Aussie Enviro
- • 100%Featured
Federated Communities/Magazines and Users for the "Outside"
This is a replication of the creator of this community who has since removed their account
This will be a living document (and is a Work In Progress) so if readers are aware of instances/communities/magazines that suit the umbrella of the "environment", including "gardening" etc., please comment to add them. Use the browsers at the bottom to find your own. This was originally a Lemmy list but has expanded to the 'Fediverse'.
Lemmy Instances (visit to check their communities for suitability, the first 2 have a massive list of related spaces, far too many to list here):
- Mander.xyz- An instance dedicated to nature and science.
- SLRPNK.net - Solarpunk imagines a world in which today’s existential threat - the climate crisis - is being approached with camaraderie and adaptive ingenuity.
- https://thegarden.land/ - This is a home for gardeners and plant-lovers and anyone else who wants a warm place to thrive.
- lemmy.srv.eco - Self-sufficiency, mutual aid, collapse, and other subjects related to the environment and our place and role(s) within it.
Lemmy Communities:
- https://aussie.zone/c/environment - An Australian community for everything from your backyard to beyond the black stump.
- https://aussie.zone/c/gardeningaustralia - A community for all things relating to Aussie gardens. No problem too small. No question too unimportant. Come in and brag about your garden, show us what you’re doing, share that flower, ask that question.
- https://beehaw.org/c/greenspace - All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it’s animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.
- https://beehaw.org/c/environment - Environmental and ecological discussion, particularly of things like weather and other natural phenomena (especially if they’re not breaking news).
- https://midwest.social/c/environment - A community about our environment (Editor's note: the midwest America I presume)
- https://lemmy.ml/c/green - This is the place to discuss environmentalism, preservation, direct action and anything related to it!
- https://lemmy.ml/c/gardening
- https://lemmy.ml/c/nolawns - A community devoted to alternatives to monoculture lawns, with an emphasis on native plants and conservation. Rain gardens, xeriscaping, strolling gardens, native plants, and much more!
- https://lemmy.world/c/homestead - Ponds, barns, livestock, gardens, food preservation, fishing, hunting, tractors, pigs, chickens, cattle, worms, 4H, permaculture, organic, grazing, canning, aquaculture, trees, woodland, farmers, agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, wwoofers, bees, honey, wildcrafting, dairy, goats, nuts, berries, vegetables, sustainability, off grid, wood stoves, chainsaws, wood heat, tools, welding, green woodworking, farmers markets, composting toilets, straw bale homes, cob building…
- https://chat.maiion.com/c/environment - A community dedicated to environmental topics discussing climate change, renewable energy, ecosystems across the biosphere, and more.
- https://lemmy.world/c/gardening - Your Ultimate Gardening Guide.
- https://lemmy.world/c/permaculture - Permaculture theory and practice.
- https://lemm.ee/c/permaculture - Caring about the earth, that is what it’s about.
- https://lemmy.ml/c/naturalgardening - Natural gardening is for all; permaculture is often for upper middle class hipsters.
- https://lemmygrad.ml/c/eco_socialism - A community for talking about gardening, Eco news, and all things Mother Earth!
- https://lemmy.ml/c/beekeeping - Beekeeping, bee gardens, bee research, bee pictures, and honey appreciation.
- https://lemmy.world/c/vegan_gardening - A community for vegan gardeners to share their successes and learnings. Vegan gardening (or veganic gardening) is gardening without the use of animal agriculture including common inputs like manure, bone and blood. It also avoids chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Instead of these elements veganic gardening uses crop rotation, mulching, compost, green manures, etc to replenish the soil and minimize loss to pests.
- https://lemmy.ca/c/outdoors - A community dedicated to all things outdoors. Hiking, backpacking, cycling, camping, gardening, walking, any discussions surrounding outdoor activities you can think of are welcome here! Write properly, behave politely, encourage a respectful community, and most importantly, GO OUTSIDE!!
- https://lemmy.ml/c/collapse - This is the place for discussing the potential collapse of modern civilization and the environment. (Editor's Note: has frequently posted environmental articles of worldwide issues.)
- https://sopuli.xyz/c/collapse - A place to share news, experiences and discussion about the continuing climate crisis, societal collapse, and biosphere collapse. Please be respectful of each other and remember the human.
