Date: 22 December 2020 at 9:02:35 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Dec 22
Post of the Day
Time for some home truths about deforestation
Laura Spinney
A powerful French book punctures the myth that countries in the global south are largely responsible for habitat destruction
On This Day
Pancha Ganapati (until Dec 25) – Hinduism
Climate Change
Why climate change denial still exists in the U.S.
Why does climate denialism continue to influence U.S. politics? Here’s a look into who is funding the movement, and why denial is mainly a U.S. problem.
Climate change could create 63 million migrants in South Asia by 2050
The growing impacts of climate change have already pushed more than 18 million people to migrate within South Asian countries, but that could more than triple if global warming continues on its current path, researchers have warned.
Climate change: threshold for dangerous warming will likely be crossed between 2027-2042
The threshold for dangerous global warming will likely be crossed between 2027 and 2042 – a much narrower window than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s estimate of between now and 2052.
Muddying the waters: weathering might remove less atmospheric CO2 than thought
The decay of rocks at the Earth’s surface may play a lesser role in regulating our climate than previously thought, says new research from the University of Cambridge.
Rethinking asylum on a warming planet
Bill Frelick
The Teitiota family from a little-known Pacific island didn’t intend to become a catalyst for expanding the concept of asylum—but they became one anyway.
Fixing climate change with a trillion trees can create problems
Wil Burns
Proponents of efforts to plant a trillion trees often cite a recent study indicating that this initiative could take up a quarter of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, this research is suspect on a number of counts.
National
Interactive map: which areas of Australia were hit by multiple disasters in 2020?
Guardian Australia has compiled an index of areas across the country that have been affected by multiple disasters in 2020
Infrastructure binge to dig country out of recession
Federal, state and territory governments have ramped up their infrastructure spending by $46 billion to help get the economy out of recession.
Climate of change puts business and Coalition at odds
The energy analyst Tim Buckley keeps a working folder on his computer in which he tracks announcements made by major financial institutions that are no longer insuring, lending to, or investing in, companies that are heavily engaged in coal.
Torres Strait eight backed by UN human rights experts
Legal experts appointed by the United Nations have supported the arguments of the Torres Strait eight, who are claiming the Australian Government’s sustained inaction on climate change is a breach of their human rights.
Economy a priority over climate change concerns: survey [$]
Almost 60 per cent of Australians support a clean energy and low emissions future but only 13 per cent endorse a target of net zero emissions by 2050, according to new polling testing views on gas, climate change and economic, health and environment priorities.
New carbon budget report reveals the vast danger of a gas-fired recovery
A new carbon budget report shows Australia’s government is pouring money into all the wrong places.
Renewables will push power prices lower even after Liddell closure, says AEMC
Significant declines in electricity prices in Australia are forecast to largely offset any impacts of the closure of the Liddell power station, according to the 2020 release of the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) “electricity price trends” report.
Marissa Parrott
Last month I came across a heartbreaking sight: a group of people standing around a young female kangaroo with horrific injuries. She appeared to have been hit by a car and had dragged herself away, only to collapse into our local creek.
Parliamentary inquiry into why banks are abandoning coal will reveal nothing
Adam Triggs
ANZ was the last of Australia’s big four banks to announce it will stop financing thermal coal projects in Australia. The Australian coal industry will now need to head overseas if it wants to borrow funds for new projects, and many government MPs aren’t happy.
News Corp has caused massive climate delay, but its grip on power is slipping
Ketan Joshi
New analyses reveal the extent of News Corp’s climate delay and misinformation, but they come as the company’s influence is beginning to slip.
Coal will blow past world’s climate targets, driven by Australia’s mining frenzy
Ketan Joshi
If the world blows past its climate targets in 2025, Australia will have played a key role in supplying the fuel that does the damage.
Victoria
Wangaratta solar farm sold, paving way for construction
A 30MW “shovel-ready” solar project in north-east Victoria has been sold and will begin construction soon.
Greg Hunt’s climate change plan drowns public money in Port Phillip Bay
Sarah Russell
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt ploughed ahead with a “beach nourishment” project in his electorate even though the Victorian government had decided that such short-term fixes were a case of throwing away good money.
New South Wales
Australian researchers help set new records for ultra-high efficiency solar cells
Australia’s UNSW combines with the US-based NREL to set new efficiency records for high-performance gallium arsenide solar cells.
Queensland
Queensland coal export values to tumble, some mines may close
The Federal Government has forecast a massive downturn in export revenue from the coal sector with the potential for high-cost mines to close as global demand for steel shrinks.
Shell pockets $3.2 billion in sell-off of Gladstone gas infrastructure
Shell QGC has offloaded a 26.25 per cent stake in its Curtis Island LNG common facilities to Global Infrastructure Partners Australia for $US2.5 billion ($A3.29 billion).
