Post of the Day
Countries are one thing, but what is business doing to bring down carbon emissions?
As world leaders meet this weekend in the hope of agreeing to tighter global emission targets, Australia’s carbon-intensive industries are watching closely.
On This Day
St. Lucy’s Day – Scandinavia
Climate Change
How longer, more frequent heatwaves will shape how we work in the future
Health experts fear extreme heat might be causing more injuries in outdoor workplaces than previously thought, so new research aims to determine how to keep workers safe in a warming world.
UN secretary general urges all countries to declare climate emergencies
António Guterres tells Climate Ambition Summit more must be done to hit net zero emissions
‘Let’s do it together’: Boris Johnson says climate protection will create jobs – video
Boris Johnson has said the UK is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 68% on 1990 levels, and encouraged countries around the world to work together on the climate emergency during the UN’s climate ambition summit, which is being held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bacteria release climate-damaging carbon from thawing permafrost
Around a quarter of the ground in the northern hemisphere is permanently frozen. These areas are estimated to contain about twice as much carbon as the world’s current atmosphere. New research says that these permafrost soils are not only increasingly thawing out as the Earth becomes warmer, but also releasing that carbon, which accelerates the thawing.
Low oxygen levels in lakes and reservoirs may accelerate global change
Ultimately, this study is crucial for how researchers, and the general public, think about how freshwater ecosystems produce greenhouse gases in the future. With low oxygen concentrations increasing in lakes and reservoirs across the world, these ecosystems will produce higher concentrations of methane in the future, leading to more global warming.
Climate zealots must stick to facts on renewables [$]
Peta Credlin
Why are people in authority allowed to get away with obvious untruths about climate change, despite all the factual evidence to the contrary.
National
Countries are one thing, but what is business doing to bring down carbon emissions?
As world leaders meet this weekend in the hope of agreeing to tighter global emission targets, Australia’s carbon-intensive industries are watching closely.
In a nutshell: how the macadamia became a ‘vulnerable’ species
Australia’s nut trees have been added to the IUCN’s red list of threatened species as numbers in the wild dwindle
Scott Morrison tells Pacific islands forum Australia committed to achieving net-zero emissions ‘as soon as possible’
Morrison targets law-breaking charities [$]
Charities that use resources to encourage illegal activity could lose generous benefits and more under tough new federal government regulations.
WWF track the recovery of bushfire animals [$]
WWF use artificial intelligence and an army of new sensor cameras to track the recovery of animals impacted by the bushfires.
Morrison’s pandemic response: exceptional. Shame about climate change
Jacqueline Maley
All at once Australia is exceptional for all the right reasons and all the wrong reasons.
Victoria
‘Climate emergency’ protests turn up the heat for greater emission cuts
Protesters calling for the declaration of a “climate emergency” have clashed with police in Melbourne amid news the federal government is unlikely to rely on “carry-over credits” to reach its 2030 Paris emissions reduction target.
The innovative ‘home brewing kit’ turning food waste into power for a town
An Australian-first project is underway in the regional town of Colac, which will see the two biggest employers and the water corporation come together to turn food waste and dirty water into environmentally-friendly power.
Posted 14mminutes ago
New South Wales
Call of the Wildbnb: Bushfire-affected animals given a safe, low-toxic place to call home
A promising new trial aims to provide habitat for multiple species of glider and phascogales displaced by last summer’s bushfires.
Councils must be consulted on future bushfire clearing rule changes
Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Linda Scott has expressed concerns over the State Government’s rule changes around bushfire prevention without consulting councils and other stakeholders.
The end of coal? Why investors aren’t buying the myth of the industry’s ‘renaissance’
At the world’s biggest coal export port in Newcastle, no China-bound ships are waiting or scheduled to load before Christmas
ACT
Approved temporary Cooleman Court car park ‘poor planning’: Greens minister
A Greens minister says a temporary car park to be built by the ACT government in Weston Creek which prompted intense community opposition is a poor solution with an unnecessary impact on the environment.
Queensland
Queensland cruises could do wonders for tourism, but what about the environment?
The Sunshine State is perfectly poised to cash in when the cruise industry resumes business, but when the ships return so will their environmental impact.
National Park visitors asked to consider severe weather
Plans to visit National Parks in south-east Queensland should be reconsidered due to severe weather developing over the weekend.
Why city policy to ‘protect the Brisbane backyard’ is failing
Current land development regimes place urban planning outcomes in the hands of property owners and developers whose motives are tied to their financial interests rather than good planning.
Tasmania
The bliss of standing still in the big green of Cape Tribulation – and just looking
The Daintree’s dreamlike ancient wilderness takes “forest bathing” into a whole new realm.
80yo arrested as protesters glue themselves to street [$]
A number of Tasmanians were arrested on Friday after protestors glued themselves down on Liverpool Street in an act of civil disobedience.
Why Tasmanian forestry is the ultimate renewable
Nick Steel
Amidst all the argy-bargy between environmentalists and politicians it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the forest for all the trees.
Western Australia
Backlash over refusal to temporarily halt mining approvals that could destroy sacred sites
A shareholder advocacy group hits out at the WA Government and mining sector over their rejection of a temporary moratorium on Section 18 approvals, following a scathing report into Rio Tinto’s actions at Juukan Gorge.
The swamp city that’s learning to embrace its secret wetland gardens
Stormwater drains are an essential suburban utility, but are often neglected eyesores. Now the barbed wire fences are being replaced with vibrant public parklands.
Sustainability
Pesticide companies marketing themselves as a solution to climate change
‘Like a pandemic, climate change is an inevitable threat that we must address before it is too late,’ reads a June 2020 statement.
Novel cathode design significantly improves performance of next-generation battery
A research team at HKUST has proposed a novel cathode design concept for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery that substantially improves the performance of this kind of promising next-generation battery.
Scientists publish open resource to help design ‘greener’ energy systems
Researchers have created a database of measurements from existing global power grid systems that will help develop new power systems capable of meeting changing demands, such as the move towards renewable energy sources.
New blended solar cells yield high power conversion efficiencies
Researchers have blended together various polymer and molecular semiconductors as photo-absorbers to create a solar cell with increased power efficiencies and electricity generation.
Britain to end taxpayer funding for overseas fossil fuel projects ‘as soon as possible’
Britain has been criticised for sending billions of pounds abroad to help extract and refine fossil fuels and build power stations.
Male weeds may hold key to their own demise
Scientists are getting closer to finding the genes for maleness in waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, two of the most troublesome agricultural weeds in the US. Finding the genes could enable new ‘genetic control’ methods for the weeds, which, in many places, no longer respond to herbicides.
Mass extinctions of land-dwelling animals occur in 27-million-year cycle
Researchers find that timing of mass extinctions lines up with asteroid impacts and massive volcanic eruptions
Planning ahead protects fish and fisheries
Conservation of fish and other marine life migrating from warming ocean waters will be more effective and also protect commercial fisheries if plans are made now to cope with climate change, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Science Advances.
Britain’s navy to protect fishing waters in case of no-deal Brexit
Four Royal Navy patrol ships are on standby to protect Britain’s fishing waters in the event the Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31 without a deal on future ties with the European Union, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said.
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