Post of the Day
How extractive industries manage to carry on harming the planet
Around the globe, concern is mounting about the unfolding climate and ecological catastrophe. Yet the extraction of natural resources through mining and energy projects continues on a large scale, with disastrous environmental consequences.
On This Day
Climate Change
Alaska thunderstorms may triple with climate change
Warming temperatures will potentially alter the climate in Alaska so profoundly later this century that the number of thunderstorms will triple, increasing the risks of widespread flash flooding, landslides, and lightning-induced wildfires, new research finds.
Iran proposes creating international fund for climate change
Iran has proposed the creation of an international fund to fight climate change that would tax nations based on their pollution output, according to state media.
What’s really behind corporate promises on climate change?
Many big businesses have not set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Others have weak goals.
Climate change and ‘advanced nuclear’ solutions
As the dust continues to settle from the 2020 election, winners and losers are starting to appear. One victor could be carbon-free energy and storage industries.
David Attenborough to U.N.: ‘Climate change a threat to global security, I don’t envy you’
British naturalist David Attenborough warned on Tuesday that climate change is the biggest security threat that modern humans have ever faced, telling the U.N. Security Council: “I don’t envy you the responsibility that this places on all of you.”
National
Joe Biden’s climate envoy admits US and Australia not on ‘same page’
John Kerry’s comments, including a call for a faster exit from coal power, add to pressure on the Coalition to do more
Recent Australian emissions cuts likely to be reversed in recovery from Covid and drought
Scott Morrison says Coalition is ‘getting on with’ reductions, but analysis finds end of lockdowns and drought will reverse trend
Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025
A new report suggests previous estimates understated the amount of cheap solar and wind energy entering the national electricity market
Independent review says department received allegations soon after first permits were issued but exports continued
Pro-coal group gets parliamentary inquiry into “woke” lending bans
The mining sector has backed Queensland MP George Christensen’s pro-coal forces in the Coalition after it won the right to hold an inquiry into what the industry called “woke” policies in banking, superannuation and finance.
Craig Kelly: I will stymie emissions target
Outspoken federal MP Craig Kelly warns he could block any new policy the Morrison government did not take to the last election.
Coles to stop selling single-use plastic cutlery and tableware
A popular item is set to disappear from Coles shelves around the country from July 1 in a big move to cut waste every year under the plan.
China’s stunning carbon dioxide emissions revealed [$]
Nationals senator Matt Canavan says we in Australia should not be cutting our emissions targets unless China makes a similar move.
It’s time to rethink our sea-change and tree-change dreams, scientists warn
Scattered housing in “at risk” areas must be replaced with sustainable resilient community models, according to experts, who’ve warned many of our homes will become worthless if we don’t “wake up”.
Why Texas’ power outage has implications for Australia
John Quiggin
Immediately after the blackouts came an outbreak of culture war blame-shifting familiar from extreme weather events in Australia.
Sensible Labor MPs need to stand up to Albanese on nuclear
Theo Theophanous
A recent book, An Australian Nuclear Industry, published by the Submarine Institute of Australia, presents a compelling case from 11 contributors for such an industry, including for nuclear submarines.
War for water: foreign investor firepower over Australian farmers in water deals
Callum Foote
The “corporatisation” of Australian farming continues apace. Almost 14% of agricultural land is now owned by foreign investors who, according to a ruling by the ATO, do not have to pay capital gains tax on water rights.
The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert
Adrian G. Fisher et al
As one of the longest structures in the world, the dingo fence is an icon of Australia. It stretches more than 5,600 kilometres across three states, including 150 kilometres that traverses the red sand dunes of the Strzelecki Desert.
Fires bring home climate-driven urgency of rethinking where we live – and how
Barbara Norman et al
As we were still recovering from last summer’s fires in southeast Australia, the southwest fires brought in 2021. Both were far more intense fires than seen before, driven by deep drying, extreme heat and powerful winds. It’s a harsh reminder that climate change is going to bounce us up and down with increased frequency.
Victoria
Flesh-eating bug, Buruli ulcer, sparks Melbourne alert
A mysterious flesh-eating bug has spread to non-coastal Melbourne suburbs, prompting a fresh health alert.
Melbourne Council steps up climate crusade [$]
Melbourne City Council’s draft plan for a major urban renewal precinct has called for all-electric buildings and fossil-fuel free infrastructure.
Brighton Grammar site probed by environmental watchdog [$]
Brighton Grammar’s junior school, which was built on a former gas site, is being probed by the Environment Protection Authority amid plans to develop the site.
APA’s new gas generator remains in UNGI limbo, can’t find a customer
APA still can’t find a customer for its proposed new gas generator promised support by Morrison government as it looks to hydrogen opportunities after big first half loss.
Queensland
White spot disease is harmless to humans but deadly for prawns — and it’s cost farmers in south-east Queensland an estimated $50 million in losses.
Ditch the car: Fast rail to bring huge population shift [$]
The Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba would be the biggest winners from a faster rail network, a survey has found.
Can a cold water bath save the Great Barrier Reef?
Lack of action on climate change is forcing scientists to devise ever more elaborate ways to stave off the damage.
Household batteries blamed for spate of Brisbane garbage truck fires
Batteries put in bins spark garbage truck fires and a stern warning from City Hall.
Waterfront war: Legal bid to stop $2.1bn project getting off the ground
Behind the sedate Eagle Street Pier on the Brisbane River lies a court battle of titanic proportions.
