From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au>
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2026 at 8:52 am
Subject: Daily Links Sep 7
To:
Post of the Day
Comparing green space for urban cooling, study
Cities can become dangerously hot during extreme heat events, making it increasingly important for urban planners to find ways to reduce temperatures and protect people from heat exposure. Woodlands, grasslands, lakes and rivers can create significantly cooler microclimates, offering one potential way to reduce urban heat, a new study finds.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Threatened Species Day
International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies
Climate Change
Climate action, crime fighting headline Pacific forum
Palau played host to the 55th Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting this week, the region’s premier political summit.
Extreme drought now covers 44% of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s normally rainy season has instead brought a severe and fast-growing drought.
Satellite images of penguin droppings reveal impact of Antarctic warming
Penguin colonies are so large that their masses of excrement can be seen from space, offering scientists a useful means of studying the Antarctic birds. An analysis of 30 years of satellite images of penguin guano shows how the birds’ diets are shifting in response to warming.
As global heating heads to 1.8C, is it time to consider the ‘Voldemort’ of climate policy?
Jan McDonald et al
The world is set to miss the 1.5°C global warming target, and plans are underway for UN climate talks in the Pacific and Turkey.
Nepal’s catastrophe demands more than climate silence
George Browning
As climate-fuelled disasters intensify, political leaders should stop treating discussion of their causes as untimely and confront the consequences of continued inaction.
How Murdoch the Sun King sold out the planet [$]
Gabriel Sherman
Telling his audience the truth has not suited the media titan’s business model.
National
Trading ‘woke palaces’ for ‘basic’ homes could come with drawbacks
The shadow housing minister is spruiking a simpler building code to speed up housing construction, but could cutting back on energy efficiency and accessibility cost more in the long run?
Scientists optimistic despite losing 14,000 tagged bogong moths
Scientists tagged thousands of bogong moths using paper and eyelash glue in an attempt to track their flight path. Now they cannot find a single one.
Woman laid to rest in coffin made from mushrooms in Australian first
The casket, grown from mycelium and hemp fibres, takes just 45 days to break down, enriching the soil in the process
Microbats and wombats among the most common species found in buildings, with some discovered in letterboxes or air conditioning systems
EV sales outpace petrol cars for first time as Australians dodge soaring fuel costs
New record for Australia as more than 27,000 EVs sold in August, driven by the rising cost of fuel and new government policy
Climate Change Authority defends push against misinformation [$]
The Climate Change Authority says a cross-agency working group to tackle ‘climate misinformation’ won’t stymie debate, despite backlash from think tanks and community advocates.
Tree-killing beetle still poses major threat, as bird flu takes centre stage
With the nation’s biosecurity experts tied up managing the bird flu outbreak, there are concerns that attention has been diverted from the destructive shot-hole borer beetle.
Coalition promises water return to farmers
A future Coalition government would use water efficiency upgrades to return water to irrigators, National Party leader Matt Canavan has said on a visit to the Goulburn Valley.
How Indigenous Protected Areas became a vital way to protect nature in Australia
Sarah Legge et al
When you think of conservation in Australia, chances are you’ll think of a national park. But there’s another fast-growing way of conserving land: Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs).
Australia needs renewable energy fast – but building it is only half the battle
Mingming Cheng and Peta Ashworth
Australia’s energy transition has never been more urgent.
Australia cannot deny its share of the climate catastrophe
Bob Brown
Bob Brown says Australia cannot keep expanding fossil fuel production while denying its share of responsibility for the mounting human toll of climate change.
David Leitch
I think we can now definitively say that some coal generation is doomed. Once 19 gigawatts (GW) and 55 gigawatt (GWh) of grid-scale batteries are operating in the market, coal profits will be eviscerated.
Trouble in Pacific paradise [$]
Chris Wallace
The juxtaposition of news footage of Albanese doing a beachside press conference in Palau, which is barely above sea level, in the same bulletins showing Finocchiaro switching on the Beetaloo carbon bomb, was dissonant, to put it mildly.”
Labor’s good work in the Pacific undone by Bowen’s climate diplomacy [$]
Nick Cater
Australia must separate its climate policy from its strategic objectives in the region.
The real Australia is girt by dirt and we abandoned it [$]
Peter Goers
Australians have lost touch with the very wonder that gave us the core of our culture and national psyche.
Victoria
Labor commits $550m for freeway upgrade in Melbourne’s outer west
A key section of freeway linking some of Melbourne’s fastest-growing areas will be upgraded, with $550 million in state government money joining a $1 billion Commonwealth pledge.
