Post of the Day
Heatwaves and hope: The message from the IPCC climate report
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The exact word wasn’t used in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. But read between its many explicit and alarming references to the threat of increasingly prevalent heatwaves, fires, floods, droughts and rising sea levels, and the message, if not the word, is there in bold. Hope.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Late decarbonizers face mounting economic risks
According to a new study by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), late decarbonizers are likely to face increasing risks to economic stability and industrial competitiveness. Furthermore, uneven decarbonization between countries could foster international tensions in coming years.
Is China delivering on its climate promises?
So far, there is no action plan for achieving goals. Progress on a climate change law to rein in polluting sectors such as steel, iron and cement has stalled due to industry pressure, while new coal plants are proliferating. Here’s a rundown of what China says it is doing to combat climate change.
Climate report must be ‘death knell’ for fossil fuels: UN chief
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the 1.5C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement would likely be breached around 2030 — a decade earlier than it itself projected just three years ago.
US says cannot delay ‘ambitious’ action to protect climate
Years in the making, the sobering report approved by 195 nations shines a harsh spotlight on governments dithering in the face of mounting evidence that climate change is an existential threat.
Greta Thunberg says global warming’s ‘worst consequences’ can be avoided
Climate activist Greta Thunberg says we can still avoid “the worst consequences” of climate change, but only if we treat it as “a crisis”.
Humans have not existed in a climate like this before — and it’s getting worse
Worse fires, longer droughts, and more severe floods — the projections from one of the world’s most significant reports on climate change make for scary reading. Let’s break down what it all means.
‘Nobody is safe’: UN warns climate crisis poses immediate threat – video
Inger Andersen of the UN Environment Programme has said the climate crisis poses an ‘immediate threat’, adding that ‘every citizen needs to play their part’.
Scary climate changes we’ve ‘locked in’
Climate change has often seemed like a far-off concept but we are already feeling the impacts and we won’t be able to go back.
Call to end coal renewed as world leaders address UN climate report
“We know what must be done to limit global warming – consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
RealClimate: Best of the IPCC AR6 report
As climate scientists we tend to look at the IPCC reports a little differently than the general public might. Here are a few things that mark this report out from previous versions.
‘Code red’: the world’s climate wake-up call – Full Story podcast
A report by the IPCC – the world’s leading authority on climate science – has warned that climate change will probably cause global temperatures to rise by more than 1.5C, bringing widespread extreme weather. It also outlines how human activity is already changing the Earth’s climate in ‘unprecedented’ ways, with some of the changes now ‘irreversible’.
‘Code red for humanity’: UN climate change report predicts dire future – Please Explain podcast
Today on Please Explain, national environment and climate editor Nick O’Malley joins Nathanael Cooper to discuss the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The forgotten issues of climate change
Murray Hunter
What environmentalism must be concerned about.
‘Code red for humanity’: IPCC report rings alarm bells for the world’s future
Christina Lu
It’s a bleak outlook, but there is hope. If politicians the world over act now the worst impacts of climate change could be lessened.
‘We’re not about to back down’: how climate experts hold hope despite the IPCC report
Rob Law et al
The landmark IPCC report paints a bleak picture for our planet’s future. We asked five climate change experts how they are staying strong
Yes, the climate crisis is terrifying. But I refuse to abandon hope
Arwa Mahdawi
The world seems to be on the verge of collapse – yet I have just brought a baby into it
Let’s say it without flinching: the fossil fuel industry is destroying our future
Simon Lewis
Following the unequivocal IPCC climate report, we must all put pressure on governments to end the fossil fuel era
Janet Truslove
Climate watchers around the world were waiting in trepidation for the latest scientific report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published on 9 August.
Nothing can be off the table in the climate challenge [$]
AFR editorial
The answer to the planetary problem of climate change lies in spreading technology to developing economies, not just taxing rich ones.
IPCC report piles more pressure on COP26 to ‘consign coal to history’ [$]
Jess Shankleman
Coal has been a sticking point in international negotiations meant to smooth the way to a deal in Glasgow.
This is a critical moment for our survival. We need monumental action
Nerilie Abram
It is no exaggeration to say that Monday night’s release of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the single biggest moment in the history of climate science.
