Post of the Day
Jay Famiglietti et al
Global water security is increasingly threatened. Accounting for water use and risk ought to have the same urgency with which we address carbon.
On This Day
Rama Navami – Hinduism
Palm Sunday – Western Christianity
Holy Week (until April 16) – Western Christianity
Climate Change
Dozens arrested as scientists worldwide mobilize to demand ‘climate revolution’
“If everyone could see what I see coming,” said one scientist, “society would switch into climate emergency mode and end fossil fuels in just a few years.”
National
Caring for creation: Why religious Australians are turning green
Younger Christians want their churches to take action on climate change, but some church leaders are wary of preaching about a polarising political issue.
Platypus choked by hair ties: These ordinary household items are killing our wildlife
Plastic bags, straws and microplastics have a deadly reputation when they wind up in the ocean, but there are other everyday items that are killing animals regularly without us noticing.
Fireproof Australia: who are the radical Extinction Rebellion splinter group?
They have blocked major roads, obstructed traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and been denounced by Dominic Perrottet
‘This is an emergency’: Australia’s extreme weather crises spark anger at climate inaction
Unprecedented rainfall and record heat have marked a concerning start to 2022, with mounting calls for leaders to tackle the climate crisis
Is a prefab green house more than a pipedream in Australia?
Many Australians are struggling to buy a new home, let alone one designed by a multi award-winning architect like Sydney’s Peter Stutchbury. That could change if entrepreneur Oscar Martin can shake up the market for prefabricated green housing in the same way his former media company Pedestrian.TV stole the market for Millennials.
Want to buy guilt-free Easter chocolate? Pick from our list of ‘good eggs’ that score best for the environment and child labour
John Dumay et al
What do Beyond Good, Alter Eco, Tony’s Chocolonely and Whittaker’s all have in common? Besides producing delicious chocolate, they are the “good eggs” in this year’s chocolate scorecard.
Victoria
Restoring Australia’s lost shellfish reefs to reshape a vast underwater kingdom
Divers in Port Phillip Bay carry live shellfish down to an artificial reef, taking another small step in an ambitious restoration project that is the largest yet undertaken in Australia.
We must save Melbourne from becoming a donut city
Jon Faine
Will the city ever recover? Decisions being taken in the next few months by both the state government and the various inner city local councils will determine the answer.
New South Wales
The Dubbo Project has been in the works for more than 20 years, with the aim of mining rare earth minerals such as zirconium and titanium. Now the company behind it just needs the funding to build it.
How ‘a magic night’ discovery helped uncover these ‘cute’ and elusive reptiles
Grey snakes have only been seen a handful of times over the past 65 years, until honours student Talia Schlen scoured the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at night and made a “super exciting” discovery.
Compostable nappies used to be a pipedream but this NSW council has proved their viability
A successful compostable nappy trial on the NSW far south coast could help solve a major waste problem in Australia and across the world.
‘Dog of a project’: Backlash grows against proposed waste incinerator
Plans to build a waste incinerator in Matraville have been labelled a “dog of a project” by a local mayor who has vowed to fight the proposal.
State government promises millions to rescue endangered koalas
State government spends big on protecting koalas but stops short of statewide land protection measures.
ACT
Greens see ‘powerful pox on both their parties’ in federal ACT race [$]
The Greens candidate for Canberra, Tim Hollo, has entered the official federal election campaign hearing a “very powerful pox on both their parties” feeling in the electorate and says his party is aiming to “hold the next government’s feet to the fire” to deliver climate action.
Charismatic treehopper found in the ACT by fresh eyes
With fresh eyes for Australian fauna, Dr Olivia Evangelista made a discovery in the ACT in a field which has been dormant for two decades.
No point widening ACT roads to ‘bust congestion’
Roger Bacon
St Paul had his moment on the road to Damascus. Mine hit me on the road to Pialligo, late last Christmas night, while driving to the animal hospital.
South Australia
Undo ‘critical mistake’ on reservoirs, locals demand [$]
Locals near Myponga are demanding SA’s new government reverse a “critical mistake” in opening reservoirs to the public, and another key plan for them could be sunk too.
What now? Riverbank future wide open after Labor axes arena [$]
Prime land in Adelaide’s CBD now faces an uncertain future after Labor axed the previous government’s big plans. So what should happen now?
Sharkie snares $200k donation from climate activist group [$]
A controversial climate activist group has pumped $200,000 into Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie’s coffers – and funded independent Boothby candidate Jo Dyer.
New South Australian government scraps pastoral land reforms
A major shake-up of the governance of South Australia’s outback has been scrapped as the newly elected state government takes a more conservation-based approach.
Tasmania
Everything you need to know about Tasmania’s new container recycling scheme
Nearly 50 years after South Australians were able to receive a partial refund for recycling bottles and cans, Tasmania is finally catching up. Here’s what you need to know.
The parrot clawing its way back from the brink, one nest at a time
Just a few years ago, only 17 orange-bellied parrots remained in the wild. Today the outlook is brighter than it has been for a long time. How was it done?
Sustainability
Our buildings are “wrongly designed,” according to IPCC report author
The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is here, and it outlines how buildings are one of the worst climate offenders—but there are solutions hiding in plain sight.
Methane emissions soared to a record in 2021, NOAA says
For the second year in a row, concentrations of the potent planet-warming gas jumped by the largest amount since measurements began four decades ago.
Net zero buildings could bring an energy savings boom
A mix of high-tech and old-fashioned energy efficiency tactics can deliver carbon-neutral buildings, right now. But the U.S. needs to pick up the pace.
More than half of activists killed in 2021 were land, environment defenders
An analysis recorded at least 358 murders of human rights activists globally in 2021 of which nearly 60% were land, environment or Indigenous rights defenders.
Air pollution and early death in tropical cities
Around 180,000 avoidable deaths over 14 years in fast-growing tropical cities were caused by a rapid rise in emerging air pollution, a study has revealed.
Producing ammonia through electrochemical processes could reduce carbon dioxide emissions
Ammonia is commonly used in fertilizer because it has the highest nitrogen content of commercial fertilizers, making it essential for crop production.
Jay Famiglietti et al
Global water security is increasingly threatened. Accounting for water use and risk ought to have the same urgency with which we address carbon.
We could all use some good news right now
Peter Dykstra
The environmental beat can be a real downer and we often focus on the problems—but there are signs of progress in our fight against climate change and pollution.
Environment: Terrestrial and coastal ecosystems destroyed by human activities
Peter Sainsbury
Seagrasses are the forgotten but valuable cousins of our coasts. Powerful ‘farmers’ pay lots and lobby hard to avoid regulation, but methane emissions can be reduced.
One of the world’s biggest sea snails at risk of extinction
A century of unregulated harvesting for its gigantic shell has left the horse conch far more vulnerable than scientists realized.
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