Global penguin experts gather at Phillip Island under shadow of climate change, bird flu
More than 200 experts meet on Phillip Island to share penguin research from across the globe.
Authorities confirm bird flu in fox and suspected case in dolphin
A fox in Victoria’s south-west has died from H5 bird flu and authorities suspect the virus is responsible for the death of a dolphin.
Tram stops across two routes have are being upgraded to accommodate new tram models. Advocates say it was a missed opportunity to also build much needed accessibility improvements.
Rushworth locals hatch plan to save brolga eggs
“Overjoyed”. That’s how Rushworth locals felt after an operation to save two eggs of the rare brolga species was successful.
Airport pushes ahead with controversial changes as part of expansion plans [$]
Melbourne Airport is getting ready to shut its pick-up and drop-off ramps in the biggest change to its road network since it opened in 1970.
‘Blows the pavement up’: How freezing water and car tyres create a pothole in just days [$]
Experts and politicians have different ideas about how to fix Victoria’s pothole plague. They all aim to solve the same problem.
What One Nation’s WA win means for Victoria [$]
Martin McKenzie-Murray
The loss of the Secret Harbour byelection to One Nation is being read by Victorian Labor as a warning, less than three months before the party goes to the polls in that state.
New South Wales
Call for rezoning rethink to protect endangered parrots in Sydney’s inner west
There are calls to scale up housing closer to the Burwood North Sydney Metro Station, instead of constructing eight to 12-storey apartments neighbouring an endangered bird habitat.
Proposal to pump 70m litres of treated wastewater into Parramatta River
If approved, a Sydney facility will pump millions of litres of treated wastewater, equivalent to 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools, into Parramatta River per day to service a growing population.
‘Death by a thousand cuts’ as mining companies use planning ‘loophole’
More than a dozen coalmine modifications have been approved by the NSW government since 2023, with critics saying the process is a “loophole” that allows companies to expand operations without proper oversight.
‘Eyesore’: Marina expansion blocked in battle over harbour views [$]
More than 300 objections by residents helped sink a contentious plan to expand a popular Sydney Harbour marina.
Have the Greens lost their appetite for a fight? – 7am Podcast
On the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Labor has promised a vast new national park to protect more than 12,000 koalas.
Anton Nilsson
Notes from Chris Minns’ meeting with the NSW Minerals Council and the Mining and Energy Union include a mention of “concerns” about mine expansions being impacted, as well as a “One Nation risk”.
Melbourne on the harbour: How the NSW Liberals’ ICAC farce could lead to another one-party state [$]
Bernard Keane
In a disturbing parallel with the last decade in Victoria, the factional antics of far-right Christians in the NSW Liberals could condemn that party to oblivion — and leave NSW Labor without any real opposition.
Queensland
Dozens of bushfires burn as Qld swelters through above-average temps
A fire in the Lockyer Valley forced the temporary closure of the Warrego Highway, as some residents chose to leave their homes, and parts of Queensland sweltered through the hottest September day in years.
It doesn’t look dangerous, but this sneaky snail causes enormous damage
The Drupella snail doesn’t look threatening, but it is such a danger to Queensland’s reefs that tourism operators have helped cull hundreds of thousands of them as part of a management plan.
Traditional owners say national park can ‘breathe again’ after handback
A major tourist attraction in outback Queensland has been handed back to its traditional owners under a landmark agreement described as a long-awaited “homecoming”.
Clive Palmer rebranded his coal firm then met the Qld premier – again
Queensland’s richest man, a serial election contender, has complicated ties to the LNP. That hasn’t stopped him getting an audience with David Crisafulli.
‘They haven’t got me yet’: E-bike riders taunt police with illegal conversion kits [$]
E-bike retailers have recruited high school students as sponsored brand ambassadors on TikTok to sell illegal conversion kits undermining Queensland’s new crackdown laws.
Brisbane’s toxic haze as bushfire smoke hits four times safe level [$]
Brisbane’s air quality has plummeted to dangerous levels this morning after a number of bushfires emergencies to the west that put two people in hospital and forced campers to flee.
South Australia
50 years of spotting southern right whales off Great Australian Bight
From WA’s capital to SA’s far west coast, scientists have collated 50 years’ worth of data on the southern right whale to track changes to breeding cycles.
300-plus homes stalled as SA Water battles ‘severe constraints’
A major housing development in a fast-growing South Australian region has been put on hold due to what the housing minister has described as the state’s “severely constrained” water system.
