Post of the Day
Without sustainable cities, global development goals will fail
Alexei Trundle et al
Australian cities are integrating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into their own COVID-19 Recovery Plans, using local action to drive global sustainability
On This Day
Birth of Prophet Muhammad and of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq – Iran
Climate Change
Putting carbon back in the earth re-emerges as bipartisan strategy
The technologies could be a lifeline for coal and gas in a net-zero carbon world.
Polls show climate concerns among voters in battleground states
In key swing states, the majority of voters are worried that rising temperatures or sea levels will affect their lives. For some, it has become a voting issue.
Greta Thunberg hears your excuses. She is not impressed
“If you fully understand the science, then you know what you as an individual have to do. You know then that you have a responsibility.”
Room temperature conversion of CO2 to CO: A new way to synthesize hydrocarbons
New method could potentially reduce dioxide emission into the atmosphere and slash costs of chemical manufacturing
Warming of 2°C would release billions of tons of soil carbon
Global warming of 2°C would lead to about 230 billion tons of carbon being released from the world’s soil, new research suggests.
To predict how crops cope with changing climate, 30 years of experiments simulate future
A new review synthesizes 30 years of ‘Free-Air Concentration Enrichment’ (FACE) data to grasp how global crop production may be impacted by rising CO2 levels and other factors.
Longer mud season, no snow could alter northeast US rivers by 2100
Researchers have found that snow cover is on the decline in northeastern US due to climate change and by the end of century, the vernal window, sometimes referred to as mud season, could be two to four weeks longer which means significantly less melting snow that could be detrimental to key spring conditions in rivers and surrounding ecosystems.
National
‘Paradigm shift’: Australia’s military is gearing up for climate emergency on home soil
Thousands of Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed to more frequent natural disasters and COVID-style crises on home soil, in what a senior ADF official describes as a “paradigm shift” focused on the impacts of climate change.
Smoke cloud from Australian summer’s bushfires three-times larger than anything previously recorded
Cloud measured 1,000km across, travelled 66,000km and was on par with ‘strongest volcanic eruptions in the past 25 years’, scientists say
Australian doctors accuse government of failing on climate change
A group of Australian doctors have accused Energy Minister Angus Taylor of harming Australians’ health by not taking enough action on climate change.
Climate change and IR reform key issues for business: Alan Joyce [$]
Alan Joyce says it makes no sense to ignore climate change science but follow the experts on coronavirus.
Without sustainable cities, global development goals will fail
Alexei Trundle et al
Australian cities are integrating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into their own COVID-19 Recovery Plans, using local action to drive global sustainability
Gas-fired recovery policy leaves Australia behind world on emissions targets
John Quiggin
It’s barely six weeks since Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a COVID-19 recovery strategy based on a massive expanded use of natural gas in electricity generation and manufacturing.
Australia, the climate can’t wait for the next federal election. It’s time to take control
Tim Flannery
It is difficult to know what to do when governments fail us. But there’s no need to wait until the next election to deal with the climate crisis, we can act now.
Victoria
Fresh legal fight over plan to dump contaminated West Gate Tunnel soil in Bacchus Marsh
The latest court battle for the Environment Protection Authority comes just days after Bacchus Marsh Grammar launched legal action over the controversial plan.
PSO charged over two violent assaults in city’s west
The alleged incidents occurred almost a year ago in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
ACT
Adopting an “ambitious” target to phase out new petrol cars in Canberra and pledging to build 400 new public housing dwellings are among the goals of a new ACT Labor-Greens governing agreement.
What is in the Labor-Greens parliamentary and governing agreement
Climate, housing and pokies are likely to be dominant issues in the next ACT Legislative Assembly.
Police believe simple, free registration could quickly end the trade in stolen high-end bicycles
Row upon row of bicycles hang unclaimed by owners at the ACT police property office in Mitchell, owners either compensated through insurance and eager to move on, or the rest simply stolen, left, forgotten or discarded.
Queensland
Millennial makes history after successfully suing super fund for not doing enough on climate change
Mark wanted to know if his super is protected from climate change. His super fund didn’t give him the answer, so he sued, and forced their hand. It’s the first time in Australian history a super fund has been forced to consider the impacts of climate change.
South Australia
Free nuclear energy can transform state [$]
Nuclear energy would link up with renewable powerhouses and turn SA into a hi-tech Mecca, our chief entrepreneur says.
Fuel of the future works with something we already have [$]
A hydrogen industry will provide jobs for thousands but zero emissions – and SA already abounds with renewable energy with which to build it.
GM-free status removed for all mainland South Australia
Farmers from all of mainland South Australia will have the option of growing genetically-modified crops after Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David Basham announced no councils had their applications to maintain the moratorium approved.