- https://www.hexbear.net/c/gardening - (Editor's Note: defederated? Use as a single instance if so.)
kbin Magazines (same as Communities - list needs work):
- https://kbin.social/m/gardening
- https://kbin.social/m/houseplants
- https://kbin.social/m/Plants
- https://kbin.social/m/VegetableGardening
- https://kbin.social/m/environment
- https://kbin.social/m/climate
Mastodon Instances (click here for Instance descriptions - word count issue):
- https://regenerate.social/
- https://climatejustice.social/
- https://flipping.rocks/
- https://birds.town/
- https://urbanists.social/
- https://rail.chat/
- https://outdoors.lgbt/
- https://mountains.social/
- https://scicomm.xyz/
- https://ecoevo.social/
- https://fediscience.org/
- https://mastodon.green/
- https://eu.mastodon.green/
- https://sunbeam.city/
- https://growers.social/
- https://beekeeping.ninja/
Mastodon User Lists:
- https://fedi.directory/tag/botany/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/entomology/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/evolutionary-biology/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/earth-science/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/ecology/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/weather-and-meteorology/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/fishing/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/gardening/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/homegrown-food/
- https://fedi.directory/nature-animals/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/agriculture/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/urban-planning/
- https://fedi.directory/tag/environment-and-green-issues/
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Animals
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Environmentalists
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Nature
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Outdoors
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Plants
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Science
- https://communitywiki.org/trunk/grab/Sustainability
- @notjustbikes
- @gardening@a.gup.pe - https://github.com/immers-space/guppe/wiki/Guppe-Groups-FAQ
- @plants@a.gup.pe - https://github.com/immers-space/guppe/wiki/Guppe-Groups-FAQ
Credit for Instances and User Lists to @GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz - https://scicomm.xyz/@glennmagusharvey/
Mastodon Tips:
- Use #tags in areas of interest and search for @users that are posting your favourite content and follow. Search and favourite a list of #tags to populate your feed while you locate @users.
- You can follow Lemmy/kbin communities from Mastodon (e.g. search "@environment@aussie.zone" and follow, posts will come in from that point, including every comment which fills your feed poorly), post back into Lemmy (there is a specific way to do this), and reply to threads also. Federation isn't pretty between Mastodon and Lemmy, it's up to the user if they want to persist. Recommended to have 2 separate accounts for full usability at this point. kbin has "microblogging" built in which is Mastodon "tooting", only one account required if you are a kbin user.
The Lemmy instances listed have some activity, until Lemmy matures the list may grow or shrink. Please review the communities as you desire and let me know if you find something better or the listed ones have died.
Search Engines for Lemmy:
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https://lemmyverse.net/ - Search by Instance or Community - Click on the 'House' icon to set your 'home instance' e.g. aussie.zone
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https://browse.feddit.de/
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https://www.search-lemmy.com/ - using the "Find Communities" search by keyword will find active communities with more matches per word.
Bookmarklet:
!A screenshot of how to create a bookmarklet in Firefox
javascript:(function() { const home = 'aussie.zone'; /*replace this with your local instance's host name */ const url = window.location.href; let community = url.split('/c/')[1]; if( !community.includes('@') ) { community += '@' + url.split('/')[2]; } if( community.endsWith( '@' + home ) ) { community = community.substring(0, community.length - 1 - home.length); } window.location.href = 'https://' + home + '/c/' + community; })();Click on the above bookmarklet once you've created it and placed on your toolbar (search on how to make one) when browsing another instance's community. It should open up the page where you can subscribe directly from the aussie.zone instance (or change your instance in code above). If "Subscribe" isn't working,
"Create Post" and back out immediatelyclick on the community name and reload page, Subscribe should now be clickable (give it a couple of clicks as per Lemmy 0.18).An alternative to a bookmarklet on a desktop or mobile browser, install 'Violentmonkey' and a Userscript such as this: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/469273-lemmy-universal-link-switcher
An extension for modern browsers: https://github.com/cynber/lemmy-instance-assistant
Original Post [archive] - This is a replication of the creator of this community who has since removed their account
Please comment if you know of more
News
- https://theconversation.com/au/environment
