Post of the Day
Introducing the Canary Media energy and climate playlist
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On This Day
Nag Panchami – Hinduism
Climate Change
Climate change will transform cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, study suggests
Researchers have shown that human-caused climate change will have important consequences for how volcanic gases interact with the atmosphere
Global warming begets more warming, new paleoclimate study finds
Global warming begets more, extreme warming, new MIT paleoclimate study finds
Heat record smashed with 48.8C day
Bushfires are raging across large parts of Europe as a heatwave sweeps through, with one nation recording an almost 50C day.
Climate is the new populist wedge issue
As the world reckons with the grim reality of the climate crisis, right-wing populists are adapting their message.
Chile’s record-breaking drought makes climate change ‘very easy’ to see
A punishing, decade-long drought in Chile has gone from bad to worse due to a scorching July, a month which typically brings midwinter weather showering the capital Santiago in rain and snow.
How the EU’s carbon border tax will work
Carbon border taxes charge fees on imports from countries not
Health crises, war, refugees, dying reefs: A look at impacts of climate change
“It’s worse, much worse, than you think,” author David Wallace-Wells writes in his book “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming.”
Communicating climate change has never been so important, and this IPCC report pulls no punches
Simon Torok et al
On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first instalment of their sixth assessment report. As expected, the report makes for bleak reading.
By pushing for more oil production, the US is killing its climate pledges
Adam Tooze
If Joe Biden is serious about tackling the climate crisis he must use his country’s leverage to curb fossil fuels, not boost them
Is Biden serious about climate? His 2,000 drilling and fracking permits suggest not
Wenonah Hauter
Just when we must be rejecting new drilling, fracking and pipeline infrastructure, Biden isn’t just tolerating fossil fuels – he’s uplifting them
Fairness will be key to successfully tackling the climate crisis
Larry Elliott
Just as inequality fuelled the pandemic, it could wreck plans to cut emissions
It’s the end of the world as we know it – again [$]
Henry Ergas
The end of the world, it seems, is here to stay. No doubt, today’s climate scientists, armed with computer models that spit out mountains of projections, are a far cry from the doomsaying prophets of old.
We must consider the profound toll of climate change on public health
Vijay Limaye
Due to scant data, no one has calculated the total health costs of these worsening problems.
AGL hit by huge losses as it scrambles to catch up with switch from baseload
AGL hit by multi-billion dollar write downs, as Australia’s largest emitter tries to catch up with accelerating energy market transition.
Here’s where politicians picked commuter car parks to be built — and where they should have gone
The Coalition canvassed its MPs and candidates to decide where to build 47 car parks in Australia. But those car parks don’t line up with the country’s most congested roads, or its fastest growing areas.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan is called out on Q+A for being “part of the problem” when it comes to Australia’s climate change policy and raises controversy by refusing to condemn Liberal MP George Christensen’s controversial comments on COVID-19 restrictions.
Senator Rex Patrick urges gov to accelerate its Billion Trees Plan
Australia’s forest industries have welcomed Independent Senator Rex Patrick raising concerns about the slow pace of planting more production trees under the Federal Government’s Billion Trees for Jobs and Growth Plan.
Federal electoral reform bills criticised by small parties, green groups and charities
The leader of the New Liberals believes the bills are ‘directly aimed at us’, while environment group fears ‘it would have the effect of silencing community voices’
All under one roof: New laws force energy companies to accept home-grown power
New energy market rules mean network companies can no longer prevent solar households feeding energy to the grid.
‘Energy chaos’: Wind and solar industry facing roadblocks in Australia
Australia’s charge into large-scale wind and solar is faltering, with investment in new projects drying up and construction jobs in the industry diving.
A decision allowing power companies to charge customers for exporting solar power back to the grid incenses some solar owners, but others say the change is needed to ensure the costs of supporting new renewable energy is fairly shared.
