Date: 20 December 2020 at 7:51:10 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Dec 20
Post of the Day
Land ecosystems are becoming less efficient at absorbing CO2
Land ecosystems currently play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide (CO2) plants and trees absorb during photosynthesis, the process they use to make food, the less CO2 remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – as levels of CO2 in the atmosphere increase, 86 percent of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing it.
On This Day
Fourth Sunday of Advent – Christianity
Climate Change
Ice sheet uncertainties could mean sea level will rise more than predicted
Sea level could rise higher than current estimates by 2100 if climate change is unchallenged, according to a new assessment.
Water limitations in the tropics offset carbon uptake from arctic greening
More plants and longer growing seasons in the northern latitudes have converted parts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia to deeper shades of green. Some studies translate this Arctic greening to a greater global carbon uptake. But new research shows that as Earth’s climate is changing, increased carbon absorption by plants in the Arctic is being offset by a corresponding decline in the tropics.
National
Predicting river levels just got easier with a new tool set to be vital for flood management
A new tool giving accurate river level forecasts in Australia seven days in advance is expected to become a vital tool for dam operators and forecasters in managing future flood risk.
Australia’s coal industry is dying and taxpayers could be left to foot the bill, ex-BP boss warns
Australia’s coal industry is slowly dying, and without a transition plan taxpayers can expect to be slugged billions, a former president of BP has warned.
Sustainability after COVID-19: Are green zones the answer?
Vaccines may provide a partial restoration of normality in once-vibrant cities that still remain empty. But the impact of COVID-19 could last.
Inside job: Rio’s appointment reveals board’s tin ear
Adele Ferguson
Rio Tinto’s decision to appoint an insider based in London as its new leader epitomises a board not listening to shareholders, politicians and Indigenous groups.
Victoria
Scammers clone Melbourne police phone numbers to con victims out of $30,000
Police in Victoria are investigating the arrest warrant scam and urging anyone who has been a victim of the scam to make a report.
New South Wales
David Pocock tries his hand at climate leadership
Climate, farming and wildlife activism top the post-retirement agenda of the former Wallaby who retired from rugby two months ago.
Tiny Australian carnivore’s hunting habits revealed, including feasting on fairy penguins [$]
As part of a new research program the tiny native carnivores were released into the Booderee National Park in NSW. Researchers at The Australian National University found they can hunt small mammals, invertebrates, birds, reptiles, frogs and fish. Sometimes their tastebuds even extend to penguins.
Peter FitzSimons
It was one-time British Prime Minister Anthony Eden who said it best: “Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.” Exactly the same applies to the environment.
The families who pay the price of Sydney’s love affair with toll roads
Matt Wade
A new study has raised troubling questions about the fairness of Sydney’s toll roads.
ACT
Namadgi national park: ‘A mystery, a relic, a vibrant pulse in the earth’
At the northern end of the Australian Alps, just a 45-minute drive from Canberra, evidence of culture is all around you
South Australia
Playing with fire: Hundreds snub clean-up orders [$]
Many rural property owners seem to have forgotten the devastation of last summer’s bushfires, with hundreds ignoring orders to clear their blocks.
Colonel Light Gardens protected from development [$]
New development guidelines have been released for the state’s only heritage-listed suburb.
Tasmania
Concerns grow as waste spill probe drags on [$]
Three months have passed since a pollution incident caused mass fish deaths in the Derwent Valley, but the state government has expressed confidence in the investigation.
Northern Territory
Lead in my grandmother’s body: damage from mining reflected in Northern Territory exhibition
Paintings of daily life next to a lead and zinc mine as well as photos of elders and children holding an oversized bullet are part of the online project
NT population records highest growth in two years [$]
The Northern Territory has recorded its highest quarterly population growth in two years after climbing to almost 246,000 in June
Sustainability
NYS can achieve 2050 carbon goals with Earth’s help
By delving into scientific, technological, environmental and economic data, engineering researchers examined whether New York could achieve a statewide carbon-free economy by 2050. Their finding: Yes, New York can reach this goal – and do it with five years to spare.
Roadmap to renewables unites climate and sustainability goals
Are clean energy plans missing the forest for the GHGs? A new study presents a roadmap to renewables that unites climate change and biodiversity goals.
Why there is no single fuel option for alternative mobility solutions
Kaustav Mukherjee and Kaustubh Verma
The path to alternative mobility solutions in India would be a complex one – with no clear “single option”
Land ecosystems are becoming less efficient at absorbing CO2
Land ecosystems currently play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide (CO2) plants and trees absorb during photosynthesis, the process they use to make food, the less CO2 remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – as levels of CO2 in the atmosphere increase, 86 percent of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing it.
How climate change is disrupting ecosystems
When it gets warmer, organisms rise higher from the lowlands. Researchers investigated what could happen to plant communities on alpine grasslands if grasshoppers from lower elevations settled there.
Identifying where to reforest after wildfire
Forest managers can now look to a newly enhanced, predictive mapping tool to learn where forests are likely to regenerate on their own and where replanting efforts may be beneficial. This study also indicates a not-so-evergreen future of fewer conifers.
Devastating skin disease covering up to 70% of a dolphin’s body tied to climate change
Researchers provide the first-ever case definition for fresh-water skin disease in bottlenose dolphins tied to climate change. The study has major implications for the current outbreak in Australia, which is impacting the rare and threatened Burrunan dolphin in southeast Australia, and could provide professionals with the information needed to diagnose and treat affected animals.
Fire-resistant tropical forest on brink of disappearance
A new study reveals the extreme scale of loss and fragmentation of tropical forests, which once covered much of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. The study, led by Swansea University, also reveals that only 10% of the forest that is left remains fire-resistant. The researchers warn that protecting this is crucial for preventing catastrophic fire.
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