- https://www.theguardian.com/au/environment
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/environment
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/science
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural
- https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-news/
- https://thefifthestate.com.au/
- https://michaelwest.com.au/
- https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/
- https://www.sbs.com.au/news/topic/environment
- https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment
- https://newmatilda.com/category/environment/
- https://www.themonthly.com.au/topic/environment
- https://johnmenadue.com/category/enviroment/
- https://johnmenadue.com/category/public-policy/climate/
- https://inqld.com.au/news/
- https://indaily.com.au/news/science-and-tech/
- https://theaimn.com/category/environment/
- https://westender.com.au/discussing/environment-and-climate/
- https://www.crikey.com.au/environment/
- https://theshot.net.au/
- https://4zzz.org.au/news/
- https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/category/news/
- https://nofibs.com.au/
- https://www.smh.com.au/environment
- https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/search/section/australia
- https://www.openforum.com.au/
- https://nit.com.au/search-results/environment
- https://theindependents.org.au/category/environment/
Science
- https://phys.org/tags/Australia/
- https://phys.org/search/?search=Australia+environment
- https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals/
- https://www.science.org/news
- https://particle.scitech.org.au/category/earth/
- https://www.nature.com/
- https://www.csiro.au/en/news
- https://www.aims.gov.au/information-centre/news-and-stories
- https://botany.one/
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/environment/
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?SeriesKey=14429993&sortBy=Earliest
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/loi/1526100x
- https://media.bom.gov.au/releases/
- https://media.bom.gov.au/social/
- https://australiainstitute.org.au/media/
- https://australiainstitute.org.au/about/branch/environment/
- https://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/media-releases
Conservation
- https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/newsroom/
- https://www.wilderness.org.au/news-events/
- https://www.acf.org.au/media-releases
- https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/#stories
- https://www.ccwa.org.au/news
- https://www.marineconservation.org.au/media-releases-2/
- https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/news-media/
- https://wwf.org.au/news/
- https://wwf.org.au/blogs/
- https://www.australianwildlife.org/news/
- https://www.nature.org.au/media
- https://bobbrown.org.au/media/
- https://www.bushheritage.org.au/news
- https://tsx.org.au/updates/
- https://www.queenslandconservation.org.au/blog
- https://www.greenpeace.org.au/news/
- https://www.minderoo.org/news
- https://www.tangaroablue.org/category/features/
- https://www.edo.org.au/the-latest/
- https://www.nefa.org.au/media
- https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/media/
Government
- https://www.dcceew.gov.au/about/news/all
- https://www.climatechangeauthority.gov.au/latest-news
- https://climateextremes.org.au/briefing-notes/
- https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/
- https://www.des.qld.gov.au/our-department/news-media/mediareleases
- https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/newsroom
- https://www.deeca.vic.gov.au/media-centre/home
- https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/news?category=environment
- https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/clean-and-green/green-home-and-community/clean-and-green-blog
Energy/Industry
- https://reneweconomy.com.au/
- https://www.ecogeneration.com.au/
- https://www.innovationaus.com/news/
Special Interest/Other
- https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news
- https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/
- https://australian.museum/blog/
- https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resource/media-releases/
- https://www.ecovoice.com.au/
- https://takvera.blogspot.com/
- https://envirojustice.org.au/latest/media/
- https://www.friendlyjordies.com/news
- https://www.getup.org.au/media
- https://www.caha.org.au/news
- https://www.jagunalliance.org.au/our-fire-yarns
- https://redflag.org.au/category/climate
- https://www.oxfam.org.au/news-and-media/
- https://www.aycc.org.au/news
- https://news.mongabay.com/list/australia/
- https://www.rewildingmag.com/
- https://www.treehugger.com/
- https://www.ecowatch.com/?s=Australia
- https://www.veganaustralia.org.au/news
- https://plantbasednews.org/all/
- https://regenfarming.news/
- https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/news/
- https://modernfarmer.com/
- https://www.carbonbrief.org/
- https://www.resilience.org/
- https://www.tern.org.au/news/
- https://techxplore.com/tags/Australia/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/search/?q=Australia
- https://www.greenleft.org.au/sections/news
- https://carbon-pulse.com/category/australia/
- https://carbon-pulse.com/category/biodiversity/
- https://www.motherjones.com/?s=Australia
- https://afsa.org.au/news/
- https://www.thejuicemedia.com/honest-government-ads/
Unis
- https://www.anu.edu.au/news
