Daily Links Aug 23

“If we screw up the planet with botched geo-engineering attempts, there is no do-over”, says Michael Mann. So, do we take the punt or do we get serious about de-carbonising our energy systems?

Post of the Day

Today’s decisions lock in industry emissions for decades — here’s how to get them right

Alison Reeve

Planning to replace an ageing asset starts well before it is due to end its life, and companies can only consider realistic options.

 

On This Day

August 23

 

Climate Change

Scientists turn to risky plan B as the world fails on climate change

Some experts have called these measures “climate methadone”, warning of unintended consequences. Others argue we need to break the glass in an emergency.

Climate change activists target City of London’s Guildhall

Climate change activists climbed the outside of the headquarters of the City of London’s government on Sunday as they began two weeks of protests focused on the capital’s financial district.

 

IPCC report may underplay risk of freak El Nino, La Nina events

Australian scientists have challenged the latest UN-backed global warming report, saying it underestimated the likelihood major weather events driven by processes in the Pacific.

 

National

Tropical fish follow warmer waters south, devouring kelp forests

They are brightly coloured, beautiful and hungry — tropical fish and sea urchins are thriving in southern waters warmed by climate change. But now they are devastating kelp forests already knocked around by marine heatwaves.   

 

Councils around Australia are going green, but will households pay the price?

The cost of going green comes with a hefty price tag. For this reason, local councils are lobbying for more funding to avoid passing the cost of fighting climate change on to ratepayers.

 

Looking for lockdown ideas? How about baking a bilby?

If you fancy saving endangered wildlife via the medium of baked treats, Australia’s Threatened Species Bake Off is for you.

 

Floating houses and green walls. Some councils are already adapting to climate change

As climate scientists warn Australia to improve its climate adaptation efforts, some communities are exploring floating houses, urban greening and coastal protections. 

 

Blueprint for emissions reduction: major industry policy changes needed for Australia to reach net zero

As emissions from industrial sites increase, Grattan Institute recommends a new future fund be set up similar to the national green bank

 

Going to e-waste: Australia’s recycling failures and the challenge of solar

More than 100,000 tonnes of solar panel waste are forecast to enter Australia’s waste stream by 2035

 

City centres evolve as the pandemic changes the way we work

Major changes to our cities are already under way as staff and businesses embrace new hybrid remote/office work patterns.

 

Australia on verge of electric cars boom amid sharp jump in sales

With 14 models of electric cars now under $65,000 in Australia, 8688 were sold in the first half of 2021, more than any other calendar year.

 

Car-tracking tech to solve Australia’s infrastructure woes [$]

New technology so powerful it could track cars on the road may be the future ‘nervous system’ for Australia, aimed at protecting critical infrastructure.

 

Existing framework there to encourage companies to slash carbon emissions: report

Thousands of sites are responsible for almost a third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions but don’t have enough incentives to act on climate change, the Grattan Institute says.

 

Taylor asks business to climate tech talks [$]

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has opened consultation with ­industry over a climate change policy that would encourage businesses to invest in technology to lower their emissions.

 

How Morrison can get going towards net zero – if he wants to

Ross Gittins

If we take as many easy shots as we can now at reducing emissions, that will buy us more time for technological advances to help with the harder stuff.

Who created the renewable energy miracle?

Paul Krugman

There’s a really good case to be made that government support for renewable energy created a cost miracle that might not have happened otherwise — and this cost miracle may be the key to saving us from utter climate catastrophe.

 

Regional communities are itching to tackle the challenge of climate change

Charlie Prell

On my farm near Crookwell, NSW I’m already seeing hotter summers, including longer periods of drought with intense rainfall events in the interim.

 

Today’s decisions lock in industry emissions for decades — here’s how to get them right

Alison Reeve

Planning to replace an ageing asset starts well before it is due to end its life, and companies can only consider realistic options.

 

Land of opportunity: more sustainable Australian farming would protect our lucrative exports (and the planet)

Frank Jotzo and David Lindenmayer

The European Union is pressing ahead with carbon border levies – charges on carbon-intensive goods from countries such as Australia that haven’t taken strong action to reduce emissions. The EU will impose such measures on a range of imported industrial materials including aluminium, steel and cement.

 

Intervene to transform industrial emissions and hit net zero [$]

Tony Wood

Given the lack of a carbon price, tighter government regulation and a co-ordinated industry policy will be needed to cut heavy-industry greenhouse gases.

 

Victoria

Environmental watchdog to slash workforce, disband waste crime unit

The Environment Protection Authority will cut its workforce as the Victorian government tries to repair the state’s budget.

