Post of the Day
Countries fall short of U.N. pledge to protect 10% of the ocean by 2020
Conservationists are now pressing for the adoption of a more ambitious new international goal: protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
On This Day
Eid il-Burbara (Saint Barbara’s Day) – Middle-eastern Christianity
Presentation of Mary – Eastern Christianity
Ecological Observance
World Wildlife Conservation Day
Climate Change
Once in a lifetime floods to become regular occurrences by end of century
Superstorm Sandy brought flood-levels to the New York region that had not been seen in generations. Now, due to the impact of climate change, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have found that 100-year and 500-year flood levels could become regular occurrences for the thousands of homes surrounding Jamaica Bay, New York by the end of the century.
2020 neck and neck towards the hottest year ever, despite La Niña
The past six years were the hottest in history, according to the World Meteorological Organisation, and 2020 could be the hottest year we’ve ever had.
UK’s 2030 carbon target set to disappoint green campaigners
Environment groups say as Cop26 hosts UK should show leadership and set tougher goal of 75% reduction in emissions
The next El Niño event could mean the end of the ‘Eternity Glacier’
Some call it the Eternity Glacier. It’s one of the last tropical glaciers in the world, and it gives vital clues about the Earth’s changing climate. But it’s dying.
For emissions monitoring, satellites shouldn’t fly solo
Satellites that measure methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases promise to unlock solutions to the emissions-driven problems facing our planet’s climate.
Celia McMichael et al
Climate change is resulting in profound, immediate and worsening health impacts, and no country is immune, a major new report from more than 120 researchers has declared.
National
Telstra hints at energy retail move, says carbon cuts a matter for companies, not customers
Telstra’s Ben Burge says corporates must take direct responsibility for customer emissions, alludes to Telstra’s plans for a carbon-neutral electricity retailer.
2030 emissions target in sight but the goalposts have shifted [$]
Meeting Australia’s 2030 emissions target even without Kyoto “carry-over” credits is no longer enough givne the goal is net-zero, experts say.
Frydenberg’s proposal on Toondah Harbour shows need for environmental regulator, Labor says
Guardian Australia revealed Josh Frydenberg raised changing the boundaries of significant wetlands after being lobbied by a Liberal donor
Scott Morrison says Australia will attend climate ambition summit to ‘correct mistruths’
Leaders attending forum are required to make concrete commitments to cut emissions
Australia is losing the new economy race, top UK climate official says
Australia is being left behind as the rest of the world embraces technological change in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, British diplomat Nigel Topping says.
Not enough Hazelnuts? Our future climate points to Australia for new cultivations
The food industry is looking for new areas that are suitable for hazelnut farming to satisfy a growing global demand and to diversify supply. In a recent study, realized with a CMCC Foundation contribution, scientists analysed the effects of climate change on hazelnut production in Australia in the coming decades, revealing an expected yield increase in the southeastern coast of the country.
Climate Council says Australia’s energy plan is like ‘digging up the past to spite the future’
The report, released Thursday by the Climate Council, concluded that the emissions produced by Australia’s gas sector weren’t properly being accounted for.
Passing gas: why renewables are the future
Climate Council
Extracting and burning more gas puts Australians in harm’s way. The nation is already in the grip of a climate crisis, having endured the Black Summer bushfires, devastating drought and the third mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef in five years. The only way to keep us safe is to transition to renewables as quickly as possible.
A stark reminder of bushfire danger
Age editorial
The enormous economic and health crisis brought on by the pandemic may have overshadowed the tragedy of last season’s bushfires, but the recent spate of hot weather is a reminder of the potential dangers Australia faces again this summer.
Victoria
Industry renews campaign to fight Victorian Government logging bans
The Victorian forestry industry relaunches its campaign to fight back against an end to native logging by 2030.
Supreme Court grants sacred tree injunction on controversial highway project
The court orders work be suspended on a section of the Western Highway duplication in Victoria that opponents say threatens culturally significant trees.
New South Wales
Scientist Tim Flannery warns of climate impacts if South32 coal mine expansion approved
South32 is seeking to expand its Dendrobium mine to extract 78 million tonnes of coal over nearly 30 more years, a development Professor Flannery says poses an “extreme risk” for all.
