Post of the Day
One issue matters more to top economists than any other this election: climate change
Peter Martin
Offered a menu of issues to choose from as the most important in the May 21 election, Australia’s top economists have overwhelmingly zeroed in on one.
On This Day
Climate Change
‘Black carbon’ threat to Arctic as sea routes open up with global heating
As climate crisis allows new maritime routes to be used, sooty shipping emissions accelerates ice melt and risk to ecosystems
Climate change report is the U.N.’s final warning for humanity
Jeff Goodell
The latest IPCC report makes clear that we have everything we need to combat rising temperatures. The only question is whether we care enough about the future of humanity to do it
National
Australians will head to the polls for a federal election on May 21
Australians will get to decide who leads the country for the next three years when they go to the polls in a federal election on May 21.
Federal election 2022: All you need to know about the contest to decide the nation’s future
The election held on 21 May is anticipated to be a hard-fought and closely contested battle with only weeks away until Australians make their verdict at the polls.
The Greens: We’re eager to hold the balance of power
As the major political parties try to play the underdog in the May 21 election, the Greens appear confident they will hold the balance of power after polling day.
Why Coronado coal is set to benefit from geopolitical instability [$]
Coal miner Coronado is one of Australia’s most unloved stocks according to price-to-earnings ratios. But astronomical coal prices might change that soon.
We can’t just abandon our Pacific neighbours to the climate crisis
Mark Howden and ‘Ofa Ma’Asi-Kaisamy
With many parts of the Pacific still suffering due to COVID-19, the latest international report on climate change brings no solace for the region.
‘Simply put, they are lying’: Businesses all talk on climate action
Matthew Rose
For all its rhetoric, much of Australia’s financial industry is failing to step up on climate.
One issue matters more to top economists than any other this election: climate change
Peter Martin
Offered a menu of issues to choose from as the most important in the May 21 election, Australia’s top economists have overwhelmingly zeroed in on one.
The perfect rort…gas-guzzling SUVs and utility trucks and more
Keith Mitchelson
The Morrison Government is nothing if not inventive. If you need to rort votes there is always a danger that people will notice. How to devise the perfect rort that is the question? Free vehicles for anyone!
New weed-fighting website to arm gardeners
Researchers at Macquarie University have developing an interactive website to help gardeners select plants that pose less risk to native ecosystems.
New South Wales
Australia’s transition to a clean energy future will be a key federal election issue as the corporate owners of the nation’s biggest coal-fired power stations walk away from fossil fuels. Businesses in the Hunter want politicians to back future industries.
Is it fair to turn regional areas into a ‘dumping ground’ for Sydney’s rubbish?
Regional areas of NSW earmarked for controversial waste incinerators are calling for compensation for dealing with rubbish from the state’s capital.
Woollahra’s newest NIMBY idea: Don’t count parks or schools as land
Two Woollahra councillors have proposed a novel way to reduce the number of new homes they are required to build: stop counting the area’s schools, parks and golf course as land.
Queensland
Queensland forest cover is either increasing or decreasing. It all depends on who you ask
The federal government is banking on carbon offsets to reach net zero, but Queensland continues to have the highest deforestation rate in the country.
Brisbane Olympics president promises lean, green Games
Former Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris forged a career abroad but is returning home to lead what he hopes will be the most sustainable Olympic Games ever.
Tasmania
After treating many ‘wobbly possums’, this wildlife clinic found a ‘prevalent’ disease
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is one of 10 “sentinel clinics” that monitor and track diseases with the potential to affect animals, humans and livestock, and deliver data to the federal government for further investigation.
Unique Tasmanian wilderness experience to be celebrated with festival
The Festival of Fagus is taking place at the Cradle Mountain Hotel for two weeks to celebrate the transformation of its namesake tree.
Tasmanian Devils fighting back against facial tumour disease
A Cradle Mountain animal sanctuary is working to improve Tasmanian Devil populations.
‘Most important federal election’: Greens reveal game plan [$]
The Greens have revealed their game plan for the Federal election, with eight candidates putting their hats in the ring for the senate and house of representatives.
Northern Territory
Expansion is designed to grow vast fruit, nut and cotton crops, but environmentalists say it could be disastrous for the region on the WA border
Laramba resident Stanley Fletcher is worried that long-term exposure to the community’s drinking water is making people sick. Here’s why.
Western Australia
Mass fish-kill event strikes popular tourist beaches on Ningaloo Coast
Locals get to work cleaning an estimated 16,000 dead fish from beaches on Western Australia’s Ningaloo coastline, after the state’s largest fish kill in more than a decade.
Perth ‘sleepwalking into browner, hotter’ future as city’s primary water source dries up
Over a decade ago, Perth all but secured its drinking water supply for the future through investments in technologies like seawater desalination — but trickling in the background is a water problem the city is yet to solve.
Restart Perth and Peel environment plan or face housing affordability pressure, UDIA warns
The COVID-19 home construction boom has seen vacant lots snapped up over Perth, but in the long-term developers are running out of land for new estates.
Sustainability
Three-quarters of Britons back expansion of wind power, poll reveals
Survey suggests even Tory voters are unlikely to support Conservatives’ nuclear-first energy policy
Ukraine: Russian troops took Radioactive ‘souvenirs’ from Chernobyl, says agency
Looted Items likely taken by Russia from Chernobyl could cause radiation burns, sickness, and irreversible processes in the body, a Ukraine agency said.
Is glyphosate dangerous? – video
For years scientists and public authorities have wrangled over the herbicide’s potential danger to human health and the environment. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer says glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Rio Tinto’s big energy transition runs into local issues
Peter Milne
Rio Tinto’s UK annual general meeting was a compendium of problems with landholders across the globe.
Climate change is messing with bears’ hibernation schedules
Bears will have to rethink their concept of hibernation as the climate warms and winters grow shorter. How they respond will say much about their commitment to winter naps, and about the deep interconnections between climate and animal behavior.
Snow crabs in the Bering Sea have been hard to find — partially due to climate change
Ayesha Rascoe asks Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton about the drop in the population of Bering Sea snow crabs, and why scientists think climate change may be an important driver.
These birds aren’t lost. They’re adapting.
Bird-watchers love to see vagrants, or birds that have traveled far outside their range. But scientists say they have a lot to teach us in a world facing ecological change.
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