GM bans stand as councils’ crop fight fails [$]
A group of councils fighting to stay GM free don’t have good enough reasons to claim exemptions, it’s been declared.
Meet 10 of our top rural enviro champs [$]
Rural Aussies are at the forefront of global efforts to protect and conserve the environment, while also feeding and clothing the world. See how many of our top rural environmental champions are right here in SA.
$2.6 billion gas project has 30 year ambition [$]
A project which could supply urea to Australian farmers, made with gas from Leigh Creek coal, would cost $2.6 billion to build, its proponent says.
Tasmania
’I took great offence’: MP’s comment sparks solo protest [$]
A conservationist left hopping mad by comments from a government MP has taken her grievances to the front door of parliament, saying, “It doesn’t matter to me that I’m by myself.”
‘Waste of money’: Scathing comments about Tasmanian fish farm review panel revealed
A parliamentary inquiry was told the panel charged with reviewing the salmon industry’s expansion into Storm Bay had no legal option but to green light new developments, documents show.
Why we worry about defaunation
Peter Boyer
The living ocean is a personal passion of Hobart scientist Lisa Gershwin, so a month ago she readily agreed to convey some of that passion to a group of people bothered by the state of Tasmanian coastal waters.
Northern Territory
‘Unusual’ heatwave sets in across northern Australia
Temperatures across the Top End are set to soar, as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts a severe heatwave is here to stay. And it has one heat expert warning about the potentially serious effects on people’s health.
Tenders open for $30m NT renewable energy project [$]
Tenders are now open for the NT government’s $30m renewable energy project, which is set to replace fossil fuels currently used to generate power from Darwin to Katherine.
The NT could gain 5,000 jobs in renewable energy revolution, according to Deloitte report [$]
The Northern Territory will be among the worst affected Australian jurisdictions if climate change isn’t tackled over the coming decades.
Minister jets into Canberra for high-level Kakadu discussions [$]
Tourism Minister Natasha Fyles has jetted into Canberra for high-level talks on the future of a $216 million package to invest in Kakadu National Park.
Western Australia
Traditional Owner says she was ‘disappointed’ by Rio executives’ resignations
The CEO of a Pilbara native title group says she was disappointed by the resignation of Rio Tinto’s executives following the Juukan Gorge destruction.
Rio Tinto did not notify pastoral leaseholder of plans to destroy nearby Juukan Gorge, inquiry hears
Evan Pensini accessed the information using FOI after five years of asking miner about intentions for the area
Master plan to revamp Perth’s unloved riverside strip [$]
Sandy beaches and a floating pool in the Swan River are among the radical concepts set to be considered as part of a new vision for the CBD riverfront.
Sustainability
Treat artificial light like others forms of pollution, say scientists
Impact of human illumination has grown to point of systemic disruption, researchers find
U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds
The plastic pollution crisis has been widely blamed on a handful of Asian countries, but new research shows just how much the U.S. contributes.
Getting the lead out: Why battery recycling is a global health hazard
Small-scale businesses that recycle the lead from auto batteries are proliferating. Experts say the pollution from these unregulated operations is a lethal threat – with children being the most vulnerable to poisoning.
Building cities with wood would store half of cement industry’s current carbon emissions
A new study has found that shifting to wood as a building construction material would significantly reduce the environmental impact of building construction.
The influence of social norms and behaviour on energy use
People tend to conform to what others do and what others regard as right. Do these two social norms influence electric energy consumption? In the prestigious journal Nature Energy, a team of Italian scientists have identified, for the first time, how these norms interact and influence the energy use of hundreds of thousands of Italian households.
Disarmament treaty drops bomb on super funds investing in nuclear weapons
Margaret Beavis
Many superannuation funds exclude investment in “controversial weapons” but astoundingly this definition does not include nuclear weapons. However, this will change once the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty becomes international law, writes Dr Margaret Beavis. With two of the largest pension funds in the world already having divested, Australian funds are on notice.
Tilman Ruff and Dimity Hawkins
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons received its 50th ratification on October 24, and will therefore come into force in January 2021. A historic development, this new international law will ban the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons.
Another consequence of suppressing wildfire: Trees are invading the prairie
Left unburned, woody vegetation is crowding out habitat, but proactive landowners are learning to use fire to restore America’s grasslands.
Birdwatching from afar: Amazing new AI-enabled camera system to target specific behaviors
Researchers have developed an innovative animal-borne data-collection system assisted by artificial intelligence to track previously unobserved behaviors in wild animals.
Ninety years of data shows global warming impacts on foundation of marine ecosystems
Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that underpin ocean productivity and provide 50% of the world’s oxygen via photosynthesis. An investigation of a 90 year data set from a coastal station offshore from Sydney provides a unique opportunity to better predict the impact of global warming on future ocean phytoplankton communities, on biodiversity and ultimately fisheries production.
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