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Polling indicates 71% would be more likely to vote for a party that supported distributed small-scale solar and storage

Battery storage technology has the potential to reshape not just the energy and transport sectors but also the upcoming Australian federal election, according to a new report.

The Australia Institute report Securing Renewables: How Batteries Solve the Problem of Clean Electricity includes polling indicating that 71% of Australians would be more likely to vote for a party that supported distributed small-scale solar and storage.

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The director of Cincinnati zoo says he would do the same again after a gorilla, into whose enclosure a child fell, was shot dead.

The problems caused by mass bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef have continued to deepen, with the latest estimates based on results from our surveys showing that 35% of corals are now dead or dying along the northern and central sections of the reef north of Townsville.

We have been tracking this severe bleaching event for months, documenting the damage as abnormally high water temperatures caused the coral to bleach, losing the algae that live within their tissues and supply most of the corals' energy.

Although corals can recover from bleaching when water temperatures drop, they can also die if they are without their algae for too long. From our surveys, we estimate this has now happened to one-third of the corals on reefs north of Townsville and to half of the corals on reefs that were hit hardest by the bleaching event.

The scale of the damage

For this latest survey, my colleagues and I carried out in-water surveys of corals on 84 reefs, spanning 1,300 km from Townsville to the Torres Strait, between mid-March and mid-April this year. We counted the number of coral colonies that were either recently dead, bleached completely white, partially bleached or healthy, as well as quantifying the percentage cover of hard corals and other organisms at each reef.

When you’re underwater, it’s easy to spot corals that have recently died due to bleaching because their white skeletons are coated in a thin film of greenish-brown algae. Over time, the algae grows to form a thick mat that obscures the skeleton – a hallmark of long-dead corals that are not victims of the recent bleaching. Our surveys did not include these colonies.

Corals that are bleached totally white, having lost nearly all of their symbiotic algae, have an extremely low chance of recovering because it takes several months for the algae to come back. In contrast, most corals that are only partially bleached will survive and recover quickly.

In the reef’s central section, between Cairns and Townsville, colonies tended to be partially bleached instead of completely white or dead. We estimate that fewer than 5% of colonies will die on many of these reefs.

But on the reef’s northernmost section, north of Cooktown, we estimate that more than half of the coral colonies on many reefs have died.

What do these figures really mean?

Corals are made up of tiny modules, called polyps, that are joined together to form colonies. Most of the polyps in each colony can reproduce, and this obviously means that larger colonies can produce more larvae.

Similarly, reefs with more different colonies living on them can produce more larvae overall, providing a supply of new corals that can disperse to nearby damaged reefs and kick-start their recovery.

In places where corals have died on just a few reefs among many other healthy reefs, the supply of larvae from the neighbouring healthy reefs can facilitate more rapid recovery.

But in places where coral deaths are spread across most of the reefs, such as the stretch north of Cooktown, the coral larvae needed to recolonise the reefs have to travel much longer distances and this slows down the recovery.

Recovery prospects

This shows why coral bleaching is particularly damaging to reefs: its effects can be apparent over a scale of thousands of kilometres. Other disturbances, like cyclones, can also kill lots of coral, but their effects are usually more localised, meaning that recovery is easier.

Based on previous bleaching events, it can take several decades before these reefs recover, and much longer before the oldest and largest colonies are able to re-establish themselves. Some areas of the reef that were severely bleached in 1998 still haven’t recovered. The fear is that the time between bleaching events is now shorter than the time needed for reefs to recover.

Ocean currents are crucial to reef recovery, because of the importance of dispersing coral larvae for repopulating damaged reefs. On the Great Barrier Reef, the East Australian Current helps to transport larvae from north to south. However, this current begins its southward path at around 18º South (just north of Townsville), meaning that this current will be little help (and will in fact be an active hindrance) to the recovery of the most severely bleached reefs beyond that.

Another factor that impedes recovery is that bleached corals have lower reproductive output after a bleaching event. This means that even colonies that don’t die this year will contribute fewer larvae in the coming years.

Fixing the damage?

Coral bleaching events happen mainly when ocean temperatures are abnormally warm. Consequently, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the main way we can help to prevent more global bleaching events from striking in the future.

Improving water quality and controlling outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish are also very important, because reducing coral loss due to these other factors can increase the resilience of the reef to bleaching.

Technological approaches, like shading reefs or artificially restocking reefs, might be considered for specific small reef sites, but they are not feasible for the conservation of the 2,300 km Great Barrier Reef, or for coral reefs on a global scale.

Mia Hoogenboom receives funding from Australian Research Council.

