Post of the Day
Four lessons for cities in the latest IPCC Report
Mia Reback
The latest IPCC report cannot emphasize enough that what cities do in the next decade matters. Urban populations are projected to increase from 55 to 68 percent of the world’s population, while greenhouse gas emissions in cities are already substantial and continue to rise. Despite cities’ significant contribution to climate change, the IPCC finds that they also represent a huge opportunity for ambitious climate action — if swift and aggressive measures are taken.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Climate change increases risk of devastating debris flows after wildfires in western U.S
In the early morning hours of January 9, 2018, intense rainfall loosened debris and mud in the Santa Ynez mountains, in Santa Barbara County, that had been torched by the Thomas Fire just months before.
‘It’s happening now’: how rising sea levels are causing a US migration crisis
The coming mass migration of flood-prone areas will have huge social and economic costs – but the government doesn’t have an adequate plan
IMF updates Climate Change Indicators Dashboard
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today further updated theClimate Change Indicators Dashboard-an international statistical initiative to address the growing need for data in macroeconomic and financial policy analysis related to climate change.
To save the climate, a combination of technological and behavioural changes is essential
Extensive technological developments, a ban on fossil fuels, less construction, fewer flights, fewer car journeys and lower levels of beef and dairy consumption. Only by taking all these measures in combination can Sweden get closer to emission levels in line with the Paris Agreement, according to a new research report commissioned by the Swedish Parliament.
Panel: Decarbonising heavy industries – video
Heavy industry is central to modern life, but is also responsible for nearly 40% of global CO2 emissions. Steel, cement and chemicals are the three highest-emitting industries, and the most difficult to decarbonise due to their high cost of infrastructure, low-profit margins and energy-intensive processes. How does heavy industry invest in decarbonisation while carbon taxes threaten to cut into already low margins? How can companies in the sector work together to decarbonise?
Four lessons for cities in the latest IPCC Report
Mia Reback
The latest IPCC report cannot emphasize enough that what cities do in the next decade matters. Urban populations are projected to increase from 55 to 68 percent of the world’s population, while greenhouse gas emissions in cities are already substantial and continue to rise. Despite cities’ significant contribution to climate change, the IPCC finds that they also represent a huge opportunity for ambitious climate action — if swift and aggressive measures are taken.
From deep crisis, profound change
Kingsmill Bond et al
An assessment of the dynamics accelerating the global sprint away from fossil fuels in the wake of Putin’s War
Climate change is our greatest health challenge – we must act to protect future generations
Professor Fiona Stanley
It seems the fossil fuel industry has more influence on government decisions that affect children than our public health research does
Greens aim for negative emissions with generous floor price for carbon offsets
Australian Greens offer a generous guaranteed floor price for ACCUs as part of a plan to get Australia to net negative emissions.
Demand for electric vehicles is rising despite supply and policy issues keeping prices high
A drop in the fuel excise coinciding with the increasing price of a key ingredient in batteries could mean the price of electric vehicles will not drop as quickly as renewable energy proponents hope.
Passengers on pandemic scenic flights didn’t think about emissions
Travel-starved passengers who took scenic flights to nowhere during the pandemic didn’t think about the unnecessary emissions they were creating, a new study shows.
Wildlife groups believe national koala plan is lacking
The federal government has released a national plan to save endangered east coast koalas despite concerns from Queensland, which has refused to sign it.
$350,000 for sustainability in seafood industry
$350,000 to improve prosperity and sustainability in the Australian seafood industry. Part of the Government’s $136 million Smart Farms program.
Albo says he’ll reverse controversial Murray ‘failure’ [$]
The Labor leader has revealed his five-point plan to save the Murray – including immediate action to undo a controversial Coalition move.
CSIRO’s future science to tackle energy storage, carbon locking, immune resilience and bioeconomy
The programs are part of CSIRO’s $200 million portfolio of Future Science Platforms (FSPs), programs that push the boundaries of existing research through collaboration with universities and industry.
Kickstart for Pembroke coal mine [$]
The Pembroke company has broken ground at Olive Downs in Queensland as European threats to end Russian coal imports suggest another reshaping of the global market.
Energy powers up as a hot election issue [$]
Graham Richardson
The rich guys used to be on the Liberals’ side but they are now backing climate change candidates against party princes such as Josh Frydenberg, Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma.
