Post of the Day
Net zero, saving koalas and forest wars: the crucial environment battles looming in Australia
With the Morrison government looking increasingly isolated on climate policy and under pressure to fix conservation laws, will 2021 bring change?
On This Day
Saint Dwynwen’s Day – Wales
Climate Change
The US is back at the climate table. Here’s why that’s important for all of us
Within hours of becoming US President, Joe Biden moved to recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement — the internationally binding treaty to combat climate change. So what does this actually mean for climate change and global emissions targets?
Twitter bots are a major source of climate disinformation
Such accounts can distort online conversations and potentially diminish support for climate policies
By 2100, billions of people are at risk of facing more flooding, higher temperatures and less food and water.
Curb population growth to tackle climate change: now that’s a tough ask
Michael P. Cameron
Population growth plays a role in environmental damage and climate change. But addressing climate change through either reducing or reversing growth in population raises difficult moral questions that most people would prefer to avoid having to answer.
National
Climate crisis: The dreadful heat that threatens to make our cities unliveable
Parts of Victoria and NSW are sweating through an extreme heatwave that started sweeping across Australia’s southeast yesterday. This may seem like just a good excuse to go to the beach, but as the planet warms and summers become longer and less bearable, heatwaves are coming to represent an existential threat to Australian suburbs.
Net zero, saving koalas and forest wars: the crucial environment battles looming in Australia
With the Morrison government looking increasingly isolated on climate policy and under pressure to fix conservation laws, will 2021 bring change?
Coalition signs Australia up to agreements to price in climate risk
Announcement could inflame tensions between Liberals and Nationals, who have criticised banks for asking businesses for carbon transition plans
Queen bee shortage leaves beekeepers in Australia struggling to rebuild hives
The number of commercial queen bee breeders is dwindling by the day, leaving beekeepers to battle to secure the much-needed queens that are vital for each hive’s honey production.
Brace for more big rises in gas prices [$]
Robert Gottliebsen
Australians need to prepare for further, partly self-inflicted, substantial rises in gas prices.
Sara Wilkinson et al
Many of us who endured lockdowns in Australia are familiar with the surge in energy bills at home. But for older Australians who depend on the Age Pension for income, lockdowns drove many deeper into “energy poverty”. Some faced up to 50% higher bills than in 2019, as a result of COVID.
Victoria
Victoria braces for ‘most significant fire risk’ this season amid lingering heatwave
A lingering heatwave and gusty winds have Victorian authorities on edge, with predictions that Monday will bring the worst conditions of the bushfire season.
More room to roam: minister unveils $15m plan for new parks
Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio had anything but a ruff Sunday morning, cuddling half-a-dozen furry friends as she unveiled a multimillion-dollar plan to create 18 new parks across Melbourne.
New South Wales
How big batteries are a boon for regional Australia
Bjorn Sturmberg
Recent announcements that two big batteries will be built at coal-fired power stations in NSW are great news for the energy system and regional communities across Australia.
ACT
Plans revealed for ACT big battery storage facility
Plans have been lodged for the second of two big battery storage systems set to become part of the ACT’s energy grid.
Queensland
Big wheels keep on turning? Not if Labor, greens kill off New Hope jobs [$]
When Stewart Mills looks over the line of yellow machinery parked in a row near the nearly exhausted New Acland mine, he sees more than just dump trucks and excavators. To him, each machine represents a mate who has lost a job.
Northern Territory
‘Genocide of a language’: Indigenous leader disappointed over national park names
Hidden waterfalls in an NT national park will soon be open to the public for the first time but some are disappointed their traditional Indigenous place names have been overlooked.
Western Australia
Fremantle accused of being ‘too green’ [$]
A former mayor has questioned some of the decisions made by successor Brad Pettitt.
Lithium miner back in the driving seat on electric vehicle rebound
For Australia’s miners of lithium, one of the critical metals to make electric batteries, last year started out like the one before it: with the same weakness in demand and pricing that has been forcing operators into survival mode.
‘Very expensive LNG’: World’s largest floating gas plant restarts, but critics says it’s too late
It was supposed to be an economical and environmentally safe solution to LNG production, but with almost a third of its short life in shutdown Shell’s floating colossus may prove to be a mistake.
Sustainability
Saxon church prays for deliverance from nuclear plant
Community says boom in renewable energy means Bradwell B in Essex is not needed
Heatwaves and severe storms are predicted to become more frequent and more intense. Here are some changes you can make to your home that could help you weather the highs and lows of summer — and even save you some money.
Toxic chemicals threaten ability to reproduce
Shanna Swan
In a new book, epidemiologist Shanna Swan looks at the impact of environmental chemicals on human sexuality and reproductive systems.
Meet the couple racing against deforestation to save bee populations
Eric Paredes and Cinthya Callisaya Yujra are on a mission to save vulnerable bee populations in the Bolivian region of Los Yungas by scouring the area and rehoming species in their Las Orquideas (The Orchards) bee sanctuary.
Brazil Indigenous leaders sue Jair Bolsonaro for ‘crimes against humanity’
The International Criminal Court is being asked to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for “crimes against humanity”.
Microplastics pollute rivers on Indonesia’s Java Island
Pollutants in 2 major rivers in Java, world’s most crowded island risk aquatic life and human health, says a study
Spotted and oddly striped zebras may be a warning for species’ future
Animals with abnormal coat patterns may be inbred, “dramatic evidence” of how habitat fragmentation can harm wildlife, a new study says.
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