Post of the Day
Birds are remarkable and beautiful animals – and they’re disappearing from our world
Kim Heacox
In the past half century, North America has lost a fourth of its birds. Earth is now a coalmine, and every wild bird is a canary
On This Day
Climate Change
Climate change in the Early Holocene
New insight into how our early ancestors dealt with major shifts in climate has been revealed.
Thawing permafrost can accelerate global warming
Insufficiently considered carbon stocks in very old sediments are released as greenhouse gases
‘Ennuipocalypse’ tries to capture the disconnected despair of climate change and a lasting pandemic [$]
Ian Warden
Too many words are not enough, for in these restlessly shapeshifting times there are new phenomena and new emotions we don’t have good enough words to describe.
National
The kindest cut: the Australians fighting to save humpback whales tangled in fishing nets
The humpback population has recovered miraculously from near extinction, but increasing numbers – and climate change – mean more tragic encounters with the snares left by humans
A Labor-Greens alliance? Never say never when power is at stake [$]
Matthew Killoran
Anthony Albanese has ruled out a power-sharing deal with the Greens, but don’t be so sure.
Victoria
Earlier coal phase-out for Victorian likely as renewables surge
Speculation is growing that the Latrobe Valley’s Loy Yang A power station will be shut down earlier than previously thought.
As Melbourne heats up, the city’s trees are changing
With the city’s temperatures continuing to rise to resemble a climate more like Dubbo’s, some species of trees will thrive while others will struggle to survive.
Tall timber costs could send tradies to the wall [$]
Soaring building material costs, especially timber like treated pine, is placing huge pressure on Victorian tradies and could send some bust, industry insiders warn.
Most expensive project in our history shouldn’t be rushed
The Suburban Rail Loop’s $30bn-plus budget is a generation’s worth of infrastructure spending, which means the details must be right the first time.
Oh the humidity: why does Melbourne feel like Darwin?
Tom Cowie
For the past week or so Melbourne has gone troppo. So what’s causing the humid weather and can we expect more with climate change?
New South Wales
Big brainy batteries battle heat, hackers
A gigafactory to make big brainy batteries is taking shape in coal country.
ACT
Extreme heat would be ACT’s gravest climate change threat, government warned in 2010
The number of days above 40 degrees in Canberra would increase, and the bushfire threat from urban bushland in the city’s inner north would jump considerably, the ACT government was warned a decade ago.
Queensland
Great Barrier Reef on verge of another mass bleaching after highest temperatures on record
‘Shocked and concerned’ US government scientists say heat stress over Australia’s ocean jewel is unprecedented
Change is coming: Greens’ brutal truth for Queensland coalminers [$]
Signalling they will push Labor hard on climate change in any power sharing deal after the election, the Greens have revealed what this will mean for Queensland coalminers.
Candidate’s denial: Ever seen us in the same Groom together? [$]
An Independent candidate who once boasted about hosting an Extinction Rebellion meeting is now distancing herself from the climate protest group.
With an election looming, Morrison & Co suddenly discover the Reef is in trouble
Cindy Wockner
Almost five years ago, when now-Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was the federal environment minister, the Coalition solemnly promised to protect the iconic Great Barrier Reef.
Tasmania
Saving a species is just one perk of waking up in Tasmania’s mountains each morning
Volunteering to help save the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot is a dream job for these bird lovers, and they get to spend four weeks in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia while doing it.
Tensions grow in Derby as STT moves in on native forest
As the harvesting of a controversial native forest coupe in Derby prepares to get underway, community unrest in the region is once again beginning to mount.
‘Greenwashing’ or win for bike trails? Timber plan stokes division
Forest managers have released a draft which would see 930ha surrounding the famed Blue Derby mountain bike trail protected, but some have cried foul, calling the plan ‘greenwashing’.
Western Australia
Bullsbrook blaze: Outback Splash water park evacuated
A raging bushfire threatened lives and properties and forced the evacuation of a popular attraction near Bullsbrook on Saturday
Move to protect blackouts after solar panel boom [$]
Solar panels are sprouting on the rooftops of 3000 WA homes every month — driving a six-fold increase in generation over the past 10 years and prompting Synergy to take extra measure to protect the grid.
Sustainability
Zinc price on the rise as solar and wind projects boom
The zinc price is rising, along with a lot of other metals used in manufacturing renewable energy equipment.
Shedding light on polymer solar cells: Illuminating how solvent additives improve efficiency
Researchers imaged nanoscale photocurrents in an all-polymer blend solar cell using photoconductive atomic force microscopy.
Green energy measures saving UK households £1,000 a year – analysis
Savings come largely from efficient electrical appliances and boilers but insulation could halve future bills
Engineers built a cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems. Unlike other carbon capture systems, which work in labs with pure carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks, this artificial leaf captures carbon dioxide from the air or flue gas and is modular.
How to reuse N95 masks safely to cut down on waste
Aleasha McCallion et al
Just because we’re in a period of social change, doesn’t mean we have to lose momentum on sustainability. There are six things we can do right now to offset our daily waste from disposable masks.
Serbia stomps on Rio Tinto’s lithium mining project
Binoy Kampmark
The Serbian Government has bowed to protests and cancelled a multi-billion dollar Rio Tinto mining project.
Our obsession with economic growth will destroy us
Ted Trainer
Capitalist societies refuse to recognise there are limits to growth, resulting in inequality and ecological destruction — it will lead to collapse.
Peter Sainsbury
To limit global warming we must stop producing and burning fossil fuels. But nations’ and companies’ plans don’t match their grand pledges and rhetoric. Nor with deforestation.
Peruvian gold rush turns pristine rainforests into heavily polluted mercury sinks
Scientists record the highest levels of atmospheric mercury pollution in the world in a pristine patch of the Peruvian Amazon
Crowding, climate change, and the case for distancing among trees
Lower crowding for trees can increase chances of survival after fire
Birds are remarkable and beautiful animals – and they’re disappearing from our world
Kim Heacox
In the past half century, North America has lost a fourth of its birds. Earth is now a coalmine, and every wild bird is a canary
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