Heatwaves and hope: The message from the IPCC climate report
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The exact word wasn’t used in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. But read between its many explicit and alarming references to the threat of increasingly prevalent heatwaves, fires, floods, droughts and rising sea levels, and the message, if not the word, is there in bold. Hope.
The IPCC’s climate report really is a red alert
Canberra Times editorial
It is easy to develop a kind of fatigue about warnings of catastrophe over the relentless heating of the planet. The alarm sirens have been persistent over decades and yet the world keeps turning. Life goes on. It seems like meaningful action can always be put off until another day.
Report fatigue – commentary from a climate scientist on the latest IPCC summary
Marshall Shepherd
As we move forward, I hope to see more focus on actionable policy discussions centered on the solutions space – and not stifled by two-, four- or six-year political cycles.
A scientist highlights what can be done about the dire climate change report
Rachel Treisman
The United Nations just released its landmark climate report, urging countries to urgently cut their greenhouse gas emissions or else face catastrophic consequences. So what exactly should the Biden administration do?
The latest IPCC report is a catastrophe
Robinson Meyer
Climate change is here, it’s a crisis, and it’s caused by fossil fuels.
Morrison blames China, refuses to boost climate action after bleak IPCC report
Morrison and Taylor try to shift the blame for climate change onto poorer countries after world’s scientists warn of devastating future.
A reprimand for Christensen and Morrison on climate – Politics with Michelle Grattan podcast
In this episode, politics + society editor Amanda Dunn and Michelle discuss the House of Representatives’ slapdown of controversial Nationals MP George Christensen after his attack on COVID-19 lockdowns and mask-wearing. They also canvass Scott Morrison’s initial response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
The speech Scott Morrison didn’t give in response to the IPCC report [$]
Through a portal in the multiverse, Crikey has obtained a transcript of remarks delivered by some alternate Scott Morrison, in some alternate Australia.
Here are the Coalition members still denying a need for action on climate change
The Coalition is home to a handful of powerful opponents to action on climate change, who are helping to hold Australia back from meaningful action.
Technology key to tackling climate change: PM
Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists technology will solve climate change after a major report warned the world is on track for 1.5 degree of warming by early next decade.
Regional Australia will not carry climate burden, Morrison says
Regional Australia will not carry the burden of reaching new targets to drive down carbon emissions in a pledge from Prime Minister Scott Morrison that could help persuade conservative members of the government to support greater ambition on climate change.
Scott Morrison walks back ‘end the weekend’ rhetoric on electric vehicles
Prime minister challenged on his government’s record on climate action after IPCC’s landmark report on global heating
Climate campaigners say dire landmark findings mean the federal government must abandon gas basin and coalmine expansions
Fact check: Angus Taylor’s response to the landmark IPCC report
The minister for emissions reduction claims Australia can be ‘proud’ of our efforts on climate change. We cut through the spin
Nationals senators call for end to ‘nonsensical’ nuclear power ban
Matt Canavan concedes nuclear power is not currently commercially attractive but says Australia’s moratorium should be lifted so the technology can be developed.
‘Sucked into this before’: Barnaby Joyce won’t back climate action before seeing the cost
The Deputy PM has thrown a new obstacle for Scott Morrison to act on climate change, saying a dire UN climate change report doesn’t have a plan to cost.
Mining lobby defends green goals amid push for BHP to quit
The nation’s largest mining industry group has hit out at suggestions its lobbying is out of step with the Paris climate agreement’s objectives, as shareholder activists renew demands for the sector’s biggest player BHP to rethink its membership.
Greens leader presses Australian government on climate inaction ahead of IPCC report – video
Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt presses the government during Question Time on its climate targets ahead of the first major assessment of the science of climate change in eight years from the UN’s intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
IPCC Report should prompt urgent action on Australia’s One Billion Trees plan
Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA), Ross Hampton said Australia’s sustainable and renewable forest industries have significantly contributed to reducing C02 levels but can do a lot more, whilst also providing more timber for our houses, sustainable products to replace plastics and emissions-intensive building materials, and renewable bioenergy to replace fossil fuels.
