Post of the Day
1.5C vs 2C. What difference can just half a degree of global warming really make?
The chance to limit warming to 1.5C is slipping away. But will difference will it make if we overshoot by half a degree or so?
On This Day
Passover (Pesach) (until Apr 23) – Judaism
Easter Monday – Western Christianity
Theravada New Year – Buddhism
Ecological Observance
International Day for Monuments and Sites
Climate Change
Rightwing populist parties blight climate policy, study finds
Researchers say Brexit politicians now pushing against net zero amid cost-of-living crisis
Don’t look away: Dr. Peter Kalmus on the United Nations’ latest climate report
Kalmus, a climate scientist and activist, explains why we need to act now, and fast, to forestall calamity.
We’ve never seen a carbon-removal plan like this before
Companies including Google and Facebook are pouring more than $900 million into a nascent technology that’s essential to zeroing out emissions.
Battle over carbon capture as tool to fight climate change
Opponents of carbon capture and storage maintain the technology is unproven and has been less effective than alternatives such as solar and wind at decarbonizing the energy sector.
How thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape
As the climate warms, a hidden world of changes beneath the surface is driving major landscape shifts — sometimes strange or cataclysmic ones.
1.5C vs 2C. What difference can just half a degree of global warming really make?
The chance to limit warming to 1.5C is slipping away. But will difference will it make if we overshoot by half a degree or so?
Incredibly, current climate pledges could keep heating below 2C – but our work isn’t over
Laurie Laybourn
The battle to get countries and companies to sign up to net zero is being won. Now let’s keep pushing for more ambitious targets
Democracy is failing to tackle the climate crisis
Helen Camakaris
The structures of democracy must change in order for the world to overcome crises such as climate change.
Easter offers no escape from our responsibility for climate change
Ross Gittins
Those who will be worst affected by climate change tend to be the poor – both in our wealthy country and those in less developed countries
National
Greens promise $500 million green steel fund for coal exit
The Greens will push for a $500 million investment in helping steelmaking regions transition away from coal — if the party holds the balance of power following the federal election.
Anthony Albanese ‘guarantees’ no jobs will be lost on road to net zero
Anthony Albanese has guaranteed no workers will lose their jobs as a result of Labor’s climate policy, as he took his campaign to the resource-rich electorate of Hunter.
Long-living, but facing many dangers: Meet south-east Australia’s freshwater turtle trio
There are three species of freshwater turtles commonly found in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, and one of them has just hatched.
‘Last meaningful opportunity’: Federal election firing up young climate activists
Student Anjali Sharma is part of a generation of climate activists driven by the urgency of warnings the global tipping point is approaching and governments are failing to respond.
Sinking feeling: cruise ships chart return to Australia amid emissions concerns
With pandemic disruption receding, will the industry’s return and expansion lead to sustainable cruising – or more pollution?
Government spent more on recycling ads than climate and skills combined
Environmental issues are tricky territory for the Coalition in the federal election as critics target their policies in crucial urban and regional seats.
Regenerating Australia by Damon Gameau asks, what could Australia look like by 2030?
Documentary filmmaker Damon Gameau is on a quest for climate-change solutions and he’s bringing the challenge to Canberra on Monday.
Voters in hotly contested Liberal-held seat rank climate and environment over economy, poll finds
Integrity also considered key issue in poll that highlights pressures
Does Labor plan to force the top 200 energy users and producers to cut emissions by 25%?
Graham Readfearn
Angus Taylor claims that to be the opposition’s aim but Chris Bowen says it’s a target ‘more than two-thirds of these companies already have’
BHP investors left with sticky decision on Woodside
Peter Milne
If, as expected, Woodside swallows BHP’s petroleum division the miner’s shareholders will soon have oil and gas scrip in their portfolio. They need to start thinking if it should stay there.
Australians pay every day for political negligence on fuel standards
David Leitch
Australia needs vehicle emissions standards. And subsidising EVs would reduce Australia’s net oil imports and leave the country well ahead.
Asylum seekers and forests dangerous for Labor [$]
Ellen Whinnett
Stopping asylum-seeker boats and saving Tasmania’s forests are exactly where the Liberals want to be and it’s dangerous ground for the Labor Party.
We throw money at symptoms, but ignore the cause: climate change
Letters
We face an extinction crisis and should be treating the cause as well as the symptoms.
Bandt proclaims ‘war’ in bonkers address [$]
Andrew Bolt
Greens leader Adam Bandt incited green extremists with a battle-cry — “we’re at war” — that will make even more feel entitled to block our roads, scream abuse and shut down businesses.
