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 Australia’s ecosystems ‘already suffering from climate change’ https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-s-ecosystems-already-suffering-from-climate-change 18 Sept 19, Warming temperatures are threatening Australian wildlife with the iconic Kakadu National Park also in danger of rising sea levels, a report has found.Australian wildlife is under threat and forests that don’t normally burn are being devastated by fire, with ecosystems already suffering from climate change, a new report suggests.
The Climate Council report found sensitive vegetation that’s never been subject to fires before is burning, ringtail possums and flying foxes are dying from heatwaves and river catchments are losing mangroves due to underwater heatwaves.
“In Queensland we are seeing bushfires burning into rainforests that have basically never had bushfires before,” report author Lesley Hughes told AAP. Professor Hughes warned that climate change is not a future problem but a problem that needs to be addressed now.
“What we are seeing is devastating impacts that have occurred with about one degree of warming,” she said.
“It’s not just rising average temperatures, just having one or two really hot days can wipe out a whole species.”
The council found sea levels in northern Australia are rising about twice the global average, which is threatening wetlands in the Northern Territory’s iconic Kakadu National Park.
Rising temperatures are also threatening the endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoo, which is found in southwestern Australia, because it is very susceptible to heat stress.
The warming weather also puts at risk green turtles, with the report finding 99 per cent of the animals hatching in the northern Great Barrier Reef are female.
“When the temperature is over 29C green turtles will hatch into females … the future impacts on the population are devastating,” Prof Hughes said. The council called on the federal government to take a bolder approach to conservation to ensure Australia’s ecosystems are resilient to the increasing extreme weather experienced across the nation.
“Australia has long been regarded as one of the most vulnerable developed countries to the impacts of climate change,” Prof Hughes said.
“The government is frankly not dealing with the situation at all.”
The council criticised Australia’s conservation record, with the nation having one of the highest rates of species extinctions.
“Australia is home to more than a million species of plants and animals yet our track record on conservation is woeful; climate change is making it even harder to protect them,” chief councillor Tim Flannery said in a statement.
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September 19, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Nationals MPs snub launch of farming group’s climate change report https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/nationals-mps-snub-launch-of-farming-groups-climate-change-report
Australia’s agricultural production will fall and food insecurity will rise without a climate strategy, report warns, Sarah Martin Chief political correspondent 16 Sept 19, Nationals MPs have snubbed a farmers’ group launching a major climate change report that warns the Australian agricultural sector faces “significant threats to viability” without a new national climate strategy.
The report, launched by the Farmers for Climate Action group at Parliament House on Monday, warns that agricultural production will fall, farm profits will decline and food insecurity will increase if the government does not come up with a cohesive national strategy on climate change and agriculture.
Lucinda Corrigan, the chair of Farmers for Climate Action, said she had wanted Nationals MPs to attend the event, saying she believed cross-party support was needed given the challenge facing producers.
“It would have been great if they had been there because they need to take this seriously,” Corrigan said.
“Because being green is actually our agenda, it’s actually a conservative agenda, being a conservationist is a conservative agenda, it is not a green agenda, it has been taken from us and we actually want it back.”
She also said Nationals MPs should consider the concerns within the agricultural sector about climate change separately to the issues affecting the energy sector. Continue reading →
September 17, 2019
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
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Canberra acts ‘first’ in the climate emergency, Canberra Times, Penny D Sackett , 16 Sept 19, On Monday, the ACT government released its Climate Change Strategy 2019-2025, just a few months after declaring a climate emergency in May, the first Australian state or territory to do so. The document contains several more Australian “firsts,” reflecting the government’s desire to lead climate action. Is this new strategy needed, and what does it mean for Canberrans?
Previous ACT climate strategy documents are out-of-date for three reasons: science, economics, and new legislated emissions targets.
Science indicates that increased global warming carries considerably more risk than was known just 10 years ago. It is therefore more urgent than ever before to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and create a more resilient city in the face of the climate changes that are coming and already upon us.
Second, the rapid advance in new technologies such as battery storage and electric vehicles means that a wider variety of solutions is now economically viable, presenting new opportunities for local investment and job growth. Furthermore, because the monetary and human costs of inaction are so enormous, substantial near-term climate action is responsible both economically and socially.
