Post of the Day
How can I help reduce carbon emissions?
Rod Taylor
Reducing a nation’s carbon emissions seems such a large problem, it’s hard to imagine how individual action can make a difference. The good news, however, is that we can do something while being paid by a simple fee levied on carbon polluting products such as fossil fuels.
On This Day
Palm Sunday – Eastern Christianity
Mahavir Jayanti – Jainism
Ecological observance
Arbor Day – Germany
Climate Change
Wealthy nations ‘failing to help developing world tackle climate crisis’
Warning comes after lack of new funding pledges at virtual summit attended by 40 world leaders and hosted by White House
Biden vows US will work with Russia on climate
Countries with poor track records on climate change, including Brazil and Saudi Arabia, were also courted at virtual summit
‘There are no jobs on a dead planet’, Sharan Burrow tells Biden’s summit
The former Australia trade union chief now a leader of the international union movement committed to supporting a just transition to clean jobs.
Response options should be at the center of climate risk assessment and management
A team of researchers from the Africa Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) led a global team of 21 climate risk scholars to better understand and inform decision making around climate change risks in Africa and globally by examining how the drivers of risk interact. Their work extends on existing risk frameworks with the hope that this research could help decision makers, managers and researchers understand the inherent complexity of climate change.
Climate-friendly microbes chomp dead plants without releasing heat-trapping methane
Scientists have identified a new phylum of microbes found around the world that appear to be playing an important (and surprising) role in the global carbon cycle by helping break down decaying plants without producing the greenhouse gas methane.
National
Beware the ‘dodgy curry’ effect: Farmers warned as mice plague shows no signs of easing
Mice populations are on the march across the country, with experts warning farmers not to expect winter to save the day.
Climate could be the next great risk to global finance and the regulator is demanding … not much
David Taylor
Australia’s key financial system watchdog has issued new guidance on how institutions should handle climate risks, but is requiring them to do precisely nothing.
Australia has wasted so many years when it comes to climate change
Greg Jericho
The first mention in parliament of ‘greenhouse gas’ occurred in 1986 – decades later the government is still not proposing anything near appropriate
Breathtaking inaction on climate change will choke us all
Letters
Climate change is not a matter of “unscientific insistence on immutable certainty”.
How can I help reduce carbon emissions?
Rod Taylor
Reducing a nation’s carbon emissions seems such a large problem, it’s hard to imagine how individual action can make a difference. The good news, however, is that we can do something while being paid by a simple fee levied on carbon polluting products such as fossil fuels.
Michael Tanner
And all guns saluted the PM’s climate announcements. But while other countries are targeting green hydrogen production, Energy Minister Angus Taylor spruiks clean hydrogen, which keeps fossil fuels in the game. And the Oz found room for an Op-ed claiming that Australia’s and America’s policies are “not far apart”.
Victoria
Crowdfunding saves 400-year-old sacred ‘grandmother tree’
The Dja Dja Wurrung people of Central Victoria will buy back the culturally significant land surrounding Me-Mandook Galk after a fundraising campaign amasses $150,000 in just 10 days.
Geelong agrees on need to fast track for renewable energy
Attendees at a sold-out forum this week on Geelong’s energy needs were unanimous in calling for an urgent transition to renewable energy sources.
Back from the tread: A homegrown ’70s icon makes a return
A uniquely Victorian sandal made from recycled tyres and suede, treads were the must-have fashion item of “slovenly” teens.
New South Wales
Why NSW is building more artificial reefs [$]
They’re the 800-tonne structures that create an oasis for marine life. NSW’s artificial reef network is expanding and anglers and tourism operators are urged to have a say where they go.
Return of Mike Baird to NSW politics would be an environmental disaster
Sue Arnold
Reports of Scott Morrison trying to persuade Mike Baird to contest Warringah should give any conservation-minded person cause for concern.
ACT
Speed bumps have emerged in the ACT government’s goal of making all its fleet vehicles electric
The enthusiasm of the ACT government to transform its entire fleet to zero emissions vehicles was not matched by the public servants who drive them, with the leases on combustion cars being extended because of concerns over recharging station availability.
New cashless transport ticket system by 2023, ACT government says
The days of hunting for the exact change to buy a bus ticket in Canberra could be over, with the territory’s new system set to be entirely cashless.
South Australia
Water project helps refloat huge KI resort plan [$]
Plans for a major tourist resort on Kangaroo Island have been revived, featuring a hotel and villas in buildings up to five storeys high.
Tasmania
Tasmania Greens call out Labor and Liberals over climate policy inaction
The Greens have come out swinging at what they feel is an inexcusable silence from Labor and Liberals over environmental and climate policy.
Supporting a renewable hydrogen future in Tasmania
Greg Kieser
As the world actively seeks ways to decarbonise its economies, the Tasmanian Liberal government is set to establish a globally significant renewable hydrogen energy industry.
Bruny Friends want salmon industry transparency
Media release – Friends of North Bruny (FONB)
Friends of North Bruny (FONB) today backed calls for the government to tell Tasmanians before election day about their plans for the growth of the salmon industry.
Ethical duplicity in parties’ environmental fail [$]
Simon Bevilacqua
Report card Tasmanians have been played like pawns for more than 50 years in a political game that unceasingly pits environmental concerns against jobs.
Western Australia
Hazardous fire burning at Welshpool transfer station
Cleanaway Waste transfer station is on fire in the city of Canning, with residents in Kewdale and Cloverdale being impacted by the hazardous smoke.
Sustainability
Genetic Effects of Chernobyl Radiation
Researchers utilized genomic tools to investigate potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl accident.
The future looks bright for infinitely recyclable plastic
Revolutionary eco-friendly plastic is almost ready to hit the shelves
Future-tense when driven to inaction
B. R. Doherty
Driverless vehicles will be bad mojo for the planet’s control freaks.
The dark side of the houseplant boom
Megan Garber
American culture is becoming more and more preoccupied with nature. What if all the celebrations of the wild world are actually manifestations of grief?
US and Iranian researchers collaborate on Lake Urmia restoration
Lake Urmia — a massive salt lake in Iran’s northwest and a sister to Utah’s Great Salt Lake — has lost nearly 95 percent of its volume over the last two decades. Researchers from Utah and Iran are working together to better understand how the changes will impact the lake’s ecosystems services.
UNH research: Climate change affects deep-sea corals and sponges differently
Corals and sponges are important foundations in ocean ecosystems providing structure and habitats that shelter a high number of species like fish, crabs and other creatures, particularly in the seamounts and canyons of the deep sea. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have discovered that when it comes to climate change not all deep-sea corals and sponges are affected the same and some could be threatened if average ocean temperatures continue to increase in the deep sea of the Northwest Atlantic.
Climate change impacts conservation sites across the Americas
New research, led by Durham University and published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, investigates the impacts of potential climate change scenarios on the network of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) across the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
Ancient Indigenous forest gardens promote a healthy ecosystem
A new study by historical ecologists finds that Indigenous-managed forests — cared for as ‘forest gardens’ — contain more biologically and functionally diverse species than surrounding conifer-dominated forests and create important habitat for animals and pollinators.
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