AGL CEO calls for coal power shutdown plan [$]
Graeme Hunt says a national framework is needed for the phase-out of coal power even though coal generators will be needed for “many years to come”
The Nationals’ Kyoto lie is just another rort [$]
Bernard Keane
Far from land clearing restrictions imposed under the Kyoto Protocol being a disaster for the bush, they coincided with a surge in productivity, production and incomes.
Floods, fires and Angus Taylor: Coal plants don’t have much else going for them
Giles Parkinson
The only hope for improved profits for Australian coal generators are a series of catastrophes: Natural ones, mishaps, and Angus Taylor’s policies.
It’s code red for humanity. How can the health sector respond?
Melissa Sweet and Amy Coopes
In responding to the “code red” planetary health crisis documented this week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we are so far from where we need to be. Collectively as humanity and specifically as Australians.
On the climate frontlines, the emergency responders are cannon fodder
Marianne Cannon
In the face of a “code red” warning for humanity, the Australian Government has obfuscated, distracted, and dissembled in responding this week to the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change’s new report.
Greg Jericho
Australia cannot afford another election campaign that views the science of climate change as something we can ignore
If we don’t have a climate policy, the world will give us one
Waleed Aly
Despite its alarming predictions, the IPCC report failed to elicit anything approaching a new political response.
How knowledge can unlock climate action – and hope
Harleen
A youth activist with Plan International Australia, Harleen wants to see real action on climate change.
AGL’s desperate salvage operation [$]
Chanticleer
AGL Energy shareholders have little choice but to support the costly, drawn-out process of splitting into a green retail operation and a coal-fired power rump.
Nationals tail wags the Coalition dog on net zero [$]
Phillip Coorey
Barnaby Joyce says Labor has to speak to two different constituencies on climate. But his party’s stubbornness is creating the same problem for the government.
Climate science is now more certain than ever. Here’s how it can make a difference in Australian court cases
Laura Schuijers
In the last few years in particular, we’ve seen Australian cases succeed in influencing action. With this new IPCC report, climate science is more certain than ever, making it more likely this trend will continue.
Victoria
The Victorian transport projects plagued by delays [$]
The Andrews government has been warned the “window of opportunity” to start on these much-needed transport projects is closing fast.
New South Wales
Defunct NSW coal mine belches 1 million tonnes of CO2 without penalty
A coal mine in the NSW Hunter Valley has leaked the equivalent of more than a million tonnes of carbon dioxide since it was mothballed in 2014 without any penalty or restriction.
UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures to collaborate with Council on Planetary Health Initiative
Blue Mountains City Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with University of Technology Sydney, Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) to explore opportunities to work together on initiatives that support planetary health with potential local benefits for the Blue Mountains.
Snowy Hydro and its consultants get so much wrong in Kurri Kurri defence
Dylan McConnell
Snowy Hydro’s response to submissions to its controversial Kurri Kurri gas generator is riddled with obvious and important errors.
‘Between a rock and a hot place’: bushfire survivors in landmark climate case
Jo Dodds
As the latest official state-of-the climate report made waves across the globe this week, unprecedented legal action was underway in Sydney calling for its findings to be considered and acted upon by regulatory authorities.
ACT
ACT Government needs to urgently make forest industries ‘essential’ or risk taking food from shelves
The Australian Forest products Association (AFPA) urges the ACT Government to urgently revert to the nationally agreed essential industry status for forest industries or risk undermining access to food on supermarket shelves for Canberrans.
Extinction Rebellion protester Sarah ‘Daisy’ Edwards charged over graffiti outside ACT courts [$]
A climate change protester has been charged after allegedly spray-painting three letters on a path outside the ACT courts, then squirting out tomato sauce to complete her graffitied message.
Queensland
Great Barrier Reef’s survival depends on us
A snap action by Extinction Rebellion Western Australia highlighted the plight of the Great Barrier Reef.
