowed timely evacuations and preparations. However, the formation and intensification of these storms remains challenging to predict, according to an international team of researchers who are studying the origin of tropical cyclones.
The uncertain future of the oceans
Marine food webs and biogeochemical cycles react very sensitively to the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) – but the effects are far more complex than previously thought. Data were combined from five large-scale field experiments, which investigated how the carbon cycle within plankton communities reacts to the increase of CO2.
Brazilian youth’s important role in fight against climate change – study
Marginalised young people in Brazilian cities can play an important role in responding to the threat of climate change, but youth engagement needs to be both ‘playful’ and take youth ‘seriously’ to support them in expressing their full potential in bringing about local change according to a new study.
It’s your regular Arctic death-spiral update with Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin
First Dog on the Moon
This just in blah blah blah disaster disaster who is even listening any more? Hello?!
National
Pressure mounts on government to pass federal ICAC plan
A crossbench plan to implement a federal anti-corruption commission has lit a fire under the federal Coalition and upped pressure on Scott Morrison to act on mounting government rorts.
From Kirby to Callinan: How liberal are our High Court justices?
A yet-to-be-published ranking has demonstrated how likely former and current justices would be influenced by their political leanings when it comes to making legal decisions.
Coalition’s $100m scheme to fund recycled products has spent no money
Labor and the Greens accuse the Morrison government of failing to deliver on its recycling and waste commitments
New caution about introducing a domestic gas reserve policy [$]
Any consideration of a domestic gas reserve must take into account global volatility, says a government discussion paper.
Cows, tech and turbines: A beginner’s guide to why wind farms are where they are
Wind farms now generate 13 per cent of the country’s power, but how do we know where to put them?
Biden pledges ambitious climate action. Here’s what he could actually do
If elected, Joe Biden and his allies are preparing to pass climate change legislation, piece by piece — knowing full well that the candidate’s $2 trillion plan would be a tough sell.
Origin is not facing up to the past, or the future, on gas
Bruce Robertson
Origin Energy’s latest annual general meeting highlights the troubled past and uncertain future of Australia’s LNG industry.
The tantalising promise of ultra-cheap power
Peter Boyer
The pandemic and the prospect of zero interest present a massive opportunity for clean energy development.
Victoria
Shut power off to save fire-prone communities, says energy economist
Powerlines have been linked to some of Victoria’s most catastrophic bushfires, yet most of the work to make power infrastructure safe has not been done. Is it time for a rethink?
Sacred 350-year-old Indigenous tree cut down for Victorian highway upgrade, activists report
A centuries-old tree has been cut down along Victoria’s Western Highway, according to activists who had set up camp to protect sacred trees from the highway upgrade project.
New South Wales
Destruction of Appin koala habitat a disgrace
Peter FitzSimons
Precious koala habitat is making way for a fast-tracked $70 million, 280-lot housing development in Appin, south west of Sydney.
ACT
The citizen scientists tracking Canberra’s frogs
As the sun sets at a pond in Canberra’s north, a cackling, drill-like sound starts. It’s the call of the Peron’s Tree Frog.
Canberra dam levels 2020: ACT dams reach 90 per cent target six weeks earlier than expected [$]
Canberra’s dams have reached 90 per cent capacity almost six weeks earlier than expected and may be full by the end of the year, as more wet weather is expected this season.
Queensland
Qld is the only state without an independent EPA. Labor says it will change that
A re-elected Labor government will introduce an independent environmental protection agency in Queensland to punish organisations breaching environmental laws, Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch has announced.
Neoen completes finance for Australia’s biggest solar farm in Queensland
French renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen says it has completed the financial close of what will be Australia’s biggest solar farm, the 400MW Western Downs Green Power Hub in south-west Queensland.
BOM forecasts ‘very dangerous storms’ with ‘giant hail’ for large parts of Queensland
The Bureau of Meteorology says very dangerous storms are possible in large parts of Queensland on Tuesday, with severe storms forecast for eastern and northern areas of the state.
Students help save endangered tree
A native tree species on the brink of extinction is getting a second life thanks to a Logan City Council planting program.
Academics pour cold water on Bradfield Scheme: It won’t work
The Bradfield Scheme has been raised as a panacea to vast areas of inland Queensland stuck in crippling drought, but academics who have looked at the plan think it would be an economic and financial disaster.
The teenagers taking on Adani – podcast
The controversial Adani coalmine in Queensland has already been approved by both state and federal governments, but a new legal challenge by two teenagers could be one last roll of the dice to stop it from going ahead.
