By TOM ARUPMarch 15, 2010 THE nation’s two leading scientific agencies will release a report today showing Australia has warmed up significantly over the past 50 years. It is a response to recent attacks on the science underpinning climate change. The State of the Climate snapshot, drawn together by the CSIRO and the Bureau of […]
BLANCHE This is Desdemona News for Friday, March 12th, 2010. Melting Arctic ice could cost global agriculture, real estate, and insurance anywhere from 2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050, in damage from rising sea levels, floods, and heat waves, according to a report released last Friday. EDDIE Severe forest fires in Vietnam’s northern mountainous […]
By Karen Barlow Despite a collapse of world tuna stocks, the Australian Government has decided not to support a global ban on the trade of the northern variety of the species. Instead the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, is supporting stronger trade control measures on the trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna. Australia will formalise its […]
By COURTNEY TRENWITHMarch 8, 2010 Brisbane’s dam capacity has surpassed 90 per cent for the first time in almost nine years. Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams are at a combined capacity of 93.8 per cent this morning, according to SEQWater. Only three years ago, the capacity was sitting at a mere 16 per […]
Time series of rainfall in southwest Western Australia between May to July and between August to October. South-west Western Australia has experienced significant climate change since the mid-1970s which has impacted on surface water and groundwater yields, and water dependent ecosystems. Over central and northern parts of the project area, the mean annual rainfall has […]
By NICKY PHILLIPSMarch 11, 2010 FOR most of the year Ethabuka Reserve, which abuts the Simpson desert in the far corner of western Queensland, is a dry, hostile place. But for the past week, since torrential rains fell across much of the middle of the state, the desert plains have looked more like an inland […]
By NICKY PHILLIPSMarch 9, 2010 A HUGE body of water that has caused widespread flooding in south-western Queensland is on its way south and is expected to cause extensive flooding in NSW over the next two months. Meanwhile, the damage bill from wild weather in Melbourne at the weekend is expected to come to hundreds […]
By PAUL BIBBY AND NICKY PHILLIPSMarch 8, 2010 EMERGENCY services were forced to evacuate 120 people from a town in southern NSW, and the army was called in to help protect properties at nearby Wagga Wagga, as record rains wreaked havoc across the region. The rising torrent in Kyeamba Creek forced the inhabitants of Ladysmith […]
March 1, 2010 Melbourne has got through summer with 83 billion litres more water in its dams than for the same time last year thanks to welcome rain, household water savings and flows from two major water projects. Figures released on Monday – the first day of autumn – by Melbourne Water show that the […]
By Peter Gardiner | 5th March 2010 A CHEMICAL linked to sex changes in frogs and chemical castration has been found in samples taken from the Noosa River system. However, fish health expert Dr Matt Landos said the levels of atrazine, which is used as a weed killer, were not of sufficient concentration to be […]
