Date: 24 July 2023 at 8:44:26 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jul 24
Post of the Day
Plastic’s climate footprint staring us in the face
Maya Rommwatt
As we create policies and incentives to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we have a plastic-shaped hole in our vision.
On This Day
Climate Change
Antarctic sea ice has usually been able to recover in winter. But this time it’s different, with levels taking a sharp downward turn at a time of year when sea ice usually forms reliably — and experts are worried.
Get a job in growing careers: How climate change will shape hiring
These growing fields are helping fight climate change — they’re also a great opportunity for job seekers or young people picking a new career.
New federal report on research into sun-dimming technologies delivers more questions than answers
Some scientists worry that studying how to shade the Earth from some of the sun’s heat is a slippery slope toward deployment of ‘solar radiation management’ without fully understanding the risks.
How climate change could cause a home insurance meltdown
It’s increasingly expensive and difficult to get home insurance, as losses rise from climate-driven disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. And the solutions aren’t always politically popular.
One year in, the Inflation Reduction Act is working — kind of
The climate law is lowering the cost of solar and wind, but Paris Agreement goals are still out of reach.
The effects of climate change on mental health
Extreme heat causes serious and sometimes fatal effects on the human body. Less is known about how prolonged heat impacts our mental health.
Why aren’t we more scared of the climate crisis? It’s complicated
Despite extreme heat and weather in the US, most Americans aren’t cowering in fear. There’s a psychological reason for it.
Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?
The idea of putting solar panels on top of the world’s thousands of miles of irrigation canals has long seemed like a good one.
How will El Nino change in the future?
Nicola Maher and Malte Stuecker
Current evidence suggests both El Nino and La Nina could change significantly over the next 70 years, which will have consequences for how they impact us.
Andrew Glikson
The fast rise in global warming manifested by current extreme weather events betray a dangerous underestimation of the Earth’s liveable climate, while governments ignore climate science, claim to set limits on domestic emissions but allow major export of fossil fuels and emissions worldwide on a scale threatening life on Earth.
National
A zoologist is flying 20,000km around Australia to help save migratory shorebirds and wetlands
Amellia Formby has been flying around the coast of Australia for more than a year, on a mission to highlight the importance of a group of endangered but crucial birds.
Tensions emerge between state and federal governments over Australia’s energy grid roadmap
Disquiet points to jockeying among jurisdictions and impatience over the rollout of renewables
Barnaby sparks farmers into renewable revolt [$]
Farmers from Far North Queensland through NSW and into Victoria are forming a single coalition to fight the compulsory purchase of their land for high voltage transmission lines.
Slow start for second-hand electric vehicle market
Only one in 100 second-hand vehicles for sale is electric and it could take three years for the situation to significantly improve, experts warn.
AFR readers want small nuclear reactors considered
Nearly two-thirds of Financial Review readers who responded to a poll support further study of a promising nuclear power option using modular technology.
Know your rubbish from your recyclables? Take our quiz and test yourself
From how clean your recycling needs to be to how many donated clothes are actually resold — can you sort your waste facts from fiction.
‘We’re lab rats’: Is the War on Waste making a difference?
Craig Reucassel returns for series three of the hit ABC show and says it’s now up to governments to make a real difference when it comes to recycling.
Craig Reucassel gives us his top tips for joining the War on Waste
Craig Reucassel
Australia, we’re still in a war with waste and even though we’ve made some good progress, there’s still plenty of work to do. These are my top picks for getting involved and helping to address our waste problem.
COVID was nothing compared to climate emergency
Alan Kohler
“Time has run out to avoid dangerous climate change by reducing emissions alone. … Storing carbon away from the atmosphere is essential …” That’s the opening sentences of Reduce, Remove and Store, a report on carbon sequestration by the federal government’s Climate Change Authority in April.
Scorched by burning questions, our answer should not be inaction
Sean Kelly
Whether it’s climate change or the Voice, we often forget the real human cost of doing nothing.
Glide poles: the great Aussie invention helping flying possums cross the road
Brendan Taylor
Next time you’re road-tripping along the east coast, keep an eye out for a little-known Aussie invention piercing the skyline: glide poles. For Australia’s gliding possums, or gliders, they’re the next best thing since tall trees.
Dutton’s nuclear folly: Small Modular Reactors a political mirage
Rex Patrick
As Peter Dutton talks up nuclear power, it is not surprising to see Andrew Liveris shifting his pitch from a ‘gas led recovery’ to a call for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to be considered for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Dutton is engaged in politics, Liveris in fantasy. Rex Patrick reports on the nuclear distraction.
