Hundreds flee in Tasmania as wildfires spread across Australia – Hobart records highest temperature since 1881 – ‘This has been an extraordinary day’

By Andrew Darby and Nick Ralston5 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – AT LEAST 80 homes have been lost and one man is feared killed by a bushfire that swept down onto the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, less than 60 kilometres from Hobart, in catastrophic conditions. The bushfire sent hundreds fleeing and was on Friday […]

Heatwave across Australia set to break records – ‘Most serious bushfire threat in more than a decade’

By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor4 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – LONG-STANDING temperature records may be broken in coming days as a massive heatwave sizzles much of the country. A huge swath of central and south-eastern Australia is poised to swelter on Friday with temperatures expected to peak at 41 degrees in Melbourne, 44 […]

Australia set to swelter as biggest heatwave in decades settles in

By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor3 January 2013 AUSTRALIA’S notoriously variable climate is on full display, with parts of the nation about to experience one of the largest heatwaves in territorial extent in decades, after coming off a sharp shift last year from wetter- to drier-than-average conditions. A swath of central Australia stretching from Oodnadatta […]

Mortality of biggest and oldest trees around the world is increasing rapidly, study warns

By JIM ROBBINS7 December 2012 The death rate of many of the biggest and oldest trees around the world is increasing rapidly, scientists report in a new study in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. They warned that research to understand and stem the loss of the trees is urgently needed. “It’s a worldwide problem […]

Graph of the Day: Total Annual Inflow to Perth Dams, 1911-2012

This graph shows how the average amount of water received into Perth dams has dropped dramatically in recent times. In order to provide an accurate comparison Stirling, Wokalup, and Samson Brook Dams are not included in this data, as these Dams only came online in 2001.  Inflow is therefore simulated based on Perth dams pre […]

Graph of the Day: Streamflow into Perth Area Dams, 2000-2012

The Perth water supply area is 3,266 km2 and lies within the Perth Basin, occupying part of the Swan Coastal Plain and Dandaragan Plateau. Bounded in the north by the northern boundary of the Gnangara GMA, and in the south by the southern boundary of the Serpentine and Rockingham GMUs, the water supply area encompasses […]

Nations fail to agree plan to protect seas around Antarctica

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent in Oslo; editing by Mark Heinrich1 November 2012 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Major nations failed to reach agreement on Thursday to set up huge marine protected areas off Antarctica under a plan to step up conservation of creatures such as whales and penguins around the frozen continent. The 25-member Commission for […]

Australia pumps $1.83 billion into food bowl river

Sydney, 26 October 2012 (AFP) – The government Friday pledged Aus$1.77 billion (US$1.83 billion) to pump more than 450 billion litres of water into the ailing Murray-Darling River and help rejuvenate a crucial system supplying Australia’s food bowl. The river and its basin stretches thousands of kilometres from Queensland state to South Australia and crosses […]

Australia’s Antarctic airstrip melts

By Jonathan Pearlman24 October 2012 Sydney (The Telegraph) – Researchers said global warming has caused the glacial ice on the runway to turn to mush just four years after it was built for about £30 million. It was due to receive about 20 flights each summer but only six have been able to land in […]

Graph of the Day: Decline in Coral Cover of the Great Barrier Reef, 1985-2012

ABSTRACT: The world’s coral reefs are being degraded, and the need to reduce local pressures to offset the effects of increasing global pressures is now widely recognized. This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of coral cover, identifies the main drivers of coral mortality, and quantifies the rates of potential recovery of the Great […]

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