Network losses: Good news for some wind and solar farms, bad news for others
Giles Parkinson
The winners and losers of AEMO’s latest assessment of network constraints have been revealed.
Peter Kelly et al
In youth policy and service delivery the idea of youth voice and participation is an uncontested “good thing”. But which youth voices? Who is heard and who is left out?
What has Morrison’s ‘big stick’ to cut power bills achieved? Nothing, as far we can tell
Kelly Burns
The Morrison government has spent years bringing in a law supposed to ensure electricity retailers pass on lower prices to customers. Yet so far that law appear to have achieved nothing, except add to regulatory red tape.
Celeste Young and Roger Jones
Sydney is bracing for flash floods and landslides as the city yet again endures a disastrous downpour, with a month’s worth of rain falling in just 24 hours and evacuation orders issued. The rain is forecast to continue all week.
Enraged, humiliated Taylor looks to block closures of coal-fired plants [$]
Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer
Angus Taylor wants to prevent owners of coal-fired power plants from bringing forward their closures, with new rules dictating how companies will operate up to five years ahead.
AGL must come clean and close coal-powered stations by 2030
David Ritter
AGL’s demerger is all about appearances – it does nothing for the environment and short-changes shareholders
What would following Australia’s ‘leadership’ on the climate crisis actually look like?
Graham Readfearn
The Morrison government touts their climate credentials but analysts say following Australia’s path would see 3C or more of global heating
We need leadership to tackle climate change challenges head on
Age editorial
The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes one thing clear – the world is not doing enough to stave off the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
Victoria
Tonnes of dead fish due to algal bloom choke Curdies River and the hopes of future fishers
Dead bream have been found for kilometres in Curdies River along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, triggering a debate about how best to prevent blooms of blue-green algae in the future.
Huge fire blankets Melbourne in smoke
A huge fire on the outskirts of the Melbourne CBD blanketed several suburbs in thick, black smoke and threatened homes next door.
Cut public transport fares, urges state’s top infrastructure adviser
Victoria’s independent infrastructure adviser has called for lower public transport fares, amid warnings there is no longer space for new roads near the city.
$59,000 fine after southwest forest ‘destruction’ [$]
The illegal clearing of 300 cubic metres of native vegetation from a southwest Victorian state forest has landed a Portland farmer in hot water.
New South Wales
Thousands of Sydney residents urged to evacuate or prepare to leave after downpour
Heavy rainfall subsided overnight, but rising levels at the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers remain a concern.
NSW boosts size of first wind and solar tender after early coal exit
NSW boosts size of first wind and solar tender in response to early closure of Eraring coal generator.
Almost one in three Sydney trains late amid perfect storm of obstacles
On-time running plunged to 71 per cent last month as the city’s rail network laboured under severe weather conditions, COVID-19 staff shortages and the fallout from a 24-hour shutdown.
NSW minister tells feds to ‘stop stuffing around’ and fund light rail
A NSW Liberal minister has challenged the federal government to “stop stuffing around” and stump up funding for the troubled second stage of the Parramatta light rail project, arguing it would help win marginal seats at the imminent election.
ACT
Researchers to tackle Lake Tuggeranong’s algae problem
Researchers at the University of Canberra will narrow in on the prevention of algae blooms in Lake Tuggeranong, through an extension of their study into the health of ACT waterways.
Waste hero aims for almost zero trips to the tip
Camille de Bourgh hasn’t taken her landfill bin out in more than three months, she’s aiming for a full year.
Cutting sales tax would deliver a saving of around $600 on a $20,000 second-hand electric vehicle
The ACT government has flagged lifting the 3 per cent sales tax on used electric vehicles to further extend the incentives offered to switch to zero emission vehicles and make them more affordable.
What would it take to get Australians to buy electric cars? Canberra provides a guide
Yogi Vidyattama et al
Only 5,532 of the 101,233 new cars sold in Australia last month were all-electric.
Queensland
‘It blew me away’: Rare white kangaroo spotted in outback Queensland
A bounding white kangaroo has been glimpsed on Nogo Station near Longreach for the second time in six months, but it’s not clear if it’s albino or leucistic.
State approves $450m worth of waste levy exemptions [$]
Hundreds of thousands of tons of rubbish has been dumped for free after Queensland’s Environment Department gave the green light for almost 300 exemptions to the state’s waste levy.