Officials in Thailand take three tigers away from a Buddhist temple during a raid over wildlife trafficking claims. The tigers are tranquilised and taken away on stretchers to be transferred to a state-owned sanctuary. Dozens of tigers remain at the temple in Kanchanaburi province, and tourists are seen taking selfies with the big cats. The temple claims it is a wildlife sanctuary, but authorities are investigating it for animal trafficking and abuse

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Data released to Greenpeace in response to FoI requests show number of prosecutions has dropped significantly in recent years

Far fewer pirate fishermen are being caught in English and Welsh waters, with prosecutions, warnings and inspections all plummeting in recent years following cuts at the enforcement agency.

The reduction in action against illegal fishing, a multi-million pound activity, is putting marine life at risk and allowing “blackfish” to become a normal catch for some rogue operators, according to experts. Those convicted of major fishing crimes are also free to continue fishing afterwards.

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A worried mother elephant looks on as her calf is rescued by wildlife officials in Sri Lanka, after it fell into an open drain. Rescuers in the town of Hambantota fire smoke bullets to keep her from coming too close while they dismantle the drain and pull the calf to safety

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Officials remove three animals following raid at temple, which has been investigated for animal abuse in recent years

Wildlife authorities in Thailand have raided a Buddhist temple where tigers are kept, taking away three of the animals and vowing to confiscate scores more in response to global pressure over wildlife trafficking.

The Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, has more than 100 tigers and has become a tourist destination where visitors take selfies with tigers and bottle-feed their cubs.

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The new Tun Mustapha marine park & shark sanctuary in Borneo is the biggest marine protected area in Malaysia

Malaysia has just established the biggest marine protected area (MPA) in the country. The Tun Mustapha park (TMP) occupies 1m hectares (2.47m acres) of seascape off the northern tip of Sabah province in Borneo, a region containing the second largest concentration of coral reefs in Malaysia as well as other important habitats like mangroves, sea grass beds and productive fishing grounds.

It is also home to scores of thousands of people who depend on its resources – from artisanal fishing communities to the commercial fisheries sector – making it in many ways a microcosm of the entire Coral Triangle bioregion, where environmental protection must be balanced with the needs of growing coastal populations.

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Farming minister George Eustice says leave vote would free up £2bn now spent on insurance schemes and incentives for farmers

The UK could develop a more flexible approach to environmental protection free of “spirit-crushing” Brussels directives if it votes to leave the EU, the farming minister, George Eustice, has said.

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A woman is feared dead after a crocodile attack in Australia's Daintree National Park.

Footage shows collapsed buildings and cars buried under rubble, following violent storms that caused severe flooding in southern Germany on Monday. Four people have died and several more are injured. The scenes are from the streets of Braunsbach, which according to German media, have been strewn with debris after two streams burst their banks and unleashed floodwaters that brought down one house and damaged several other. Photograph: REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Four dead after severe floods hit southern Germany

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The Springwatch presenter’s revelation may seem a tad unpalatable, but he is sending an important message to parents about children’s encounters with nature

As celebrity revelations go, it’s one of the more unusual: as a boy, Chris Packham would decant tadpoles on to a special spoon and eat them.

The naturalist and Springwatch presenter reveals his tadpolephagy in his new memoir, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, and he’s not sorry either. They are gritty and tricky to chew, Packham reports, comparing them to watery semolina with a bit more “thrashing” under the tongue.

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Sydney biologist Jürgen Otto has discovered seven new peacock spider species. All within the Maratus genus, these tiny spiders can be found in particularly in Western Australia. Otto believes there are 48 confirmed species of peacock spider, which he says “behave more like cats and dogs”. Otto has a Facebook page with more than 61,000 followers and a YouTube channel, both dedicated to the colourful arachnids

Peacock spiders: scientist finds seven new species of ‘fairly cute’ creatures

More photos

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Are environmental manifestos useful in bringing about change in the online age?

Tips for a journey through the red centre of Australia

In a country hit by a devastating poaching surge for rhino horn and elephant ivory, local people are turning the tide – but the wider problems of demand, corruption and organised crime remain

“It’s hard work. I cut their tusks off with an axe,” said Abdi Ali, a northern Kenyan pastoralist who became a full-time poacher at 14. With three other men it took him about 10 minutes to kill each of the 27 elephants he poached, cutting off the trunk, splitting the skull and removing the ivory that would later fetch 500 Kenyan shillings (£3) a kilo.

But while he became rich compared with the cattle herders, who mostly live on less than $1 (68p) a day, he did not find happiness. “Much as I had money, it was money I couldn’t enjoy in peace, because I was on the run.”

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But how much of the opposition's reef package is new money, where is it coming from, and what difference will it make?

OPIOID EFFECTS: Morphine makes chronic nerve pain worse, according to a new animal study, but some experts question whether the study's findings are relevant to humans.