- https://science.anu.edu.au/news-events/news
- https://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/news-events/news
- https://www.uq.edu.au/news/
- https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news
- https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news.html
- https://www.uts.edu.au/news
- https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/
- https://www.qut.edu.au/news
- https://news.griffith.edu.au/
- https://www.unisq.edu.au/news
- https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom
- https://lens.monash.edu/
- https://www.scu.edu.au/news/?newsAreaOfInterest=Science%2C Environment %26 Marine
- https://www.rmit.edu.au/news
- https://www.cdu.edu.au/news
- https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/for-media
- https://www.jcu.edu.au/news
- https://www.jcu.edu.au/this-is-uni/natural-and-built-environments
- https://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/environment/
- https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/news-and-media-releases
- https://www.newcastle.edu.au/newsroom#
- https://www.une.edu.au/connect
- https://www.uwa.edu.au/news
- https://news.flinders.edu.au/
- https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/
- https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre
- https://www.curtin.edu.au/news/
- https://www.ecu.edu.au/newsroom/overview
- https://news.csu.edu.au/home
- https://www.utas.edu.au/about/news-and-stories
- https://www.unisa.edu.au/news/
The Conversation Topics + others
Wildlife, Biodiversity, Trees, Carbon Dioxide, Forests, Plants, Drought, Carbon Dioxide Removal, Forestry, Global Warming, Climate Change, Agriculture, Conservation, Gardening, Botany, Insects, Algae, Trees and Forests - The Guardian, Biochar - phys.org
Blogs
- https://worldsendweb.wordpress.com/
- https://zeroinputagriculture.substack.com/
Summarisers
- https://smmry.com/
- https://www.smry.ai/
- https://www.anysummary.app/
- https://resoomer.com/en/
- https://sloppyjoe.com/summarize/
- https://chat.openai.com/
- https://claude.ai
- https://chat.lmsys.org/
- https://perplexity.ai
- https://chat.petals.dev/
- https://lite.koboldai.net/ - AI Horde
- Random List of free AI alternatives
@ChatGPT@lemmings.world- Call in as hyperlinked Lemmy user and ask a question, it will reply with answer - works as of 7/2023
- • 100%reneweconomy.com.au Australia reaches record monthly renewable share of 47.4 per cent
Australia’s main grid reached a record renewable share of 47.4 pct for October, while in South Australia wind and solar accounted for an average 85.2 per cent of state demand.
- www.abc.net.au CSIRO's new printing facility could put a solar panel in your pocket
Solar panels that can be printed out like newspapers and rolled up to fit in your pocket are one step closer thanks to a new development by CSIRO.
- biodiversitycouncil.org.au The four steps needed to align Australia’s environmental laws and policies with a nature positive future. | Biodiversity Council Australia
To be truly nature positive we need a net gain in biodiversity, not just to slow down the rate of nature loss.
From the article,
> The four steps recommended are:
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> Legislate for ‘absolute net gain’: Australian law must ensure that any biodiversity loss from development is fully compensated and that conservation efforts result in an absolute net gain in biodiversity, not just improvements relative to ‘business as usual’. Currently, the Australian definition of nature positive deviates from the internationally accepted definition, which would allow biodiversity to continue to decline.
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> Limit and compensate for biodiversity loss: The study warned against allowing developers to compensate for environmental damage through payments that may not directly benefit the impacted ecosystems, which risks replacing more threatened and harder to replace habitats with ecosystems that are less threatened and/or easier to replace. Further, some biodiversity is irreplaceable, and so it is important to limit, and if possible, avoid negative impacts to irreplaceable biodiversity in the first place.
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> Secure net gains beyond development impacts: Australian law must address and reverse biodiversity decline beyond simply compensating for the loss of nature from development impacts. This will require a significant boost to conservation funding and resourcing.
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> Enforce transparent monitoring: Effective and transparent implementation of biodiversity policies is crucial. Dr Ward highlighted that many threatened species in Australia lacked proper monitoring, making enforcement of biodiversity protection laws difficult.
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- • 91%www.theguardian.com Australia’s thirst for power drives a rise in coal and gas-led emissions for third quarter in a row
Output from gas plants up 29% on average from a year earlier, Aemo says, even though price was up by a fifth over same period
>Greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s main electricity grid increased for a third quarter in a row as higher power demand drove more use of black coal and gas plants, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.