Coal-fired power pollution a ‘toxic time bomb’ for nearby homes, expert warns
It has been almost 10 years since Swanbank A power station at Collingwood Park was closed, but a toxic ash dam on the site is yet to be dealt with and environmental experts and nearby residents are worried about the risk.
Jumping the shark: Tangled whale restarts debate over Coast’s controversial nets
Rescuers today entered their second day of trying to free a juvenile humpback whale entangled in shark nets off the Gold Coast, as controversial campaigns to ditch the nets for more sophisticated shark deterrents regained pace.
Collar camera captures world-first day in life of a K’gari dingo
It’s never-before-seen footage, in the perspective of a dingo, as it hunts prey and traverses hundreds of kilometres of the sandy landscape of K’gari (Fraser Island).
South Australia
Menacing feral pigs released in regional SA for possible ‘hunting’ activities
A mysterious outbreak of feral pigs in regional South Australia could be linked to illegal hunting activities, environment management authorities say.
State Govt now on mission to save Kangaroo Island timber from bonfire
SA’s Primary Industries Minister will send staff to Kangaroo Island to assess what timber stocks can be salvaged in the wake of a company’s “crazy” decision to burn thousands of hectares of plantation forests – a move prompted by the Planning Minister axing its proposed timber port.
Revealed: Huge emissions toll of KI timber burn [$]
A KI timber company says they may have to burn down much of its forests on the island – but a professor says it’ll create 50,000 people’s worth of carbon emissions.
Fence could save koalas tech trial to be a state-first [$]
Nearly 90 koalas killed by vehicles in Tea Tree Gully has prompted a new “virtual fencing” trial on local roads in what would be a state first.
Tasmania
Sussan Ley rejects Tarkine emergency national heritage listing
Emergency national heritage listing of the Tarkine has been refused, in a blow for environmentalists trying to stop a tailings dam proposed for the Rosebery Mine.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre to fight cable car proposal ‘till the end’ [$]
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre is confident the cable car appeal won’t change a thing, but said it will continue their fight.
‘Asleep at the wheel’: Government blamed for deer scourge [$]
Environmentalists are pointing the finger at the government for the “explosion” in the feral deer population, which they say spells disaster for Tasmania’s native ecosystems.
‘Exciting, safe, convenient’: Why E-scooters in Tassie are a good thing [$]
Robert Mallett
The great thing about e-scooters is that they provide what is known as last-mile transport — allowing people to park their cars a relative distance from their intended destination and then use the e-scooter to travel the final distance.
Northern Territory
Research finds ways to improve magpie geese management [$]
Research from Charles Darwin University has found ways to improve management of magpie geese to better help mango growers in the NT.
McMahon calls for nuclear energy, says NT is ‘dole bludger’ on climate targets [$]
After the Northern Territory called on Canberra to set solid climate targets, the NT’s CLP Senator has gone nuclear and called for more fission power.
Core Lithium raises $140m, locks in agreement for NT lithium project [$]
Core Lithium has raised up to $140m and locked in a major offtake agreement that will fully fund the stage 1 of its NT lithium project.
‘Sacred sites to be drained of life’, say Central Australia traditional owners [$]
Traditional owners in Central Australia fear dozens of their sacred sites and Dreaming stories could be damaged by a vast groundwater licence handed to an agriculture company with alleged links to the Chinese government.
Western Australia
Much-loved Yallingup Beach in South West WA smashed by storms
Locals say they’ve never seen anything like it as the clean up of their beach begins, but some fear it won’t be rebuilt in time for the summer tourist flood
Wittenoom in Western Australia’s Pilbara is riddled with blue asbestos. Yet despite the serious health risk, people are still visiting the former mining town.
Historic fishing families fear wipeout as Andrew Forrest aims to be the big fish in aquaculture
Plans by Australia’s richest man Andrew Forrest to become a big fish in the global aquaculture industry have raised alarm among WA commercial fishers who say their livelihoods are on the line.
