Graph of the Day: Record-breaking temperatures across Australia, 31 October 2013

10 November 2013 (Climate Council) – Between November 2012 and October 2013, the overall average temperature across Australia was 0.22°C higher than for any 12-month period prior  to 2013. The latest report from the Bureau of Meteorology highlights the large number of temperature records that have fallen across Australia in the last year, including (BoM, […]

Australian scientists plan to relocate wildlife threatened by climate change

By Oliver Milman    16 October 2013 (theguardian.com) – Australian researchers have developed the “first rigorous framework” on how to relocate animals displaced due to climate change. The study, conducted by academics from four Australian universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), devised a formula on how to decide whether to relocate a […]

Australia prime minister abandons carbon emissions reduction target range

By Lenore Taylor    12 November 2013 (theguardian.com) – Tony Abbott has confirmed that his government has abandoned its longstanding policy to reduce Australia’s emissions by between 5% and 25% of 2000 levels by 2020 – a crucial and internationally scrutinised goal that had retained bipartisan support since 2009, throughout Australia’s tumultuous political debate over climate […]

South Australia braces for extreme heat and catastrophic fire conditions

By Lia Harris6 November 2013 (The Advertiser) – As South Australia prepares for a scorcher with catastrophic fire conditions in some areas, CFS crews have already extinguished two scrub fires overnight and attended a third near Birdwood this morning.  CFS crews were called to a grass fire at Forreston, about 5km from Birdwood, at about […]

Largest coal mine in Australia approved, will use more than nine billion liters of water per year – ‘It’s bordering on hypocrisy, really’

3 November 2013 (AAP) – The federal government has approved a massive coal mining project in central Queensland that will be the largest in the country. Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved the 37,380 hectare Kevin’s Corner project on Friday. The mine, to be operated by a joint India-Australia consortium, GVK-Hancock, is the first to be […]

Bushfire smoke engulfs Australia’s biggest city Sydney

By Aaron Akinyemi2 November 2013 (International Business Times UK) – The bushfires that have ravaged large swathes of Australia are now advancing towards Sydney, the country’s biggest city. The bustling metropolis has been enveloped in a shroud of smoke due to bushfires burning to the west, with iconic landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House […]

Massive bushfires in Australia blamed on climate change – ‘Carbon pollution is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is like putting the weather on steroids’

By Jean Williams25 October 2013 (examiner.com) – Three major bushfires and more than 60 smaller ones have been burning across parts of Southern Australia for seven days without an end in sight, NBC News is reporting. In a risky move, the Blue Mountain region firefighters deliberately joined the State Mine fire with the Mount Victoria […]

Fear of super-fire in Australia may force mass evacuations affecting tens of thousands of people – ‘The reality is these conditions are a whole new ball game and in a league of their own’

By Rick Feneley and Judith Whelan21 October 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Hundreds of thousands of people face a growing bushfire calamity, with the entire Blue Mountains area as well as Penrith and Richmond in danger of burning over the next few days. Premier Barry O’Farrell on Sunday took the extraordinary step of declaring a […]

New South Wales declares fire emergency as ‘nightmarish weather conditions’ close in – ‘Unparalleled in terms of risk and exposure to the Blue Mountains throughout this week’

[NSW bushfires: live updates] 20 October 2013 (BBC News) – A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales as Australian firefighters battle bushfires that have already destroyed more than 200 homes. The announcement comes as conditions look set to deteriorate with soaring temperatures and strong winds expected to fan the flames in […]

The ocean is broken – ‘We hardly saw any living things. We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumour on its head.’

By Greg Ray 18 October 2013 (Newcastle Herald) – It was the silence that made this voyage different from all of those before it. Not the absence of sound, exactly. The wind still whipped the sails and whistled in the rigging. The waves still sloshed against the fibreglass hull. And there were plenty of other […]

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