Finally, the ACT government has recently brought forward its commitment to zero net emissions from 2050 to 2045, and put in place science-based interim emission targets for 2025, 2030, and 2040 to guide the way. These legislated targets, based on advice from the ACT Climate Change Council and in line with global carbon budget responsibilities to hold warming below 2 degrees celsius, are not only an Australian first for states and territories, but world-leading. A new plan is needed to realise the 2025 target of reducing ACT emissions by at least 50 per cent compared to 1990 levels, whilst collecting data that will be vital in meeting the next target in 2030.
So what does the plan hold in store for Canberra and Canberrans?
The starting point of the new strategy is the assumption that the ACT will effectively be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity in 2020 – an expectation that will likely be met due to the territory’s previous investment in large scale solar and wind generation. Achieving that goal will result in a 40 per cent reduction of emissions from 1990 levels. The additional reduction required to meet the 2025 target will need to come primarily from the transport and gas sectors. After 2020, ACT transport emissions (which overwhelmingly come from private vehicles) will account for 60 per cent of Canberra’s emissions, with gas for heating and cooking making up another 20 per cent or so.
Substantial reduction in emissions from transport and gas use can only be achieved through a change in the choices made by Canberrans, at our work and businesses, and in our homes. Those low-emissions choices must be enabled and supported by government policies and regulations.
The new ACT climate strategy contains several realistic, forward-looking actions that begin to provide the magnitude of support and vision required in these sectors, and many are “firsts” among Australian states and territories. Among these are: ensuring that all new schools and government buildings are all-electric and appropriate for the changing climate; a commitment to maintain 100 per cent renewable electricity supply into the future; and a fossil-fuel-free bus fleet by 2040. …….https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6389173/canberra-acts-first-in-the-climate-emergency/?cs=14246
September 17, 2019
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ACT, climate change - global warming |
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Climate crisis confronts Morrison https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/16/environmental-groups-warn-against-push-for-nuclear-power-in-australia– Paul Karp@Paul_Karp16 Sep 2019
When parliament resumes on Monday Scott Morrison will play host to Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama.
Defence, labour mobility, trade, investment, illegal fishing and climate change are all on the agenda for the bilateral meeting. Bainimarama was heavily critical of Morrison at the Pacific Islands forum, saying the Australian PM had insulted and alienated Pacific leaders over his failure to back stronger emissions targets.
The climate crisis will also be forced back onto the agenda by the member for Warringah, Zali Steggall, who will bring a motion, seconded by independent MP Helen Haines, calling on the government to decarbonise the economy by 2050 to reduce the health impact and linking it to extreme weather events.
Earlier in September the Australian Medical Association formally declared climate change a health emergency; Steggall’s call will be backed by peak health bodies pointing to heat related illnesses, respiratory diseases and hypoallergenic conditions caused by global heating.
Australia is in the grip of early-spring fires in New South Wales and Queensland and a drought that could see parts of NSW run out of water as early as November.
Steggall said the “unprecedented fires” and the “shocking drought” are “events causing terrible health impacts which are going to get more severe as the world continues to warm”. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/16/environmental-groups-warn-against-push-for-nuclear-power-in-australia
September 16, 2019
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Australia to attend climate summit empty-handed despite UN pleas to ‘come with a plan’ The Conversation, Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
September 16, 2019 This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.Climate action will be on the world stage again at a meeting of world leaders in New York on September 23. The United Nations has convened the event and urged countries to “come with a plan” for ambitious emissions reduction.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the meeting because he says global efforts to tackle climate change are running off-track. He wants leaders to present concrete, realistic pathways to strengthen their existing national emissions pledges and move towards net zero emissions by 2050.
Australia is not expected to propose any significant new actions or goals. Prime Minister Scott Morrison – in the US at the time to visit President Donald Trump – will not attend the summit. Foreign Minister Marise Payne will attend, and is likely to have to fend off heavy criticism over Australia’s slow progress on climate action.
Australia has gained an international reputation as a climate action laggard – plagued by political acrimony over climate change, offering few policies to reduce emissions and embroiled in diplomatic rifts with our Pacific neighbours over, among other things, support for coal.
For many afar, it is difficult to understand the policy vacuum in a country so vulnerable to climate change……..
Come with a plan, and make it good
The landmark Paris agreement includes a global goal to hold average temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep warming below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Countries set so-called “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) outlining an emissions reduction target and how they will get there.
…… Australia’s emissions are rising
Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions are about 12% lower than in 2005, the base year for the Paris target. But since 2013 they have steadily risen, and are continuing to rise…….
