Post of the Day
Economic planners do not reckon with climate crisis bearing down on us
David Shearman
The current population of 25 million may be Australia’s limit, unless we are prepared to reduce our lifestyle footprint.
On This Day
Saint Nicholas Day – Eastern Christianity
National
Economic planners do not reckon with climate crisis bearing down on us
David Shearman
The current population of 25 million may be Australia’s limit, unless we are prepared to reduce our lifestyle footprint.
Soil carbon sequestration on farms alone won’t absolve our daily emission sins
Kate Burke
We must be realistic about how much soil carbon sequestration can achieve in the fight against the climate crisis
The way we were: the PM banks on Australia’s narrow vision
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Focus groups have told the PM’s campaign team that the enemy is change and anyone who wants to impose any more of it on weary Australians.
New South Wales
NSW to add two wetlands to national parks under 33,000ha land purchase
The wetlands are estimated to host 70,000 waterbirds, including Australia’s rarest waterfowl
Sprawling Caryapundy Swamp to earn international protection status
Having been secured as a national park last year the swamp, which teams with birdlife when flooded, is likely to be listed as an internationally important wetland.
Close shave for Liberal elder in blue-ribbon heartland a win for Greens
It wasn’t enough to claim an electoral victory, but the Greens are chalking up a triumph after their own mayoral candidate scored close to half the votes against former federal Liberal minister Philip Ruddock.
Swimmers can check estuary health before diving in with new grading system
As temperatures edge towards 40 degrees this weekend, a new grading system ranks Sydney estuaries so you can see which ones are a nice spot to cool down and which are to be avoided.
Elderly and disabled lose free parks passes [$]
Environment Minister Matt Kean has been urged to fix a loophole that has led to the elderly and disabled losing free National Parks passes
ACT
There are questions over the capacity of the ACT’s wastewater treatment system, after partially treated sewage was repeatedly released into the Murray Darling catchment during recent heavy rainfall.
Queensland
If this is coal’s last hurrah, what’s the plan for central Queensland?
Queensland coal country will again be a focal point next election, and with growing job insecurity, distrust in major parties and Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer still popular, things could get interesting.
Great Barrier Reef could face another mass bleaching by end of January, forecast says
Scientists are hoping La Niña conditions might yet stave off threat from predicted heat accumulation in northern and central reef
South Australia
Plate of origin: Labor plan to make SA the koala state [$]
Stand back hairy-noses, SA politicians want to borrow the koala as a state symbol – but wombats may still have their day.
Sustainability
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ constantly cycle through ground, air and water, study finds
The Stockholm University study highlights the chemicals’ mobility, which has been found in penguin eggs and polar bears
Understanding cobalt’s human cost
After studying the impacts of mining cobalt — a common ingredient in lithium-ion batteries — on communities in Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Northwestern University is calling for more data into how emerging technologies affect human health and livelihoods.
Over 1kg of plastic waste is produced per patient anaesthetised, Spanish study finds
Over 1kg of plastic waste is generated per anaesthesia procedure, an audit of surgical patients in a burns unit in Spain has revealed. Plastic wrappers are the most common item of waste
Peter Sainsbury
Most of Earth’s minerals need living organisms to form. Young people recommend consuming less: smartphones, meat and alcohol would be good starts.
Soils in old-growth treetops can store more carbon than soils under our feet
Canopy soils that form on tree branches contain three times more carbon than soils on the ground in Costa Rica, potentially serving as an important carbon sink around the world.
Forests with rich tree species grow more consistently
A recent shows that extreme weather conditions affect species-rich forests less than forests with fewer species. In addition, species-rich forests also produce more wood—largely due to the diversity of functional characteristics among species.
Ocean acidification and warming disrupts fish shoals
Researchers from the University of Adelaide have found that the way fish interact in groups is being upset by ocean acidification and global warming.
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