From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 at 8:50 am
Subject: Daily Links Sep 17
To:
Post of the Day
The high cost of climate change on worker productivity
Study quantifies the price of heat stress for workers around the world
On This Day
Feast Day of Saint Robert Bellarmine – Vatican
Climate Change
Irrigation’s climate benefit could equal 363 years of its own emissions
U.S. irrigation produces some greenhouse gas emissions, but new research suggests it prevents vastly more by allowing farmers to grow more food on less land.
Climate change is putting the squeeze on the world’s grapegrowers: new research
Kathiana Luk et al
This year, the European summer has been sweltering. It is unprecedented in many ways, marked by extreme heat, drought and record-breaking fires. Across the continent, fires have consumed hundreds of homes and demanded the evacuation of thousands of people.
China came to the rescue after Nepal mudslide [$]
Liu Jinsong
Climate-induced disasters know no borders. China hopes to enhance cooperation with Australia and others on disaster preparedness and climate response.
National
‘Biggest ever’: Scale of bird flu response
The scope of Australia’s bird flu vaccination program – perhaps the world’s largest – has been revealed.
‘I’m very worried about it’: Burke’s warning on Australia becoming a guest worker economy [$]
There are now more than 3 million temporary migrants without the rights of permanent residents or citizens in Australia. Many entered the country automatically.
The Coalition’s talking about climate more than ever. Labor not so much [$]
An analysis of thousands of parliamentary speeches reveals which MPs talk the most about climate change. It’s not always who you might think.
BHP says its carbon emissions, diesel use will stay higher for longer [$]
The iron ore giant has revised its climate timelines, suggesting emissions by 2035 will be 33 per cent higher than it was forecasting only two years ago.
We could soon be able to track changes in Australia’s forests in near‑real time – using satellites
Brendan Choat and Daniel Falster
Forests and woodlands cover millions of hectares across Australia, from tropical rainforests and temperate eucalypt forests to the vast woodlands and shrublands of the arid interior. They store enormous amounts of carbon, support biodiversity, regulate water supplies and help buffer the impacts of climate change. Yet we know surprisingly little about how these important ecosystems are changing over time.
Advocates want plug-in solar legal in Australia within 10 months
Sophie Vorrath
Energy ministers have agreed to develop a pathway for plug-in solar and batteries, technology that could extend the benefits of household renewables to people locked out of rooftop systems.
Unlocking America’s nuclear gold mine: The promise of spent fuel
Ronald Stein et al
Private enterprise can solve the spent nuclear fuel problem beyond government grants.
Priority Reform Three: transforming government organisations
Productivity Commission
Priority Reform Three is about making all government institutions accountable for Closing the Gap, culturally safe, and responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This guide draws on case studies of good practice, provides practical advice to support public servants and highlights six examples of change underway across government.
Victoria
Victoria’s power on the line as data centres boom
Australia’s biggest wind farm is about to double in capacity. Twenty-five per cent will power data centres.
Data deep dive reveals the crumbling state of Victorian roads
The state government has promised to fix half a million potholes this financial year, but some argue new strategies are needed to help manage the state’s aging road network.
Melbourne council rejects bid to build new church in green wedge
A growing religious community in the city’s south-east will have to keep looking for a new spiritual home, after councillors rejected a bid to build a church on protected green wedge land.
Why Melbourne makes you sneeze in spring
John Golz and Jo Douglass
We’ve never known exactly which grass pollens trigger hay fever or thunderstorm asthma in Melbourne’s spring. Now DNA is revealing which grasses are to blame
Melbourne needs a transport plan, not more politicking [$]
Stuart James
With Ben Carroll newly installed as Premier and a state election only months away, the future of the Suburban Rail Loop is again being questioned.
Sophie Vorrath
One minute, Victoria’s new energy minister was promising industry stakeholders that Labor will hold the line on renewables. The next minute, her boss was saying the exact opposite.
New South Wales
‘Very disappointing’: Indigenous group reacts to NSW land law change
Changes to a law allowing the transfer of government land into Indigenous ownership have passed NSW parliament, creating a new barrier to land claims that a peak body has described as a “regression.”
