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After two disastrous years, investment in large scale renewable energy finally rebounded in Australia in 2016, and actually went against the global trend with a 50 per cent increase.

Beijing’s chief climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, talks down fears that joint leadership shown by China and the US will be reversed under new president

China’s chief climate negotiator has attempted to calm fears that Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House will spell disaster for the fight against climate change.

Trump, who has dismissed climate change as “bullshit” and a Chinese hoax, will become the first climate sceptic to occupy the highest office in the US when he is sworn in on Friday.

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The Australian rooftop solar market made a strong recovery late in 2016 to slightly beat the 2015 figure, and the early indications look for for the new year.

Leonie the shark astounds researchers by producing live hatchlings after being separated from her mate in 2012

A leopard shark in an Australian aquarium has reproduced asexually after being separated from her mate.

It is the first reported case of a shark switching from sexual to asexual or parthenogenetic reproduction and only the third reported case among all vertebrate species.

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Resources Minister's suggestion Australia could meet its climate targets by replacing ageing power stations with emerging ‘low emission’ coal-fired technology is an unrealistic fantasy.

There were only minor changes in the share of renewables in Germany last year. The most surprising being the change in natural gas..

Video footage showing snow leopards and common leopards sharing the same habitat causes alarm.

A video posted by Kim Joiner to Facebook shows an enormous alligator crossing in front of a group of tourists waiting with their smartphones ready

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More than half of deaths from bites and stings between 2000 and 2013 the result of anaphylactic shock, analysis shows

Of all Australia’s venomous animals, bees and wasps pose the biggest threat to public health, causing more than twice the number of admissions to hospital as snake bites and the same number of deaths.

The first national analysis of 13 years’ data on bites and stings from venomous creatures has found that just over one-third (33%) of almost 42,000 admissions were caused by bees and wasps, compared with 30% by spiders and 15% by snakes.

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How do you make the viewing platform for the Broken Hill solar plant a design and educational landmark? That’s the challenge AGL Energy Limited (AGL) is setting for artists, designers, architects and engineers.

The Free Electrons global accelerator program is seeking the next generation of ideas in energy innovation, and will connect the people with these ideas to major utilities currently serving more than 70 million customers in 40 countries.

Yesterday’s high temperatures saw Queensland Reposit Power customers take the heat off their electricity bills by earning GridCredits, a world first energy storage trading system that are earned when energy is sold back to the National Electricity Market (NEM) or network utilities.

German battery manufacturer receives US$1.5 million award at opening ceremony of World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

US astronaut Gene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, has died, his family and Nasa announce.

Aircraft are gradually becoming more fuel efficient, but that’s not happening fast enough to keep up with the boom in flying

The world’s airline industry adds to climate change. It burns the equivalent of more than 5m barrels of oil a day, adding up to around 2.5% of all carbon dioxide pollution, in addition to nitrogen oxides, soot and water vapour, which place an even bigger burden on the world’s climate.

Aircraft are gradually becoming more fuel efficient, but that’s not happening fast enough to keep up with the huge boom in flying – since the 1970s, global air traffic has doubled in size roughly every 15 years. Flying is still cheap and budget airlines make it even more attractive, partly thanks to an international agreement reached in 1944 that prohibits tax on aviation fuel for international flights.

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Can we really continue our transition toward renewable energy without any extra costs?

A giant wave in the atmosphere of Venus may be the biggest of its kind in the Solar System.

In our recent study we found that 40% of 203 Sydney homes we sampled contain lead in garden soil above the Australian health guideline of 300 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).

This presents a hazard because soil lead can adhere to or get absorbed into edible plants. An additional pathway of exposure occurs when contaminated soil dust enters homes and is accidentally ingested. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that affects childhood development.

Urban agriculture and VegeSafe

Urban agriculture is becoming more popular across Australia. Almost half (48%) of all households in metropolitan areas are now growing some form of edible produce.

Most lead contamination is a result of the historical use of lead petrol and lead-based paint (now phased out) and previous industrial emissions. Scientists and regulators are well aware of these legacy issues, but the general public remains underinformed about the potential risks.

To help urban gardeners assess contamination risks associated with their garden soils, we started the community science initiative VegeSafe in 2013. This program offers free soil metal screening to participants.

Each participant receives a formal report on their soil metal results and advice about what to do next if soils contain elevated concentrations of metals. We have provided 5,500 free soil metal tests to over 1,300 homes and community gardens (Australia-wide), the largest program and study of its kind in Australia.

What did we find?

As well as the 40% of Sydney gardens containing soil above the 300 mg/kg Australian health guideline, approximately one in seven homes had soils lead levels greater than 1,000 mg/kg. Soil metal concentrations were typically greatest around drip lines.

Soil lead concentrations were greatest in the City of Sydney and former local government areas of Leichhardt Municipal Council and Marrickville Council, which had mean soil lead concentrations of 883 mg/kg, 960 mg/kg and 689 mg/kg, respectively.

