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Date: 17 October 2023 at 8:20:18 am AEDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 17
Post of the Day
Climate change has toppled some civilizations but not others. Why?
The link between environmental disasters and societal collapse, explained.
On This Day
Birth of Baha’ullah – Baha’i
New NZ government to abandon plans for zero emissions grid by 2030
The National Party isn’t committing any new money to renewables, and will abandon the 2030 clean grid target, but hopes to cut approval times from seven years to one year.
UK could experience ‘civil unrest’ due to food shortages triggered by climate disasters
The UK’s top food security experts believe the country could face “civil unrest” in the coming decades due to climate-triggered food shortages, according to a new survey.
How weather phenomena affect ocean circulation
Study investigates the impact of extreme weather events on the tropical Pacific
Over 40 percent of Antarctica’s ice shelves reduced in volume over 25 years
71 of the 162 ice shelves that surround Antarctica have reduced in volume over 25 years from 1997 to 2021, with a net release of 7.5 trillion tons of meltwater into the oceans, say scientists. They found that almost all the ice shelves on the western side of Antarctica experienced ice loss. In contrast, most of the ice shelves on the eastern side stayed the same or increased in volume.
I study climate change. The data is telling us something new
Zeke Hausfather
There is increasing evidence that global warming has accelerated over the past 15 years rather than continued at a gradual, steady pace.
Climate change is still the top issue in the 2024 election
William S. Becker
Before the 2024 presidential and congressional election campaigns get much older, candidates and voters should get a few things straight. First, no international, national or local issue is more important than global warming. There is some debate over whether global warming is a crisis. It is. Voters and candidates must treat it as one.
National
‘Water is our life’: Federal bill introduced to close fracking loophole
A Greens senator and an independent are hoping to urgently close a legal loophole that allows fracking corporations “a license to drill without regard for rivers”.
New ‘brown levy’ could become next means of tackling emissions-intensive buildings
Property developers, investors and suppliers are preparing for a “brown premium” to be levied on emissions-intensive buildings.
Government settles climate risk to bonds case, makes a key concession [$]
Treasury published a statement recognising potential risks to the value of sovereign bonds from global warming, which a judge warned could be “a huge drain on Commonwealth resources”
Our enviro laws clearly aren’t up to the job of addressing our biggest global threat [$]
Julia Dehm
We need an urgent overhaul of how our national environmental laws regulate ‘planet-wrecking’ fossil fuel projects. But will the government listen?
It’s time for reconciliation to be led by the clean energy opportunity
Kane Thornton
We blew it. It’s now incumbent on all in the clean energy sector to find meaningful ways to give voice and genuine partnership to First Nations communities in the clean energy revolution.
Fly season: what to know about Australia’s most common flies and how to keep them away
Thomas White and Tanya Latty
As the days grow longer and temperatures climb, we’re greeted by a familiar chorus of buzzing. It’s fly season again.
How an Australian coal tax can help save the world [$]
Adrian Blundell-Wignall
This country’s grip on world coking coal supplies means we are well-placed to force up prices and discourage coal use.
Australia’s biggest battery – 2.4GWh – wins federal environmental approval
The biggest battery project in Australia – just 25 kms from the Melbourne CBD – has gained federal environmental approval.
‘Citylink for penguins’: Pay-per-view plan proposed for St Kilda pier revamp
Watching the little penguins return to their burrows along the breakwater has always been a free activity, but Parks Victoria is considering charging to see them.
How the fate of one boatshed became a flashpoint in debate about preparing for sea level rises
A planning application to build a boatshed amid rising sea levels reflects a broader debate taking place in Victorian coastal communities about what should be allowed to be built in the face of the effects of climate change.
New South Wales
Properties lost as two emergency-level fires sweep through Cope and Kempsey in NSW
Two emergency-level bushfires have been declared in NSW as the north of the state grapples with hot, dry and windy conditions.
From 30 jobs to “generational change:” When solar projects put First Nations first
The construction of a solar farm in regional New South Wales has helped bring “generational change” to a local Aboriginal community and set a new benchmark for how renewable energy developers go about the vital business of engagement and building social licence.
Huge Voice twist after crushing defeat
NSW Premier Chris Minns has left the door open for a state-based Voice to Parliament despite an overwhelming referendum result.
Sydney hit by wild storm which downed trees and cancelled trains
Commuters are being told to allow extra time as some trains have been cancelled after strong winds hit Sydney.
Starve NIMBY councils of funds and ignore Baby Boomer complaints: Liberal MP
A Liberal MP has urged his party to reverse course on its approach to housing density and adopt policies from its conservative counterparts abroad, such as a Canadian plan to financially reward councils that exceed housing targets and punish those that fail.