Sustainability
Here’s how your NFP can get climate-change ready
The impacts of climate change are already being felt globally. Longer droughts, catastrophic bushfires, and severe flooding put all parts of society at risk, including the charity sector. We take a look at what these risks are and how your organisation can deal with them.
Oil spill in Black Sea much bigger than reported – Russian scientists
A leak occurred as the Greek-flagged Minerva Symphony tanker took on oil at the Yuzhno-Ozereyevka sea terminal near Novorossiysk in southern Russia, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium that owns the terminal said on Monday.
Biden-backed ‘blue’ hydrogen may pollute more than coal, study finds
Infrastructure bill includes $8bn to develop ‘clean hydrogen’ but study finds large emissions from production of ‘blue’ hydrogen
How artificial intelligence can help save us from air pollution
Researchers find AI may outperform traditional models, which could give more advance warning of bad air days, and reduce harmful exposures and hospital visits.
UK spending far more on polluting policies than green ones, says WWF
Just £145m of budget went on environment with £40bn spent on emissions-increasing measures, says charity
Enabling the next generation of organic solar cells
Researchers have discovered a new, faster way in which organic materials redistribute sunlight energy, which could enable the next generation of organic solar cells to convert sunlight into electrical power and help in the battle against climate change.
Warfare, not climate, is driving resurgent hunger in Africa, says study
After years of progress on food security, some nations see sharp reversals
Pollution damaging humans’ first line of defence against infections and toxins, review finds
Researchers from the Technical University of Munich say there is a clear link between exposure to airborne or waterborne particles and several health conditions.
Climate change means more business for pest control companies
Climate change effects like hotter temperatures mean bugs can come out sooner, stay longer, and appear in more places. Pest control firms may benefit.
Given the current climate emergency and the broader ecological breakdown that looms, there are few issues more pressing than that expressed by the single word: enough. Yet, it is possible to satisfy humanity’s universal needs fairly—and keep the world livable.
Why the alternative meat ecosystem is booming [$]
Derek Handley
The world of venture investments has historically been concerned with returns on investment at seemingly any cost. Now, that world is waking up to the most important ROI — the health of our planet. That’s especially true given the latest IPCC report that predicts a hotter, more catastrophic future, but also sheds light on a short window to prevent such devastation.
‘Sticky questions’ raised by study on coral reefs
A new UBC study on the impact of climate change on coral reefs is raising sticky questions about conservation. It found coral in more polluted and high traffic water handled extreme heat events better than a more remote, untouched reef.
Rewilding 5% of England could create 20,000 rural jobs
Rewilding on marginal land could bolster employment without halting traditional agricultural activities, data shows
Algeria combats wildfires, observes day of mourning
Flags of Algeria fly at half-mast in mourning for the victims of the Kabylie region forest fires in Algeria’s capital Algiers, on August 12, 2021
Siberia’s wildfires are bigger than all the world’s other blazes combined
Siberia is so vast that huge fires can burn without threatening any major settlements, transportation systems or infrastructure — but are still part of a swath of infernos that together are larger than all the other blazes around the world. And that’s a lot of CO2 into the air.
World’s biodiversity maps contain many gaps
As the world’s nations prepare to set new goals for protecting biodiversity, researchers have identified where data gaps continue to limit effective conservation decisions.
The other epidemic: What’s killing the wild salmon?
A virus that flourishes in fish farms is now threatening wild populations. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, are business interests leading to government inaction?
How Arctic-alpine plants respond to global warming
Researchers have studied how two characteristic Arctic-alpine plant species respond to global warming.
Over 260,000 kilometers of rivers at risk due to proposed hydro dams
Dams and reservoirs are the leading contributors to future loss of connectivity in free-flowing rivers around the world
Protecting coral reefs more effectively from climate change
Identifying and researching different heat stress response patterns in corals will help to protect the world’s reefs better from the effects of climate change. A new study describes the necessary test procedures and initial results.
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