Date: 6 January 2023 at 8:56:00 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jan 6
Post of the Day
Can we restrain our excessive consumption to arrest climate change?
As affluence grows globally, people spend more. Money spent is roughly equivalent to carbon pollution and climate change. Can the urge to splurge be brought under control? Or, is it terminal?
On This Day
January 6
Christmas and Epiphany – Armenia
Christmas Eve – Eastern Christianity
Epiphany – Western Christianity
Climate Change
Half of glaciers will be gone by 2100 even under Paris 1.5C accord, study finds
If global heating continues at current rate of 2.7C, losses will be greater with 68% of glaciers disappearing
Around the world, rebel farmers are pushing back on climate action
Drastic measures to reform a food system that generates about 31 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions have prompted a growing backlash.
Cyclone researchers: Warming climate means more and stronger Atlantic tropical storms
Tropical cyclone researchers report a warming climate could increase the number of tropical cyclones and their intensity in the North Atlantic, potentially creating more and stronger hurricanes.
Climate change could cause “disaster” in the world’s oceans, say UC Irvine scientists
Climate change will slow down deep overturning ocean circulation in the coming centuries.
National
La Niña is rapidly easing. The prospect of El Niño has some worried. So what’s next?
La Niña’s three-year grip as the prevailing climate driver for Australia’s east coast could finally be over. But the prospect of an El Niño has some worried. Here’s what we know
China reportedly gives green light to limited Australian coal imports after two-year ban
China’s state planner has reportedly allowed three central government-backed utilities and its top steelmaker to resume coal imports from Australia only for their own use.
Australian coal industry says China market matters less than before, even if import ban ends
Queensland Resources Council says industry would welcome restrictions easing but new long-term customers since found elsewhere in Asia
The women choosing the climate over having a baby
Australian researchers are exploring to what extent climate change and extreme weather events are influencing women’s decisions not to have children in a first-of-its-kind study.
A million new cars in just one year – but where will we park them all?
Sales of new cars and trucks in Australia topped one million in 2022 with the latest figures also set to confirm the exploding demand for electric vehicles.
Investors turn up climate heat on Glencore’s coal expansion plans
Glencore, the country’s biggest coal miner, is facing intensifying pressure over climate change as large shareholders call on the board to explain how pursuing new coal projects aligns with its commitments to arrest global warming.
‘Conscience’ of forestry industry defended rain forest biodiversity
George Baur was deeply involved in formulating and implementing the Forestry Commission’s environmental policies.
Key Indigenous Advisory Committee to guide environment and heritage law reform announced
The membership of the next Indigenous Advisory Committee, which will be crucial to federal environmental and Aboriginal heritage protection reforms, was announced Thursday.
Saving the koalas will mean saying no to certain developments
Megan Kessler
As 2022 drew to a close, the government committed to reforming our federal environmental legislation to make good on their commitment to no new extinctions.
January is our most wasteful month. Here’s how to fix it
Tony Bacic
The period from new year to Australia Day is – for many – a time of waste. Plastic glasses, disposable party plates and, most of all, food.
Why Rich Listers are learning to love coal [$]
Vesna Poljak
Coal is not investible for a lot of professional money managers, but Rich Listers – and now China – appear to willing to recognise Australian coal’s place.
We’ve entered the era of unnatural disasters. Here’s what we must do
Lesley Hughes
We have long been warned that climate change would intensify the severity and frequency of extreme weather. That future has now arrived.
Victoria
Kangaroo kill target jumps in Victoria
The Victorian Government has approved increasing the number of kangaroos allowed to be shot by 30 per cent to 166,000, in a move criticised by animal welfare advocates.
Electric scooters are a useful addition to our transport network
i editorial
The experience of the past year suggests it makes sense to keep our electric scooter rental fleet, while also legalising – and regulating – private e-scooters.
New South Wales
Snowy Hydro could change our grid. But we have to build it first
Snowy Hydro 2.0 is a water-fuelled dream of cheap, clean electricity. But to make it happen, there are hurdles needing to be overcome.
Charging stations and art: How these solar panels are being diverted from landfill
Old solar panels with plenty of electricity still to give are being saved from landfill and reused by a not-for-profit organisation determined to address what is set to become a major waste issue.
NSW Labor vows to start next stage of delayed Parramatta light rail in first term
In an election commitment, Labor says it will also spend an extra $200 million to finalise planning to fast-track construction.
Carp seize the day as floods extend south and west
Jeremy Morton says he’s never seen this many invasive carp on his property, which lies along the banks of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Baby oysters part of plan to protect against coastal erosion
A first-of-its kind project is under way in Narooma to halt erosion of the foreshore right in the middle of town.
ACT
Ingenuity must drive Canberra’s next phase of growth [$]
Canberra Times editorial
Canberra is on track to reach a landmark population sooner than expected, with more than half a million people expected to call this city home within the next decade.
Queensland
Graziers left grinning as Queensland’s red dirt turns green following best rain in a decade
Outback residents are celebrating after much-needed rain floods north-west parts of the state, as graziers cut-off by floodwaters confess they “wouldn’t have it any other way”.
