Post of the Day
Bob Pressey et al
Last week Australia joined a new alliance of 40 countries pledging to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 from pollution, overfishing, climate change and other environmental threats. Australia already boasts one of the largest networks of marine protected areas in the world, with about half of Commonwealth waters around mainland Australia under some form of protection. Job done? Actually, no.
On This Day
Climate Change
Future ocean warming boosts tropical rainfall extremes
Ocean warming predicted to cause a twofold increase in amplitude of rainfall fluctuations over the tropical Pacific
Steady now: Unfortunate timing and rate of change may be enough to tip a climate system
Unpredictable, abrupt changes to Earth’s system of ocean currents could commence from rate-induced tipping, model study shows. ‘The findings point to fundamental limitations in climate predictability,’ authors warn.
Texas freeze shows a chilling truth – how the rich use climate change to divide us
Robert Reich
The Lone Star State is aptly named. If you’re not part of the Republican oil elite with Cruz and Abbott, you’re on your own
Drew Sheneman
Warming leads to climate change and in practice climate change means more snow, more rain, more flooding, more drought, more wildfires and more unpredictable weather. Stop pretending like it’s hard to understand.
National
How to win friends and influence government
A new report shares advice on how charities can improve their relationship with all levels of government
Independent review says department received allegations soon after first permits were issued but exports continued
Haines proposes $483m Local Power Agency to help communities buy in to wind and solar
Independent MP Helen Haines introduces legislation to establish a new Australian Local Power Agency to support community ownership of renewable energy.
Coal boom stokes $2bn budget boost [$]
Australian thermal coal exports have held up in defiance of China’s import restrictions, with surging global prices set to deliver an additional $6bn in annual export earnings and pump billions into the budget bottom line.
Bob Pressey et al
Last week Australia joined a new alliance of 40 countries pledging to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 from pollution, overfishing, climate change and other environmental threats. Australia already boasts one of the largest networks of marine protected areas in the world, with about half of Commonwealth waters around mainland Australia under some form of protection. Job done? Actually, no.
Zero-sum game: The rise of solar export limits, and what can be done about it
Sophie Vorrath
An increasing number of households are coming up against strict limits to the amount of energy they are allowed to export to the grid, and some cannot export their solar at all.
National Party waging war against Australian environment
Sue Arnold
The Australian environment cannot survive the National Party.
Procrasti-nation: how Australia’s government is filibustering the climate emergency [$]
Christopher Warren
By using a whole lot of words to avoid taking action, the government is slyly putting off doing anything meaningful about the climate emergency.
For $100 billion, Australia could have a low cost and reliable zero emissions grid
Bin Lu et al
An investment in major transmission lines linking Australia’s best wind and solar resources could deliver reliable and cheap and clean electricity.
Things are stirring out in the bush
Peter Boyer
The National Party is being forced to address the zealots in its ranks who keep denying the bleeding obvious.
Clever states should consider a climate change alliance
Letters
The article “Capital plans to lead the nation on climate change” (February 21, p13, 16) led me to conclude the ACT government should join forces with the South Australian and Tasmanian governments to lead the nation to a sustainable “post-carbon” future.
New South Wales
NSW appoints first Renewable Energy Sector Board to guide energy plan
NSW government to draw upon the state’s energy experts to seize green industry opportunities, unveiling the first Renewable Energy Sector Board.
Hydrogen start-up seeks funds to convert old coal generator to biomass
Verdant Technologies raises $2m in a pre-IPO investment round, as it plans to revive the Redbank power station to produce hydrogen.
Queensland
Turning disused rails into rail trails
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) is investigating the idea of turning disused rail corridors into multi-use recreation rail trails.
Coal generators fined after failing to match big batteries and putting grid at risk
Owner of two Queensland coal generators fined for failing to deliver grid services as promised, including in one incident when the power supply was put at risk.
Second Anglo mine shut down after gas concerns [$]
Workers have been banned from going underground at a second Anglo American coalmine in central Queensland, after high gas levels warned of a possible spontaneous fire.
$10b of easy money left wasted under Qld soil
Mike O’Connor
We need clean power but the option to turn to nuclear has been drowned out by the howls of the latte sippers.
South Australia
Soccer pitch at former Belair Golf Course site failing to draw local support
Public feedback appears overwhelmingly negative towards a proposal to build a seven-pitch soccer field on part of Australia’s second oldest national park, although improved mountain biking and walking facilities get the nod.
