Date: 1 September 2022 at 7:04:30 am AWST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Sep 1
Post of the Day
Global fossil fuel subsidies almost doubled in 2021, analysis finds
Support amid huge industry profits is a ‘roadblock’ to tackling climate crisis, says International Energy Agency
On This Day
Samvatsari – Jainism
Daslakshana – Jainism
Ecological Observance
Arbor Day – Peru
Climate Change
In the last 50 years, oxygen-deficient zones in the open ocean have increased. Scientists have attributed this development to rising global temperatures: Less oxygen dissolves in warmer water, and the tropical ocean’s layers can become more stratified. But now, contrary to widespread expectations, an international team of scientists led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and Princeton University has discovered that oxygen-deficient zones shrank during long warm periods in the past.
Nightmare scenarios for climate change
Marten Scheffer, professor of Aquatic Ecology, has been working on critical boundaries for some time. He studies tipping points within ecosystems such as animal life in a pond: how a natural system slowly becomes fragile and tips into a different state. Fundamental insights from this research on the resilience of ecosystems are also relevant to planetary boundaries.
CSSF Sri Lanka call for proposals climate conflict and livelihoods
The Conflict, Stability and Security team in British High Commission are seeking bids that pilot innovative approaches to addressing the interconnected challenges associated with conflict dynamics, climate change and livelihoods in Sri Lanka.
Determining why Arctic is turning ever greener
A research team from ETH Zurich and WSL travelled to Spitsbergen this summer to take a closer look at the phenomenon of Arctic greening. Project manager Sebastian Dötterl discusses research in the face of polar bears, strikes and war.
Andrew King
Extreme floods are devastating Pakistan, caused by a combination of heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers. While Pakistan is no stranger to deadly floods, this event is especially shocking with more than 1,100 people dead so far and many millions more affected.
National
‘Nature credits’ could make Australia the ‘Green Wall Street’ for the world: Plibersek
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek tells a G20 meeting that Australia hopes to create its own “Green Wall Street”, where businesses from around the world can come to invest in environmental action. So what does this mean, and what could go wrong?
Push to ban older trucks from Melbourne, Sydney would ‘create a major issue for farmers’
Research that shows exhaust pollutants kill more than 400 Australians a year is driving a call to ban older vehicles from two capital cities. But farmers say they can’t justify the replacement costs.
Energy ‘gaps’ to hit within three years as coal plants shut down
The energy market operator warns supply will fall short of demand from 2025 unless new renewable energy capacity is urgently brought online.
Data shows rise in Australian emissions
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen insists Australia is now on a track to reduce emissions following a change of government, after new figures showed a rise in greenhouse gases.
‘Just the beginning of our legal journey to tangible climate action’
Whilst the new climate change legislation is a positive step forward for the climate crisis, there are a number of other measures that need to be taken, said these lawyers.
Climate bill inquiry says government should consider establishing a transition authority for coal and gas workers
“It’s Groundhog Day”: Transport-driven emissions spike shows urgent need to change lanes
New Australian emissions data for the March quarter reveals climate pollution rose by 1.5 per cent, largely driven by transport which Greenpeace Australia Pacific says shows the need for a revved up commitment to fuel efficiency standards.
Australia, US ‘most divided over climate change’ [$]
The gap between the share of right and left leaning voters, who said climate change was a ‘major threat’ is highest in the US, followed by Australia.
AUKUS could pave way for local nuclear power industry: UK minister [$]
The UK’s Secretary for International Trade says Australia and Britain are looking to deepen cooperation on clean energy.
Super funds query investment manager’s links to anti-ESG foundation in US
Some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds are being urged to review their partnerships with an environmentally friendly investment manager facing backlash for sponsoring a climate-sceptic foundation.
Claims of industry lobbying as new ISP to model “green gas” alternative to solar
AEMO creates controversy over new ISP scenario that looks at “green gas”, despite overwhelming push to electrification.
Crunch time for grid: More wind, solar, storage and links urgently needed before coal exodus
AEMO puts out call for urgent efforts to ramp up construction of wind, solar, storage and new transmission lines to ensure capacity in place before coal exodus.
This little furball is helping to map a course toward the return of the thylacine
The genome of the tiny smoky mouse has been fully sequenced and scientists say this has far-reaching consequences for other threatened animals and the resurrection of extinct species.
Would better public transport be better for the environment? – podcast
More people in Australia are thinking about how they get from place to place, and the impact their transport choices have on climate change. A new poll is even suggesting they want governments to invest more in public transport.
Govt needs to come clean on how climate bill reduces emissions
Jacqui Lambie
What does the ALP’s 43 per cent climate bill do, exactly? It doesn’t set a target of 43 per cent for emissions reduction. We’re in the Paris Agreement, which locks us in there without legislation.
Labor’s biodiversity market scheme needs to be planned well – or it could lead to greenwashing
Felicity Deane
Businesses and philanthropic organisations are looking to invest in projects to protect and restore nature. We need to make this easier.
Anti-protest laws highlight political hypocrisy across the board
Joanna Psaros
Governments are punishing protesters for speaking out against the very issues our politicians won’t fix.
One skill shortage more than any is holding back Australia in the race to net zero
Bjorn Sturmberg
There is a multitude of skills shortages that could threaten the low-carbon transition, but one stands out as critical to Australia’s future prosperity.
