Post of the Day
Would the Murray-Darling Basin survive another Millennium drought?
The Millennium drought didn’t just expose river beds — it also exposed deep tensions between environmental and economic interests. More than a decade has passed since that drought broke, but is the Murray-Darling Basin better placed to fend off the consequences of another protracted dry spell?
On This Day
Christmas Eve – Eastern Christianity
Epiphany – Western Christianity
Climate Change
Wildfires are digging carbon-spewing holes in the Arctic
Soaring temperatures are rapidly thawing permafrost, leading to huge sinkholes called thermokarst. Northern fires are making the situation even worse.
Climate change emergency cannot be solved by disintegrating democracies
David Shearman
President Biden’s climate agenda was launched with hopes, prayers and the expectation of leadership to all world democracies, like a glorious ship set on a maiden voyage: the SS Biden. There is now deep concern that in stormy seas it has been driven onto rocks, still intact but in need of a high tide to free it.
National
Could Australia win from Indonesia’s shock suspension of coal exports?
A decision by the Indonesian government to suspend some thermal coal exports to guarantee domestic supply could have a flow-on effect for Australian miners locked out of the China market.
These ‘seed’ drones can plant 40, 000 trees a day
AirSeed, an Australian biotech company, claims that these autonomously flying drones can combat deforestation by planting over 40,000 seed pods per day from the air.
After COVID, healthcare giants switch to the climate challenge
The past two years have shown the value of health care systems and companies in protecting citizens – but now experts are warning more must be done to push the sector to net-zero emissions.
Softly softly approach targets nature lovers [$]
The Australian Conservation Foundation will avoid using alarming language about the environment in a bid to target new audiences this year.
Would the Murray-Darling Basin survive another Millennium drought?
The Millennium drought didn’t just expose river beds — it also exposed deep tensions between environmental and economic interests. More than a decade has passed since that drought broke, but is the Murray-Darling Basin better placed to fend off the consequences of another protracted dry spell?
New South Wales
$2000 for an hour: Zoo’s offers to ‘impress guests’ with koalas in homes, hotels
A Central Coast zoo has been criticised by conservation groups for offering to rent out animals for thousands of dollars to people wanting to pet them in the comfort of their hotels or homes.
Work on river crossing dreamed of ‘since the days of the gold rush’ finally underway
Work begins on a long-awaited bridge crossing between Orange and Mudgee in the Central West after months of delays.
Collaroy Beach a ‘hellscape’ as sand in front of seawall washed away: residents
Beaches along the eastern coastline have experienced heavy erosion and scientists fear climate change will only make these events more frequent and more intense.
The sand in front of the controversial Collaroy sea wall has washed away.
Queensland
Residents in a stink over landfill review [$]
A proposal from the Palaszczuk government to reassess a council rejection of a landfill project near Ipswich has met with anger from residents in the Labor heartland who say the development would affect their health and wellbeing.
Sustainability
Mercedes’ 1000 km battery breakthrough in electric car [$]
The EQXX, presented at the CES show in Las Vegas, can drive more than 1,000 kilometres with a battery half the size of Mercedes-Benz’s EQS, its current flagship electric car.
Here’s exactly how wildfires are polluting our air
Wildfires emit a mixture of hazardous compounds that contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses when people breathe them in.
Farmers in Brazil’s Cerrado cotton on to the benefits of agroecology
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 46 cotton-farming families in Brazil’s Minas Gerais began practicing agroecology, a sustainable farming approach that works with nature.
Toward a more inclusive definition of green infrastructure
A new nationwide analysis of 122 plans from 20 US cities, published today in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, found that many plans fail to explicitly define green infrastructure. When they do, they tend to focus on stormwater management, favoring engineered facilities over parks and larger urban green spaces.
Environmentalists fear for Komodo dragon as Indonesia pushes tourism
Environmentalists and locals fear plans for new tourism hubs will threaten wildlife and the natural beauty that is a major tourism draw for Indonesia’s islands.
Jump in deforestation of world’s most biodiverse savanna in Brazil alarms scientists
Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil’s Cerrado, prompting scientists to raise alarm over the state of the world’s most species-rich savanna.
Clever wood use could mitigate wildfires and climate change
California plans to use forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk. New research suggests the state could also see a climate benefit by repurposing waste wood produced by thinning.
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