By Jasper Copping Aggressive Australian and over here – black swans are spreading across the UK and threatening to force out their native cousins conservationists have warned. The birds, which originate in Australia and have escaped from private collections in Britain, are now breeding at dozens of sites across the country. The number of locations […]
By Adele Horin AUSTRALIA’S extended drought is having a severe impact on the mental health of farmers and their partners — but they are not turning to alcohol to drown their sorrows. A new study shows that men and women in drought-affected areas are drinking less alcohol than those in areas unaffected by the long […]
By Amanda O’Brien BIRDS are again dropping dead from the sky in a new toxic drama in Western Australia. Nearly 200 ibises, ravens, gulls, ducks and a pelican were found dead or frothing and convulsing in Perth at the weekend. The discovery comes a year after the mysterious mass death of 200 birds only a […]
By Shar Adams Australia is exhibiting climate change weather patterns that were not predicted to manifest till 2020, says one of the country’s most prominent climate change scientists. Professor Ian Lowe, AO, an award-winning scientist and author of a number of books on climate change, said that when he wrote his first book, Living […]
By Laurie Nowell A NEW El Nino effect is developing in the Pacific Ocean, threatening to extend Australia’s crippling drought and bring destructive weather along the east coast. A new analysis of the El Nino effect suggests they are occurring more frequently – offering further evidence of global warming. And, in a double whammy for […]
Australia has lifted protection levels for the Tasmanian devil, the world’s largest surviving marsupial carnivore, from vulnerable to endangered. The devil population, which is found on the island state of Tasmania, has been decimated by a facial tumour disease. The number of Tasmanian devils in the wild is thought to have fallen by up to […]
New figures show the Big Dry is getting worse across New South Wales – with 60 per cent of the state being classified as in drought. This includes the western district, which takes in Broken Hill and Wilcannia, while Wanaaring in the Darling district is classified as being in marginal drought. Primary Industries Minister Ian […]
By Verity Edwards and Pia Akerman | May 18, 2009 FIRST it was salt, now it is acid preventing farmers at Currency Creek and along the Finniss River from using Murray River water. While it may have been a blessing at the time, heavy rains last month have mobilised acid in exposed soil beds in […]
The basin authority has launched a new website to be updated weekly with details of storage levels across parts of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. It currently shows the dire position of Australia’s major water resources as a result of the ongoing drought. According to the latest figures storage levels across the basin are […]
By Peter Ker MELBOURNE’S dwindling water storages are on the verge of a historic low, a quarter of a century after the Thomson Dam was promised to drought-proof the city. The nine major dams are expected to fall to 28.4 per cent of capacity today, matching the record low set in June 2007. Despite rain […]