Findings from NSW inquiry into HumeLink – and why we should listen to them
David Leitch
For anyone who cares about decarbonising electricity in NSW and Australia, a four to five year delay in building this line would be quite unreasonable.
ACT
Tick season sees rise in pets presenting with bites to Canberra vet clinics
Increased temperatures are leading to a higher number of ticks in the Canberra area, prompting warnings for pet owners.
Queensland
Sweet reward for sugar industry breakthrough helping to power renewable energy transition
Already powering 27 per cent of the state’s renewable energy grid, the Queensland sugar industry’s research into improved crop yields for biofuel production using genetic selection beats out major rivals Brazil and India.
Bred in captivity and kept safe from predators, will these dainty frogs survive in the wild?
The Kroombit tinker frog is critically endangered with just 150 frogs left in the wild. After years of research, scientists have released the first captive-bred frogs.
‘Really dangerous’: Fire bans for large parts of Queensland as bushfires continue to burn
Fire bans are in place across 11 southern Queensland council areas, as large bushfires threaten central parts of the state.
Could ‘marine cloud brightening’ reduce coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef?
Daniel Patrick Harrison
It might sound like science fiction, but “marine cloud brightening” is being seriously considered as a way to shield parts of the ocean from extreme heat.
South Australia
‘Inbreeding seems to have suited them’: Disease-free koala colony’s biggest threat this summer
More than 50 koalas died in 2012 when a fire tore through Mikkira Station on SA’s Eyre Peninsula. Now, the colony is thriving — but sanctuary owners worry it could happen again.
Walking and cycling left at the kerb in SA’s next infrastructure plan
South Australia’s next 20-year infrastructure strategy needs to better recognise alternatives to car travel, critics argue.
Tasmania
Planning Commission rejects Cambria Green
Media release – East Coast Alliance
The Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) today brought down a decision to reject the Cambria Draft Amendment (Cambria Estate Draft Amendment AM 2018-03, Specific Area Plan and other amendments) proposed to facilitate a large-scale tourism-based development on more than 3,100 hectares outside Swansea village on Tasmania’s east coast.
Call for CCAMLR to protect Antarctic krill
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
Today, the Bob Brown Foundation held a protest calling for an end to krill fishing in Antarctica, at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic and Marine Living Resources ( CCAMLR) as international delegates arrived for the opening day of the annual CCAMLR conference.
Northern Territory
How the Territory’s stranded mining assets could be revived [$]
A new joint venture wants to find and extract the potentially hundreds of millions in the Territory’s stranded resource assets.
Western Australia
Threat level downgraded for bushfire burning in Yallingup near WA’s south-west coast
A watch and act warning is in place as a bushfire continues to burn near the tourist WA town of Yallingup.
Critically endangered scalloped hammerheads gather in seas off Perth. They need protection
Unlike nearly every other species of shark, scalloped hammerheads are highly social. They gather in large groups, or aggregations, numbering in the hundreds. But why? We don’t know.
Male infertility may be the world’s ‘canary down a coal mine’
A global team of experts has made ten crucial recommendations to urgently tackle the worldwide decline in male fertility
Informal settlements are where cities are made
Far from the superficial notion of ‘slums’, informal settlements shape urban development across most of the world’s cities
Work now, benefit later: The energy transition will be stored for the future
Long duration energy storage, much like the federal government’s efforts to boost it, is about doing the work now and reaping the benefits later.
New study projects sea level rise to drain Florida’s financial future
One million Florida properties are projected to become chronically flooded: properties that today fund nearly 30% of local revenues for more than half of the state’s municipalities, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Cornell and Florida State Universities.
Second report on the status of global water resources published
Scientists recently presented a report on the status of global water resources. According to this report, large parts of the world experienced drier conditions in 2022 than those recorded on average for the equivalent periods over the last 30 years.
Biden administration awards $7 billion for 7 hydrogen hubs across the U.S.
Clean hydrogen could help fight climate change, but it barely exists today. Now the administration wants to build an entire industry from scratch.
Plastic is polluting the ocean – video
What can small islands do in the face of a global problem?
Why blue hydrogen is a big mistake
David Schlissel and Suzanne Mattei
The federal government has announced its preliminary plan to release billions of dollars in funding for seven hydrogen development efforts. At least three of the seven projects plan to produce blue hydrogen.
Nature Conservation
Inside the Pacific’s gene bank, thousands of crop varieties are propagated, to prepare for the spread of new agricultural diseases and the impact of a changing climate. Some seedlings are the last of their kind.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
p | 1800 223 669 t | @AusConservation
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Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
p | 1800 223 669 t | @AusConservation