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Date: 13 July 2023 at 9:00:02 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jul 13
Post of the Day
Pesticides from farming leach into world’s waterways at rate of 710 tonnes a year, UN research shows
Safe levels exceeded in 13,000km of rivers globally with ingredients potentially degrading into more persistent substances
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Tree Day – Mexico
‘Time is running out’ to halt global warming
After the hottest seven-day run of average temperatures ever seen, experts have warned that the unwanted record will likely be broken in the near future.
World’s oceans changing colour due to climate breakdown, study suggests
The sea is becoming greener due to changes in plankton populations, analysis of Nasa images finds
EU lawmakers back green bill: Law will protect nature and fight climate change
The EU parliament this Wednesday has decided to back a major bill to protect nature and fight climate change. Lawmakers had been deadlocked over the measure which was being closely followed by environmentalists who supported the bill and by farmers who were urging a slower response.
US EPA says carbon capture is within reach. Utilities aren’t biting
The utilities that control most of the country’s power plants aren’t rushing out to install carbon capture, even as the Biden administration offers the technology as a lifeline for fossil fuels.
Climate change in India: A growing environmental crisis
As torrential rains cause flash floods and landslides in India, the country grapples with an environmental crisis. The heavy rain comes after an unbearable heat wave.
Underground climate change is helping sink the land beneath us
In some locations, the excessive heat is causing deformations in the land and destabilizing buildings.
Global sea level has risen 6.7 inches (170 mm) over the past 100 years, and by about 11 inches (280 mm) along the shores of the contiguous U.S. The rise has accelerated, and is now more than double the rate observed in the 20th century.
What to do with climate emotions
If the goal is to insure that the planet remains habitable, what is the right degree of panic, and how do you bear it?
After two years of real progress on climate, a European ‘greenlash’ is brewing
Nathalie Tocci
As climate pledges become reality, opposition to the green agenda is growing. And the populist right is latching on to it
Is it hot enough yet for politicians to take real action?
Bill McKibben
The latest record temperatures are driving, again precisely as scientists have predicted, a cascading series of disasters around the world.
National
Will’s energy bill is going up by 80 per cent. His provider expects to double its profits
New data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission shows millions of consumers are paying more on power bills than they should.
Australian trial of seaweed cow feed fails to achieve hoped-for methane cuts
Longest trial so far of supplement derived from red seaweed produced 28% less of the greenhouse gas – a much smaller reduction than in previous studies
Fast rail: on track or always coming ‘next year’? [$]
Has there ever been a longer, more tedious journey in than Australia’s progress on high-speed rail?
AEMO targets inverters and small solar in engineering roadmap to 100 pct renewables
AEMO outlines works needed to make grid ready for 100 pct renewables, including tighter control of inverters and looking at the growing number of small solar farms.
Energy experts say chasing nuclear would likely stop Australia reaching net zero
Energy experts, including another former chief scientist, say nuclear debate is being used to slow down renewables and puts net zero targets at risk.
Ministers pledge to future-proof farming [$]
Federal and state agriculture ministers will commit to a new national statement on climate change in a bid to make farming more productive.
Con job: Australian Sea Dumping Bill facilitates fossil fuel mining
David Shearman
Governments around the world are promoting and subsidising carbon capture and storage (CCUS) to facilitate an increase in fossil gas mining. This will dash any hope of controlling world emissions at a time when there are deep concerns for climate change becoming uncontrollable.
Good news on nukes: US can’t sell Australia nuclear subs
Brian Toohey
The good news is the US can’t sell Australia the three to five used Virginia class nuclear subs that the Albanese government has announced it will buy. Nor will it sell us any new ones.
Australia’s admission to the G7’s Climate Club could offer real change or just more marketing spin
Nicki Hutley
Australia’s finally got a ticket to the global Climate Club, but will a critical eye on our track-record be the price of admission?
Finally, proof that net zero is bonkers [$]
Andrew Bolt
A report by Net Zero Australia reveals what the government won’t tell us – that Labor is leading us down the road to ruin.
Cost-benefit needed on net zero
Australian editorial
China is increasing emissions equal to one Australia every six months.
Sustainability reporting rules would be regulatory overkill [$]
Peter Wells
Treasury’s proposed framework would cast a wide net and impose onerous reporting burdens on 23,144 companies that produce just a fraction of the nation’s emissions.
Victoria
Drain on Murray-Darling Basin risks 140 species: Report
The Murray cod is among as many as 140 species at risk of extinction unless more water is returned to the Murray-Darling Basin, according to a new report.
Collaborative efforts and funding pitted against buffel grass in the southern Great Victoria Desert
Thanks to an $82,000 donation from BHP’s Community Donation Program, the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board (AWLB) now has the means to fight against the spread of the harmful buffel grass weed in the southern Great Victoria Desert.