Desal plant stirs water bill surge fears [$]
Southeast Queensland residents could be slugged an extra 15 per cent on their water bills if Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet decides to build a new desalination plant.
South Australia
High river flows, strong winds and high tides lead to flooding near mouth of Murray
The South Australian town of Milang seemed like it would be unaffected by the disaster affecting the state’s Riverland and Murraylands but shacks in the town on Lake Alexandrina are being flooded.
Neoen starts building its fifth big battery in Australia [$]
The Blyth project in South Australia will support a ‘renewable baseload’ contract with BHP and is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Country for bad dreams: vandalism on the Nullarbor Plain
Binoy Kampmark
“This is quite shocking,” declared South Australia’s Attorney-General and Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Kyam Maher. “These caves are some of the earliest evidence of Aboriginal occupation of that part of the country.” That evidence was subtracted this month by acts of vandalism inflicted on artwork in Koonalda Cave on the Nullarbor Plain, claimed to be the world’s largest limestone karst landscape and covering over 200,000 square kilometres.
Tasmania
Tasmania is set to have another 150,000 people by 2033 — and most won’t live in Hobart
The Tasmanian north-south divide is not going anywhere over the next decade if new population forecasts are anything to go by, with more people set to live outside the Greater Hobart area than in it.
Western Australia
Deep-sea science mission captures never-before-seen creatures in dark depths
Specialised cameras are giving scientists a rare window into the world of deep-sea life, helping “shed light on places that are deep and dark and really important”.
People near a fire that raged close to homes and farms in a rural enclave in Western Australia’s South West overnight are relieved as the threat level is downgraded, but remain on alert.
Evacuations continue as record flooding spreads across Kimberley
Emergency evacuations continue as Western Australia’s worst flooding on record spreads across the vast Kimberley region.
Kimberley gas fracker fined for net-zero claims
ASIC issued three infringement notices over the company’s presentations to investors on net-zero emissions pledge
Sustainability
Metrics and mechanisms to finance a managed coal phaseout
RMI’s new guidance for how financial institutions can play a key role in the managed phaseout of coal power.
Reality check: Keeping the lights on in extreme winter weather
Winter reliability risk is a fossil fuel problem, not a renewable energy problem.
Push for human composting gains ground
Saying goodbye is never easy, and choosing how your loved one’s body is laid to rest is one of the hardest things you may ever do. But there is a large movement pushing people to consider the environment.
What to know about cellphone radiation
ProPublica recently examined how the federal government, based on quarter-century-old standards, denies that cellphones pose any risks. This guide answers some of the most common questions people ask about cellphone radiation.
Green cooling tech is based on the idea of salt melting ice
By combining a salt and a solvent—both cheap and abundant—engineers developed a new refrigeration system that uses less energy and emits no greenhouse gases.
Meaningful but unused products hinder sustainability
New Cornell University research shows that product attachment can unintentionally encourage less sustainable behavior.
NIH study links specific outdoor air pollutants to asthma attacks in urban children
Moderate levels of two outdoor air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter, are associated with non-viral asthma attacks in children and adolescents who live in low-income urban areas, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found.
New York City’s greenery absorbs a surprising amount of its carbon emissions
A study of vegetation across New York City and some densely populated adjoining areas has found that on many summer days, photosynthesis by trees and grasses absorbs all the carbon emissions produced by cars, trucks and buses, and then some.
Next-generation wireless technology may leverage the human body for energy
While you may be just starting to reap the advantages of 5G wireless technology, researchers throughout the world are already working hard on the future: 6G.
Nature Conservation
This robot designed in regional Victoria is heading to Africa to help stop illegal poaching
The four-wheeled robot nicknamed “GUS” is armed with cameras, a drone and microphones guided by artificial intelligence — and it’s also attracting interest from the Australian Army.
Ship noise kills crabs’ libidos
For green crabs, ship noise is like an anti–Barry White.
Invasive rats transform reef fish behaviour
Scientists have discovered for the first time that invasive rats on tropical islands are affecting the territorial behaviour of fish on surrounding coral reefs.
Researchers find that wind turbines repel bats in Finnish forests
Researchers from the Universities of Turku and Helsinki in Finland have investigated the impact of wind turbines on bat presence and activity in boreal forests. The results indicate clearly that bats don’t like wind turbines.
Sacred groves: How the spiritual connection helps protect nature
From Ethiopia’s highlands to Siberia to the Australian rainforest, there are thousands of sacred forests that have survived thanks to traditional religious and spiritual beliefs. These places, many now under threat, have ecological importance, experts say, and must be saved.
Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water
Rachael Gross and Rob Heinsohn
African elephant numbers have dropped from about 26 million in the 1800s to 415,000 today. While this is largely due to European colonisation, poaching and habitat loss, these majestic animals now face another grave challenge.
Jennifer Jandt
After almost two decades of championing native birds in an annual competition, Aotearoa is going to begin celebrating its spineless creatures this year.
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