Blood-sucking, eel-like fish another possible casualty of algal bloom
Scientists say no lampreys have been caught during their usual winter migration from ocean to river during two consecutive monitoring periods.
‘Deeply concerning’: SA heritage watchdog moots selling historic sites
Amid an ongoing parliamentary inquiry, the National Trust of South Australia says its organisational review could see some of the state’s 80 historic sites up for sale.
Lock them up: Push for SA cat owners to face brutal statewide curfew [$]
Your pet cat could be spreading bird flu and 21 South Australian environmental groups are now demanding the state government act to stop it.
SA Greens leader takes tilt at federal arena
On the back of leading intense opposition to park lands redevelopments, the SA Greens Leader is today announcing he is taking his battle to Canberra.
Peter ‘Chopper’ Malinauskas to plonk MotoGP in Adelaide’s cherished Park Lands
Rex Patrick
No matter how old you are, no matter how special you are, if you’re an Adelaide Park Lands’ tree, don’t have your roots buried between Premier Peter Malinauskas and a MotoGP. Rex Patrick reports.
Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania assesses state’s biggest-ever power request
Hydro Tasmania expects to decide whether to approve an AI data centre company’s request for 450 megawatts of power by the end of the year, with new generation needed to support the increased demand.
Northern Territory
Negotiations over ‘Australia’s biggest shortcut’ near an end
Years of complex land access negotiations with multiple traditional owner groups appear to be nearing an end, paving the way for the sealing of an outback highway dubbed “Australia’s biggest shortcut”.
Win for some, grim for others: The fractures exposed by the Beetaloo
Matt Garrick
The Northern Territory government says it “stared down the hypocrites” to get gas flowing from the Beetaloo Sub-Basin. But will the project be the economic game changer that’s been promised?
Adam Morton
Scientists will be able to estimate the amount of heating and destruction caused by the gas ultimately drawn from the Beetaloo
The Greens call Beetaloo a climate bomb. First Nations people call it hope [$]
Chris Uhlmann
On the surface the story is a mess of human affairs. But deep underground, ‘first gas’ could level the playing field for Indigenous Australians – and power the nation for a century.
Western Australia
WA heritage department asks City of Busselton for more information on Aboriginal site clearing
Western Australia’s heritage department has asked the City of Busselton for more information on proposed works overlapping a registered Aboriginal heritage site.
Trolley trouble: Perth councils want supermarkets to pay up for abandoned carts
While the City of Stirling wants to crack down hard on people abandoning shopping trolleys, other local governments are trying a milder approach.
It’s not enough for WA to act only once a species is in trouble
Kelly Boden-Hawes
The extinction of the crested-tailed mulgara is a stark example of how failures in environmental policy and inadequate resources for comprehensive conservation management can allow species to slip through the cracks.
Sustainability
Seeds of hope: how a local farming project is offering a lifeline to Gaza
Family-run Al-Qarara Seed Bank is striving to help Palestinians gain sovereignty over their food security
Air pollution from ships may be more harmful than road traffic emissions, port study finds
Scientists say ultrafine particles in cruise ship emissions associated with reduced ability to resist common viruses
Air conditioners are our best bet in the fight against extreme heat – whether we like it or not
Eduardo Porter
Global AC demand will inevitably accelerate as the world continues to warm amid the climate crisis
Britain’s security establishment has discovered the ecological crisis
Julian Cribb
A UK national security assessment warns that ecosystem collapse threatens food, water, health and geopolitical stability – and that no country will escape the consequences.
Nature Conservation
Beekeepers warn of Asian hornet threat and call for UK awareness campaign
Experts say invasive species are creating ‘pollinator deserts’ and could have serious impact on food security
El Niño-fuelled wildfires destroy precious Indonesian forests – in pictures
Indonesian authorities intensify operations as fires continue to burn across Sumatra and Kalimantan, with haze spreading to Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines
Indonesia’s most dangerous fires are burning underground
Indonesia’s dangerous peat fires are surging early in the 2026 fire season as a strengthening El Niño and severe drought dry out wetlands that can burn underground for months. These slow smoldering fires are especially destructive because they release far more fine particles and several pollutants than typical tropical forest fires, while thick smoke can make them difficult for satellites to detect.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
1800 223 669
This email and any files transmitted with it may be confidential and legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not disclose or use the information contained in it.
If you have received this email in error, please notify us by return email and permanently delete the document.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this country and their continuing connection to land, waters and community.
We pay respect to their elders past and present and to the pivotal role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play in caring for country across Australia.