Ruins, not reefs: How global warming is fast-forwarding coral science – “Almost none of this reef has made it through 2015 and 2016. It’s the wholesale destruction of the reef.”

By Robinson Meyer11 April 2017 (The Atlantic) – At about the same moment that millions of Americans sat staring at their television or laptop or phone—watching the results from the presidential election stream in, seeing state after state called for Donald Trump—Kim Cobb was SCUBA diving near the center of the Pacific Ocean. She did […]

Two-thirds of Great Barrier Reef hit by back-to-back mass coral bleaching – “I showed the results of aerial surveys of bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef to my students, and then we wept”

10 April 2017 (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies) – For the second time in just 12 months, scientists have recorded severe coral bleaching across huge tracts of the Great Barrier Reef after completing aerial surveys along its entire length. In 2016, bleaching was most severe in the northern third of the Reef, […]

Australia State of the Environment report highlights threat of coal mining, urban growth, invasive species, and global warming

By Henry Belot7 March 2017 (ABC News) – The Government has no comprehensive national plan to protect Australia’s landscape to the year 2050, according to a report, which also warns of the potentially irreversible impact of climate change and the threats of coal mining, invasive species, rubbish, urban growth and habitat destruction. The State of […]

Damage mounts after Australia wildfires and record heat – “To put it simply, conditions are off the old scale. It is without precedent in NSW.”

SYDNEY, 12 February 2017 (AFP) – Australia was counting the cost to property and livestock Monday after firefighters battled weekend blazes in some of the hottest conditions on record. At least 19 homes were destroyed in eastern Australia as emergency teams were sent out to assess the damage after a “catastrophic” weekend saw over 100 […]

Gigantic bats are dying upside down, making Australia’s heatwave look like a horror movie

12 February 2017 (Gizmodo) – If you’ve ever seen Australia’s grey-headed flying fox, you know that they’re absolutely terrifying. With an average wingspan of over 3 feet, these threatened animals are sometimes called megabats. But you haven’t really seen terrifying until you’ve seen the flying fox dying by the hundreds, which is precisely what’s happening […]

416 beached whales propel New Zealanders into frenzied rescue mission – “The young ones were the worst. Crying is the only way to describe it.”

By Katie Mettler 10 February 2017 (The Washington Post) – The writer, photographer and tour guide gathered at a quarter past six Friday morning, their destination Farewell Spit. The dainty, fingerlike peninsula cups the northern edge of shallow Golden Bay, one of New Zealand’s most picturesque natural scenes and a premiere place to witness the […]

Study predicts global footprint of extreme fires will expand

7 February 2017 (University of Tasmania) – Increasingly dangerous fire weather is forecast for Australia and the Mediterranean as the global footprint of extreme fires expands, according to the latest research. University of Tasmania Professor of Environmental Change Biology David Bowman led an international collaboration – including researchers from the University of Idaho and South […]

In Australia and the US, sound climate policy is being held hostage by vested interests – “A new Dark Age of climate politics”

By Michael Mann and Christopher Wright6 February 2017 (The Guardian) – It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the world’s climate and environment. The inauguration of billionaire property developer and reality TV star Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States has presaged a new Dark Age of climate politics. In an […]

Turtle hatchlings dying in extreme heat at Mon Repos beach in Australia

By Jess Lodge 4 January 2017 (ABC News) – Piles of dead turtle hatchlings are lining Queensland’s famous Mon Repos beach amid a heatwave which has pushed the sand’s temperature to a record 75 degrees Celsius. While the majority of hatchlings break free from their nests at night when the sand is cooler, those escaping […]

Japanese poaching fleet caught with dead whale in Australia sanctuary

15 January 2017 (Sea Shepherd Global) – After five weeks of patrolling the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has located the Japanese whale poachers’ factory whaling vessel in the Australian Whale Sanctuary with a dead minke whale on its flensing deck, the first to be documented since the International Court of Justice ruled against their whaling […]

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