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UN body’s warning on carbon emissions is hard to ignore, but breaking the power of the fossil fuel industry won’t be easy

At this point, the scientists who run the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change must feel like it’s time to trade their satellites, their carefully calibrated thermometers and spectrometers, their finely tuned computer models – all of them for a thesaurus. Surely, somewhere, there must be words that will prompt the world’s leaders to act.

This week, with the release of their new synthesis report, they are trying the words “severe, widespread, and irreversible” to describe the effects of climate change – which for scientists, conservative by nature, falls just short of announcing that climate change will produce a zombie apocalypse plus random beheadings plus Ebola. It’s hard to imagine how they will up the language in time for the next big global confab in Paris.

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Report says logging and burning of Amazon might be connected to worsening droughts – such as the one plaguing São Paulo

The Amazon rainforest has degraded to the point where it is losing its ability to benignly regulate weather systems, according to a stark new warning from one of Brazil’s leading scientists.

In a new report, Antonio Nobre, researcher in the government’s space institute, Earth System Science Centre, says the logging and burning of the world’s greatest forest might be connected to worsening droughts – such as the one currently plaguing São Paulo – and is likely to lead eventually to more extreme weather events.

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Water is a precious resource.  This sentiment should ring mighty in the South Australian context, especially as it is known as the 'driest state in the driest country'.  As we are heading toward our hot and dry season, our upcoming AdelaideSBN event will look to bring water into focus, and how our built environments can help us optimise the value of water. 
Presenter, Des Menz, takes us on a short journey into areas that he has been involved in for the past 17 years - wastewater and treated water management.

Des Mens - Des calls himself an old geezer engineer, although as a young engineer once, he thought he’d never become an old geezer.
He began his professional career as a railway engineer in Port Augusta, moved into municipal engineering for a period of 10 years (in SA and Victoria), and by 1989 decided he had had enough of being an employee and jumped ship to start his own consulting business. 
This was in the thriving region around Cobram, Victoria. In 1997 he relocated back to South Australia, based himself in Clare, and began the struggle all over again to eke out a living from a smaller economy and far fewer people than he experienced in Victoria. 
As a sole operator in a country town, there’s no such thing as being a specialist. And so, Des had to become educated in many different areas of his profession. The most satisfying has been in the environmental management arena, at both the community scale and the household scale. 

Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM

Tags: sustainable water management, reed bed design, rural water solutions and blue gold

Information about the funding conditions under the package can be obtained through Centrelink’s Farmer Assistance Line on 13 23 16. It is important to note that the irrigation exclusion period commenced when the grant was paid to the recipient....

The Department of the Environment Annual Report 2013-2014 was tabled on 30 October 2014.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder is preparing for drier times by building on the gains of the past few years and coordinating environmental flows with irrigation deliveries this water year.

Nuclear safety expert claims there is ‘significant risk’ due to poor condition of storage ponds containing highly radioactive fuel rods

Previously unseen pictures of two storage ponds containing hundreds of highly radioactive fuel rods at the Sellafield nuclear plant show cracked concrete, seagulls bathing in the water and weeds growing around derelict machinery. But a spokesman for owners Sellafield Ltd said the 60-year-old ponds will not be cleaned up for decades, despite concern that they are in a dangerous state and could cause a large release of radioactive material if they are allowed to deteriorate further.

“The concrete is in dreadful condition, degraded and fractured, and if the ponds drain, the Magnox fuel will ignite and that would lead to a massive release of radioactive material,” nuclear safety expert John Large told the Ecologist magazine. “I am very disturbed at the run-down condition of the structures and support services. In my opinion there is a significant risk that the system could fail.

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Proposal to extend maximum approval times for Australia’s commercial fisheries - call for public comments open 31 October 2014 until 28 November 2014.

'Biodiversity decline and habitat degradation in the arid and semi-arid Australian rangelands due to the proliferation, placement and management of artificial watering points’ not listed as a Key Threatening Process.

Western Australia’s premier, Colin Barnett, announces application for baited drum line approval has been withdrawn

The Western Australian government has conceded defeat over its plan to systematically trap and kill large sharks near popular beaches, after scrapping a proposal to implement the strategy over the next three years.

Colin Barnett, the WA premier, confirmed on Friday that WA had withdrawn its application to the federal government for the shark culling to go ahead.

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New Mexico zoo increases security and offers $5,000 reward for information on death of endangered marsupial named Jaspar

The killing of a rare Tasmanian devil on loan from Australia has prompted beefed-up security at a New Mexico zoo and a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo is adding more guards and surveillance cameras following the death of the animal named Jasper at the zoo last week.

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Members of the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB) Ministerial Forum have agreed that a key focus for governments over the coming two years will be to review and reset the underlying policies which govern the cross border management of the Lake Eyre Basin.

Lockheed’s announcement has generated a lot of publicity, but experts point to the lack of details or results, suggesting fusion power is still a long way off. Karl Mathiesen investigates.

Let us know your thoughts. Post in the comments below, follow Karl Mathiesen’s Facebook page, email karl.mathiesen.freelance@guardian.co.uk or tweet @karlmathiesen

Scientists have responded with scepticism to the announcement of a breakthrough in nuclear fusion by Lockheed Martin.

The arms manufacturer announced on Wednesday that it was “working on a new compact fusion reactor (CFR) that can be developed and deployed in as little as 10 years”. But Lockheed’s four paragraph press release and accompanying video are heavy on hyperbole and light on detail.

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Csaba Borboly has called for military assistance and for culling quotas to be lifted following a spate of cases involving brown bears damaging property in Romania

In the depths of Transylvania, Romania, a war against one of Europe’s largest brown bear populations is looming.

Following a string of cases involving damage to private property from bears in recent months, Csaba Borboly, a senior politician from the Transylvanian region, has called for the army to be brought in. “The [bear] problem needs the involvement of specialised state institutions such as the police, the paramilitary and even the army.”

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Mass cycling could save the NHS £17bn in 20 years, cut 500 road deaths a year and reduce smog, says a new study for British Cycling

At some point during most discussions about promoting cycling the question crops up: “Yeah, but some people don’t want to cycle or can’t cycle – how are bike lanes any use for them?”

The answers are many and overwhelming. However, they can be hard to pin down. Luckily, someone has just done just that in a thorough and easy to follow way.

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Today the Australian Government placed the Nullarbor Plain’s Koonalda Cave on the National Heritage List in recognition of its rare Aboriginal archaeology and heritage.

The Expression of Interest stage for the Reef Trust Tender - Wet Tropics Programme is now open - Expressions of Interest close 2pm [EDST] Thursday 18 December 2014.

The 20 Year Australian Antarctic Strategic Plan provides a blueprint for Australia’s future engagement in the region and options to expand Tasmania’s role as a leading Antarctic science and logistics hub.

Draft assessment report on the import of Scleropages formosus (Asian arowana) and Scleropages inscriptus (Myanmar arowana) to Australia. The public consultation period will be open until 5 December 2014.

The Coalition Government is delivering a key election promise by scrapping Labor's plan to lock out recreational fishers from key coastal areas around the country. We are protecting the marine reserves but rejecting the flawed plans. Download...