Feed aggregator

Australian artists and scientists have been inspired by the amazing travels of migratory shorebirds.

Warming climate makes it ‘inevitable’ that contiguous US will lose all of its glaciers within decades, according to scientists

It’s now “inevitable” that the contiguous United States will lose all of its glaciers within a matter of decades, according to scientists who have revealed the precipitous shrinkage of dozens of glaciers in Montana.

Warming temperatures have rapidly reduced the size of 39 named glaciers in Montana since 1966, according to comparisons released by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Portland State University. Some have lost as much as 85% of their expanse over the past 50 years, with Glacier national park, site of 37 of the surveyed glaciers, set to lose all of its eponymous ice formations within the next few decades. Of the 150 glaciers that existed in the park in the late 19th century, only 26 remain.

Continue reading...

Australia's population is not far from 24 and a half million. It's growing at a shade under 350 thousand a year, of which almost 190 thousand is immigration. At this rate, by mid century we'll be at least 40 million.

‘Whale cams’ and digital tags attached to minkes and humpbacks allow scientists to go below the surface of the Antarctic ocean and experience a day in a life of these ocean giants. The data will help them to understand the animals’ behaviour and the impacts of climate change

• ‘Whale cams’ reveal humpbacks’ habitats – video

Continue reading...

Greens MP responds to damning report, warning taxpayers are left exposed to footing the bill ‘for the huge damage the mining industry is doing to the environment’

Mining companies should be forced to set aside more money for the rehabilitation of mine sites, according to a damning report by the New South Wales auditor general.

While security deposits provided by mining companies have increased from $500m in 2005 to around $2.2bn in 2016 for about 450 mine sites in NSW, the report found the money was still not likely to cover the full costs of each mine’s rehabilitation if the company went out of business or the mine suddenly stopped operating.

Continue reading...

Consumers are needlessly buying bottled water in restaurants and pubs because they feel awkward asking for free tap water, says environmental charity

UK consumers who are too embarrassed to ask a pub or restaurant for a glass of tap water or a refill of their empty bottle are helping to fuel the rising tide of discarded single-use plastic drinks bottles, according to a new survey.

Only a quarter of people admitted to knowing their legal rights when it comes to asking for a glass of tap water, while a third admit to feeling awkward when asking for water for a reusable bottle even if they are buying something else, according to research commissioned by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and Brita UK, a manufacturer of filter jugs.

Continue reading...

Infigen today announced several key changes to the Infigen management team to support the company’s growth strategy.

South Australia rules out "synthetic inertia" - and therefor battery storage - in its energy security target, in a move that could have huge implications for the owners and developers of current and upcoming wind and solar projects in the state.

Executive General Manager, Energy Markets, Stephen Mikkelsen, would be leaving his role at AGL after 11 years of service both in his current role and, formerly, as Chief Financial Officer.

South Korea is Australia's second biggest customer for thermal coal, but election of Moon Jae-In as president raises doubts about future of coal generation in that country.

The Living Future Institute of Australia (LFIA) Forum is designed to inspire, engage and dare everyone to believe every act of development must be positive and regenerative.

The theme this year is Building Nutrition: Bringing health, happiness and well-being back to the centre of the design discussion, with the topics being BIOPHILIC DESIGN & CITIES, PERMACULTURE & URBAN AGRICULTURE, PROMOTING HEALTH & WELLBEING & DELIVERING THE LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE.

/SPEAKERS
BIOPHILIC DESIGN & CITIES
Darren Bilsborough - Studio Leader, Hames Sharley

PERMACULTURE & URBAN AGRICULTURE
Keri Chiveralls - Senior Lecturer/Permaculture Design and Sustainability, CQUniversity

PROMOTING HEALTH & WELLBEING
Deborah Davidson - Director, Dsquared Consulting
Sally Modystach - Director, Healthy Environs Pty Ltd

DELIVERING THE LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE
Stephen Choi - Executive Director of Living Future Institute of Australia

All talks can be viewed here: LFIA Forum ADL 2017

/ EVENT SPONSORS
Adelaide City Council | City Switch

/ MEDIA PARTNER
Environmental Science Media

/ ORGANISING GROUPS
Living Future Institute of Australia - living-future.org.au
Adelaide Sustainable Building Network - adelaidesbn.com.au

Cast: AdelaideSBN

Eight homes successfully separated from main electricity grid and operated as stand-alone solar and battery storage powered mini-grid, in Melbourne trial.

