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 […]
From Climate Progress: Drought, fires, killer heat waves, wildlife extinction and mosquito-borne illness — the things that climate change models are predicting have already arrived there, [scientists] say. That’s the subhead on a stunning L.A. Times piece, “What will global warming look like? Scientists point to Australia,” which opens starkly: Reporting from The Murray-Darling Basin, […]
by Lewis Smith Conservationists are demanding an immediate and thorough inquiry into what they say is the suspicious stranding of 200 whales and dolphins. Fears that the mass stranding on an Australian beach on Sunday was caused by human disturbance were raised because two species of cetacean came ashore simultaneously. Most of the animals were […]
MELBOURNE, Feb 26 (AFP) Feb 26, 2009 – Hundreds of Australian schools and childcare centres will be closed Friday because of a resurgent threat from wildfires that have already killed more than 200 people, officials said. … Temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) are expected across the state on Friday, raising fears that […]
By Tara Ravens NORTHERN Australia is facing a fresh wave of potentially catastrophic mammal extinctions, experts warn. Australia has the worst mammal extinction record in the world, with 22 mammals becoming extinct in the last 200 years. Scientists now say the evidence suggests Australia is on the cusp of another wave. Over 40 scientists […]
