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Date: 24 June 2023 at 8:30:56 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links June 24
Post of the Day
Poll also reveals increasing cynicism over environmental claims made by companies
On This Day
Nativity of St John the Baptist (St John’s Day) – Christianity
Climate Change
‘Beyond extreme’ ocean heat wave in North Atlantic is worst in 170 years
The exceptionally warm waters could pose a deadly threat to marine life and impact summer weather in the UK and Europe.
The Paris summit on finance and climate comes to an end. Time for concrete steps?
After all the talking, time for tangible solutions?
Environment groups ask Biden to crack down on methane emissions from landfills
Methane is a planet-warming gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period and makes up nearly 12 percent of the country’s contribution to climate change. Landfills are the third largest source of methane in the U.S.
Climate costs most likely to hit world’s richest, as renewables erode fossil fuel billions
New study finds the financial impact of ambitious climate action will mostly be borne by the wealthiest people in society, due to stranded fossil fuels.
World leaders told climate crisis is at a critical point – podcast
World leaders have been meeting in Paris to discuss the need to reform the global financial system to tackle climate change. The summit aims to create a strategy for the next 18 to 24 months, ranging from debt relief to climate finance.
The sudden warming of Britain’s seas will tear through ocean life like a wildfire
Philip Hoare
What happens when the chill of our seas turns to a soupy stew? Fragile ecosystems will be destroyed and food sources for wildlife will disappear
Fractured foundations: how Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ ice is dwindling and why that’s bad news
Alexander Fraser et al
Our new research is the first to review the many crucial roles of “landfast” sea ice around Antarctica. Landfast ice is frozen seawater that is fastened to the coast. It acts like a belt around the Antarctic coast, regulating the flow of ice shelves and glaciers into the sea. And it’s crucial habitat for Weddell seals and emperor penguins.
Before the colonists came, we burned small and burned often to avoid big fires. It’s time to relearn cultural burning
Robbie Williams
For 60,000 years, many First Nations peoples managed the land that sustained us. Fire, for us, was not destructive. It created new life. We believe bringing back cultural burning is an important step towards creating a more just and sustainable future.
National
Renewable energy push creates trade union division
Mining and energy workers say the industry is “under attack” in the push toward renewables, and plan to split from their current union for more effective lobbying.
Finkel: Australia can still reach its 82 pct renewables target by 2030
Alan Finkel says Australia can still reach its 82 per cent renewable target. “If I was betting with dollars, I would say yes. If I was betting with my life, I’d be hesitant.”
“We must move quickly:” CEFC gets $20bn to put renewable transition back on track
CEFC gets more than $20 billion in new funds – mostly for transmission – to try and get the renewable transition back on track.
Beyond the fence: what does it mean to rewild the Australian desert?
Rewilding is core to conservation efforts around the world. In Australia’s threatened but intact deserts, where do people fit in with the strategy?
Turn it off! The fight to darken our night skies
If you live in or near a city, you’re probably affected by light pollution.
Australia urged to do more to favour electric vehicles
Car makers are calling for ambitious policies to match US and EU goals for electric vehicles.
Critical minerals strategy needs to dig a little deeper
Tim Buckley
Australia has the potential to lead the world in the critical minerals required for the clean technology – such as batteries and wind turbines – that underpins the energy transition.
Better YIMBYs already exist, despite what you might have heard [$]
Jonathan O’Brien
For better or for worse, home ownership is part of the Australian Dream. The local YIMBY movement understands that, writes one of its key organisers.
Insiders expose ‘bullshit’ at CSIRO [$]
Rick Morton
Staff have revealed internal divisions stemming from tensions between the CSIRO’s board and its departing chief executive, who put industry priorities ahead of science.
Australia’s climate neglect on trial in Torres Strait Islands [$]
Cliff Bird and Rebecca Monson
A landmark case is under way to prosecute Australia for failing in its duty to fight climate change and protect the First Nations people of the Torres Strait, with significance for all Pacific island communities threatened by rising seas.
Victoria
Water and sewerage bills to pump up in Victoria
Water and sewerage bill prices are set to rise in most parts of Victoria, with hikes hitting regional Victorians harder than their metropolitan neighbours.
Key departure casts doubt over Andrews’ big promise to revive SEC
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel has left the SEC and the Victorian opposition says one of Labor’s key election promises will not live up to expectations.
New South Wales
Buses replace trains: is Sydney doomed to endure the curse of weekend trackwork forever?
The NSW transport minister has warned commuters of disruption ‘from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday’ for at least a year, but experts say it doesn’t have to be this way
Looming fire ant invasion ‘worse than cane toads’
Facing a crisis demanding immediate action, critics say governments sat for two years on a crucial report on the fire ant crisis.
