Data is the secret weapon in the battle to save Australia's urban forests
As cities expand and trees are sacrificed for housing and infrastructure, the cost of losing green spaces grows Deforestation. It is a word that conjures up mental images of loggers cleaving their way through pristine woodlands and grim statistics measuring how many football pitches worth of Amazon jungle get cleared every minute, but it isn’t […]
Feeding time along the shoreline: Country diary 100 years ago
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 2 June 1916 Although we could not see them, shoals of small fish raced seaward on the falling tide, hastening through the shallowing water on the banks; the terns, however, could see them, and, following in a dense, screaming crowd, literally fell upon them. Out of the mass […]
How fracking can contribute to climate change
Leakage of natural gas from drilling and pipework means more methane is entering the atmosphere One of the justifications for fracking is the use of natural gas as a bridging fuel between coal and a low-carbon future. However natural gas is mostly methane, which has strong global warming impacts in its own right. Natural gas […]
Homeowners kept in dark about climate change risk to houses, says report
Climate Institute says risk data held by regulators, state and local governments, insurers and banks, but homebuyers and developers do not have access to it The risk that houses in some areas of Australia are likely to become uninsurable, dilapidated and uninhabitable due to climate change is kept hidden from those building and buying property […]
Labor pledges $500m over five years to support Great Barrier Reef
Extra cash for scientific monitoring and management promised by Bill Shorten to support one of party’s ‘highest priorities’ Labor is promising to invest $500m to boost scientific monitoring and management of the Great Barrier Reef over five years as it unveils its biggest environmental policy of the election campaign so far. It says it will […]
Leave Hinkley to the hedgehogs. This debacle needs to be taken in hand
Environmental protections on EDF’s troubled Somerset construction site are excellent, apparently. Very little else about the project is Have you heard about the terrific bat houses and hedgehog tunnels down at Hinkley Point in Somerset? Energy minister Andrea Leadsom has been to inspect them herself and raved about them last week to a select committee […]
Australia covered up UN climate change fears for Tasmania forests and Kakadu
Fears about damage to the Great Barrier Reef were removed from UN report along with concern about a threat to the environment in two other heritage sites A draft UN report on climate change, which was scrubbed of all reference to Australia over fears it could deter visitors to the Great Barrier Reef, also outlined […]
Florida brewery creates edible beer holders to save marine life
Discarded plastic six-pack rings trap and kill fish and other sea life. Could holders made from wheat and barley be an animal-friendly alternative? Instead of killing animals, our packing design will provide them with food, explains Saltwater Brewery co-founder Chris Gove of his company’s biodegradable, edible beer pack rings. The rings, made from wheat and […]
Sustainable energy: inside Iceland’s geothermal power plant
In the first of a series, we visit the Hellisheiði plant, which provides 300MW of power – and Reykjavik’s hot water Thanks to its position on a volatile section of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, Iceland is a world leader in the the use of geothermal energy, and of the six geothermal power plants in Iceland, Hellisheiði […]
Women lead the call to arms as anti-fracking fight intensifies
Female opposition to drilling soars as mothers unite in desire to safeguard children’s future “We are ready for them,” said Tina Louise Rothery. “It has been a long battle but we have been ready for a confrontation for a long time.” Rothery is one of a growing group of women at the forefront of opposition […]