Date: 24 January 2024 at 08:45:54 GMT+11
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jan 24
Post of the Day
Los Angeles and other US cities have embraced lighter-coloured “cool roads” in response to climate change and heatwaves. So why isn’t Australia doing the same?
On This Day
Feast of Our Lady of Peace – Catholicism
Ecological Observance
International Mobile Phone Recycling Day
Climate Change
In a whitewashed corner of one of the world’s coldest continents, Australian scientists are living in tents and undertaking some of the most ambitious research in 20 years.
Wars and climate crisis keep Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight
Scientists say ‘billions of lives’ under threat as symbolic clock stays at closest point to midnight since it was established in 1947
EU fossil fuel use for energy to drop 80% under 2040 climate goal – document
The European Union’s use of fossil fuels for energy would drop 80% by 2040, compared with 1990 levels, if the bloc moves ahead with a target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by that date, a draft document showed on Tuesday.
Why a rest day could help fight climate change
Why a 2,600-year-old ritual may be the key to slowing climate change.
Explainer: Five examples of the UK’s crackdown on climate protesters
As UN expert says UK’s actions are chilling and regressive, we look at some of the cases
The Guardian view on environmental protest: dissent is vital to protect democracy
Guardian editorial
The UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders is right to warn that a pillar of democracy is under threat in Britain
National
Flooding from Australia’s ‘wet summer’ prompts warning over mosquito-borne diseases
As flooding threatens parts of northern Australia and the eastern seaboard, medical experts have issued another warning — a potential spike in mosquito-borne diseases.
Plastic makes up the majority of Aussie marine litter
Plastic made up 79 per cent of the rubbish collected from Australia’s urban rivers, bays and beaches over the past three years, conservationists say.
Germany’s $660m pitch for Australia’s green hydrogen [$]
The government is in talks with Germany on a $660 million green hydrogen funding plan to kick-start billion-dollar-scale projects to help Germany replace Russian gas.
Christian Jakob
What happened to the scorching El Niño summer we were bracing for? Why has the east coast of Australia been drenched while the north and west gets the heat?
Australia is right in the thick of a critical minerals problem
Elizabeth Knight
The critical minerals party music has now stopped, and the mop-up is ugly.
We need creative ideas, and mobile storage, in case “big transmission” is delayed
Alan Pears
Creative ideas are needed if big transmission is delayed or not built. That includes demand management, efficiency, and mobile batteries, including those mounted on trucks and trains.
Victoria
How Australian Open’s ‘sunscreen for footpaths’ can cool your commute
A reflective light grey coating promises to reduce surface temperature by 5 to 15 degrees and could be rolled out to tram stops citywide.
80-year mystery solved: Mosquitoes spread flesh-eating Buruli ulcer
In a major breakthrough, researchers led by University of Melbourne’s Professor Tim Stinear, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mycobacterium ulcerans at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), have solved the 80-year mystery surrounding the spread of Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical skin disease which has become an important public health issue in Victoria, Australia.
New South Wales
Fire ants expansion prompts stark warnings as invasive insect moves further south into NSW
Fire ants expansion prompts stark warnings as invasive insect moves further south into NSW
ACT
Why is the ACT government always at war with nature? [$]
Canberra Times letters
I am concerned that three years on from the 2021 cull on Farrer Ridge Reserve I rarely see a single kangaroo along the several kilometres of grassy verges behind Hawkesbury Crescent.
Queensland
Parties pledge to halve bus fares, cut speed limits as Brisbane council election ramps up
Ahead of Brisbane voters heading to the polls on March 16, both Labor and the Greens have announced new transport proposals as they vie for votes in Australia’s largest local government.
Far North Queensland residents bracing for impact of tropical cyclone
Cyclone Kirrily expected to bring 400mm drenching for parts of Far North Queensland.
Labor’s ‘nuts’ half-price bus ticket policy for Brisbane panned
The plan to woo voters with half-price bus tickets has not gone down well with south-east Queensland’s top public transport boffin, who called it a vote grab.
‘The dam is safe’: Fears over Paradise as 1m rain bomb event looms [$]
Sixty thousand people living downstream of the embattled Paradise Dam have been assured the dam is safe and there is nothing to fear as some models predict up to a metre of rain could fall near Bundaberg in the wake of Cyclone Kirrily.
EnergyAustralia plans to build massive four hour battery in South Australia
EnergyAustralia plans massive four-hour battery in wind and solar dominated South Australia, to be built next to an existing gas fired power station.
Adelaide’s size issue isn’t what we think
David Washington
Adelaide, it’s time to ditch the ‘big country town’ schtick.
Western Australia
It’s time to end the connectivity blame game [$]
Mia Davies
I’m not letting the State Government off the hook for its woeful track record dealing with power infrastructure in the bush. That needs to be addressed, and urgently.
Sustainability
Cookstove carbon offsets overstate climate benefit by 1,000%, study finds
Cookstove projects are one of the fastest-growing carbon offset schemes but research finds carbon benefits are vastly overstated
Households could boost solar output with two-sided panels, a tilt, and a light colour roof
Using two-sided or bifacial solar modules could lift the output from rooftop solar systems by more than 22 per cent. But they need a light coloured roof.
Solar farms and native grasses create pollinator havens and boost biodiversity, study funds
Solar farms can play a significant role in restoring insect habitats that could mitigate ongoing conflicts over farming land use change.
One of first US uranium mines opens near Grand Canyon after eight years
The opening of the Pinyon Plain mine comes as the US seeks to boost domestic production of the mineral needed for nuclear energy and accelerate divesting from fossil fuels.
In Mexico, Xalapa’s chronic water scarcity reflects a deepening national crisis
Residents of Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, Mexico, have been struggling with a worsening water shortage that often leaves people without daily access to household water for washing.
ExxonMobil’s attempt to silence activist investors should be a warning to shareholders
Nils Pratley
The US oil company is off to court to try to block a green activist motion aimed at accelerating the company’s attempts to cut emissions
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
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