Green light for Harbour Bridge cycleway leaves opponents decrying ‘pig’ of a project
The contentious plan to build an elevated cycleway beside the Sydney Harbour Bridge has cleared one of the final hurdles to its construction after the state’s heritage council approved designs for the project.
ACT
Waterways, biosecurity funding addressed in ACT budget
The ACT government will focus on strengthening the territory’s biosecurity and waterways as part of a $13 million package for the environment in the upcoming budget.
Queensland
Indigenous regain control of Qld national park
Tucked away in the most northwestern part of Queensland, 79,000 hectares of land, gorges and sandstone ranges have been returned to the traditional owners.
Crackdown on e-scooters flagged under long-running Qld safety review
Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace could be handed extra powers to recall dangerous e-scooters and batteries under an overhaul of elect
Reefshot provides hope for the future of our Barrier Reef
The story of some of the Reef’s most loyal citizens racing against time to turn the tide on the danger facing the world’s largest living organism.
Soil conservation beefed up with carbon credits
John Durie
Two Queensland beef properties will collect a combined 151,312 units worth about $6m – the first large-scale soil carbon credits awarded by the federal government.
South Australia
Australia’s first commercial vanadium battery installed in regional SA
Yadlamalka Energy completes the civil works on the battery, which will store around 10 gigawatts of dispatchable solar power each year and charge from excess electricity produced when the sun is at its peak.
Much of the island’s key infrastructure was destroyed by the 2019-20 fires. But with the rebuild ramping up, a renewed effort is underway to lure visitors back.
Thousands of South Australians are without power as a powerful rain system batters the state.
Tasmania
Hope for devils’ future amid game-changing research [$]
A new global study has left researchers feeling buoyant about the future of the Tasmanian devil, with the findings painting an optimistic picture.
Northern Territory
Shell, BP line up to buy NT shale gas as fracking gets green light
Two of the world’s biggest energy companies are considering buying shale gas from Australia’s environmentally and culturally sensitive Beetaloo Basin.
Pipe dream: Tamboran’s billion dollar east-coast link plan [$]
The Beetaloo Basin’s largest proponent has laid out its plans for developing the precinct and inked two incredible deals.
Western Australia
BHP plans 550MW of wind, solar and storage as Pilbara mines go electric
BHP planning wind, solar and storage to supply its Pilbara mine sites, and the extra power needed to electrify its haulage and train fleet.
Battery storage takes another giant leap over fossil fuels in heart of coal country
New deals for four hour batteries takes the technology make the next giant leap over the fossil fuel generators they will replace.
Sustainability
Tonga set to become the first Pacific nation to pioneer the use of wave energy technology
Tonga looks set to become the first Pacific country to experiment with wave technology when work commences on a power wave park later this year.
Global sperm counts are falling. This scientist believes she knows why
Shanna Swan, senior scientist at Environmental Health Sciences and author of the book Countdown, has been investigating the impact of chemicals on human fertility for decades.
What BPA can do to our bodies—and how to limit your exposure
The chemical used to make plastics is more prevalent than ever and remains unregulated in the U.S.—despite thousands of studies showing “overwhelming evidence of harm.”
Air pollution ‘aged’ hospital COVID patients by 10 years, study shows
The Guardian reporter Damian Carrington presents research showing that patients exposed to dirty air spent four days longer in hospital, the same impact as if they had been a decade older.
They only want you to believe it’s food
In Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food that Isn’t Food, Chris van Tulleken provides evidence that the chemicals in these foods actually disrupt our bodies’ ability to regulate appetite and digestion, interfering with the brain’s reward system, much as alcohol, nicotine and morphine do.
The EU and UK exported 1,000 tonnes of a banned pesticide to poorer countries, investigation reveals
This dangerous fungicide was banned in the EU three years ago. So why is it still being sent to developing countries?
The history of American air pollution, explained
Vox reporter Rachel DuRose explains the history of air pollution in the United States.
International lenders continue pouring money into meat and dairy, despite climate promises
A new analysis shows that billions went to industrial livestock and grain companies, including a $200 million loan to a firm producing corn and soy in the heavily deforested Cerrado region of Brazil.
Our planet is imploding: when will we act to save ourselves?
Julian Cribb
While much of humanity was glued to the unfolding drama over one tiny submarine, the Earth we all inhabit is slowly, steadily and implacably imploding around us.
Nature Conservation
Nearly half of US honeybee colonies died last year. Struggling beekeepers stabilize population
A new survey says America’s honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies. But using costly measures to create new colonies, beekeepers are somehow keeping afloat.
Study shows light pollution is confusing even coral reefs
Light pollution from coastal cities is confusing corals, causing them to spawn outside the optimum times for fertilization.
Ecological tipping points could occur much sooner than expected, study finds
Amazon rainforest and other ecosystems could collapse ‘very soon’, researchers warn.
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