Climate
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COP 27: Sleepwalking to global armageddon
An article in the prestigious journal Nature shows a dramatic increase in the likelihood of tipping points causing a runway disruption to the globe’s environment. Australia and other governments participating in COP 27 are nevertheless sleepwalking along a path which wrongly assumes a predictable manageable rise in temperatures. Continue reading »
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Australia relies on controversial offsets to meet climate change targets. We might not get away with it in Egypt
It’s small wonder a major fossil fuel producer like Australia has relied so heavily on carbon offsets. Plant new forests – or say you will avoid clearing old ones – and you can keep approving new gas and coal developments. This year, whistleblower Professor Andrew McIntosh claimed up to 80% of these offsets weren’t real. They didn’t Continue reading »
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Environment: Greenhouse gases – same old winners, same old losers
Whitehaven Coal is selling more coal and making record profits and (apparently) helping countries reduce their emissions. Rich nations should cancel developing nations’ debt to help them cope with climate change. Continue reading »
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Is hydrogen for export over-hyped?
There is a good deal of hype about the potential for exports of Hydrogen. But there are technical and competitive reasons to question how large a boom it will be. There are other opportunities in the low-carbon world, and the need to decarbonise the economy is urgent. Continue reading »
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8 billionth human: Has the population bomb exploded?
Sometime in the next few weeks, human being number 8,000,000,000 will enter the world. But what sort of a world will they inherit? Continue reading »
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Nord Stream: Urgent need for international investigations into crimes against the environment
The explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on September 26 in the Baltic Sea have been deemed an act of sabotage – but which nations or actors are responsible is yet to be known. Given the scale of the environmental crime, why are we not demanding the truth? What explains Western silence? Continue reading »
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Can China lead the way on climate reparations?
At a time when the developing nations are doing it tough in the face of inflation, rising power and food prices, many poor African, Asian and Pacific Island nations, struggling with the ravages of climate change, are asking for reparation. Will it be China and not the US that leads the way? Continue reading »
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Environment: Cherish old trees, rivers and birds
The world’s old trees, Australia’s rivers and the USA’s birds are in decline. The cause is the same everywhere – failing to respect nature. Continue reading »
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Environment: Rich countries export their social and environmental problems
Self-righteous rich countries export their problems to poor countries. Animal population sizes a third of what they were. Is Direct Air Capture a promising technology? Continue reading »
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Environment: A bleak, hot future for Australia
New data confirms Australia’s vulnerability to climate change. Nitrous oxide emissions set to become a climate battleground. Answers to where I’ve been for the last month. Continue reading »
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Climate change risk second only to nuclear war
Could anthropogenic climate change result in worldwide societal collapse or even human extinction? Continue reading »
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Here comes the catastrophocene…
The good news is that the Anthropocene is almost over. It will have been the shortest geological epoch in all of Earth history. Continue reading »
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Beetaloo gas field: Resurrect health impact assessments to save lives
Our new government walks both sides of the street on fossil fuels. Continue reading »
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The wealthy pollutors inflict pain and death on the poor of Pakistan
Even if we measure cumulative emissions just from the 1992-2020 period, the US share is 19.6%, the high-income group’s share is 46.9%, and Pakistan’s share is 0.4%. Continue reading »
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Climate change, weather elements and natural disasters: what links?
Over the past couple of years, the idea that humanly-created climate change is real and worrying has become increasingly accepted in Australia. Few scientists now argue the opposite point of view, the commentariat has largely followed suit even News Corp’s opposition is no longer a matter of policy and polls suggest that scepticism and denialism Continue reading »
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Environment: Pacific wants Australian support for strong climate action
Pacific nations want climate action not military bases. Emissions and temperatures keep rising and forest fires keep increasing. Continue reading »
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What happens if the climate and ecological crisis is framed as a national threat?
For 30 years, the risk of dangerous climate change, which would render the Earth uninhabitable for most species, has been treated as a scientific and economic governance issue. Partly due to historic norms, but also due to legitimate concerns about securitisation, these have been strictly civil matters. Continue reading »
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Climate laws for the environment and for people
A roadmap for reforming Australia’s climate laws and Chile rewrites its constitution with the environment and people to the fore. Greater warming where and when its coldest. Continue reading »
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Joelle Gergis: Friday essay: ‘I feel my heart breaking today’ – a climate scientist’s path through grief towards hope
I have spent hundreds of hours trawling through countless UN reports and scientific papers until my eyes sting and I can no longer absorb any more information. I feel overwhelmed and saturated with sorrow. As a sensitive person with a difficult background, sometimes I find the reality of the world we live in unbearable. I Continue reading »
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Peter Sainsbury’s Environment Report: Rewilding the USA’s west and saving the Amazon’s headwaters
Wolves and beavers could recreate the wild West. Indigenous communities fight for the Amazon’s sacred headwaters. Is your battery killing mine workers? Continue reading »
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The independent New South Wales flood inquiry has landed
The much-awaited report of the Independent NSW Flood Inquiry has been released. Continue reading »
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This week with Peter Sainsbury on catastrophic ‘Climate Endgame’
Scientists call ignoring ‘Climate Endgame’ dangerous. Biden’s persistence navigates the Inflation Reduction Act through Congress. Renewables keep getting cheaper. Continue reading »
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More aquaculture to feed a silent world
Sustainable aquaculture to boost fish supplies. Rich nations fund poor’s fossil fuel industries. Extinctions silence nature. Continue reading »
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The Great Barrier to understanding the Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is a vast and complex ecosystem. Sometimes headline statements about its health can appear confusing and even contradictory. Continue reading »
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Alan Pears: Climate action will drive disruptive change, but we can build on past experience…
Election May 2022 – a new beginning for climate and energy policy? Continue reading »
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There’s no escaping a hothouse earth
A couple of months ago I set off with my partner to the northern hemisphere for a prolonged stint in Canada. I’ll admit I was excited and relieved to be getting away from the rain-soaked Northern Rivers. The region had been robbed of sunlight for months on end and the trauma of the floods earlier Continue reading »
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Facing “Hothouse Earth”, will Labor continue half-a-century of inaction?
In a new book, Hothouse Earth, Bill McGuire depicts “the coming climatic catastrophe” and argues “that there is now no chance of us avoiding a perilous, all-pervasive climate breakdown”. Continue reading »
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Environment: UN declares right to a healthy environment
Global right to a healthy, sustainable environment declared but governments conspire to hide the truth about climate change, Tassie sanctions the killing of native wildlife and Brazil encourages dangerous mining deep in the Amazon. Continue reading »
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Notes from Nomadia
Thousands of ‘grey Nomads’ are travelling endlessly around Australia contributing in a small way to the destruction of the very environment they apparently admire. Good luck to them. Continue reading »
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Environment: Australia’s natural environment – sick and getting sicker
Australia’s environment needs better governments and more respect. Mexican asparagus: nice but very naughty. Continue reading »
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