Climate
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Prospects for our progeny
We live in treacherously dangerous times. The recent attack on the life of Donald Trump, is just one of many pieces of evidence that every human on our planet is living under threat. Thanks to the actions of former PM, John Howard, the threat of gun violence here in Australia is less than that in Continue reading »
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Bad banks, culpable coal industry, compliant government all in bed together
A People’s Development Bank would be appropriate to the needs and security of production in rural and regional Australia. The case for action is overwhelming and has been so since the Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) was privatised. Crucially the rural sector must lead the charge for Australia to retain our life support systems. Continue reading »
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The Albanese government has created a climate vacuum, and we will pay the price
Whilst the global impact of climate disruption is rapidly accelerating, and the last, record-breaking year has been extraordinary, public concern in Australia about it is waning, and the government bears much of the responsibility. Continue reading »
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Sunday was earth’s hottest day on record
“We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” one expert said. Continue reading »
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Developing nations suffer for rich world’s climate complacency
If leading central banks can grow their balance sheets by billions of dollars during the pandemic, they can do the same to fight global warming. 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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The media is silent on the climate war that must be won
Both Australia’s parties of government, when in office, are failing the first responsibility of government; to ensure the safety and security of its people. They must be held to account, and forced to withdraw their support for fossil fuels, the root cause of climate change. Continue reading »
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The gas industry has power and freedom to wreck the world
By now many citizens of our planet recognise that the destructiveness of climate change is moving faster than they imagined, leaving our defences at serious risk and even the money men are concerned about the burgeoning costs and possible economic collapse. 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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The predicament of climate scientists on the road to a supertropical earth
As temperatures in large parts of the Earth are soaring (cf. 52.3oC in Delhi), flames engulf large regions in California, tornadoes ravage the Gulf of Mexico states, severe drought starve populations in southern Africa and climate extremes continue to take over large parts of the Earth. Continue reading »
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“The Sun has won”: exponentially growing solar destroys nuclear, fossil fuels on price
It’s not known if Peter Dutton reads The Economist but if he does, he must probably think from time to time that it is sometimes dangerously left wing. Continue reading »
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Alaska’s top-heavy glaciers are approaching an irreversible tipping point
The melting of one of North America’s largest icefields has accelerated and could soon reach an irreversible tipping point. That’s the conclusion of new research colleagues and I have published on the Juneau Icefield, which straddles the Alaska-Canada border near the Alaskan capital of Juneau. Continue reading »
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The Summit of the Future
The world’s geopolitical system is not delivering what we want or need. Sustainable development is our declared goal, meaning economic prosperity, social justice, environmental sustainability, and peace. Yet our reality is continued poverty amidst plenty, widening inequalities, deepening environmental crises, and war. To get back on track, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has wisely called 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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Calling all influencers: standup and be counted on climate
If tidal waves of science and activism along with increasing extreme weather events aren’t enough to turn things around, where can we turn to? Continue reading »
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A baby born in April 2023 has never experienced a month that wasn’t the hottest on record
When a baby born on April 1, 2023 reached 14 months and became a toddler this month, it had never lived through a month that wasn’t the hottest on record. Continue reading »
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Expanding refugee protection for a changing climate
Current refugee and human rights law principles still apply when climate change and disasters amplify the risk of displacement. 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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Caring for creation: making the transition to renewables
Ever since the Leader of the Opposition’s statements on nuclear reactors, along with many, my heart has ached. Continue reading »
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Striving to unite biodiversity, climate and finance
We take nature and biodiversity for granted. Nonhuman life is like a backdrop — we don’t pay much attention to it. This is a mistake. Continue reading »
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The renewable opportunities behind the climate politics
The world has made up its mind on the move to renewables. All you have to do is listen to the markets, look at what global capital is doing and ask businesses here in Australia. Continue reading »
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UNESCO calls on Australia to take more ambitious climate action
It feels like Groundhog day: Another coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, another meeting of the World Heritage Committee to examine Australia’s progress to safeguard our World Heritage-listed icon. Continue reading »
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The cost of living and housing affordability
The cost-of-living crisis mainly reflects a decline in housing affordability. A consequence is that this crisis is much worse for middle-income people, who are typically middle-aged, and who are most likely to have a substantial mortgage. Continue reading »
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Stoking the climate furnace…
Or ‘Honey, I Cooked the Kids.” 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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Counting the environmental toll of war – and why peace is a climate solution
One’s immediate thought on looking at any of the multitude of photos of the devastation of Gaza is a profound sense of sorrow and grief at the capacity of humans to wreak such destruction and suffering. Continue reading »
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Nuclear and gas expansion weakens our national security
Former Australian defence force chief and admiral retired, Chris Barrie frankly discusses with Michael Lester his deep concerns that Australia is complacent in its unwillingness to face up to the threat to our national security posed by global climate change. Continue reading »
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Climate emergency strikes Islam’s holy ritual, with nearly 600 dead of heat stroke in Mecca
As the temperature in Mecca reached 125.24° F. (51.8° C.) on Tuesday, word leaked out that nearly 600 pilgrims had died of heat stroke and 2,000 have been hospitalised for treatment. A virtual clinic treated more thousands remotely. Some 324 of the dead were Egyptians, while dozens were from Jordan. Continue reading »
