By Jeremy Hance Oil is leaking from an offshore drilling rig in the Timor Sea near Australia’s Northwest coast. Authorities say it will be weeks before the leak is plugged: they are awaiting the arrival of a drilling rig from Singapore to plug the leak. “This is a potential disaster for turtles, whales, dolphins, sea […]
By MALCOLM BROWN WINTER fires burning on the South Coast yesterday, threatening property and forcing residents to prepare for evacuation, sounded a grim warning for the summer, the Minister for Emergency Services, Steve Whan, said. ”People at the Fire Control Centre have told me that they have not seen this type of fire behaviour at […]
A peak wildlife body has blamed stormwater pollution for the deaths of three bottlenose dolphins in three days in southeast Queensland’s Moreton Bay. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week, an adult carcass washed up at Victoria Point, a small adult was found at Ormiston and a calf at the Port of Brisbane. The cause […]
If it doesn’t rain in the next fortnight many NSW farmers could lose crops, leading to higher food prices over Christmas, Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says. Mr Macdonald on Sunday released the state’s latest drought figures showing 63.9 per cent of NSW is still in drought, a slight improvement on 64.6 per cent this […]
IF YOU thought it has been unseasonably warm lately, you are correct – the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed that this is almost certainly going to be the hottest August on record by a big margin. Temperature records across NSW and Queensland were smashed by three degrees or more this week. The winter heatwave is […]
Changes in rainfall combined with increased potential evaporation are expected to result in reduced runoff across most of Australia. In some cases reductions could be be severe. For example, by 2050 average streamflow is projected to drop 7-35% in Melbourne, 10-25% in the Murray-Darling Basin and 31% in the Stirling catchment (WA). These estimates of […]
Farmer Mazzareno Bisogni fights back tears as he stands among the remains of trees he planted 35 years ago, victims of a drought hitting “Australia’s Mississippi”. Bisogni’s orchard lies in the heart of the once-mighty Murray-Darling river system which irrigates Australia’s food bowl, the vast southeastern corner responsible for 40 percent of agricultural output. The […]
By Melissa Fyfe DROUGHT experts have for the first time proven a link between rising levels of greenhouse gases and a decline in rainfall. A three-year collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO has confirmed that the drought is not just a natural dry stretch but a shift related to climate change. Scientists working […]
By Mex Cooper The CFA chief heavily criticised for his handling of Black Saturday will be responsible for keeping Victoria safe as it faces its worst-ever fire season, Premier John Brumby has said. Mr Brumby warned Victorians that 13 years of drought will make the coming fire season, less than 10 weeks away, potentially […]
By Tom Arup, Environment Correspondent THE Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, has warned that money to save endangered wildlife is limited and some species may have to be abandoned when funding decisions are made. In one of the strongest speeches of his ministerial career he told an international conference of ecologists in Brisbane that the Government […]