NSW to roll out 120 electric buses in 2021 ahead of full transition
The Liberal NSW government will begin transitioning the entire state bus fleet to zero emissions transport within the decade, starting with 120 electric buses in 2021.
#GamilMeansNo: Hundreds rally in Indigenous-led protests against controversial Narrabri gas project
The rallies come after the Morrison government approved the $3.6 billion coal seam project last month.
Murray-Darling Basin: NSW government officials busted favouring irrigator groups
Emails on flood plain harvesting reveal the environment department singled out sympathetic groups and discussed how to sideline critics
Gamil means no: don’t be quiet while mining threatens our collective future
Jared Field
With Santos and its gas project on our doorstep, we need to protect an entire forest and the vast amounts of water beneath
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef’s classification worsens to “critical”, with climate change named the biggest threat to the planet’s natural world heritage by a UNESCO advisory body report.
Corals get ready for world’s biggest sex event under the full moon
Scientists say they’ve read the signs and the biggest mass-spawning event on the planet is set to take place on the Great Barrier Reef this weekend. And you’ll be able to watch it live.
‘Brief reprieve’ for Fraser fire crews ahead of increased weekend risk
A fire front about 2 kilometres east of the Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village remained of ‘most concern’ for firefighters on Thursday morning ahead of shifting winds.
The tragic toxins found in our turtles [$]
It would read like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles script if it weren’t so tragic. The toxic cocktail in Reef turtles’ bloodstreams has been revealed.
Suck it up: ban on plastic straws, plates and cutlery from next year
The Queensland government will ban single-use plastic straws, cutlery and plates next year and will consult on outlawing the sale of polystyrene containers.
Huge residential towers set for Brisbane’s oldest suburb – and some residents aren’t happy
Angry Kangaroo Point residents have pointed to a high-rise tower wrapping around a heritage home as an example of Brisbane’s failures to protect its history.
Council ponders new north west motorway for Brisbane as congestion costs soar
The cost of traffic congestion in Brisbane’s fast growing north west will almost triple to $7 billion within the next 20 years, according to just released traffic studies, building pressure on authorities to find solutions to ease the gridlock.
Yes, these road rules apply to cyclists too
Hundreds of cyclists have been caught committing these traffic offences, sparking a warning that the road rules apply to them as well.
Con-air: $15m waterbomber sits idle as island icon burns [$]
It was supposed to be deployed to catastrophic bushfires at a moment’s notice, but it took a month to get it off the ground.
South Australia
Minister quits Facebook over death threats [$]
Sustained trolling by environmental activists has forced Environment Minister David Speirs off Facebook for a second time this year.
Tasmania
Basslink operator to pay Tasmanian Govt $38.5m in compensation for 2015 power crisis
The operators of the Basslink undersea power cable between Tasmania and Victoria are ordered to pay the Tasmanian Government almost $40 million in compensation after it failed to prove a major power outage in 2015 was beyond its control.
An entire pen of Atlantic salmon escape from a southern Tasmanian fish farm
Commercial fish farmer Huon Aquaculture is investigating another unexplained incident that allowed an entire pen of Atlantic salmon to escape into the ocean off southern Tasmania.
1960s ‘eyesore’ to make way for luxury eco-shacks, if Tasmanian millionaire gets her way
A derelict hotel that has blighted a prime location at one of Tasmania’s prettiest east-coast towns is set to be knocked down and replaced with an eco-development that includes accommodation for penguins.
Online forum: Transitioning to a Sustainable Future
You are invited to a Tasmanian Way Virtual Forum to co-create a map of actions, initiatives and events that are helping Tasmania transition to a low carbon and sustainable future in 2021 and beyond.
Northern Territory
ERA committed to best practice rehabilitation of Ranger mine [$]
The operator of Ranger uranium mine near Jabiru, Energy Resources Australia, says it is unequivocally committed to best-in-class rehabilitation of the site and subsequent monitoring.
Western Australia
Global assessment of World Heritage sites raises concerns about Ningaloo
The Ningaloo Coast World Heritage area has been downgraded in the third IUCN Outlook global report for natural World Heritage sites. Ningaloo was previously classified as ‘Good’ but has been downgraded to ‘Good with some concerns’.
Carbon neutral apartment building recommended for approval
The City of Fremantle’s vision to establish the Knutsford precinct as a world class example of sustainable living has taken another step forward after Fremantle Council recommended approval for one of Australia’s first carbon neutral apartment buildings.