We could do so much better
With meaningful policy effort, Australia could meet the Paris target without resorting to Kyoto credits, and possibly meet a much more ambitious target………
2050: defining a strategy
Limiting the risk of catastrophic climate change demands that global emissions fall rapidly in coming decades. Keeping temperature rise to 2°C or less means reducing emissions to net-zero.
Australia will be expected to table strategies to get to net-zero by 2050 next year, at the UN’s climate COP, or “conference of the parties”.. That process should be a chance for Australian governments, industry and civil society to put heads together about how this could work.
The year 2050 is beyond the horizon of most corporate interests vested in existing assets, and it allows greater emphasis on long term opportunities than on short term adjustments. This should encourage a more open discussion than the often acrimonious debates about 2030 emissions targets and short-term policies.
Australia should show the world it can imagine a zero-emissions future, and hatch the beginnings of a plan for it. It would help position the nation’s resources industries for the future and help with our international reputation. https://theconversation.com/australia-to-attend-climate-summit-empty-handed-despite-un-pleas-to-come-with-a-plan-123187
September 16, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
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Fear of drought, flood and fires leads farmers to plea for urgent action on climate change ABC, NSW Country Hour, By Tim Fookes 13 Sep 19
Extreme weather variabilities have farmers like Robert Lee, who has just watched more of his cattle leave for greener pastures, on edge.
Key points:
- A group of farmers concerned about the future has formed a lobby group, Farmers for Climate Action
- About 200 farmers from around NSW attended a conference this week to lobby for more action on climate change
- A climate scientist says farmers bring new perspectives that people may not have considered
The farmer from Larras Lee, in central west New South Wales, has lived through drought before, but not like this.
“The cattle I had were about to start calving, and I just haven’t got enough to feed them,” he said.
“I was proud of those cows that have gone this week; I bred them, and I regret I have to sell them.”
Having already destocked, Mr Lee knows of other farmers destocking because there is a better opportunity for them in southern NSW and Victoria where they have had rain.
“The agents tell me how embarrassed they are with the amount of rain they’ve had in Victoria,” Mr Lee said.
“But it’s great to hear that some people have had [rain] and have got some grass to take on stock that we can’t handle. “With the way the climate is, with warmer-than-average temperatures and lower rainfall, I have to be much more nimble with how much stock I have.”\
Farmers for climate activism
Mr Lee is not alone in his concerns over the climate and has become a member of the lobby group, Farmers for Climate Action.
It involves people from rural Australia pushing for more action on the effects that climate change is having on agriculture. A conference this week in Orange attracted nearly 200 people to discuss ways of lobbying for more action on the effects a warming, dryer climate is having on those who make a living on the land.
Two thirds of those at the conference were farmers who had travelled from around NSW to attend……… https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-09-13/fear-of-drought-flood-and-fires-leads-farmers-to-plea-for-action/11508834
September 13, 2019
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The survey indicates nuclear energy, which has been revived as a prospect by some Morrison government MPs, remains divisive with voters.
Only one in five put nuclear in their top three preferred energy sources, and 59% of the survey put nuclear in their bottom three.
Australians increasingly fear climate change-related drought and extinctions
Climate of the Nation survey shows growing support for net zero emissions by 2050 and rapid phase-out of coal power
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/10/australians-increasingly-fear-climate-change-related-drought-and-extinctions?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlBVVMtMTkwOTEw&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayAUS&CMP=GTAU_email Katharine Murphy Political editor
Drought-hit land 40km north-east of Coonabarabran in NSW. More than 80% of Australians are worried about drought and floods linked to climate change.
Australians are increasingly concerned about droughts and floods, extinctions and water shortages associated with climate change, and most people think all levels of government aren’t doing enough to combat the effects of global warming, according to new research.
The annual Climate of the Nation survey, which has been tracking Australian attitudes to climate change for more than a decade, finds concern about droughts and flooding has risen from 74% of the survey in 2017 to 81% in 2019. Continue reading →
September 10, 2019
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Climate change survey shows Australians want action on emissions, but are divided on nuclear, ABC 10 Sep 19 The majority of Australians blame increasing energy costs on “excessive profit margins” of energy companies, and 64 per cent think we should be aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.
But we’re still divided on how to get there, with solar energy topping the list of preferred energy sources and nuclear power continuing to polarise opinion.