Victoria
Melburnians selling back yards to survive rate hikes [$]
Melbourne homeowners are selling their back yards in a bid to beat soaring interest rates and save their home, but the blocks are going up against another big hurdle.
Planning decisions to be fast-tracked under housing shake-up
Planning decisions would be fast-tracked under a major package to ease Victoria’s housing crisis, which Premier Daniel Andrews said would represent one of the state’s biggest policy shake-ups, but the opposition has accused the government of distraction tactics after cancelling the Commonwealth Games.
Victoria Market ‘mega-wall’ will literally divide Melbourne in pursuit of profit
John McNabb
The $1.7b proposal for a rare city site seems to care little for its effect on neighbours or other visitors.
Sure sign of light at end of Metro Tunnel project [$]
Builders have handed control of the Metro Tunnel’s underground track to Melbourne’s rail operator, signalling test trains will run through shortly.
New South Wales
The anguish and anger behind Australia’s clean energy plan
In rural pockets in the shadows of the Snowy Mountains, farmers are mounting a fierce campaign against new overhead power lines. Who will pay the most for the clean energy transition?
Queensland
‘K’gari wouldn’t be K’gari without dingoes’ — so where do humans fit in?
Nearly half a million tourists visit the World Heritage-listed island every year hoping to see a dingo lazing on the beach — but a recent spate of dingo attacks has sharpened debate about the risks when humanity and nature collide.
A developer wants to build thousands of homes on the Sunshine Coast but the council says the proposed estate will clash with an emerging housing project nearby and is not a solution to the current housing crisis.
Experts say pest eradication program is underfunded and it is a ‘matter of time’ before ants move beyond Queensland
Billionaires’ Qld gas deal hinges on controversial price cap, approvals [$]
A $1 billion gas field expansion will power a major Queensland manufacturer but it hangs on environmental approvals and the Albanese Government’s controversial gas price cap.
Coal giants still cashing in on Qld resources despite royalties scheme [$]
Cameron Dick
Mining companies such as BHP may express their unhappiness with Queensland’s coal royalties scheme but for every dollar taxpayers earn, the coal companies are still generating four times as much in revenue.
Is Chalumbin set to become our new Franklin Dam? [$]
Nick Cater
A wind turbine develpment at Chalumbin could mark a pivotal moment in Australia’s political and environmental history. But this time there is hardly a tree-hugger in sight.
Tasmania
Doctor’s concern over possible water quality, patient health link [$]
A Southern Tasmanian doctor is fearful that environmental factors could be contributing to the poor health of some residents along the Upper Derwent and Plenty Rivers.
Northern Territory
Total fire ban issued as Humpty Doo blaze downgraded
Residents of multiple Top End regions are banned from starting fires for 24 hours amid high risk fire weather conditions.
Western Australia
Western Australia’s planning authorities are fielding an average of 25 phone calls and 50 emails a day from landholders, confused over the state’s new Aboriginal heritage laws.
Hot stuff: Intern develops app to help predict WA bushfires
An intern has helped develop an app to better predict bushfires.
World-first clean energy deal taps deep local knowledge
Kununurra-born Lawford Benning says Aboriginal clean energy is about celebrating beautiful country without hurting it.
Sustainability
Japan is trying to use ammonia to make coal cleaner
New York Times reporters Motoko Rich and Hikari Hida write about Jera, a Japanese company that wants to blend ammonia with coal in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Japan says that by blending ammonia with coal in its boilers, it can make coal less damaging to the planet.
Trump vows to undo Biden’s electric vehicle policies
The former president’s latest attempt to win auto workers’ votes came in a video that accused his successor of imposing “crippling mandates” on the industry.
You have questions about plastics, we have answers – video
In this second episode of our “Ask Pete Anything” series, we brought in experts from the Plastic Pollution Coalition to answer your questions about plastic.
Nature Conservation
What would happen if we stopped fishing?
Less than a century ago, the world’s oceans were swarming with giant fish. Could we ever get them back?
Washington scientist says climate change is creating ‘a world with fewer seabirds’
University of Washington scientists found that climate change is generating marine heat waves that are killing off millions of seabirds from California to Alaska.
How a (very) giant stingray could help to save a mighty river
A world-record ray caught in the Mekong was tagged and tracked. The data is giving scientists new insight into a fragile ecosystem.
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