Vote Green :(
- www.theguardian.com Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year. Is nature’s carbon sink failing?
The sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models – and could rapidly accelerate global heating
> In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon. > > There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift scientists say could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor.
> “None of these models have factored in losses like extreme factors which have been observed, such as the wildfires in Canada last year that amounted to six months of US fossil emissions. Two years before, we wrote a paper that found that Siberia also lost the same amount of carbon,” says Ciais. > > “Another process which is absent from the climate models is the basic fact that trees die from drought. This is observed and none of the models have drought-induced mortality in their representation of the land sink,” he says. “The fact that the models are lacking these factors probably makes them too optimistic.”
> In Australia, huge soil carbon losses from extreme heat and drought in the vast interior – known as rangelands – are likely to push its climate target out of reach if emissions continue to rise, a study this year found. In Europe, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Sweden have all experienced significant declines in the amount of carbon absorbed by land, driven by climate-related bark beetle outbreaks, drought and increased tree mortality.
Short run down of some potential renewables opportunities the Future Made in Australia legislation could support.
- www.theguardian.com Western Australia is tearing up environmental protections – and taking a bet the rest of the country won’t notice | Carmen Lawrence
The state Labor government is steering Australia’s climate policy, letting emissions soar unbridled as it paves the way for massive fossil fuel projects
The state Labor government is steering Australia’s climate policy, letting emissions soar unbridled as it paves the way for massive fossil fuel projects
- michaelwest.com.au Grey area: questions over Sunshine State's green future - Michael West
Queensland risks being left without a plan for its energy future if polls predicting an LNP election victory prove true, climate campaigners have warned. Likely next premier David Crisafulli has flagged coal-fired power stations could be kept running “indefinitely” and vowed to repeal Labor’s renewa...
- • 100%
‘Refugees in their own country’: Starving [Carnaby's] cockies flood Perth Zoo vets amid food crisis
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/refugees-in-their-own-country-starving-cockies-flood-perth-zoo-vets-amid-food-crisis-20241004-p5kfwv.html
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> Perth black cockatoo rehabilitation centres and Perth Zoo are dealing with an influx of starving and emaciated specimens of the endangered species.
> [Professor Kingsley Dixon] said what Perth was now witnessing with the drying climate was “a catastrophic failure of the banskias to be setting seed, leading to the mass starvation of the bird.”
> Dixon said 2 million banksias must be planted as soon as possible and meanwhile the government should set up an urgent multidisciplinary taskforce.
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Related links:
- lemmy.dbzer0.com Australia environmental groups just won a huge legal victory - Divisions by zero
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/30092271 [https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/30092271] > Australia just overturned 20 years of case law to allow environmental groups to take corporations harming the environment to court. > > Please crosspost to other communities which might be fitting.
- theconversation.com ‘The waters become corrupt, the air infected’: here’s how Ancient Greeks and Romans grappled with environmental damage
Here’s what the ancient Greeks and Romans can teach us about the environment and ourselves. From Roman soldiers in crowded camps to emperors cleaning up rivers, there are many lessons to be learned.
Kind of inspirational, kind of reminds us humanity has always been a bit crap, but we know that, so can do something about it.
- theconversation.com Endure – or peter out? Here’s what Northern Rivers organisers and Stop Adani can teach us about building climate groups
Organising to stop gasfields or coal mines sounds like a similar challenge. But one environmental group has endured, while the other ran out of energy. Here’s why
Conclusion, broad and ongoing community support and participation could lead to better organisational outcomes.
- birdlife.org.au Aussie Bird Count - BirdLife Australia
Now in its eleventh year, the Aussie Bird Count is Australia’s largest annual citizen science event.
> Each count takes just 20 minutes and helps BirdLife Australia’s scientists track how our urban bird populations are faring – and just by counting, you’ll go into the running to win some incredible prizes!
The weather is warming up and it’s good to put out water. Especially now I’ve got magpies here.
However I stopped doing it because of potential disease transmission with avian flu. (Especially owning a vulnerable elderly cat - who is kept indoors but could get sick if I tracked something in.)