Morrison’s IPCC response endangers Australians on frontlines of climate crisis
Scott Morrison’s speech today in response to the urgent warning issued by the IPCC shows a callous disregard for protecting Australians from the impacts of dangerous climate change, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Ignoring IPCC report would risk health
Media release – Australian Medical Association
Relying on science for COVID response has served us well, so climate science should be no different, AMA says.
Australia still woeful on emissions
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
The Bob Brown Foundation is calling on the federal and all state and territory governments to end logging, clearing, and all other forms of native forest and woodland destruction as a proven way to curb Australia’s woeful greenhouse gas emissions.
PM needs to find a way forward on emissions
Letters
Age readers have their say on the government’s response to climate change.
Burning question of our time: when will we act?
Letters
Dear Prime Minister, as a 16-year-old student I know children’s opinions are often ignored, but I’m begging you to listen – on behalf of the planet.
Mark Kenny
I remember the acute frustration of watching one of the US news feeds on September 11, 2001 — 20 years ago next month.
If the world followed Australia’s lead on climate change, humanity would be dead
Simon Bradshaw
The Coalition is sticking to its shockingly inadequate commitments to reducing emissions. But pressure from world leaders is escalating.
Australia fiddles while the world burns… another lost decade
Bernard Keane
Forget 2050 — the world faces marked global heating by the middle of next decade unless drastic action is taken. Meanwhile Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor treat us with contempt.
Younger people are bearing the brunt of CoVID and climate change
Tim Nelson
We owe it to young people to build a better post-CoVID world. Most importantly, we need to take climate change seriously and get to net zero emissions.
Australia’s fossil problem is deep: IPCC shows the danger it presents
Ketan Joshi
The new IPCC report shows the physical dangers of failing to resolve Australia’s deep and widespread lack of climate urgency.
Adam Morton
The Morrison government’s ‘technology, not taxes’ mantra ignores the fact that taxes pay for technology, and affordable technology can make a difference
Rachel Withers
The IPCC report makes clear that the clock is ticking on climate, but the government still can’t hear it
MPs can’t keep ignoring the fate of our planet
Age editorial
The latest UN report on the climate crisis only strengthens the argument for urgent action. There is no excuse for our politicians not to give it their utmost attention.
Greg Mullins
The IPCC’s latest report may not have come with blaring sirens and flashing lights, but it is a code red warning for humanity.
Money talks: Investors lead the push to decarbonisation
Elizabeth Knight
The weight of money moving towards environmentally friendly investments has arguably been more impactful than any government policy on cutting emissions.
Greg Mullins
The IPCC’s latest report may not have come with blaring sirens and flashing lights, but it is a code red warning for humanity.
Welcome to the Australian Centre for Climate Denial – cartoon
Cathy Wilcox
Victoria
Syncline unveils 2,400MWh big battery storage project near Melbourne
Syncline Energy has upped the ante over what might be the biggest battery project in Victoria, or even in Australia.
Roads, rates and aromantics: Greens wrestle with the burden of power on Yarra Council
Australia’s first Greens-majority council was elected in November amid much fanfare and lofty goals.
Brace for more taxpayer money burning [$]
Matt Johnston
The $3.3bn cost blowout on the West Gate Tunnel isn’t the first major project budget blunder and unfortunately it won’t be the last.
New South Wales
Research plots a downward spiral in southern Murray-Darling Basin water availability
Water availability in Australia’s most important agricultural region, The Murray-Darling Basin, will continue to decline, with less than required to be shared between community, agricultural needs and environment, according to a new analysis by researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
NSW eyes treated wastewater as key source for green hydrogen
NSW government looking to use wastewater from treatment plants as key element of green hydrogen facilities in drought-affected regions.
“It really is a race:” NSW must get cracking on green hydrogen, experts warn
Matt Kean says most hydrogen produced in NSW is grey, not green, and it’s time to push “harder and faster”.
Parkes to highlight opportunities in low carbon economy
Parkes is set to host an online forum with a focus on Activating the Low Carbon Economy in Regional Australia on Thursday 19 August 2021, with local businesses, farmers and community members encouraged to attend and learn more about embracing this developing industry and the opportunities it offers.