Tasmania
Four more arrests in Wentworth Hills as Bob Brown Foundation protest activity continues to increase
A further four people were arrested at a protest in the Wentworth Hills in the Central Highlands on Monday, halting forestry activity at the site in a further escalation of protests against native forest harvesting.
The Mount Wellington Cableway Company vows to press ahead despite losing an appeal against a council ruling, revealing it had to source an Aboriginal consultant from outside the state due to a “reluctance” by locals to assist the project.
Logging native forests makes no sense
Tom Allen explains why natural forests are worth more to Tassie and the world if they are left in the ground.
Northern Territory
‘It’s gone downhill’: Traditional owners threaten to close Kakadu due to mismanagement [$]
Traditional Owners of Kakadu National Park are at loggerheads with Parks Australia and threatening to close the World Heritage site
It’s time to park the animosity [$]
NT News editorial
The winds of change are blowing in the Territory’s international jewel, Kakadu National Park. Just days after the Kakadu Master Plan traditional owners are threatening site closures
Western Australia
Rio Tinto executive got big pay rise after review of Juukan cave blast
The man who led the internal inquiry into the blasting of the Juukan Gorge caves was paid an extra 46 per cent on top of his annual director fees.
Blind luck: Nullarbor cavers bring four new trapdoor spider species into the light
Scientists name limestone cave-dwelling spiders after Thai cave-rescue heroes following rare discoveries deep underground and some painstaking scientific detective work.
Sustainability
Helping crops survive heatwaves
Global warming threatens both the yield and survival of crucial crops. By understanding how extreme heat impacts plant genetics, researchers aim to breed in more resilience.
Long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution increases risk of heart and lung disease
Analysis of records for more than 63 million Medicare enrollees from 2000 to 2016 finds long-term exposure to air pollution had a significant impact on the number of people hospitalized for cardiac and respiratory conditions. Researchers examined three components of air pollution: fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Even levels lower than national standards affected heart and respiratory illnesses.
How outdoor pollution affects indoor air quality
Just when you thought you could head indoors to be safe from the air pollution that plagues the Salt Lake Valley, new research shows that elevated air pollution events, like horror movie villains, claw their way into indoor spaces
There is no one-size-fits-all road to sustainability on “Patchwork Earth”
In a world as diverse as our own, the journey towards a sustainable future will look different depending on where in the world we live, according to a recent paper published in One Earth. There are many regional pathways to a more sustainable future, but our lack of understanding about how these complex and sometimes contradictory pathways interact (and in particular when they synergize or compete with one another) limits our ability to choose the ‘best’ one.
Freedom camping needs new regulations and foreign tourists aren’t the only villains
Michael Lueck and Sabrina Seeler
Freedom camping has a long tradition in New Zealand. Using your own vehicle as accommodation and parking in public spaces is seen as something of a birth right. But when international tourists cottoned on to this cheap and cheerful way to see the country, things began to change.
Australia was the first casualty of the big blackout lie blaming wind power – the US could be next
Ketan Joshi
As climate impacts intensify, power grids stuffed with ageing fossil fuel infrastructure crumble
Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned ferret, spurs hope for endangered species
Scientists have cloned an endangered black-footed ferret using frozen cells from a long-dead wild animal, the first time any native endangered species has been cloned in the US.
Using laws governing human rights may be the best way of harnessing international legislation and tribunals to protect the Amazon, a new study shows.
Rapid evolution may help species adapt to climate change and competition
A study shows that a fruit fly species can adapt rapidly to an invader and this evolutionary change can affect how they deal with a stressful climate.
Colorful connection found in coral’s ability to survive higher temperatures
A coral’s color can tell of its resilience to climate change, and a new study has shed light on the underlying genetic factors that may be at work behind this.
Peter McMahon
There are many cultural narratives that tell of a golden age when humans lived in peace and harmony but which would eventually give way to times of strife and suffering.
Why we should release New Zealand’s strangled rivers to lessen the impact of future floods
Gary John Brierley et al
When two West Coast rivers flooded on the same day in 2019, the Waiho tore down a bridge and cut off local communities for 18 days, and the Fox eroded a landfill, exposing 135 tonnes of rubbish that contaminated beaches more than 100km away.
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