Spanish mackerel fishers fear for future of ‘mismanaged fishery’
Commercial fishers fear mismanagement of Spanish Mackerel stocks by Fisheries Queensland is about to cost them their livelihoods, but the state government insists no decisions have been made.
South Australia
Green steel the key to a ‘new industrial revolution’ for Australia [$]
GFG Alliance executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta says a revolution in steelmaking is coming and Australia should grasp the opportunity with both hands.
Tasmania
Helping hand for one of our most endangered fish
The Morrison Government has announced more than $650,000 in funding in Lyons to help protect Tasmania’s unique species and landscapes, including for the elusive and endangered Red Handfish species.
Calls for protester compo after decades of ‘illegal’ logging [$]
The state government is scrambling to draw up legislation after it was revealed logging in Tasmania since the mid-80s had been unlawful as Bob Brown demands compensation for thousands of convicted protesters.
‘Deeply concerning’: Tonnes of plastic from fish farms to landfill [$]
It’s been revealed exactly how much plastic waste is going from salmon farms to landfill and the amount might shock you.
‘Plague proportions’: Rabbits wreak havoc as populations boom [$]
Easter is less than two weeks away but an unwelcome bunny baby boom has been met with calls for the animal’s demise.
Bob Brown Foundation protesters have prevented logging from occurring at three native forestry sites in Tasmania the day after the government announced it would bring in retrospective legislation to validate its laws.
Sustainability
A.P. Moller – Maersk commits to use 100% net zero steel by 2050
7 April 2022, London- Today A.P. Moller- Maersk joins SteelZero and commits to using 100% net zero steel by 2050, with an interim target of using 50% responsibly produced steel by 2030.
Emerging tech in food, transport and energy sector can help counter effects of climate change
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – which one of us (Arunima) contributed to – has emphasised the need for enormous change if we are to keep within the 1.5℃ warming limit.
Sustainable strategies to treat urban runoff
Researchers call for cities to better manage and treat urban runoff to protect sources of drinking water and reduce the impacts on aquatic ecosystems.
After seeing how gas stoves pollute homes, these researchers are ditching theirs
Gas stoves produce more indoor air pollutants than even some scientists expected. After taking measurements, many of those researchers are installing electric stoves — and warning the public about the health risks of cooking with gas.
Dolly Parton says damaging the Earth is ‘like being ugly to your mama’
Dolly Parton has said that not looking after the environment is like “being ugly to your mama”. The country star has been speaking out about climate change and the harm done to the planet by human beings, and the effect it has had on the weather.
Uranium in 2/3 of US water systems
A study on metal concentrations in U.S. community water systems (CWS) and patterns of inequalities, researchers found that metal concentrations were particularly elevated in CWSs serving semi-urban, Hispanic communities independent of location or region, highlighting environmental justice concerns. These communities had the highest levels of uranium, selenium, barium, chromium, and arsenic concentrations. Even at low concentrations, uranium in particular represents an important risk factor for the development of chronic diseases.
PM: UK plans eight new nuclear reactors to boost energy independence – video
The government’s plans to put nuclear energy at the heart of the UK’s new energy strategy are in defiance of its own net zero targets
Scientists call for the inclusion of Muslim perspectives in stem cell policy
Stem cell research has been responsible for major advances in medicine, but the use of stem cells from embryonic tissue is an active ethical debate. Historically, Christian perspectives have been the center of these conversations, but in a commentary publishing in the journal Stem Cell Reports, scientists recommend bringing in perspectives from the Muslim world, which could expand what is possible within stem cell research.
Looking beyond greenhouse gases: Everything you don’t want to know about the things you buy
Valentina Guido et al
Building the digital future of transparent supply chains
Invasive insects will kill 1.4 million US street trees by 2050: Study
McGill research estimates that over the next 30 years, 1.4 million street trees will be killed by invasive insects, costing over $900 million USD to replace.
Private protected areas help conserve overlooked and threatened regions
New research shows that private protected areas help conserve underrepresented biomes and highly threatened regions. Researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Manchester have assessed 17,561 privately protected areas in 15 countries across five continents. Their findings, published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, reveal that compared to state protected areas, PPAs are twice as likely to be in areas with the greatest human disturbance, such as regions used for agriculture and mining. They are three times more likely to be in biomes with almost no established conservation reserves and protect 1.2% of key biodiversity areas.
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