These are some of the findings from The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report, which shows Australians are becoming increasingly unhappy over a range of climate and energy issues.
Of the 1,960 people surveyed, general concern about climate change was highest among 18 to 34-year-olds, with more than 81 per cent of respondents saying climate change worried them, compared to 67 per cent of those aged 55 and over.
The overall acceptance by Australians that climate change is happening is on par with 2016 — the equal highest rate since the surveys began in 2007.
However, attitudes to climate change are divided along gender lines, with women more likely than men to think climate change is happening. Nearly 80 per cent of women said they are either “very concerned” or “fairly concerned” about climate change, versus 70 per cent of men. Continue reading →
September 10, 2019
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Extreme heat a far greater threat for most Australians than extreme cold weather, study finds, SMH, By Peter Hannam, September 10, 2019, Extreme heat is a far greater threat for most Australians than extreme cold weather, with the risks falling largely on the elderly.
Research published on Tuesday in the Climatic Change journal examined the deaths of 1.717 million Australians between 2006-2017. It found about 2 per cent were attributable to heat, while “close to zero” were caused by cold days, said Thomas Longden, a senior researcher at the University of Technology, Sydney, and author of the paper…….
In regions with hot, humid summers – such as Townsville, Cairns and Darwin – as many as 9 per cent of deaths were related to heat.
Scientists expect climate change will create longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves for much of Australia, a trend that would exacerbate the risks of heat-related deaths.
“In the future we’re going to get some very extreme events that really may start pushing people, who have not had an issue in the past, over a threshold,” Dr Longden said. “Hospitalisation, ambulance call outs and deaths can occur after that.”
The elderly, in particular, will face more pressure on their health as temperatures rise, Dr Longden said.
Separately, the Australia Institute on Tuesday released its Climate Of The Nation report, which has tracked attitudes to climate change since 2007.
The survey of 1960 Australians aged 18 years and older by YouGov Galaxy was taken between July 25 and August 1. It found 77 per cent of respondents agreed the climate was changing, matching the highest level recorded in 2016. Some 81 per cent said there were concerned the shift would result in more droughts and floods, up from 78 per cent in 2018.
Other findings included 78 per cent of respondents saying they were worried climate change would lead to water shortages in Australian cities, up 11 percentage points in two years. More than two-thirds backed “an orderly phase-out of coal” and a similar ratio supported Australia reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
“Australians are rightly concerned about more extreme heat waves, droughts and bushfires, and they want the Morrison government to show leadership on climate change and do more to prepare for the impacts that are already locked in,” said Zali Steggall, the independent MP for Warringah, who launched the report. https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/extreme-heat-a-far-greater-threat-for-most-australians-than-extreme-cold-weather-study-finds-20190909-p52ph1.html
September 10, 2019
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It doesn’t make sense – seeing that the nuclear lobby is desperately pushing the idea that nuclear is needed to solve climate change
About 30 per cent of Australians “not at all concerned” by climate change favoured nuclear power, compared to five per cent of those who were “very concerned” by it.
Nuclear divisions across Australia: report https://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/6376142/nuclear-divisions-across-australia-report/, Rebecca Gredley, 10 Sept 19,
Australians unconcerned by climate change are most supportive of nuclear energy, a new report suggests. Continue reading →
September 10, 2019
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‘This is an omen’: Queensland firefighters battle worst start to season on record More than 50 bushfires are burning with the most dangerous in the Gold Coast hinterland destroying the Binna Burra Lodge, Guardian, Australian Associated Press 8 Sept 19, Queensland is in uncharted territory as firefighting crews battle to get the upper hand in the worst start to the fire season on record.
More than 50 fires were burning across Queensland on Sunday afternoon, the most dangerous in the Gold Coast hinterland where it had destroyed homes and the heritage-listed Binna Burra Lodge.
One of the oldest nature-based resorts in Australia, which dates back to the 1930s, now lies in ruins………
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services’ predictive services inspector, Andrew Sturgess, said the state had never before seen such serious bushfire conditions, so early in spring.
“So this is an omen, if you will, a warning of the fire season that we are likely to see in south-eastern parts of the state where most of the population is,” he said.
The acting premier, Jackie Trad, said climate change meant the state was facing a new era of fire risk.
“There is no doubt that with an increasing temperature with climate change, then what the scientists tell us is that events such as these will be more frequent and they will be much more ferocious,” she told reporters.