Victoria
Plan to open river campsites to public ‘flies in the face’ of biosecurity, farmers say
Farmers in Central Victoria fear allowing more campers to access land bordering their properties could undermine weed control efforts and place their stock at risk of disease
How to make your home more energy efficient and save money
Melbourne homes built since the 1990s rate just 3 out of 10 for energy efficiency, with residents finding that fixing efficiency issues comes with a hefty price tag.
New South Wales
Farmers call for urgent climate action on flood anniversary
Farmers from the NSW Northern Rivers region are calling for deep emissions reductions this decade to protect farming communities, six months on from disastrous flooding that took lives and destroyed livelihoods.
What will future cities and regions look like?
Cities and regions are at a precipice. Leading researchers, practitioners, community advocates and industry heads come together in this year’s Festival of ‘Future’ Urbanism to debate the threats and opportunities facing our cities and regional areas through live and online events, podcasts and films.
State to amp up its electric car charging [$]
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has announced a major commitment to electric vehicle charging facilities over the next two years.
What a train wreck: commuters’ pain will be felt in higher places
Alexandra Smith
The premier, the opposition leader and the rail union will all be losers from this protracted dispute.
ACT
Canberra has an electric bike library, and it’s getting bigger
If you’ve been wondering whether you need to buy an electric bike, you don’t.
Queensland
Something fishy about imports, but seafood bill still on the hook
Queensland seafood diners have no way of knowing if their meal has come from Australia or a polluted river overseas, a situation that Queensland’s Parliament is unlikely to change.
How a promised power rebate has gone unpaid – until Premier’s 6am tweet
A $175 rebate promised to Queenslanders in May, with an assurance it would be applied to their “next bill”, won’t arrive for some until November, six months after it was announced.
Fenced in and free from harm: Race to protect tiny Aussie mammal
Conservationists are in a race against time to avoid the extinction of one of Australia’s rarest mammals, the Northern Bettong, by building a fenced enclosure on a 950 hectare patch of land in north Queensland.
Margaret Cook et al
A battle is brewing in South-East Queensland over water. Despite heavy rains and flooding, the water supply authority, Seqwater, has flagged the need to find more water sources to keep up with urban growth.
South Australia
South Australian government defends funding given almost exclusively Labor seats
An ABC News analysis reveals South Australia’s government has promised funding to community groups in almost exclusively Labor seats.
Threatened marsupial given outback safe haven
Facing extinction, a colony of tiny kowari have been found in a small pocket of north-eastern South Australia and some have been transferred to a refuge in the state’s outback.
Tasmania
Our City Canopy project sets seed for Hobart’s urban forest
Hobart is set to become one of the nation’s greenest cities under a new project that will fast-track the City of Hobart’s Urban Street Tree Strategy.
Population boom: Hobart’s future predicted in plan [$]
The 30-year Greater Hobart Plan, a first for the city, has now received the tick of approval of all four greater Hobart councils and the state government.
Review of Tas Police announced after covert device ‘bungle’ [$]
Tasmania Police will undergo an independent review in the wake of revelations the force left a covert listening device recording at Risdon Prison continuously for two months.
Northern Territory
Indigenous ecological knowledge kept alive through new language exchange
A project celebrating Indigenous scientific knowledge that has added 2,500 native plant and animal names to the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) was launched today at Ngukurr Primary School in South-East Arnhem Land.
Western Australia
Power station seeks control of Indian-owned coal mine amid worsening crisis in WA
The Japanese owners of a major West Australian coal-fired power station take court action over a loss-making mine that has failed to deliver promised coal supplies.
Popularity of WA’s national parks continues to rise
22.6 million visits to WA’s national parks in 2021-22. Visitation up by five per cent from the previous year. Plan for Our Parks is increasing the size of WA’s conservation estate
Vested interests block recognition of WA wetlands as being ‘internationally significant’
Scientists identified more than 30 places for Ramsar status in 1999, but only three have been added.
Perth’s new sprinkler rules a ‘significant response to climate change’
Winter is over and you’re allowed to turn your sprinklers on again but some Perth and Mandurah householders must make do with less.
Sustainability
Simple way to significantly increase lifetimes of fuel cells and other devices
In research that could jump-start work on a range of technologies including fuel cells, which are key to storing solar and wind energy, MIT researchers have found a relatively simple way to increase the lifetimes of these devices: changing the pH of the system.
Sustainable forestry needed to drive timber homes to fight climate change
Building new homes from timber could save about 10 per cent of the world’s carbon budget which is needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees according to a new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Carbon-free fuels and”greener” fertilizer come closer to reality
A little over 100 years ago, humankind learned how to take nitrogen from the atmosphere (where it is plentiful) and turn it into ammonia that can be used as source of fertilizer for growing food. That chemical process, known as nitrogen fixation, has allowed huge increases in crop production and a subsequent boom in human populations fed by those crops.
New way found to turn number seven plastic into valuable products
A method to convert a commonly thrown-away plastic to a resin used in 3D-printing could allow for making better use of plastic waste.
Nature Conservation
UTA biologists address global extinction crisis
Brook trout are disappearing from American streams. Amphibian habitats are changing. Coral species are dying.
Ecologists use latest dental scanning technology to study young coral
Inspired by a trip to the dentist, Dr Kate Quigley presents a new method for monitoring coral size and growth that reduces surveying time by 99%. The methodology and findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal, Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
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