Daily Links Sep 12

With A  B de Feffel Johnson at the helm, Bookshelves Brandis watching for Australia’s interests and the possible involvement of UK Trade Envoy Mad Monk, is it surprising that climate response was written out of the UK/Australia trade agreement? Now that would be a document our Pentecostal PM would sign.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/11/australia-deal-uk-climate-trade-temperature

From: Maelor Himbury <maelor@melbpc.org.au>
Date: 12 September 2021 at 8:53:11 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Sep 12

Post of the Day

An actor, two big bees and a lot of experts: a week spent tackling the planet’s problems

World’s largest conservation summit since Covid-19 brought 4,000 people to Marseille to showcase issues and solutions from coral reefs to land protection

 

On This Day

September 12

 

Ecological Observance

National Bilby Day

 

Climate Change

Climate vulnerable countries fear barriers could exclude them from COP26 talks

The world’s poorest countries are demanding assistance with vaccination and quarantine requirements, so they can attend a global climate conference.

 

UK planning last-ditch China climate talks to break impasse before Cop26

Crunch meeting of world leaders tabled for this month, with Xi key to success of climate summit

 

New insights into sea ice and climate change

A 170 m record of marine sediment cores extracted from Adélie Land in Antarctica is yielding new insights into the complicated relationship between sea ice and climate change.

 

The Australia deal shows the UK is happy to compromise climate goals for trade

Gwen Buck

Leaked documents that reveal the removal of references to temperature targets set a worrying precedent

 

National

Grey nurse shark numbers increase despite intra-uterine cannibalism

Despite its critically endangered listing and serious sibling rivalry, grey nurse shark numbers are increasing along Australia’s east coast.

 

‘Dingoes were here first’: the landowners who say letting ‘wild dogs’ live pays dividends

Some farmers see a vicious pest that should be shot on sight, others a native species that plays a vital role in Australia’s ecosystem. Head of news Mike Ticher recommends this piece by Adam Morton on the conflicting views of what to do about the dingo

 

Ancient marsupial ‘junk DNA’ might be useful after all, scientists say

Viral fossils buried in DNA may protect against future virus infections, a new marsupial study suggests.

 

Victoria

Hunted, misnamed and misunderstood: Looking out for Victoria’s eastern quolls

Before these eastern quoll pups could thrive they needed to undergo a couple of rounds of “survival of the fittest”. These little creatures born in captivity in western Victoria might hold the key to the species’ future

 

Climate damage starting to hit us where it hurts – on the beach

Coastal councils are urging the state government for stronger climate action after experiencing significant erosion and storm damage.

 

New South Wales

‘Water appears to be endless: Menindee Lakes fill for first time in almost a decade

After historic fish kills and what seemed like endless drought, the Menindee Lakes by Monday will hold more than three Sydney Harbours worth of floodwater — and locals couldn’t be happier.

 

‘Spiralling out of control’: NSW failing to remove feral horses quick enough

The state government is removing feral horses at barely a third of the rate needed to keep the Kosciuszko National Park population under control, the Threatened Species Council said.

 

Tasmania

With a shortage of building timber, why send eucalyptus nitens overseas as woodchips?

Eucalyptus niten plantations cover 210,000 hectares of Tasmania but could these grey gums be worth more than just pulpwood?

 

Upper Murray Seeds Research Centre recognised in 2021 Tasmanian Community Achievement Awards

Innovation in agriculture is the driving force behind the team at Upper Murray Seeds Research Centre, located at Cressy.

 

Northern Territory

Labor backs away from hunting promise [$]

Environment Minister Eva Lawler has now put it in writing that she has no idea where a new hunting reserve can go, despite promising one ahead of the 2020 election.

 

Sustainability

Indonesias first pumped storage hydropower plant to support energy transition

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$380 million loan to develop Indonesia’s first pumped storage hydropower plant, aiming to improve power generation capacity during peak demand, while supporting the country’s energy transition and decarbonization goals.

 

New Thames tunnel will make London pollution worse, warn climate activists

Campaigners say Sadiq Khan’s support for a four-lane road under the river is at odds with his environmental aims

 

‘We’re going after creatives that greenwash fossil fuels’: the group targeting ad agencies

Jamie Henn, the founder of Fossil Fuel Free Media, on how advertising agencies help legitimise the fossil fuel industry

 

An actor, two big bees and a lot of experts: a week spent tackling the planet’s problems

World’s largest conservation summit since Covid-19 brought 4,000 people to Marseille to showcase issues and solutions from coral reefs to land protection

 

Hand pollination of crops is of major importance

Researchers analyses use in worldwide commercial cultivation

 

Transforming ‘sewer gas’ into clean hydrogen fuel

Study builds on previous work using ‘chemical looping’

 

World Trade Center firefighters 13% more likely to develop cancer than those not working at site of 9/11 attacks

Firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 are 13% more likely than colleagues who didn’t work at the site to develop cancer, particularly prostate and thyroid cancer, finds research published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

 

Sunlight can break down marine plastic into tens of thousands of chemical compounds, study finds

Sunlight was once thought to only fragment plastics in the marine environment into smaller particles that chemically resemble the original material and persist forever. However, scientists more recently have learned that sunlight also chemically transforms plastic into a suite of polymer-, dissolved-, and gas-phased products.

 

Vaccines effective against Delta variant

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalizations and emergency department visits caused by the Delta variant, according to data from a national study. That data also indicate that Moderna’s vaccine is significantly more effective against Delta than Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The study of real world data was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s VISION Network which analyzed more than 32,000 medical encounters from nine states during summer 2021, when the Delta variant became the predominant strain.

 

Nature Conservation

Large herbivore can reduce fire risks

Around the world, wildfires are posing major risks to people and nature; domestic and wild animals can help prevent them

 

Fungi could help to prevent landslips

The role of fungi in helping to prevent landslips is being investigated in research led at the University of Strathclyde.



Maelor Himbury
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