Feed aggregator

More than 1,800 plant and animal species and ecological communities are at risk of extinction right now
• Interactive: Wombats, sharks, possums, frogs: Australia’s animals at risk of extinction

Global warming wiped out the Bramble Cay melomys – the first mammalian extinction in the world to be caused by climate change – but a straightforward plan that could have rescued the little rodent was thwarted by red tape and political indifference.

“It could have been saved. That’s the most important part,” says John Woinarski, a professor of conservation biology who was on the threatened species scientific committee that approved a 2008 national recovery plan for the species, endemic to a tiny island in the Torres Strait.

Continue reading...

The self-cloning species, which can be bought in Canada, is banned in Europe and two US states.

Until Pruitt deleted the EPA climate webpages.

Last week, a Las Vegas news station interviewed Trump’s EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. The interviewer brought up the topic of climate change, and virtually everything Pruitt said in response was wrong, and was often refuted on his own agency’s website, until he started deleting it.

Continue reading...

Scientists investigate undersea life exposed by the iceberg that broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula.

The 91 year old monarch has banned the use of plastic straws, cups and bottles from all her estates.

First data ever gathered from extremely remote area of the South Indian Ocean has a surprisingly high volume of plastic particles, say scientists

Microplastics have been found in some of the most remote and uncharted regions of the oceans raising more concerns over the global scale of plastic pollution.

Samples taken from the middle of the South Indian Ocean – at latitude 45.5 degrees south – show microplastic particles detected at relatively high volumes. Sören Gutekunst, from the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, who analysed the samples, said the data showed 42 particles per cubic metre, which was surprising given the remoteness of the area.

Continue reading...

15 February 1918 The ground was seamed and lined by their tracks until it resembled the photographs taken from aircraft of trenches at the front

Yesterday morning, and to a lesser extent this morning, worms were unusually active; the influence of spring had penetrated underground and sent them to the surface to feel rather than see the improved conditions. They crawled in thousands over the footpaths; they were crushed and mutilated in hundreds beneath the feet of passers-by; the ground was seamed and lined by their tracks until it resembled the photographs taken from aircraft of trenches at the front. These extensive peregrinations must have begun at an early hour.

Related: From the archive, 19 May 1984: Here's hoping the Guinness worm will turn

Continue reading...

South Devon: Outside this field the nearest colony of these heathland ants is in the Scottish Highlands

A soggy mound amid the grass stopped me in my tracks. I had spent the best part of an hour searching the heathland reserve, eyes to the ground, before I chanced across it close to a clump of gorse. It was nothing much to look at, admittedly. After a winter of heavy downpours the dome-shaped structure covered with tiny snippets of vegetation had slumped so that it resembled a spadeful of old lawn clippings. Yet beneath the bedraggled thatch was buried treasure: an exceptionally rare colony of narrow-headed ants (Formica exsecta) toughing out the colder months hidden from view.

Shaped like tiny lopsided dumbbells, these territorial ants, named for the distinctive notch in the back of their head, play an important role in maintaining heathland through their foraging behaviour. Colonies can contain several queens along with about 1,000 workers, each armed with strong mandibles and capable of engaging in chemical warfare by firing jets of formic acid from their rear to deter predators.

Continue reading...

Will Cape Town become the first major city to run out of water?

South Australia government to help fund Australia's first renewable-powered hydrogen electrolyser plant – a 15MW facility to be built at Port Lincoln, along with a 10MW hydrogen-fired gas turbine, fuelled wind and solar, and a 5MW hydrogen fuel cell.

With a Wednesday deadline, things are getting tight for power companies to purchase and surrender enough LGCs to meet their liability. Has ERM got its act together?

Retiring Labor stalwart Wayne Swan cites losing carbon price debate to "vicious" Abbott-led scare campaign as major regret.

A $10.5m microgid combining 2.5MW solar PV, 4.2MWh of Tesla battery packs, 2.5MW diesel generator will power SA wholesale fruit and vege market, save stall holders $500k a year.

All eyes on bond rates and the results from the country's biggest utilities, including AGL.

Cities all over the world are facing growing challenges to provide clean, reliable water. And many of the fixes, such as desalination plants, have a huge carbon footprint. Peter Fisher, Adjunct Professor, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Who knows what EV nightmare Craig Kelly had over Christmas, but clearly it spooked him. Let's compare his claims with real word facts.

Australian CleanTech Index slightly underperformed the wider market in January.

Supplies cut by storms in Queensland and faulty sub-station in Victoria, while market operator warns of 1400MW of lost generation due to "coal supply" issues.

Carnegie wins WA contract to build state's largest microgrid, ensuring renewables and batteries can lift reliability of supply for Kalbarri.

Carnegie Clean Energy proposes 100MW solar farm and 20MWh battery storage to supply mines in Kalgoorlie area, and possibly lithium processing plants as the storage market for electric vehicles and battery storage takes off.