https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/981663
Date: 6 March 2023 at 8:47:48 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Mar 6
Post of the Day
To defeat climate change, Australia faces impossible
Alan Kohler
The argument between Labor and the Greens about new gas projects is strange and pointless. New projects must be included in the government’s emissions reduction target, which doesn’t change.
On This Day
Magha Puja Day – Buddhism
Fast of Esther – Judaism
Labour Day – Western Australia
Climate Change
Sea level rise poses particular risk for Asian megacities
Sea level rise this century may disproportionately affect certain Asian megacities, according to new research that looks at the effects of natural sea level fluctuations in addition to climate change. The study identified several Asian megacities that may face especially significant risks by 2100, including Chennai, Kolkata, Yangon, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila.
National
Hydrogen trucks promise a green garbage run you won’t hear coming
The makers of Australia’s first locally designed and built hydrogen-powered truck say it will be towing cars and potentially collecting garbage this year.
‘This risks blowing the carbon budget entirely’
Environmental groups warn new modelling shows Labor’s safeguard mechanism would have a minimal impact on emissions reduction over time.
This $547b green honeypot is a trap for Australia [$]
Chanticleer
Woodside’s decision to push ahead with its US hydrogen project shows the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact. Australia must respond, but big handouts aren’t the only answer.
IR, energy bungling puts brakes on growth [$]
Gary Banks
The biggest reform challenges we face are ones we’ve created for ourselves. Governments knew better and in the past have done better.
Energy and IR changes put us on the road to poverty [$]
Australian editorial
Inaugural Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks must be congratulated for putting views into public sphere.
City news desks fail the test on environment issues [$]
Chris Mitchell
Our media needs to cover rural issues with vigour rather than just parrot Greens propaganda.
Victoria
A new ‘veloway’ is welcome news for Melbourne’s cyclists. But will it be safer for women?
Female cyclists say they should have been consulted about the design of a bike track which is part of the Victorian government’s West Gate Tunnel project.
New South Wales
Bringing the bugs back to this winery has saved time, money — and insects
The global population of insects has declined by 41 per cent in the past 40 years, with researchers saying the overuse of chemicals in agriculture is a key reason.
Heatwave conditions in NSW, large parts of the state set for total fire ban
Much of inland New South Wales will record temperatures well into the 30s, with some areas tipped to exceed 40 degrees, in heatwave conditions expected to last up to several days.
Australia’s oldest running coal-fired power station is about to close. Are bills set to rise?
The “Grand Old Lady”, as it is fondly referred to by some workers, holds an impressive life span of nearly 52 years.
Libs block Lizard Rock development to defuse Teal threat [$]
The highly controversial plan to build 450 homes in bushland on Sydney’s Northern Beaches will not go ahead now, with the Coalition pledging to stop the Lizard Rock project if re-elected.
Govt dam-raising plan hits the wall [$]
The NSW government’s promise to raise the Warragamba Dam wall appears in tatters, with the Department of Planning and Environment warning significant further evidence is required for the project to even proceed to assessment
NSW may extend life of Eraring coal power station [$]
Faced with a reliability shortfall, NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean flags an intervention to keep the nation’s largest coal power station open for longer.
ACT
Total fire ban surrounds the ACT; dry autumn raises grassfire risk
Regions around the ACT including Queanbeyan and Goulburn will move to a total fire ban on Monday.
South Australia
Elders fight to save sacred Dreaming site from radioactive waste
The ancient women’s story of the Seven Sisters will be “destroyed” if a proposed nuclear waste facility proceeds, Barngarla elders say ahead of their Federal Court case.
Western Australia
Shift to green steel challenges future of Australian iron ore [$]
Australia’s biggest miners know the iron ore they produce in the Pilbara is not well suited to low carbon steel. Solutions will cost tens of billions of dollars
New survey indicates “anxiety” over WA Aboriginal heritage laws to come into effect 1 July
Cultural heritage protection company Agreement Hub claimed on Friday that a new survey shows “an acute sense of anxiety” over the implementation of the Western Australia’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act (WA) 2021.
Sustainability
Poor nations’ leaders unleash anger, despair at UN summit
Leaders from the world’s poorest nations poured out their disappointment and bitterness at a UN summit on Sunday over the treatment of their countries by richer counterparts.
Plastic is choking Ghana’s sea
Ghana produces 840 000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only a small portion being recycled, according to data provided by the World Economic Forum.
Additive to make slurry more climate-friendly
Livestock farming produces large quantities of greenhouse gases, especially methane, which is particularly harmful to the climate. Among other things, it escapes during the storage of animal excrement, the slurry. A study by the University of Bonn (Germany) now shows that methane emissions can be reduced by 99 percent through simple and inexpensive means.
No, the Fukushima water release is not going to kill the Pacific Ocean
Nigel Marks et al
Japanese authorities are preparing to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, nearly 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This will relieve pressure on more than 1,000 storage tanks, creating much-needed space for other vital remediation works. But the plan has attracted controversy.
Nature Conservation
UN treaty puts 30 per cent of world’s oceans into protected status
Negotiators from more than 100 countries complete a UN treaty to protect the high seas, a long-awaited step that environmental groups say will help reverse marine biodiversity losses and ensure sustainable development.
Why the UN’s ‘historic’ deal to protect our oceans is so important
The high seas comprise more than 60 per cent of the world’s oceans and nearly half the planet’s surface, but only about one per cent of them are currently protected. Doing so can play a critical role in building resilience to the impact of climate change.
Yama Harradine has always had a passion for animation and he now channels that inspiration to showcase subjects and issues close to his heart.
Though wildlife trafficking has been effectively disrupted since the first World Wildlife Day—established 50 years ago today via the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora—a newly published case study on one of the world’s rarest tortoise species, the ploughshare tortoise, highlights how much room for improvement still exists
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