Protecting Our Places environmental grants to help Heal Country! 2021
Eight grants totalling over $557,000 were awarded to Aboriginal community organisations and groups across the State as part of the NSW Environmental Trust’s Protecting Our Places (PoP) grant program for 2021.
NSW transport minister wants federal government to use electric vehicles in fleet
Andrew Constance says the second-hand market for EVs could be driven by state and federal government adoption of the new technology
Green light for our environment
MidCoast Council media release
It was a win for the local environment in the 28 July council meeting, when a series of programs and plans focussed on protecting, maintaining and restoring our natural assets were adopted for implementation.
‘Grow a spine’: Berejikilan’s climate action is falling short
Peter Hannam
Environment Minister Matt Kean has his work cut out if he gets only tepid support from colleagues.
ACT
Young Liberals sell lump of Adani coal for $2,600 in party fundraiser
As the world’s scientists were preparing to release their most comprehensive statement of the science of climate change, with new warnings of the potential impacts of global warming, the ACT Young Liberals were boosting their coffers by auctioning off a lump of coal.
Eight climate change protesters arrested following vandalism outside Parliament House
Protesters demanding greater action on climate change have been arrested after spray painting slogans outside Parliament House and The Lodge in Canberra.
Queensland
Who are the biggest carbon culprits? Start with Qld Government
John McCarthy
Want to know who is Australia’s biggest emitter of CO2? It’s Queensland.
South Australia
As the planet warms, these farmers are adapting to an uncertain future
If the climate becomes drier, farmers in some parts of SA’s Eyre Peninsula could find it harder to make a living. But they’re already adapting to an uncertain future of climate change and dwindling townships.
Tasmania
Bob Brown Foundation release plan to cut Tasmania’s fallow deer population
A strategy which aims to get Tasmania’s fallow deer population down to 10,000 animals will be released on Wednesday.
Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania makes demand over state Crown land
The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania wants excess Crown land returned to the state’s Aboriginal community, rather than sold off for government revenue.
The Greens say that the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a code red for Tasmania and logging in native forests must end now.
$15M highway project set to cut congestion, boost jobs [$]
A $15m duplication project on a major highway will improve travel times and safety, part of a suite of traffic busting measures the government was rolling out around Hobart.
Western Australia
Solution to climate change more complex than ‘close down the gas industry’, WA Premier says
The WA government says it is considering legislating its commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but is shying away from stopping all new oil, coal or gas projects in the wake of a new damning climate report.
E-bikes startup in saddle for another round of funding
Freo’s Tiller Rides is gearing up for its second major equity crowdfunding campaign, aiming to raise up to $2.2 million to fund the completion of 500 e-bikes that will start arriving from December.
Sustainability
Demolition of two Three Mile Island cooling towers postponed until next year
Taking down the structures will mark the beginning of the end for a fixture of the central Pennsylvania landscape.
Cambodia: China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Dam is a Rights Disaster
A large-scale, Chinese-financed hydroelectric dam in Cambodia, completed in 2018, has undermined the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Indigenous and ethnic minority people.
Shift away from earthen homes ‘environmentally damaging’
Attitudes to earthen homes need to change to prevent millions of them being replaced by buildings made from more environmentally damaging materials, warn scientists
Slam the door shut: Improving building energy by evaluating building airflow
The building sector is a major contributor to the increasing demand for energy and corresponding carbon emissions.
They’re in our oceans, our suncream and our seafood, but what are microplastics doing to our health?
Microplastics are working their way into the water cycle, and are being consumed by the animals and fish that end up on our plates.
The crucial role of natural gas in India’s decarbonization
Shailesh Tyagi & Sunil Bhadu
It seems obvious that the role of gas in the decarbonization of India is not transitionary, but it will be part of the end-game.
Climate change ‘double whammy’ could kill off fish species
New study of 150 million years of fish evolution provides first evidence to support scientific theory that commonly-eaten fish species will become smaller as waters warm under climate change.
Thousands of animals die as climate-change-hit Kazakhstan faces extreme heat wave and drought
Unusually high temperatures and drought in the Central Asian nation have left the animals without food or water.
Invasive insects and plants spread northward
From tree-eating beetles to crop-smothering vines, pests once found only in more southerly latitudes are expanding their ranges as climate change spurs warmer winters.
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