Sustainability
Iran watchdog passes law on hardening nuclear stance, halting UN inspections
Iran’s Guardian Council approves a law that obliges the Government to halt UN inspections of its nuclear sites and step up uranium enrichment if sanctions are not eased in two months.
Scientists warn of social and environmental risks tied to energy transition
A new international study by McGill University and the ICTA-UAB and the maps resistance movements’ associated with green energy and fossil fuel projects
Toxic PFAS chemicals discovered in hundreds of products
Climbing ropes, guitar strings, and hand sanitizer are among the newly reported uses for the toxic “forever” chemicals.
Sea Shepherd names top plastic polluters
The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Nestlé are ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for the 3rd consecutive year according to Break Free From Plastic‘s new report BRANDED Vol III: Demanding Corporate Accountability for Plastic Pollution.
Satellite-tagged bottles show promise for tracking plastic litter through rivers
Researchers successfully track ‘bottle tags’ through Ganges River system into Bay of Bengal
Climate Trace—One of best inventions of 2020
Time magazine named Climate TRACE one of the best inventions of 2020. Climate TRACE uses a combination of machine learning, infrared satellite imagery and advanced computer modeling to track polluters worldwide in real time.
Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected
Decarbonizing US electricity production will require both construction of renewable energy sources and retirement of power plants now operated by fossil fuels. A generator-level model suggests that most fossil fuel power plants could complete normal lifespans and still close by 2035 because so many facilities are nearing the end of their operational lives.
Batteries—A cornerstone of the future of India’s economy
RMI’s Clay Stranger writes about the key role that batteries will play in India’s clean energy future and how they will help to sustain a complex ecosystem of market opportunities
The forgotten environmental crisis: how 20th century settler writers foreshadowed the Anthropocene
Philip Steer
Just as writers and artists today are responding to the Anthropocene through climate fiction and eco art, earlier generations chronicled an environmental crisis that presaged humanity’s global impact.
Flightless birds more common globally before human-driven extinctions
There would be at least four times as many flightless bird species on Earth today if it were not for human influences, finds a study led by UCL researchers, published in Science Advances.
Satellite-tagged bottles show promise for tracking plastic litter through rivers
A new study demonstrates the potential for plastic bottles tagged with tracking devices to deepen our understanding of how plastic pollution moves through rivers.
Countries fall short of U.N. pledge to protect 10% of the ocean by 2020
Conservationists are now pressing for the adoption of a more ambitious new international goal: protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
Oceans key to solving climate crisis, say world leaders
Co-chaired by Palau and Norway, the Ocean Panel of 14 coastal nations has declared its commitment to 100% ocean sustainability by 2025 under the guise of a ‘blue economy’.
New report details links between widespread ocean pollution and human health risks
The new study “Human Health and Ocean Pollution” presents a broad and comprehensive examination of the multiple dangers to human and ecosystem health posed by pollution of the seas. Toxins in the ocean make landfall through the food chain and coastal tides, posing health risks to more than 3 billion humans, according to scientists led by the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and Boston College, with support from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
French Guiana soy biofuel power plants risk massive Amazon deforestation
South America’s French Guiana, a French overseas department, is slated for major new liquid biofuel power stations, fueled by soy plantations that will cause largescale Amazon deforestation, say environmentalists.
‘They will die for their land’: Villagers fight to preserve untouched forest in Solomon Islands
In Solomon Islands, a small community is taking a rare stand against logging operations to save a unique piece of untouched forest home to rare animals.
Indigenous Maya ‘Guardian of the Bees’ wins environmental prize
Leydy Pech Martin, a 55-year-old Maya beekeeper, who has waged a legal battle against pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Mexico for more than 10 years won the Goldman Prize 2020 in part for her ongoing struggle against US agrochemical giant Monsanto.
Pollution from car tires is killing off salmon on US west coast, study finds
Mass die-offs of coho salmon just before they are about to spawn have been traced to tire fragments washed into streams by rain
Atlas reveals birds pushed further north amid climate crisis
Data from 120,000 birdwatchers in 48 countries shows forest birds have expanded their range while area occupied by farmland birds has shrunk
COVID-19 development strategy could be damaging to the environment
Eleanor Beidatsch
Western Australia’s plans to revitalise tourism may have unintended environmental consequences.
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