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AEMO report says sudden loss of S.A.'s two biggest baseload gas plants nearly pushed state into another system black on March 3. Fortunately, wind farms came to the rescue.

The art of science - captivating scientific images from the 2017 Wellcome Image Awards.

Astronomer Susan Murabana takes a telescope round Kenya to enthuse schoolchildren.

Could circular runways be the future of air travel? Aviation expert Henk Hesselink of the Netherlands Aerospace Centre believes so.

SA premier and federal energy minister go toe to toe at opening of battery storage trial, in first meeting since Coalition started bagging state's renewable plans.

Extra cost of wind and solar power outweighed by energy saving, says report.

The Australian Petroleum Statistics provide statistics on petroleum production, refinery inputs and outputs, sales and stocks of petroleum products, and prices.

CORAL GRAVEYARD: Parts of the Great Barrier Reef will never fully recover from repeated bleaching of its corals by spikes in sea surface temperatures, scientists say.

Turnbull's $2 billion pumped hydro scheme paves way for 100% renewable grid driven mostly by wind and solar, and kills any chance of more gas and coal fired generation. It also makes nuclear redundant and turn conversation away from "baseload" power concepts.

A deadly haze of air pollution over China in 2013 has been linked to the melting of Arctic sea ice.

Access to flower-rich habitats is key to the survival of wild bumblebees, say ecologists.

The Great Barrier Reef has already been badly damaged by global warming during three extreme heatwaves, in 1998, 2002 and 2016. A new bleaching event is under way now.

As shown in a study published in Nature today, climate change is not some distant future threat. It has already degraded large tracts of the Great Barrier Reef over the past two decades.

The extreme marine heatwave in 2016 killed two-thirds of the corals along a 700km stretch of the northern Great Barrier Reef, from Port Douglas to Papua New Guinea. It was a game-changer for the reef and for how we manage it.

Our study shows that we cannot climate-proof coral reefs by improving water quality or reducing fishing pressure. Reefs in clear water were damaged as much as muddy ones, and the hot water didn’t stop at the boundaries of no-fishing zones. There is nowhere to hide from global warming. The process of replacement of dead corals in the northern third of the reef will take at least 10-15 years for the fastest-growing species.

The Great Barrier Reef is internationally recognised as a World Heritage Area. In 2015 UNESCO, the world body with oversight of World Heritage Areas, considered listing the reef as a site “in danger” in light of declines in its health.

Australia’s response falling short

In response to concerns from UNESCO, Australia devised a plan, called the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan. Its ultimate goal is to improve the “Outstanding Universal Value” of the reef: the attributes of the Great Barrier Reef that led to its inscription as a World Heritage Area in 1981.

We have written an independent analysis, delivered to UNESCO, which concludes that to date the implementation of the plan is far too slow and has not been adequately funded to prevent further degradation and loss of the reef’s values. A major shortcoming of the plan is that it virtually ignores the greatest current impact on the Great Barrier Reef: human-caused climate change.

The unprecedented loss of corals in 2016 has substantially diminished the condition of the World Heritage Area, reducing its biodiversity and aesthetic values. Key ecological processes are under threat, such as providing habitat, calcification (the formation of corals’ reef-building stony skeletons) and predation (creatures eating and being eaten by corals). Global warming means that Australia’s aim of ensuring the Great Barrier Reef’s values improve every decade between now and 2050 is no longer attainable for at least the next two decades.

What needs to change

Our report makes 27 recommendations for getting the Reef 2050 Plan back on track. The following are critical:

• Address climate change and reduce emissions, both nationally and globally. The current lack of action on climate is a major policy failure for the Great Barrier Reef. Local action on water quality (the focus of the Reef 2050 Plan) does not prevent bleaching, or “buy time” for future action on emissions. Importantly, though, it does contribute to the recovery of coral reefs after major bleaching.

• Reduce run-off of sediment, nutrients and pollutants from our towns and farms. To date the progress towards achieving the water quality targets and uptake of best management practice by farmers is very poor. Improving water quality can help recovery of corals, even if it doesn’t prevent mortality during extreme heatwaves.

• Provide adequate funding for reaching net zero carbon emissions, for achieving the Reef 2050 Plan targets for improved water quality, and limiting other direct pressures on the reef.

At this stage, we do not recommend that the reef be listed as “in danger”. But if we see more die-backs of corals in the next few years, little if any action on emissions and inadequate progress on water quality, then an “in danger” listing in 2020, when UNESCO will reconsider the Great Barrier Reef’s status, seems inevitable.

This article was co-authored by Diane Tarte, co-director of Marine Ecosystem Policy Advisors Pty Ltd. She was a co-author of the independent report to UNESCO on the Great Barrier Reef.

Terry Hughes receives competitive research funding from the Australian Research Council. He is the lead author on today’s Nature paper on recurrent coral bleaching, and a co-author on the independent report to UNESCO on the Reef 2050 Plan.

Barry Hart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his position as Emeritus Professor, Monash University .

Karen Hussey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her position as Professor and Deputy Director at the Global Change Institute, University of Queensland.

Improvements to water quality or fishing controls don’t prevent underwater heatwaves damaging coral, studies of mass bleaching events reveal

The survival of the Great Barrier Reef hinges on urgent moves to cut global warming because nothing else will protect coral from the coming cycle of mass bleaching events, new research has found.

The study of three mass bleaching events on Australian reefs in 1998, 2002 and 2016 found coral was damaged by underwater heatwaves regardless of any local improvements to water quality or fishing controls.

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Stagnant weather caused by fast-melting Arctic ice helped create conditions for China’s recent extreme air pollution events, scientists say

Climate change played a major role in the extreme air pollution events suffered recently by China and is likely to make such “airpocalypses” more common, new research has revealed.

The fast-melting ice in the Arctic and an increase in snowfalls in Siberia, both the result of global warming, are changing winter weather patterns over east China, scientists found. Periods of stagnant air are becoming more common, trapping pollution and leading to the build up of extreme levels of toxic air.

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Residents opposed to the drilling sites in Lancashire say the communities secretary Sajid Javid’s decision was unlawful

The communities secretary, Sajid Javid, made significant legal errors when he overturned a council’s refusal to allow test drilling at a fracking site in Lancashire, a court has been told.

Residents opposed to the drilling sites near Blackpool told Manchester high court that Javid acted “in breach of the rules of natural justice” when he gave the green light to test fracking in October.

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Chemical used in the best-selling Roundup herbicide is cleared for public use following an EU licensing battle due to potential health risks

A controversial chemical used in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller has been judged safe for public use by the European Chemical Agency (Echa).

Glyphosate has been the subject of a relicensing battle which split governments, regulators and scientists, with one arm of the World Health Organisation linking the substance to cancer, while another denied any risk.

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Hive heists in New Zealand are being blamed on the rising price of Manuka honey.

Soft drinks makers admit more needs to be done to stop people discarding single-use plastic bottles.

Scientists on both sides of the Atlantic have become embroiled in a war of words over energy from trees.

Waters off the coast of Tasmania turned a shimmering blue this week, a phenomenon known as ‘noctiluca scintillans’, or sea sparkle. Despite people flocking to photograph the eerie scene, scientists have warned that it is, in fact, a worrying sign of climate change

• Tasmania’s coastline glows in the dark as plankton turn blue

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