Bird flu detected in Sydney’s south and east, pet owners warned [$]
Pet owners in Sydney’s south and east have been warned to keep their animals safe as the deadly H5 bird flu has been detected in the region.
Queensland
Anthropic inks Queensland data centre deal worth five times Olympics budget
A $32 billion data centre proposed for a site west of Brisbane will be used by AI giant Anthropic.
Fishers fund review in last-ditch effort to overturn gillnet ban
The north Queensland fishery produces between 200 and 300 tonnes of seafood annually, with some fishers fearing there is no viable replacement for gillnets.
Alexis Demetrious
Businesses can invest in electrification, low-carbon fuels and new production technologies. But they need confidence that enough renewable energy will be available.
South Australia
Citizen scientists maintain dolphin watch amid bird flu threat
Throughout the algal bloom crisis, citizen scientists off the coast of South Australia helped with research. Now, with deadly bird flu impacting wildlife, they are taking to the ocean to keep watch.
One Nation MPs back Murray plan rejected by SA Leader
Four One Nation pollies have voted to support the same Murray-Darling Basin plan slammed by their leader a few weeks ago.
Bill Bateman
A rare Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) on Kangaroo Island has been confirmed to have died from highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu. The sea lion had recently been attacked by a shark, weakening it. Testing revealed the cause of death was the virus. Another dead sea lion is being tested.
Tasmania
Apple varieties ‘lost over the years’ are being kept alive in this collection
A heritage-listed orchard on a university campus is helping to preserve a slice of Tasmania’s apple history.
Govt docs understate impact of Rushy Lagoon sale: TasFarmers [$]
Tasmania’s farmer lobby says government documents that reveal the agricultural assessment for the state’s largest farm acquisition understated the regional impact of the sale.
Northern Territory
Migratory shorebirds celebrated at festival
The Darwin-Garramilla Shorebird Festival will be held for the fourth time at the end of this month, organiser Bird Life Top End has said.
NT culls 5,500 feral pigs to fight looming bird flu threat [$]
As the magpie geese and waterfowl hunting season begins, NT wildlife teams are gearing up for the impact of H5N1 bird flu.
Western Australia
Industry and government must be held to account over damage to Murujuga rock art
Judith Hugo and Susan Swain
The latest results of a rock art monitoring report demonstrate exactly what independent scientists have been saying – and government and industry have been denying – for years.
Sustainability
Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins
Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds
Scientists turn seawater into fresh water without harmful brine
A new solar-powered desalination system could turn seawater into fresh water while eliminating brine waste and even harvesting valuable lithium.
Are data centres actually noisy, and is this bad for our health?
Marion Burgess and John Davy
In the United States, areas such as Michigan have been hotspots for residents pushing back against data centre construction in their neighbourhoods. Now, similar concerns about noise – and potential health impacts – are gaining traction in Australia.
Naomi Klein’s new book calls out end times fascism. What is this – and what’s the role of big tech?
Luke Munn
“A moment of reckoning has arrived for the West,” reads a recent recruitment ad for Palantir, a Silicon Valley firm that increasingly provides data-driven “intelligence” for intelligence, police and military agencies – as well as blue-chip corporations and non-profits. “On the factory floor, in the operating room, across the battlefield,” the ad intones, “we build to dominate.”
Is the nuclear non‑proliferation pact a model for regulating runaway AI?
Nicholas Ross Smith
The potential existential threat of artificial intelligence has leapt into the headlines after a departing safety researcher at AI corporation Anthropic posted on social media he believed there was more than a one-in-ten chance AI could kill everyone.
Funding crisis leaves UN nuclear watchdog begging for resources
John Tilemann, John Carlson
The International Atomic Energy Agency faces a serious funding crisis as major contributors delay payments, putting nuclear safeguards, safety and security work at risk and exposing deeper problems with how the agency is financed.
Nature Conservation
People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder
Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin America
The humble tree hole turn out to be a remarkable climate refuge
A new analysis shows that cavities inside trees can run several degrees cooler than the surrounding air during heatwaves—a finding that reframes the role of forests in a warming world.
MAELOR HIMBURY | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
1800 223 669
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