Fire authorities have warned the danger posed by the Binna Burra fire will not be over for days, with strong winds expected to persist until Tuesday.
“We’re still very much in defensive mode,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services’ assistant commissioner, Kevin Walsh, said on Sunday………
Dams and water tanks on rural properties are empty. Stanthorpe itself is subject to emergency water restrictions of 100 litres per person per day, with the supply not expected to last until the end of the year. After that the council will have to truck water in.
“We need rain. That’s the only thing that’s going to save us,” Stanthorpe woman Samantha Wantling said.
In New South Wales firefighters were battling several out-of-control bushfires with strong winds making for challenging conditions. Despite cooler weather, damaging winds of up to 70km/h were expected to ramp up fire activity with very high fire danger in the state’s far north coast, north coast and New England areas. ……. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/08/crews-battle-two-huge-fires-threatening-south-queensland-towns
September 8, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
climate change - global warming, New South Wales, Queensland |
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The air above Antarctica is suddenly getting warmer – here’s what it means for Australia The Conversation Harry Hendon, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Andrew B. Watkins, Manager of Long-range Forecast Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Eun-Pa Lim, Senior research scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Griffith Young, Senior IT Officer, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, September 6, 2019
Record warm temperatures above Antarctica over the coming weeks are likely to bring above-average spring temperatures and below-average rainfall across large parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland.
The warming began in the last week of August, when temperatures in the stratosphere high above the South Pole began rapidly heating in a phenomenon called “sudden stratospheric warming”.
In the coming weeks the warming is forecast to intensify, and its effects will extend downward to Earth’s surface, affecting much of eastern Australia over the coming months.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting the strongest Antarctic warming on record, likely to exceed the previous record of September 2002…….
Although we have seen plenty of weak or moderate variations in the polar vortex over the past 60 years, the only other true sudden stratospheric warming event in the Southern Hemisphere was in September 2002.
In contrast, their northern counterpart occurs every other year or so during late winter of
the Northern Hemisphere because of stronger and more variable tropospheric wave activity.
What can Australia expect?
Impacts from this stratospheric warming are likely to reach Earth’s surface in the next month and possibly extend through to January.
Apart from warming the Antarctic region, the most notable effect will be a shift of the Southern Ocean westerly winds towards the Equator.
For regions directly in the path of the strongest westerlies, which includes western Tasmania, New Zealand’s South Island, and Patagonia in South America, this generally results in more storminess and rainfall, and colder temperatures.
But for subtropical Australia, which largely sits north of the main belt of westerlies, the shift results in reduced rainfall, clearer skies, and warmer temperatures.
Past stratospheric warming events and associated wind changes have had their strongest effects in NSW and southern Queensland, where springtime temperatures increased, rainfall decreased and heatwaves and fire risk rose……
Effects on the ozone hole and Antarctic sea ice
One positive note of sudden stratospheric warming is the reduction – or even absence altogether – of the spring Antarctic ozone hole. This is for two reasons.
First, the rapid rise of temperatures in the upper atmosphere means the super cold polar stratospheric ice clouds, which are vital for the chemical process that destroys ozone, may not even form.
Secondly, the disrupted winds carry more ozone-rich air from the tropics to the polar region, helping repair the ozone hole.
September 7, 2019
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Australian Medical Association labels climate change ‘a health emergency’, SBS, 3 Sept 19 The Australian Medical Association has joined other international medical groups in recognising climate change as a “health emergency”. The Australian Medical Association says the evidence on climate change is irrefutable and warns there will be more deaths from heat stress, severe weather events, hunger and disease.The AMA Federal Council declared at its meeting in Canberra that, “climate change is real and will have the earliest and most severe health consequences on vulnerable populations around the world, including in Australia and the Pacific region”.
The AMA has joined other international health organisations, including the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association, and Doctors for the Environment Australia, in labelling it a “health emergency”.
“The Federal Council recognises climate change as a health emergency, with clear scientific evidence indicating severe impacts for our patients and communities now and into the future,” the federal council says……..
Dr Bartone said the AMA was calling on the federal government to adopt several measures, including “mitigation targets” on carbon and policies that promote transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-medical-association-labels-climate-change-a-health-emergency
September 5, 2019
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The Coalition is now taking yet another slice of that pudding. Unlike New Zealand, Germany, France, the UK and others, it will continue to draw on unused emission “credits” from the Kyoto era, which expires next year, to meet the modest 2030 target it set for itself in Paris four years ago.