Ten years ago, An Inconvenient Truth opened in cinemas in the United States.

Starring former US vice president Al Gore, the documentary about the threat of climate change has undoubtedly made a mark. It won two Academy Awards, and Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to communicate human-induced climate change.

An Inconvenient Truth (AIT for short) is the 11th-highest-grossing documentary in the United States. According to Texan climatologist Steve Quiring:

AIT has had a much greater impact on public opinion and public awareness of global climate change than any scientific paper or report.

But has the film achieved what it set out to do – raise public awareness and change people’s behaviour in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Measuring the film’s impact

A public survey by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press found that in the months following the documentary’s release, the percentage of Americans attributing global warming to human activity rose from 41% to 50%. But how do we know whether AIT contributed to this increase?

Several studies have experimentally tested the impact of viewing the film. A UK study found that showing selective clips from AIT resulted in participants feeling more empowered and more motivated to make lifestyle changes to fight climate change.

Similarly, surveys of moviegoers and students found that watching AIT increased knowledge about the causes of global warming and willingness to reduce greenhouse gases. However, this increased willingness didn’t necessarily translate into action. A follow-up survey conducted a month later found little change in behaviour.

One novel approach found a 50% increase in the purchase of voluntary carbon offsets in areas where AIT was shown. This is encouraging evidence that the film did lead to tangible behaviour change. But again, the effect wasn’t long-lasting. A year later, there was little difference in carbon offset purchases.

An analysis of drivers of public attitudes towards climate change found a significant relationship between media mentions of AIT and public perception of the urgency of climate change. In other words, the film produced a significant positive jump in the general public’s perceptions of the issue.

This study also found that polarisation decreased after the release of AIT, pouring cold water on the claim that Al Gore polarised the climate debate. Rather, the polarised positions on climate science among Democratic and Republican leaders (one party broadly accepting the science, the other significantly rejecting it) was found to be the key driver of public polarisation on climate change.

This led the study’s author, Robert Brulle, to state:

I think this should close down forever the idea that Al Gore caused the partisan polarisation over climate change.

This body of research underscores the difficulties confronting any public awareness campaign. AIT was successful in raising public awareness of climate change, increasing willingness to change behaviour and, in some cases, actually changing behaviour.

However, the effect didn’t last long. This indicates that persistent communication efforts are required to promote sustained behaviour change.

Scientists critique An Inconvenient Truth

While AIT was effective among the general public, there is no tougher crowd for a science documentary than scientists. A survey of members of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union found that among the scientists who had seen and rated AIT, 72% said the film was either somewhat or very reliable.

To put this in perspective, only 12% of scientists who had read Michael Crichton’s contrarian novel State of Fear rated it as somewhat or very reliable.

Going into more detail, an edition of GeoJournal had four scientists critique the scientific accuracy of AIT. Unfortunately, the panel was made up of two mainstream scientists and two contrarian scientists – a false-balance form of coverage that actually causes confusion rather than increases literacy in the context of media coverage. (For an incisive look at false-balance coverage of climate change, watch John Oliver’s statistically representative climate change debate.)

A statistically significant climate change debate

The outcome is somewhat predictable, with mainstream scientists reporting a more positive assessment of the accuracy of AIT than the contrarian scientists. Nevertheless, a useful overview of the exercise is provided by Texan climatologist Gerald North, who concluded that while there were some inaccuracies in AIT, on the whole it represented mainstream scientific views on global warming.

Ultimately, the factual inaccuracies in AIT were deemed inconsequential and don’t undermine the main message of the film.

Inspiring others

While most of the research into the impact of AIT investigates the direct effect on viewers, a potentially more significant impact is the film’s role in inspiring others to follow Gore’s example in communicating the issue of climate change to others.

Personally, I can attest to this influence. Before 2006, I hadn’t given much thought to the climate change issue. Watching AIT raised a number of questions about the human role in global warming.

With the issue salient in my mind, I got into conversations with family members who happened to reject the scientific consensus on climate change. This precipitated the founding of Skeptical Science, which led to me becoming a researcher in climate communication at the University of Queensland.

I’ve spoken to or know of many other climate communicators whose awareness of the issue dawned with their viewing of AIT. While the direct effect of the original screening of the film may have dissipated, the impact of those inspired to communicate the realities of climate change persists.

For me, the film precipitated a series of events that ultimately redirected the course of my life. An Inconvenient Truth wasn’t just behaviour-changing, it was life-changing.

No lab experiment can quantify that level of impact.

John Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef is clearly at risk from climate change, so why would Unesco agree to censor its own report?

That quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes to mind: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

The lady in question is the Australian government, which some time in early January saw a draft of a report from a United Nations organisation.

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