Around The Web

Developers made proposals for 35,000 homes in protected parts of England in 2017

Applications to build an additional 35,000 homes on green belt land were submitted last year, taking the total number proposed for construction on protected land to a record 460,000.

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Farmers are calling for South Australia to ramp up its desalination plant to free up more water from the Murray Darling. Sarah Ann Wheeler, Professor in Water Economics, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

NEG modelling promises death of large scale solar and wind projects, as well as battery storage under government target, and does not make the case for price falls.

Connecting citizens with science projects around Australia

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Environmental scientists are increasingly calling on private citizens to help them with their research and collect data

The eastern bristlebird emits a high, sliding whistle, often in the middle of the dawn chorus, and frequently in a way that makes it hard to pick out.

The small brown native songbird is endangered, with only about 2,500 left in Australia and 40 in Queensland, but because the bird is so shy, it is difficult for conservationists to monitor them. To make things more difficult when people approach, the bristlebird stops singing.

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Beijing is playing its part in cracking down on the use of banned ozone-depleting CFC-11, says Zeng Rong

We noted your report (July 9) on Chinese enterprises’ “production and use” of CFC-11. The Chinese government’s position on ozone layer protection is consistent and clear. We attach great importance to and conscientiously implement relevant international environmental conventions. Production and use of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) that are not permissible in the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer is illegal and subject to legal action as soon as detected.

China’s policy is zero tolerance against illicit conduct involving ODSs, including CFC-11. In line with this policy, the competent government agency in China took the relevant media reports seriously, and launched a joint inspection with local authorities on 19 polyurethane foam producers and a business cluster. In 12 of the enterprises under investigation no sales or use of CFC‑11 has been found. In one enterprise where CFC-11 was detected in its composite polyether materials, the local authorities have taken enforcement measures according to the law; the remaining six are under further investigation.

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Forty-year study shows loss of invertebrates, with repercussions for larger animals

One of the longest-running studies of streams in the world – the minute study of 14 brooks that tumble through a remote Welsh mountain landscape – has exposed a troubling loss of riverine wildlife.

Ecologists working on the Llyn Brianne Observatory project in mid Wales, which has been in operation for almost 40 years, have flagged up the disappearance and decline of invertebrates from the streams.

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Petition calls on snacks firm to end use of plastic in the 11 million packets a day produced at Leicester factory

The UK’s biggest crisp brand, Walkers, will come under pressure this week to explain why it is helping to fuel the plastic waste littering the streets and seas by producing more than 7,000 non-recyclable crisp packets every minute.

A new analysis carried out by campaign organisation 38 Degrees has found that Walkers is set to produce an additional 28bn plastic crisp packets by 2025 – the date by which the company has pledged to make its crisp packets 100% recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.

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Wildlife in most of the lawless high seas faces an existential threat from fishing, shipping and the military. Next month, a landmark UN conference could finally bring hope

The leatherback turtle is one of our planet’s most distinctive creatures. It can live for decades and grow to weigh up to two tonnes. It is the largest living reptile on Earth and its evolutionary roots reach back more than 100 million years.

“Leatherbacks are living fossils,” says oceanographer Professor Callum Roberts, of York University. “But they are not flourishing. In fact, they are being wiped out at an extraordinary rate, particularly in the Pacific Ocean, where their numbers have declined by 97% over the past three decades. They are now critically endangered there.”

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Shadow environment minister says researchers would be forced to apply to private foundation for taxpayer funds

The shadow environment minister Tony Burke has slammed the “completely unprecedented” grant of $444m to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation claiming the not-for-profit group “doesn’t yet know what it’s going to do with the money”.

Appearing on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday Burke questioned the appropriateness of conditions on the federal funding, which he said would allow the foundation to lobby the mining industry for sponsorship but force researchers to apply to the private foundation to get taxpayer funds.

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Lump-sum payments of up to $12,000 just the beginning of long-term response, says PM

Farmers will receive immediate additional financial support to help them and their communities fight one of the worst droughts of the past century.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will return to Trangie in central NSW on Sunday to announce the $190m new package that will also provide mental health services.

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Scrap ‘smorgasbord’ of plastics used in packaging, town hall chiefs tell manufacturers

Only a third of the plastic in packaging pots and trays for food can be recycled, local authorities have said.

Town hall chiefs urged manufacturers to scrap the “smorgasbord” of plastics used to package foods from fruit and vegetables to yoghurt, margarine and microwave meals to help cut waste and increase recycling.

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The majority of plastic containers used for yogurts, ice cream, ready meals and fruit end up in landfill.

Environmentalists say lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insects

The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted.

Environmentalists, who had sued to bring about the two-year-old ban, said on Friday that lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insects and other sensitive creatures relying on toxic-free habitats afforded by wildlife refuges.

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From ground level, the drought affecting regional Australia looks like a brown dustbowl, but from the air it is transformed into a heartbreaking story of shapes and textures as the land cracks open under a blazing sun

• Australia’s drought crisis and farmers’ stories of anxiety, fear and resilience

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The final design of the National Energy Guarantee promises that the policy will drive down power prices. But there is precious little evidence for this assertion. Salim Mazouz, Research Manager, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, Australian National University Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Hugh Saddler, Honorary Associate Professor, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

They will be aboard the first US flights to the International Space Station since the shuttle programme ended.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Growing tropical oysters in the Pilbara; bringing the spiny daisy back to life; sharing horse skills with the world; and meet an 81-year-old blacksmith and his apprentice.

European carbon prices were steady on Friday to notch a 3.3% gain for the week, holding near recent seven-year highs on light volume and following another bullish auction result.