Garnaut’s Sunshot to create Australia’s first renewable energy industrial park
Ross Garnaut’s Sunshot Energy plans renewable energy industrial park in Queensland in what could be a template to revive fortunes of rural Australia.
‘Completely dry sponge’: Inland rivers may never recover from drought, expert warns
Despite much of New South Wales receiving above-average rainfall in 2020, inland river levels are already dropping, renewing fears for all future water supply.
South Australia
South Australia wants all new car sales to be electric by 2035
South Australia aims to make all new car sales fully electric by 2035 and calls on federal government to introduce a fuel emission standard.
Tasmania
Meet the ‘platypus whisperer’ whose citizen science is surprising the experts
Pete Walsh began photographing Hobart rivulet platypuses during the quiet of COVID-19 lockdowns, now he has developed a special bond and is determined to protect the urban population.
One hundred tiny beepers spread over three kilometres of road may just save a local Tasmanian Devil population from being decimated by cars.
Minister refuses open panel on fish farms
Tasmania’s peak marine protection body, Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection (TAMP), has lashed out at government refusal to include a community representative on a panel that meets in secret to explore plans to increase industrial salmon production in the state.
Tasmania weighs ocean energy potential in 200 per cent renewables plan
Tasmanian government unveils final “action plan” for 200% renewables by 2040, including new push to promote and develop its ocean and tidal energy resources.
Northern Territory
Kakadu tourism facelift underway
As the Top End heads in to the wet season, Kakadu National Park is gearing up for the rejuvenation of the park. As soon as the rains allow, work will commence on raising the Jim Jim Creek Crossing by 0.75 metres to enable safe access to Twin Falls.
Western Australia
Gas expansion plan for region with 47,000-year-old rock art challenged in court
Conservationists are seeking to overturn approvals for Woodside’s proposed Burrup Hub LNG expansion in WA, warning it could unleash billions of tonnes of carbon pollution and endanger ancient rock art.
Woodside vows to ‘vigorously defend’ green group’s legal challenge of Burrup hub approvals
CCWA will challenge recent changes to approvals granted by WA’s Environmental Protection Authority that allow for Woodside’s Karratha and Pluto gas plants in the Pilbara to produce gas from the Scarborough and Browse gas fields.
Shire of Derby/West Kimberley try to push Bunuba man off Country despite Native Title rights
A Native Title holder has been asked to remove his dwelling from his Native Title land, which the local council said in a Notice to Remove was public land, a claim that the local Prescribed Body Corporate disputes.
Former firefighters blow whistle on ‘disaster waiting to happen’ at Chevron’s Gorgon project
Former military and professional firefighters with experience to match the serious dangers that a massive project like Chevron’s Gorgon LNG facility could pose if something goes wrong are concerned at changes made this year.
Sustainability
Fruits and vegetables crucial for healthy lives, sustainable world: Guterres
The United Nations will be marking 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, spotlighting their vital role in human nutrition and food security, as well as urging efforts to improve sustainable production and reduce waste.
Windfarms in Great Britain break record for clean power generation
Forty per cent of Friday’s electricity was generated in windfarms thanks to blustery winter weather
Cities in China go dark as electricity is rationed for millions
Coastal areas of China depend on imported coal, including from Australia, but relations between the two countries have gone into free fall this year.
Geothermal is the electricity combating climate change
To power a climate constrained world, solar and wind energy won’t be enough. Geothermal energy is finally getting a second chance.
In boost for renewables, grid-scale battery storage is on the rise
Driven by technological advances, facilities are being built with storage systems that can hold enough renewable energy to power hundreds of thousands of homes. The advent of “big battery” technology addresses a key challenge for green energy — the intermittency of wind and solar.
Speeding toward improved hydrogen fuel production
A new material developed by a team led by Berkeley Lab will help to make hydrogen a viable energy source for a wide range of applications.
Florida’s tasty plan to control its python population: Eat them
Florida has come up with a way to control its ballooning wild python population: Put them on the dinner menu.
Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss – research
World faces huge wildlife losses by 2050 unless what and how food is produced changes
Coastal ecosystems ‘bright spots’
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has identified coastal ‘bright spots’ to repair marine ecosystems globally, paving the way to boost biodiversity, local economies and human wellbeing.
CRISPR helps researchers uncover how corals adjust to warming oceans
The CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system can help scientists understand, and possibly improve, how corals respond to the environmental stresses of climate change. Work led by Phillip Cleves–who joined Carnegie’s Department of Embryology this fall–details how the revolutionary, Nobel Prize-winning technology can be deployed to guide conservation efforts for fragile reef ecosystems.
Time for some home truths about deforestation
Laura Spinney
A powerful French book punctures the myth that countries in the global south are largely responsible for habitat destruction
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