Make this the last election under existing political donation laws
SMH editorial
Money wields power in politics and the lack of transparency about how parties and candidates fund their activities undermines public faith.
Australian action climate change and why our national security and future prosperity rely on it
Janaline Oh
Australia’s future prosperity and national security will depend on lifting its game on climate action.
Coal expansion to test the Greens
Australian editorial
Major parties must stand firm against extreme policy demands
Victoria
Another election year leads to another Victorian debate about the East West Link proposal
Like clockwork, an announcement is made to revive the ‘zombie’ toll road project
Uni holds concerns over VicForests and will approach IBAC
The state logging company referred itself to IBAC, asking the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate allegations it hired a private investigator to spy on its contractors and an environmental activist.
The bike lanes coming to a road near you [$]
Protected bike lanes will be rolled out on 100km of roads in eight inner city council areas as VicRoads takes inspiration from Paris.
Andrews flags level crossing removal expansion [$]
Daniel Andrews has said level crossing removals will be a feature of his government as long as they remain in power, flagging an expansion of the program could be on the cards.
Melbourne battles mounting rubbish and tagging on city streets
Melbourne is battling an increase in rubbish on the streets and graffiti tagging, with the amount of graffiti cleaned every month up by more than 60 per cent since the start of the pandemic.
Exxon Mobil begins study of Gippsland carbon capture facility [$]
The facility, which could be operational by 2025, could capture and store up to 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, the US energy company said
Sacred ground: Dispute over Aboriginal landmark pits landowner against journalist, musician
A report filed as part of a defamation case by a farmer in western Victoria argues the stone arrangement he disturbed on his land is not a sacred site.
A voice for the Yarra from source to sea: the first female riverkeeper of the Birrarung steps up
Climate change, pollution and overdevelopment threaten Melbourne’s most iconic river – now the waters have a passionate new advocate.
New South Wales
After weeks stuck indoors due to storms, Jade went for an ocean dip — and quickly ended up at the GP
It only took 15 minutes of swimming at Byron Bay’s Belongil Beach, a week after February’s devastating floods, for Jade to pick up an infection from contaminated water. But how do you know it’s safe for a swim?
‘Keep moving’: New NSW environment minister ready to embrace challenges of job
Newly appointed NSW environment minister James Griffin says there is one topic of conversation that is banned from his family dinner table: politics.
How cultural burning is saving this last-known pocket of forest koalas
Decades of Aboriginal activism, community willpower and now, traditional Indigenous fire management, are protecting the last-known koala population on the NSW far south coast.
‘Race against time’: Scientists’ desperate move to save rare frog
Eighty spotted tree frogs have just been released into the top of Kosciuszko National Park after their numbers were decimated by fire.
Our children need climate action not culture wars
Julia Baird
In the seat of Warringah, there is a peculiar pall of frustration in the air. But it’s got nothing to do with transgender issues.
Queensland
Rio Tinto quits mining lobby group amid climate rift
Rio Tinto, one of the largest Australian mining companies, has cut ties with Queensland’s key resources lobby group after expressing concerns about its advocacy for policies surrounding the future of coal.
Beach ‘subculture’: Qld police target hoons in coastal parks
Police are urging visitors to Qld’s national parks to upload videos and photos of reckless driving.
Why Queensland’s Daintree is going to be ‘the only rainforest that’s growing, not shrinking’
Humans are now destroying a football field’s worth of rainforest every 1.2 seconds, according to WWF. Some groups are trying to hold this trend at bay.
Yellow crazy ants are categorised as one of the worst invasive species on the planet, capable of completely destroying ecosystems – and they’re spreading in northern Australia.
For or against: coal test looms for ALP [$]
The next federal government will face the prospect of assessing approvals for three new coal mega-mines in the Galilee Basin.
South Australia
‘Keyboard warrior’ blows up as shooters battle deer cull critics [$]
A “scurrilous rant” over deer hunters in helicopters in SA’s South East has been emphatically shot down.
The pest that’s laying waste to avenues of honour [$]
Stately elm trees, including many avenues of honour, are under attack from the devastating elm leaf beetle, on the march again after two mild summers.
Tasmania
A study by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies has found bleaching in sea sponges for the first time in Tasmanian waters — and scientists fear it could be another sign we are reaching a “tipping point” in the warming of the Earth.