I’m physically disabled so would have trouble cleaning and disinfecting the water containers daily.
What’s everyone else’s plan for managing this?
- www.theguardian.com New evidence says gas exports damage the climate even more than coal. It’s time Australia took serious action | Adam Morton
New evidence shows gas exports damage the climate even more than coal. It’s time Australia took serious action
>Once all upstream stages were factored in – extraction, piping to a processing facility, compression from gas into liquid form, shipping, decompression back to gas and burning for energy – he estimated the total climate pollution from LNG was 33% greater than that from coal over a 20-year period.
>This is not an entirely new idea – previous studies have suggested the gas industry is dirtier than often claimed – but it is nevertheless a potentially extraordinary finding
- www.anu.edu.au 'Widespread non-compliance and poor performance' in world’s largest nature-based carbon removal projects | Australian National University
One of the largest types of carbon offset projects the Australian government is using to meet climate change targets and reduce carbon in the atmosphere is failing to do so, new research has shown.
> Contrary to the legal method requirements, 95% of credited area cells are located on land that has not previously been comprehensively cleared, meaning the projects are trying to regenerate native forests on uncleared land which may have never contained forests.
- • 97%Lockedwww.theguardian.com Shooters to target feral cats in NSW national parks amid boom in population
Invasive Species Council says 5 million native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs are killed by feral and roaming pet cats a day in Australia
>Invasive Species Council says 5 million native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs are killed by feral and roaming pet cats a day in Australia
Keep your cat indoors...please.
- www.theguardian.com They are relics of the Gondwana age but five years after Australia’s black summer these trees are dying a ‘long, slow death’
Rainforest trees at Nightcap national park have not evolved to deal with bushfires, leaving the landscape vulnerable for years after major burns
>What we have discovered is that even after almost five years, the trajectory is still in reverse. The impacts are accumulating and it hasn’t stabilised.”
Well, that was another horrific read :( We lived just down the road at the time and had visited the area to hike and swim many times in the years prior.
- • 100%www.abc.net.au Insects are 'the little things that run the world'. Now you can help choose Australia's favourite
The ABC has begun its quest to find out which native six-legged marvel is Australia's most popular insect for 2024. Six experts have selected their finalists for an online poll.
cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/14438566
> This is important I think. Show a bit of love for inseks.
- • 100%reneweconomy.com.au “All over the shop:” State Coalition leaders join push to stymie renewables, prop up fossil fuels
State Coalition parties seem determined to stop renewables, with Victoria re-heating a decade-old wind buffer plan and Queensland vowing to burn coal for as long as it can.
- hakaimagazine.com The Australian Oyster Reef Revival | Hakai Magazine
A successful restoration project on the Adelaide coast is raising hopes for the future of a long-lost ecosystem.
cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/16468312
> > Over the past decade, however, scientists have become reacquainted with the historical reach of Australian flat oyster reefs, which decorated about 7,000 kilometers of the country’s coastline from Perth to Sydney and down around Tasmania. Australian flat oysters—not to be confused with the far more common European flat oyster, commonly known as the native oyster—form gigantic reefs comprised of billions of individuals that can be found as deep as 40 meters. “They’re like the trees in a forest or the coral in a tropical sea,” McAfee says. Besides providing habitat and boosting biodiversity, oyster reefs are known to filter water and bolster fish production. > > > > On the back of this learning, scientists have been working to restore these lost ecosystems—an endeavor that got a major boost in 2020 when the nonprofit the Nature Conservancy Australia teamed up with the government of South Australia on an ambitious project to bring flat oyster reefs back to the coastline near Adelaide, one of the country’s biggest cities. That project, as McAfee and his team show in a recent study, has been a resounding success so far, with the restored reef now hosting even more Australian flat oysters than the last remaining natural reef in Tasmania. “It’s quite astonishing,” says McAfee.
- www.abc.net.au She said Australians 'voted for the environment' in 2022. Two years on, what's Tanya Plibersek been able to achieve?
Shortly after starting as minister, Tanya Plibersek laid out a plan to put the environment back on the national agenda. Two years on, as Australia hosts a global summit, Michael Slezak looks at how things have gone.
- wwf.org.au World first live stream of rare endangered greater gliders - WWF-Australia | World first live stream of rare endangered greater gliders | WWF Australia
In a world first, a scientist has set up a live stream from inside the hollow of a pair of endangered greater gliders in a secret location in New South Wales.
