Writer
Peter Sainsbury
Peter Sainsbury is a retired public health worker with a long interest in social policy, particularly social justice, and now focusing on climate change and environmental sustainability. He is extremely pessimistic about the world avoiding catastrophic global warming.
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Environment: Warming, thawing Arctic presents problems for everyone
The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe and the effects are global. Bacteria responsible for escalating methane emissions. The false binary of system change or individual behaviour change. Continue reading »
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Environment: Global plastic pollution treaty talks collapse
Should we focus on the plastic or the pollution to eliminate plastic pollution? How to ensure that climate action produces a fairer, more inclusive, healthier world. Brush turkey urban population takes off. Continue reading »
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Environment: Australia opposes nations’ legal obligations to tackle climate change
International Court of Justice to provide advice on nations’ climate change obligations. SE Australia and WA to experience more heat waves than predicted but NT and FNQ will have fewer. Mixed evidence of countries working together to progress sustainability. Continue reading »
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Environment: Climate protesters blockade Newcastle’s coal port despite government bans
Draconian laws don’t discourage climate protesters. Hydrogen’s rainbow of colours. CCS continues to underperform. Clean energy investments increasing but so are investments in fossil fuels. Continue reading »
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Environment: The future of humanity hangs in the balance
‘We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster’, scientists conclude. Donkeys: feral pests or nature’s saviours? Climate change threatens global food security and farmers’ incomes. Continue reading »
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Environment: Carbon capture and storage – what’s the real goal?
Carbon capture and storage fails to deliver carbon but succeeds for governments and industry. The pros and cons of reducing your personal carbon footprint. How best to tackle Australia’s land clearing loopholes. Continue reading »
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Environment: Optimistic predictions for the energy transition
Renewable energy and its applications are pushing fossil fuels out of business – but will it be fast enough? Climate scientists are encouraged to be more vocal to stave off a ghastly future. Continue reading »
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Environment: Earth system tipping points threaten our stable environment
Dangerous tipping points threaten the stability of several of Earth’s natural climate-controlling systems. Conclusion: warming of 1.5oC is not safe. Possible to protect humans from dangerous animals without killing them. Tanzania accused of apartheid by its own people. Continue reading »
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Environment: The climate crisis is a health crisis
Climate change will soon be causing an additional 250,000 deaths per year worldwide – children are at particular risk. Only 4% of greenhouse gas emission reduction policies actually reduced emissions. Continue reading »
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Environment: using the law to drive (and retard) climate action
Climate activists are increasingly using the courts to challenge development approvals and change the law, but so are action delayers. Access to electricity is increasing worldwide, but fossil fuels still dominate electricity production. Continue reading »
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Environment: NSW’s environmental assessment process for logging ignores the previous 200 years
Ignoring 200 years of native forest logging underestimates the consequences of current logging. Beware of false solutions for plastic pollution. How to make your garden bird-friendly. Continue reading »
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Environment: Zambia has lots of copper but will Zambians benefit?
The green transition needs copper but how do poor copper-rich countries reap the rewards? The hydrogen-energy balloon is floating away. Underground tanks help to manage flash floods. Big cats become the prey. Continue reading »
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Environment: Peak oil is close but the descent will be slow
Peak oil is imminent but it will be a long time before we return to base camp. China surging ahead with solar while continuing to burn coal. NATO produces the equivalent of half of Australia’s annual CO2 emissions. Continue reading »
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Environment: hole in the ozone layer: the patient is improving but still needs intensive care
The hole in the Antarctic’s ozone layer is recovering but very slowly. How to eat seafood sustainably, restoring our disappearing mangroves and cemeteries for the living. Continue reading »
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Environment: burning wood in power stations doesn’t help the climate
The living, not our forebears, have put most of the CO2 into the atmosphere. Substituting wood for coal in power stations doesn’t reduce CO2 emissions. A little warmth helps bell frogs fight chytrid fungus. Continue reading »
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Environment: will humans behave like monkeys when climate apocalypse strikes?
Summers right across the northern hemisphere are getting hotter but vegetation can lower the temperature locally. Macaques show humans how to cope with hotter conditions. Poor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Continue reading »
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Environment: banks still bankrolling fossil fuels
Big banks keep providing big money to fossil fuel companies but it’s time for the Global North to invest for the future and pay its historic climate debt to the Global South. Diminishing Sagebrush is threatening the USA’s Greater sage-grouse. Continue reading »
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Environment: eating responsibly – less bottled water and even less meat
Bottled water is not good for the environment or your health. If you eat meat, eating less is good for both. Governments are unreliable protectors of forests and human rights (but you knew that already). Continue reading »
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Environment: Solar gets cheaper but more oil and gas is what we’re promised
As solar panels get cheaper, companies and governments commit to increasing oil and gas production. Community opposition to wind farms funded by fossil fuel interests. Indigenous languages threatened by climate change. Continue reading »
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Environment: Pacific politician calls out Australia’s climate duplicity
The temperature is rising and the world is getting increasingly dangerous, even the rich bits. Former Tuvalu PM slams Australia’s climate policies. Rights of and around rivers. Continue reading »
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Environment: When will politicians take climate change seriously?
Both the WHO and UN may be starting to take seriously the effects of climate change on health. A global plan to save 1,000 freshwater fish from extinction. Covid reverses life expectancy at birth. Continue reading »
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Environment: Government delivers climate rhetoric but not emissions reductions
Australia’s emissions reductions have stalled just when we need to be ramping up ambition and action. Concrete’s emissions set to be high for decades. Continue reading »
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Old trees are good trees
Big old trees are few in number but store lots of carbon. Loopholes found in Victoria’s ban on native tree logging. Great Barrier Reef bleaches for fifth time in eight years. Continue reading »
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Environment: CO2 emissions still increasing
CO2 emissions continued to increase in 2023 with now little chance of global warming staying under 1.5oC. Planting trees is part of the solution but only in the longer term. Even Hollywood is getting the message. Continue reading »
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Environment: Expert calls Australia’s carbon offset scheme a scam
Australia’s carbon offset scheme costs a lot and captures almost no carbon but provides a fig leaf for continuing emissions. Technology-based Carbon Dioxide Removal is still a distant dream. Distributed energy resources can be the Swiss Army knife of the electricity system. Continue reading »
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Environment: Oil and gas producers underreport methane emissions
How accurately are methane emissions reported and whose estimates can you believe? Who should be the last producers of oil and gas? What are Australia’s commonest birds? Continue reading »
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Environment: Australia publishes its first climate risk assessment
Australia is conducting its first climate risk assessment and developing an adaptation plan. Not only humans experience heat stress, so do other animals and plants. If you must feed wild birds, listen to the experts’ tips. Continue reading »
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Who is supplying Israel with the oil it needs?
It’s no surprise that USA and Russia are supplying oil to Israel to fight its war. Nor that that some major international oil companies are keen to profit. But it seems odd that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Egypt are involved. Continue reading »
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Environment: Fossil fuel company profits are delaying grid decarbonisation
Securing a liveable planet and the retail price of electricity are important but current fossil fuel profit margins are slowing grid decarbonisation. Water temperature in the Pacific is influencing methane emissions in the sub-Arctic. Enjoy nature this Easter. Continue reading »
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Environment: Booming oil and gas profits mainly benefit shareholders
The oil market is twice as large as all ten largest metal markets combined. Most oil and gas profits go to shareholders, not reinvestment in the industry. Since 2001 only 5 months have been cooler than the average for 1981-2010. Extinction Rebellion perform at the National Gallery of Victoria. Continue reading »
