Severe droughts and extreme heat threaten to deplete barley yields, making beer rarer and more expensive, an international study has shown. Depending on severity of the weather, yield losses are expected to be between 3 and 17 percent, but the authors expect this will mean crops are prioritised for essential goods
Climate Watch
The dirt on SOIL
Pooping for the planet: Part II BACK IN THE early years of my academic career I worked in a university department with a number of soil scientists. ‘Soilies’ are, generally speaking, affable types who wear sturdy boots and get inordinately excited about digging holes in paddocks. In their natural environment they tend
Pooping for the planet: Part I
What clean fuel can replace coal in NSW with no down time?
A new ANU study and site atlas shows that pumped hydro could replace all NSW coal-burning power stations and provide reliable power within minutes of being engaged on any particular day. The pumped-hydro atlas identifying 8,600 suitable sites in NSW. The CEO of the NSW Nature Conservation Council Kate Smolski said “This
Safeguard and conserve what we have
NEW report: Hot, Dry& Deadly: NSW plants, animals (including humans) face ultimate challenge Review by Frankie Seymour Hot, Dry& Deadly: Impacts of Climate Change on Nature in NSW is a clear and concise document launched regionally last month by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, a peak organisation representing 160 member organisations. The
Why are we stuck on climate change action?
Shadow Minister Mark Butler explains the Australian federal policy sink hole Climate Wars Mark Butler Melbourne University Press, 2017. Book review by Nick Goldie As Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Mark Butler could be expected to come up with the goods in his new book Climate Wars. And that’s just what he does:
The lucky story of a Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo
Major supermarkets pledge phase-out of one-use plastic bags
Every second, 159 single-use plastic bags are used in Australia – more than 10 million new bags each day. In NSW, up to 61 million bags are littered each year. More than 70 per cent of the rubbish entering our oceans is identified as plastic. Plastic kills up to one million sea birds, countless fish and 100,000 sea mammals each year. These figures, supplied
Even America’s biggest “clean coal” plant isn’t using coal
By Climate Council America's largest “clean coal” power station has sensationally scrapped future plans to use coal at the site, after its operational costs skyrocketed by more than double, reaching around $7.5 billion (US). Climate Councillor and energy expert of more than 40 years, Andrew Stock said Southern Company and Mississippi Power’s