‘Unnecessary force’: Protester’s charge dropped on appeal
An Extinction Rebellion protester has been cleared of obstructing police after a judge found the force used during her arrest was not reasonably necessary.
Farmers call for national fund to protect against coal seam gas
A group of Queensland farmers calls for federal government intervention to ensure landholders are protected against future impacts of coal seam gas.
South Australia
Don’t dump PFAS until we know all the risks: Bignell [$]
The MP for McLaren Vale is demanding no PFAS landfill site be built there until a swath of extra information on the builder – and its past breaches – is released.
Dalrymple big battery delivers biggest bang for megawatt hour of storage
Dalrymple North big battery in South Australia delivers biggest bang per megawatt hour in most lucrative market for battery storage.
Binning single-use plastic for good: how businesses are preparing for SA’s plastic ban
The countdown is on until South Australia’s single-use plastics ban begins to roll out, with business owners preparing for the change next week.
Long-term impact of quick nuclear dump fix
Margaret Beavis
Legislation to set up a national nuclear waste storage site on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is being debated by federal parliament. Margaret Beavis argues that both the site selection process and storage plans for long-lived intermediate nuclear waste are unacceptable.
Tasmania
From ‘screaming faddist’ to Ogilvie’s Scar, Mount Wellington has a long history of grand ideas
They’ve spoken about a cable car for Hobart’s Mount Wellington for the past 130 years, so it’s not surprising that the latest plan for a “machine on wires” has hit another hurdle.
Bob Brown Foundation takes takayna Trail ultra-marathon dispute to the Supreme Court
The Bob Brown Foundation has launched Supreme Court action against Sustainable Timber Tasmania over its refusal to grant a permit for the annual takayna Trail ultra-marathon next month.
TasWater surprises council owners with $5 million half year payout
Councils around Tasmania got a pleasant surprise earlier this month when TasWater dropped some cash into their accounts.
Tasmanian Musuem and Art Gallery says fresh thylacine sighting likely a pademelon
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery has dashed the hopes of a Tasmanian Tiger hunter who believes he captured the first image of the iconic species in decades.
Burnie’s Little Penguin colony experiences a baby boom late in the season
Burnie Little Penguin colony has experienced an exceptional year with a blooming of baby penguins after chicks had gone off to sea and adults are moulting.
Tribunal hands down decision for cable car, calls for more evidence on Aboriginal heritage [$]
Opponents have welcomed the rejection of a planning appeal by the kunanyi/Mt Wellington cable car developer that sought to minimise the assessment of the impact of its development on Aboriginal heritage.
Northern Territory
New infrastructure may make Darwin more drought-resistant [$]
Major new water infrastructure decisions to solve the problem of future water supply in the greater Darwin region are a step closer
NT’s world first with Tennant Creek renewable hydrogen trial [$]
The Northern Territory government has taken its first significant step towards a future hydrogen industry
‘The outcomes from the tourism industry and the broader economy would be catastrophic’: Tourism boss [$]
The head of Top End Tourism says the threatened closure of the Kakadu National Park could have “catastrophic” impacts on the struggling industry.
Western Australia
Aboriginal heritage site damaged near Pilbara BHP iron ore mine
Mining giant BHP are investigating damage to a culturally significant Aboriginal site in Western Australia’s iron ore-rich Pilbara region.
Bin divers cash in on YOUR cans
People are raiding recycling bins for cans and bottles.WA’s Cash for Containers scheme has proved to be a great money-spinner for kids’ piggy banks and community groups but it also seems to have birthed a new neighbourhood nuisance — the bin diver.
Malcolm Turnbull joins Fortescue Metals’ clean energy subsidiary
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has teamed up with one of Australia’s richest men and an ex-spy boss for a surprising new role.
Pilbara Aboriginal leader strongly criticises Rio Tinto
Highly respected Pilbara Indigenous leader Barry Taylor has weighed in on the Rio Tinto fallout after Juukan Gorge, saying the embattled mining giant has not made any internal changes in more than two decades.
Sustainability
Transforming urban systems: Toward sustainability
In the inaugural issue of npj Urban Sustainability, a new Nature Partner Journal out today, a team of leading urban ecologists outlines a practical checklist to guide interventions, strategies, and research that better position urban systems to meet urgent sustainability goals.
Climate-friendly foam building insulation may do more harm than good
The use of the polymeric flame retardant PolyFR in ‘eco-friendly’ foam plastic building insulation may be harmful to human health and the environment, according to a new commentary in Environmental Science & Technology
For selenium in rivers, timing matters
Researchers have gained new insight into an ongoing environmental health problem
How extractive industries manage to carry on harming the planet
Around the globe, concern is mounting about the unfolding climate and ecological catastrophe. Yet the extraction of natural resources through mining and energy projects continues on a large scale, with disastrous environmental consequences.
Protective ship coatings as an underestimated source of microplastic pollution
Shipping traffic can be a major source of microplastics, especially out in the open ocean. In a new study, a team of environmental geochemists from the University of Oldenburg (Germany) for the first time provides an overview of microplastics mass distribution in the North Sea. The scientists found that most of the plastic particles in water samples taken in the south-eastern North Sea originate from binders used in marine paints. Their hypothesis is that ships leave a kind of ‘skid mark’ in the water.
Microbiome boost may help corals resist bleaching
Providing corals with cocktails of natural probiotics could enhance their tolerance to stress and reduce mortality in coral bleaching events.
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