Great Barrier Reef plan ‘like saving a sinking ship with a thimble’

15 September 2014By Amy Remeikis  (Brisbane Times) – It’s the 35-year plan designed to stave off UNESCO’s “in danger” rating and save the reef, but conservationists are already doubting it will work. Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell announced the Reef 2050 plan on Monday while the government was in Yeppoon for community cabinet. The plan, […]

Australia cancels plan to dump five million tons of dredge in Great Barrier Reef

By Jeremy Hance2 September 2014 (mongabay.com) – A consortium of companies—North Queensland Bulk Ports, GVK Hancock and Adani Group—have announced they are giving up on a hugely-controversial plan to dump five million tonnes of dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef. The plans ran into considerable opposition from environment, conservation, and tourism groups who feared […]

Climate models on the mark, Australian-led research finds – ‘We’re still setting records even during the cold phase because we’re still warming’

By Peter Hannam, Environment Editor21 July 2014 (Sydney Morning Herald) – A common refrain by climate sceptics that surface temperatures have not warmed over the past 17 years, implying climate models predicting otherwise are unreliable, has been refuted by new research led by James Risbey, a senior CSIRO researcher. Setting aside the fact the equal […]

A letter to the Prime Minister of Japan from Captain Paul Watson – ‘If the Japanese whaling fleet returns to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 2015, the ships and the volunteers from Sea Shepherd will also return’

July 2014 (Sea Shepherd) – Sea Shepherd founder, Captain Paul Watson, writes a personal letter to the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe on his visit to Australia. In the copy below, Captain Watson asks on behalf of Sea Shepherd volunteers worldwide, “that Japan abide by the ICJ ruling and that Japan respects both the moratorium […]

May global temperature reaches record high, driven largely by record warm oceans – 39th consecutive May and 351st consecutive month with global temperature above the 20th century average

  May global temperature reaches record high, driven largely by record warm oceans Note: official monthly data for China were not received in time for inclusion in this analysis. For the purposes of this report, NCDC calculated data for China using daily reports from its GHCN-Daily dataset. When official monthly data are received from China, […]

Half of world’s forest species at risk – FAO publishes first global study of forest genetic resources

4 June 2014 (PhysOrg) – Half of the world’s forest species are at risk from climate change and farming, the United Nations warned on Tuesday, as it called for “urgent action” to manage them better. In its first global study of forest genetic resources, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said woodland was shrinking […]

Australia experiences its hottest two years on record – ‘Climate change is here, it’s happening, and Australians are already feeling its impact’

2 June 2014 (Australian Associated Press) – Australia has experienced its hottest two years on record and high temperatures are set to continue through winter in a clear sign of climate change, a report warns. May 2012 to April 2014 was the hottest 24-month period ever recorded in Australia, but that is likely to be […]

Japan will ‘redesign’ Antarctic whaling program to make it more ‘scientific’ – ‘They intend to ignore the verdict of the International Court of Justice, and they intend to continue killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary’

Tokyo, 18 April 2014 (AFP) – Japan says it will redesign its controversial Antarctic whaling mission in a bid to make it more scientific, after a United Nations court ruled it was a commercial hunt masquerading as research. The bullish response, which could see harpoon ships back in the Southern Ocean next year, sets Tokyo […]

Bee crisis could cost billions in lost agricultural production across Australia, Senate inquiry hears –‘No bees, no food’

By TORY SHEPHERD16 April 2014 (The Advertiser) – Feral bees have been all but wiped out in South Australia, putting the state’s agricultural industry at risk. The state now depends on about 60 beekeepers for domestic bees to pollinate crops after the feral population was hit hard by the Bangor and Ngarkat bushfires, among others. […]

Global rankings study shows America in rapid decline – U.S. #1 in incarcerated citizens per capita, adult onset diabetes, and belief in angels

By CJ Werleman9 April 2014 (AlterNet) – If America needed a reminder that it is fast becoming a second-rate nation, and that every economic policy of the Republican Party is wrongheaded, it got one this week with the release of the Social Progress Index (SPI). Harvard business professor Michael E. Porter, who earlier developed the […]

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