Thinktank slams Tas government’s newest anti-protest laws attempt [$]
A thinktank has slammed the state government’s latest plans to strengthen anti-protest laws, claiming they are “anti-democratic and a threat to civil society”.
If a PM announceable falls in a forest, does anyone care?
Guy Rundle
The city of Burnie in Tasmania was promised a 500-job green pulp mill. Four years later, it’s still waiting.
Northern Territory
First Nations knowledge to aid turtle conversation in NT
New plans to monitor freshwater turtles in the Northern Territory will include the involvement of First Nations rangers and their knowledge from the field.
‘Part of something bigger’: Women slow-stitch river’s biodiversity into quilt with a message
The plants, animals, fish and birdlife of the Adelaide River system have been lovingly stitched into a quilted masterpiece by more than 80 women, who want others to understand its biodiversity.
Pine Gap’s role in China–US arms race makes Australia a target
Brian Toohey
The Pine Gap base near Alice Springs is expanding, and so is its importance to the US military. It also means Australia is becoming a more obvious global target, whether we realise it or not.
Western Australia
Canada-based Cameco Corporation says it is still wants to mine uranium in WA, despite its environmental approval lapsing, and decades of opposition from traditional owners and conservationists.
Graph of the Day: One state dominates best performing wind farms in March
One state dominates the rankings of best performing wind farms in March, taking six of the top eight spots.
‘No one’s married to coal’: How Forrest is taking on the world to save the climate
Andrew Forrest wants to save the world with planes, trains and mining trucks. Some doubt the scale, but few question the ambition.
Sustainability
Energy going off-grid in the United Kingdom – podcast
Energy is going off-grid and into the community in the United Kingdom with a surge in customers signing up to join community schemes that generate electricity.
Electric cars are growing in popularity but what about tractors?
With farmers being urged to reduce their carbon footprint, machinery companies are trying to develop cleaner tractors. Some designs use electric engines, while others would see hydrogen fuel replace diesel.
Microplastics and pollution combine to become much more toxic: Study
Microplastics can pick up pollution in their travels and pose an even greater threat to human health, according to a new study.
Environmentalists target mountains of fertilizer waste
The U.S. houses hundreds of millions of tons of phosphogypsum in open-air stacks, but regulation is inconsistent.
India: How air pollution is affecting people in Delhi′s slums
People living in slums, who mostly survive on meager incomes, are most vulnerable to toxic air because their work often requires them to stay outdoors for long hours.
China turns cities into sponges to stop flooding
In the coming decade, China is expanding its plans for sponge cities. They can help prevent flooding, promote biodiversity and cut emissions. But what exactly are these cities and how do they work?
From traditional practice to top climate solution, agroecology gets growing attention
Based on traditional knowledge, agroecology can solve multiple challenges at once, including the biodiversity crisis and food insecurity.
An encroaching desert intensifies Nigeria’s farmer-herder crisis
How climate change and human activity are driving violence between farming and pastoralist communities.
How going electric lets homeowners help slow climate change
Many people want to know about practical suggestions to help slow climate change. Effective action starts at home.
The idea of energy efficiency needs to be reinvented
Incremental gains are no longer good enough if the goal is to get carbon dioxide emissions to zero, a researcher argues.
Germany’s addiction to Russian gas could make it a global pariah
Ben Wright
Germany has come up with a flurry of reasons why an embargo of Russian oil and gas is a bad idea. Very few of them hold much water.
Environment: Colonialism, chocolate, Krugman and climate change
Peter Sainsbury
The IPCC has accepted that colonialism causes climate change. Options for reducing beef-related emissions. Vastly different population trajectories around the world.
The psychic terror wrought by palm-oil production [$]
Sophie Chao
How oil-palm plantations have uprooted the lives and dreams of a Papuan community
Wildflower believed to be extinct for 40 years spotted in Ecuador
Gasteranthus extinctus had been presumed extinct after extensive deforestation
Heat and drought are killing our forests
In many places, forests are no longer regenerating on their own. Some of the world’s most significant stands are instead transitioning to something new. Some will never be the same. Others may not come back at all.
Demise of the golden toad shows climate change’s massive extinction threat: “Absolutely terrifying”
The golden toad was the first species where climate change has been identified as a key driver of extinction. Its fate could be just the beginning.
Even the cactus may not be safe from climate change
The hardy cactus – fond of heat and aridity, adapted to rough soils – might not seem like the picture of a climate change victim. Yet even these prickly survivors may be reaching their limits.
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