Northern Territory
One year since the Uluru climb closed, Traditional Owners are also marking another anniversary
Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory are on Monday marking 35 years since the land rights to Uluru were handed back, and this year there’s added significance with it being one year since tourists were banned from climbing the sacred site.
Territorians cashed in millions worth of recycled cans this year [$]
Territorians have continued to cash in their cans during the COVID crunch, with an incredible amount of refunds paid out for the Container Deposit Scheme over the year
Tourism operators predict ‘bounce back’ after Uluru climb closure [$]
Tourism operators at Uluru say the closure of the climb has brought about a new wave of visitors
Pleas to stop reckless illegal dumping along Palmo road [$]
Revolting images of rubbish piling up along a road south of Darwin have brought new focus onto the impact of illegal dumping.
‘Hottest play on the planet’: Beetaloo explorer aims high [$]
The remote Beetaloo Basin could be supplying the east coast with gas several years before many are assuming, says Joel Riddle, chief executive of explorer Tamboran Resources.
Western Australia
Who’s afraid of Kerry Stokes? Perhaps the EPA can tell us [$]
Georgia Wilkins
WA’s Environmental Protection Authority has been hammered by the billionaire’s media company — and Premier Mark McGowan hasn’t been much help either.
Sustainability
Microplastics in groundwater (and our drinking water) present unknown risk
Microplastics (plastics <5mm) and their negative health impacts have been studied in oceans, rivers, and even soils, and scientists are beginning to grapple with the myriad human health impacts their presence might have. One understudied, but critical, link in the cycle is groundwater, which is often a source of drinking water.
Globalized economy making water, energy and land insecurity worse
The first large-scale study of the risks that countries face from dependence on water, energy and land resources has found that globalisation may be decreasing, rather than increasing, the security of global supply chains.
Mythbusting: Five common misperceptions surrounding the environmental impacts of single-use plastics
Stand in the soda pop aisle at the supermarket, surrounded by rows of brightly colored plastic bottles and metal cans, and it’s easy to conclude that the main environmental problem here is an overabundance of single-use containers: If we simply recycled more of them, we’d go a long way toward minimizing impacts. In reality, most of the environmental impacts of many consumer products, including soft drinks, are tied to the products inside, not the packaging, according to an environmental engineer.
A blast of gas for better solar cells
Treating silicon with carbon dioxide gas in plasma processing brings simplicity and control to a key step for making solar cells.
Light on efficiency loss in organic solar cells
A deeper understanding of efficiency-limiting processes provides design rules for organic solar cell materials.
Making biodiesel from dirty old cooking oil just got way easier
Researchers develop a new sponge-like catalyst that is so tough it can make biodiesel from low-grade ingredients containing up to 50% contaminants.
Gwyn McClelland
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will finally come into force after the 50th country (Honduras) ratified it over the weekend. The treaty will make the development, testing, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons illegal for those countries that have signed it.
‘Zombie batteries’ causing hundreds of waste fires, experts warn
Industry urges people not to throw out dead batteries with household rubbish or recycling
Fix, or toss? The ‘right to repair’ movement gains ground
Both Republicans and Democrats are pursuing laws to make it easier for people to fix cellphones, cars, even hospital ventilators. In Europe, the movement is further along.
Exports of used cars are a pollution problem, UN warns
Rich countries are sending millions of older, dirtier vehicles abroad, in a trade that’s largely unregulated, even as they mandate cleaner cars at home.
Revealed: the full extent of Trump’s ‘meat cleaver’ assault on US wilderness
After four years of Trump, protected places such as national monuments and wildlife refuges have opened to oil drilling, new maps show – with more on the way
Has the Forest Service been making wildfires worse?
The logging industry has long promoted science suggesting logging suppresses fire. A lot of recent research disagrees.
Land management in forest and grasslands: How much can we intensify?
A first assessment of the effects of land management on the links between biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services
Shifts in flowering phases of plants due to reduced insect density
A research group has discovered that insects have a decisive influence on the biodiversity and flowering phases of plants. If there is a lack of insects where the plants are growing, their flowering behavior changes. This can result in the lifecycles of the insects and the flowering periods of the plants no longer coinciding. If the insects seek nectar, some plants will no longer be pollinated.
Hidden losses deep in the Amazon rainforest
New research shows that animal patterns are changing in the absence of landscape change, which signals a sobering warning that simply preserving forests will not maintain rainforest biodiversity.
We’re so nature-deprived that even footage of wilderness lifts our spirits
Adrienne Matei
Around 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Simulated nature is better than none – but it’s not nature