 

Congestion tax, paid train station parking and user pays registration costs in transport plan [$]

A congestion charge and paid parking at busy train stations are part of the state’s new traffic-busting plan. But one radical change will affect every Victorian.

 

New South Wales

The ‘toxic little time bombs’ that are threatening our owls

NSW authorities may have been thwarted in their plans to “napalm” the state’s mice plague this year, but there is growing concern about the risk of household rat poisons to wildlife like owls.

 

Why NSW feels pressure to find new gas [$]

As prices rise and interstate supplies get sent overseas, the battle has begun for NSW to keep the pilot lights on.

 

‘Devastating’: More than 500 trees being cut down for Sydney motorway project

More than 500 trees are being chopped down in Sydney’s north for multimillion-dollar upgrades to the city’s busiest motorway, prompting residents and the local council to ramp up their campaign against their removal.

 

NSW moves to kickstart green hydrogen [$]

The NSW government initiative will bring together producers, users and others in the hydrogen supply chain to try to accelerate the development of the green fuel.

 

ACT

Canberra’s population is set to nearly double within 40 years — but one developer wants it to grow even larger

Canberra’s population is on track to grow from 432,000 to 700,000 people in the next 40 years. But the verdict is out on whether that is a good or bad thing.

 

Rare plants damaged in Black Summer to be protected at National Botanic Gardens

Some of Australia’s rarest plant species hit hard by the Black Summer bushfires in Namadgi and Kosciuszko national parks will be protected as part of a new conservation scheme.

 

Canberra small hot water businesses face financial risk due to efficiency scheme [$]

Canberra small hot-water businesses have warned they are in danger of financial collapse due to them not being able to participate in the territory government’s energy efficiency improvement scheme.

 

Queensland

‘Chicken Little is not required at times like this’: Officials sought to downplay Fraser Island bushfire, documents reveal

When a bushfire raged through Fraser Island (K’gari) in 2020, a high-ranking Queensland Parks bureaucrat downplayed messages to the public and was worried visitors wouldn’t make Christmas bookings, internal emails reveal.

 

Queensland’s first five hydrogen-powered cars snapped up

They’re a vast improvement on Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s 1980 vision of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, and the state government has bought five of them to promote renewable hydrogen.

 

Tasmania

Fish farm opponents continue fight in Burnie, Stanley, gov deny secret plans

We have a voice, and we shall prevail. That’s the message outspoken fish farming opponent and Toxic author Richard Flanagan shared as he took to the stage in Burnie on Saturday at a community session against proposed offshore salmon farms planned for the North-West.

 

Western Australia

BHP deal buys Woodside space to plan life beyond fossil fuels

Australia’s oil and gas champion Woodside was seemingly a company without much of a future. Until this week.

 

‘So fluffy they’re like teddy bears’: thousands of native bees emerge in Western Australia

Higher than average rainfall and growth of the bees’ two favourite flowers could account for the larger than usual colony

 

Sustainability

Experts laud Montreal’s plan to cut back on single-use plastics but say Canada has far to go

Environmental experts are praising Montreal’s decision to ban some kinds of single-use plastics, but they say Canada is still a long way from being plastic-free despite government promises. 

 

Burning forests to make energy: EU and world wrestle with biomass science

The EU and the forestry industry say burning wood to make energy is carbon neutral and cleaner than coal. But critics say biomass is a disaster for forests, biodiversity and the climate.

 

Nature Conservation

Relentless winds drive huge California wildfire

Crews have dug in and burned out fire lines as high winds continue to fan the fury of a northern California wildfire – the second year in a row extreme weather events have spawned massive flames and vast property damage.

 

These probiotics for coral could help save the reefs

Some helpful bacteria can help coral survive higher ocean temperatures. The trick is getting it to the reefs in the first place.

 

Mushrooms: 4 uses that benefit the environment

As we look to transition from fossil to bio-based materials, fungi are becoming the ultimate biodegradable building blocks for furniture, fashion, housing and beyond.

 

When restoring marine life, clumping works best

Experiments in the Netherlands point to better ways of getting plants to help each other.

 

The more children know of the natural world, the more they’ll want to protect it

Lucy Jones and Kenneth Greenway

Too many British children are deprived of nature. If they can’t recognise a swift, will they care if it doesn’t come back?

 

Coral, meet coral: how selective breeding may help the world’s reefs survive ocean heating

Emily Howells and David Abrego

A single generation of selective breeding can make corals better able to withstand extreme temperatures, according to our new research. The discovery could offer a lifeline to reefs threatened by the warming of the world’s oceans.



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