New South Wales
Second offshore wind zone announced for Australia, energy production expected by 2030
The federal government has declared an offshore wind zone off the NSW Hunter coast, but it is smaller in size than what was originally proposed.
Call for Bluescope rapidly transition away from coal based-steelmaking at Port Kembla
A new global organisation monitoring carbon emissions from steelmakers is urging Australian company Bluescope to abandon plans to reline its main blast furnace at Port Kembla in Wollongong
Why this little digger’s return to Sydney is so important
Eastern bettongs haven’t roamed mainland Australia for 100 years. Now they’re running around western Sydney.
The plan for trams to turn Broadway into Sydney’s ‘green gateway’
The central business district’s light rail network would extend south along Broadway under a push by the City of Sydney council to turn the traffic-choked road into a “green gateway” lined with trees and bike paths.
Queensland
Major expansion of no-fish zones in Queensland seafood hotspot
The proportion of “green” zones in a major marine park has been boosted to conserve the region’s biodiversity as commercial fishers are promised a “targeted compensation package”.
Hydrogen to get a world first trial at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun refinery
Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation have agreed to build a first-of-a-kind hydrogen plant in Gladstone as part of a $111.1 million program aimed at lowering carbon emissions from the alumina refining process.
Tasmania
Rethinking tourism in a climate crisis
In response to Tourism Tasmania’s Key Directions consultation paper, Circular Economy Huon (CEH) calls on the tourism industry to urgently focus on ways to reduce greenhouse emissions and benefit Tasmanians and the environment, in its 2030 Tourism Strategy.
Tassie’s hydrogen dream nears reality as project suppliers tapped [$]
The company pursuing hydrogen projects outside Launceston and Hobart has appointed suppliers for the equipment it needs and confirmed it is nearing the stage of making a final investment decision on both projects.
Tassie’s Tall Trees under threat
Henry Johnston
Logging and bushfires have decimated giant gum trees in Tasmania. Unless we seriously tackle climate change, Australia stands to lose these biological treasures.
Northern Territory
Chief takes action on croc cull call after Wangi attack [$]
The Chief has contacted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in plea for crocodile management plans to be reviewed. Here’s what’s on the cards.
Western Australia
WA EPA dismisses most grounds of appeal against extension of operation licence for gas processing facility in the Pilbara
Juukan Gorge owners seal deal to co-manage mine sites
Traditional owners whose 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters were destroyed by Rio Tinto have signed an agreement with Fortescue Metals Group that paves the way for joint management of current and future mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara.
Sustainability
International Energy Agency slows energy transition, Santos chief says [$]
Kevin Gallagher told a conference in Canada that the organisation’s net-zero emissions report was “not even credible” but had delayed a switch to gas.
How America’s push for the atomic bomb spawned enduring radioactive waste problems in St. Louis
The federal government and companies responsible for nuclear bomb production and atomic waste storage sites in the St. Louis area in the mid-20th century were aware of health risks, spills, improperly stored contaminants and other problems but often ignored them
Electric vehicle tires: a lesser-known pollution headache
As EV sales have soared, the tire industry has innovated its products to fit the needs of the relatively heavy, efficient and silent cars. But there is one problem the industry is struggling to crack.
To ease global warming, the whitest of paints
Scientists at Purdue have created a white paint that, when applied, can reduce the surface temperature on a roof and cool the building beneath it.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is a ‘dirty bomb’ waiting to happen – a nuclear expert explains
Tilman Ruff
After the explosion at the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine last month, many Ukrainians feared the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could be next.
Blockchain could revolutionise the power industry
Paul Budde
Blockchain technology has the potential to provide solutions to several challenges facing the power industry today.
Nature Conservation
Plastic pollution on coral reefs gets worse the deeper you go, study finds
Volume of debris in the unexplored twilight zone is an ‘emerging threat’ to reefs already stressed by climate crisis, say scientists
Trying to save coral reefs? Think like a hedge fund manager
Trying to protect or restore an ecosystem has something in common with playing the stock market or the roulette wheel. Unexpected surprises are part of the equation.
Mining the ocean for vital minerals – but can we protect the environment? – podcast
Discussions about whether or not to mine the ocean are underway in Jamaica. Delegates from 167 countries, including Australia, have gathered at the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority. The little known intergovernmental body regulates activities on international waters.
David Hamilton et al
A world-first study has found concentrations of plastics in some lakes are higher than in the most contaminated parts of oceans, demonstrating the extent to which plastics have invaded Earth’s ecosystems.
Deniz Ozkundakci
The level of microplastic pollution in New Zealand lakes is comparable with those in the US or Europe, despite much lower population densities, according to our global analysis of plastic pollution in freshwater lakes and reservoirs.
Air pollution makes it harder for insects to find food and mates
Mark Elgar
The impact of air pollution particles on insects is greater than previously thought and may be a driver of global declines in insect populations
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