With the exception of two brief years when a carbon price was in operation, emissions have continued to rise. So the Morrison government, like its predecessors, doesn’t mention them. Instead it refers repeatedly to “our target”, which we are meeting “in a canter”.
Australia has now been playing its Kyoto card for over 20 years, and shows no sign of ending the deception.
Kyoto is a magic pudding that keeps on giving.
Is mindless planet-trashing the way to go? http://southwind.com.au/2019/09/03/is-mindless-planet-trashing-the-way-to-go/ 3 September 2019 by Peter Boyer
The Morrison government is engaging in the kind of international chicanery we used to associate with tinpot dictatorships. When the United Nations emerged out of World War II, Australia was widely recognised as a model international citizen, a light helping to guide the world in a new age of diplomacy.
Civilisation’s answer to the wreckage left by nationalism was the UN’s multilateral world order. Both Coalition and Labor leaders knew that it gave a leg up to a middle-sized power like Australia, and worked hard to build our country’s reputation as a good global citizen.
Many older northern nations struggled with the new order, but Australia punched above its weight, notably in environmental advocacy. We led the world in pressing for UN measures to protect natural values in our part of the world, including the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
Our efforts were noticed. We secured the first UN presidency. UNESCO’s World Heritage committee held its first southern hemisphere meeting in Sydney, and the first Antarctic Treaty meeting was held in Canberra. We hosted the headquarters, in Hobart, of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
At the UN’s Earth Summit in 1992 Australia lobbied hard for the proposed framework convention on climate change and quickly ratified its agreement. Everyone expected as much. We had the reputation of taking a holistic view, supporting best collective outcomes.
But then something changed. Australia demanded special treatment at the 1997 Kyoto climate conference. Most developed countries agreed to lower their carbon emissions, but Australia was allowed a significant increase over 1990 levels.
That wasn’t all. Continue reading →
September 3, 2019
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Calls to preserve Australia’s rainforests as fires rage in the Amazon, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/calls-to-preserve-australia-s-rainforests-as-fires-rage-in-the-amazon P eople must fight to save the Amazon rainforest from deforestation – but it is important efforts to preserve Australia’s rainforests are also made, local environmental groups say. BY EVAN YOUNG 25 Aug 19, Environmental groups are urging people to channel raised awareness about deforestation in the Amazon into renewed efforts to preserve Australia’s own forests.
Over 78,000 forest fires have been recorded in Brazil this year, the highest number of any year since 2013, amid increased land-clearing under new far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
More than half of those fires are in the Amazon basin, where more than 20 million people live.
The fires have prompted widespread concern around the world, but environmental groups in Australia say our domestic forests are also disappearing at an alarming rate.
“Australia is a world leader in habitat destruction,” Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said.
“Our forests are getting a double knockout blow at the moment – climate change is leading to drought and bushfires, but we are still clearing land at a great rate of knots.”
A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report last year named Australia as one of 11 global “deforestation hotspots”, where 80 per cent of forest loss is projected to happen up to 2030.
Eastern Australia was the only location in the developed world to be on the list of 11.
“We have a huge deforestation problem – all our forests all suffering because laws have been weakened,” WWF-Australia conservation scientist Martin Taylor said.
Queensland and New South Wales were the worst culprits, Dr Taylor said, with most tree-clearing undertaken to create pasture for livestock.
The Queensland Newman government partly removed the state’s ban on broad-scale clearing in 2013.
The New South Wales Berejiklian government repealed the state’s native vegetation act in 2017, allowing most agricultural developments to take place without a permit.
Tree clearing in NSW has caused koala numbers to decline by one third over the past 20 years to an estimated 20,000 across the state, according to WWF.
“We are losing mammals incredibly quickly and that is largely because we are destroying our forests. Our incredible wildlife needs a home to live in.”
Bulldozers are getting into forests and ripping into trees, making way for farmland and other urban developments. We can, and need to be, smarter in our farming.”
Ms O’Shanassy said individuals can make donations to charities opposing deforestation, talk to local businesses supporting unsustainable agriculture practices, eat less meat and contact their local MPs to try and reverse the trend.
“As individuals, we can all live more sustainably, but when we get together and demand bigger action from corporations and governments – that is when we get the type of large scale change needed to protect the Amazon and the rainforests of Australia.”
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August 27, 2019
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, environment |
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Antinuclear 