Soil lead concentrations of vegetable garden soils from 141 Sydney homes. Map represents one of four areas around homes (front yard, drip line, back yard and vegetable garden) in this study. Source: Rouillon et al. 2016

Homes with painted exteriors built before 1970 were more likely to have soils contaminated with lead. The highest levels are at homes 80 years or older. This is likely to have been caused by lead-rich paint, which contained up to 50% lead prior to 1970. Lead in paint was reduced to less than 1,000 mg/kg (0.1%) by 1997.

We observed the environmental benefit of the withdrawal of lead from paints and leaded petrol (removed in 2002) in our study. Garden soils at newer homes contain the least lead. Soil lead concentrations decrease with distance from Sydney’s city centre, where there are more old homes and greater density of traffic and industry.

Cross-section schematic of a typical inner-Sydney residential home with median soil Pb (lead) concentrations for painted pre-1970 homes, non-painted pre-1970 homes, post-1970 homes and reference homes. The vegetable garden is displayed at the rear of the back yard, as this was the case for the majority of homes. Source: Rouillon et al. 2016 Public health

Lead exposure is especially detrimental for children because their neurological and skeletal systems are developing. Adults are also adversely affected, with studies showing increased blood pressure and hypertension associated with sub-clinical exposures.

Toxicological evidence also shows that exposure reduces semen quality and extends the time to pregnancy. In short, lead is detrimental to all human systems and exposures should be avoided or minimised at all times.

Our study demonstrates lead contamination in garden soils is greater at painted homes than non-painted homes. Many pre-1970 Australian homes still contain paint with up to 50% lead on exterior walls, fences, eves, doors and window frames.

The main risk of exposure arises when lead-based paint deteriorates or is removed improperly. Indeed, many home renovators unwittingly expose themselves and others due to a lack of knowledge of lead hazards.

Paints containing lead are no longer used in Australia, but remain on countless homes. Reducing exposure

The United States Environmental Protection Agency introduced legislation specifically targeting houses with lead paint to prevent contamination and to minimise avoidable lead exposures.

Unfortunately this regulatory gap has not been filled in Australia. Despite the widespread historic use of lead-based paints and the high proportion of exposure related to it, our data reveals a concerning legacy of soil lead contamination in older suburbs.

We recommend that people residing at or planning to purchase or renovate homes built before 1970 should get their soils and paint tested for lead. Using a qualified lead-abatement decorator in older homes would also help prevent exposure. Where parents and homeowners think they may have caused exposure, their GPs can provide a blood lead test.

Reducing even low-level exposures is critical, as demonstrated by Bruce Lanphear’s “prevention paradox” (see the image below). The graphic illustrates that the most IQ points across a population are lost from low-level lead exposures.

Bruce Lanphear’s prevention paradox. The majority of IQ points lost to lead exposure occurs in children who have low-to-moderate exposure to lead. Adapted from Reference (Lanphear 2015) What can gardeners do?

Where non-food-growing soils exceed the Australian soil metal guidelines, we recommend maintaining year-round cover of lawn or mulch to minimise dust generation.

Where metal guidelines are exceeded in food-growing soils, we recommend either replacing existing soil with new, uncontaminated soil, or relocating the food garden to an above-ground vegetable plot (again with new soil).

In this way, gardeners can exercise our motto, which is to carry on gardening knowing their soils are clean.

The VegeSafe program is ongoing for all Australians. Gardeners can send their soil samples to Macquarie University for free soil metal screening of their soil. We do, however, take donations to help sustain our program – so please support your citizen science.

Mark Patrick Taylor is affiliated with: Broken Hill Lead Reference Group. LEAD Group Inc. (Australia). NSW Government Lead Expert Working Group - Lead exposure management for suburbs around the former Boolaroo (NSW) Pasminco smelter site, Dec 2014–ongoing. Appointed by NSW Environment Minister to review NSW EPA’s management of contaminated sites, October 2015–ongoing. The VegeSafe project receives funding support via voluntary donations from the public. The VegeSafe study published in the journal Environmental Pollution was completed during a period of cash and in-kind support for a broader evaluation of the use and application of field portable XRFs for the assessment of environmental contamination. This funding support came from two sources: OIympus Australia Pty Ltd and the National Measurement Institute, North Ryde, Sydney.

Louise Kristensen, Marek Rouillon, Paul Harvey, and Steven G George do 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.

Prince Charles has been signed up by the publishers to write an expert’s book. But maybe readers nowadays prefer spoofs

My twins are “studying” Jack and the Beanstalk, and I’ve just packed them off to school with my battered copy of Ladybird’s Well-Loved Tales.

I’ve collected a few old Ladybirds from car boot sales because they are beautiful and nostalgic, hailing from a time when truths were simpler and there was faith in the future. My favourite is The Story of Newspapers, a Ladybird Achievements Book that is testimony to the speed of terrifying technical obsolescence – and welcome progress. A drawing of a newsroom where all 14 journalists are men shows the past wasn’t always lovely.

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The incoming Trump administration accepts far more of the research on climate change than many of their political supporters, say British scientists.