California's high solar penetration means the stakes are high with this summer’s eclipse. Fortunately, Europe has already been down this road.

Tesla opens orders for its much-hyped solar roof, with installations of two varieties of its PV tiles to begin installations in the US mid-year and in Australia in 2018.

Australia can achieve its 2030 climate target by relying on energy productivity gains and tighter controls on high emitting industries – and without legislating an EIS.

Sandy Bedfordshire In a dry, wormless spring our resident male blackbird has become a fisher of newts

Through french windows framed by flowering clematis, I saw a blackbird touch down on the lawn. Leaning even as it landed, its beak led it in a pitter-patter metre-dash for the pond. At the water’s edge its head dipped then jerked back, and it tossed something very large over its shoulder on to the turf.

In this droughty, wormless spring, our resident male blackbird had switched to becoming a fisher of newts.

Continue reading...

Will you ride the tsunami of technology through the jagged reef of climate disruption? To catch it you'll need to paddle hard now.

CEFC job numbers to grow, Budget papers reveal, but CCA again given only enough funds to last to end 2017/18 financial year.

The 2017 federal budget has axed funding for the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), an agency that provides information to decision-makers on how best to manage the risks of climate change and sea level rise.

The NCCARF received A$50 million in 2008 to coordinate Australia’s national research effort into climate adaptation measures. That was reduced in 2014 to just under A$9 million. For 2017-18, a mere A$600,000 will be spread between CSIRO and NCCARF to support existing online platforms only. From 2018, funding is axed entirely.

This decision follows on from the 2014 streamlining of CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship, and comes at a time when a national review of Australia’s climate policies is still underway.

Despite a growing global impetus to address the risks of climate change, there is evidence that Australia is being hampered by policy inertia. A review of 79 submissions to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry on Barriers to Effective Climate Change Adaptation, published in 2014, found that:

adaptation first and foremost requires clear governance, and appropriate policy and legislation to implement change.

Earlier this year the World Economic Forum listed “failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation” as one of the top five risks to the world, in terms of its potential impact. Meanwhile, in Australia, local governments, professionals and community groups have consistently called for more national policy guidance on how best to adapt to climate risks.

The government’s decision to slash funding for climate adaptation research is therefore at odds with the growing urgency of the problem. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its most recent major assessment report, pointed out that Australia can benefit significantly from taking adaptation action in highly vulnerable sectors.

These areas of vulnerability include: the risk of more frequent and intense floods; water shortages in southern regions; deaths and infrastructure damage caused by heatwaves; bushfires; and impacts on low-lying coastal communities.

To put it simply, lives and money will be saved by strong climate adaptation measures.

Australia needs a coherent policy approach that goes beyond the current focus on energy policy, although climate adaptation is indeed an important issue for our electricity grid as well as for many other elements of our infrastructure. A coherent, whole-of-government, approach to climate risk is the economical and sensible approach in the long term.

Like it or not, the federal government has to take a leading role in climate adaptation. This includes the ongoing need to address existing knowledge gaps through well-funded research.

The federal government is the major funder of leading research in Australia, delivered through CSIRO, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Cooperative Reserach Centres, the Australian Research Council and universities. This role should not be divested. Without climate adaptation research, Australia can expect significantly higher infrastructure damage and repair costs, more death and disease, and more frequent disruption to services – much of which would be avoidable with the right knowledge and preparation.

The damage bill from the 2010-11 Queensland floods alone exceeded A$6 billion. Since 2009, natural disasters have cost the Australian government more than A$12 billion, and the private sector has begun trying in earnest to reduce its risk exposure.

In response to these known risks, there is demand for robust policy guidance. Effective partnerships between government, industry and the community are crucial. One such example led by the NCCARF is CoastAdapt, an online tool that collates details of climate risks and potential costs in coastal areas.

For projects like this, success hinges on full engagement with all relevant spheres of government, industry, research, and the community. There is more to be done, and it needs leadership at the highest level.

Tayanah O'Donnell receives research funding from the ACT Government and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility.

Josephine Mummery was employed by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility in 2015 and 2016.

Article bemoaning foreign wind farm ownership continues paper's long anti-wind history – and is, once again, a gross distortion of the facts.