- www.theguardian.com Gap in Albanese government’s new fuel efficiency rules means ‘biggest, dirtiest polluters’ exempt
New vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) will not apply to at least four large vehicles, source says
FFS!
- • 100%theconversation.com The medicines we take to stay healthy are harming nature. Here’s what needs to change
Modern pharmaceuticals have revolutionised disease prevention and treatment. But eventually, the chemicals can end up in rivers, oceans and soils.
>Evidence is mounting that modern medicines present a growing threat to ecosystems around the world. The chemicals humans ingest to stay healthy are harming fish and other animals.
Choice quote from the article, > creates economies of purpose.
I haven't had a chance to read Hanrahan@solarpunk.net 's article about the acceptance of sufficiency yet, but i suspect the microfactorie concept pushes our production systems along a similar path.
- • 100%reneweconomy.com.au Gas power in future grid will be “tiny” and its cost exorbitant, report finds
New report says AEMO’s 2024 Integrated System Plan is far from being a signal for greater investment in gas, with the role of gas generation on the grid being rapidly eroded by cheaper, bette…
- australiainstitute.org.au Offsetting into oblivion with George Monbiot
By relying on uncertain and unethical carbon offsets to combat the climate crisis, society is setting itself on a path to destruction, George Monbiot says.
George Monbiot and hosts Ebony Bennet and Polly Hemming get stuck into neoliberalisms insidious effect on climate, the folly of carbon offsets, and why incrementalism will never lead to systemic change.
As Ebony Bennet says, the discussion leaves you hopeful change could be just arpund the corner.
- botany.one Has a Plan to Fight Wildfires Gone Up in Smoke?
Surprising findings challenge common beliefs about fire prevention in Mediterranean landscapes.
Published: 27 September 2024
Protected areas, drought, and grazing regimes influence fire occurrence in a fire-prone Mediterranean region
Máire Kirkland, Philip W. Atkinson, Sara Aliácar, Deli Saavedra, Mark C. De Jong, Thomas P. F. Dowling & Adham Ashton-Butt
Abstract
Background
Extreme fire seasons in the Mediterranean basin have received international attention due to the damage caused to people, livelihoods, and vulnerable ecosystems. There is a body of literature linking increasingly intense, large fires to a build-up of fuel from rural land abandonment exacerbated by climate change. However, a better understanding of the complex factors driving fires in fire-prone landscapes is needed. We use a global database based on the MODIS Fire CCI51 product, and the Greater Côa Valley, a 340,000-ha area in Portugal, as a case study, to investigate the environmental drivers of fire and potential tools for managing fires in a landscape that has undergone changing agricultural and grazing management.
Results
Between 2001 and 2020, fires burned 32% (1881.45 km2) of the study area. Scrublands proportionally burnt the most, but agricultural land and forests were also greatly impacted. The risk of large fires (> 1 km2) was highest in these land cover types under dry conditions in late summer. Areas with higher sheep densities were more likely to burn, while cattle density had no apparent relationship with fire occurrence. There was also a 15% lower probability of a fire occurring in protected areas.
Conclusion
Future climatic changes that increase drought conditions will likely elevate the risk of large fires in the Mediterranean basin, and abandoned farmland undergoing natural succession towards scrubland will be at particularly high risk. Our results indicate that livestock grazing does not provide a simple solution to reducing fire risk, but that a more holistic management approach addressing social causes and nature-based solutions could be effective in reducing fire occurrence.
- • 100%theconversation.com Enough, already: why humanity must get on board with the concept of ‘sufficiency’
Sufficiency is a new approach to solving humanity’s consumption problems. It’s about using less, ensuring wellbeing for all humans, and staying within planetary boundaries.
>Humanity’s rapacious consumption is more than Earth and its climate can handle, which is driving an ecological crisis.
>Australians are the worst offenders per person due to our excessive resource use.
- reneweconomy.com.au “Shocking, shameful, abhorrent:” Coal mine approvals slammed for reckless disregard of climate
Federal Labor green lights three major thermal coal mine expansions, in a move that lays bare the blatant disregard of climate change in Australia’s environmental laws.
> The Albanese government has given the green tick to three major thermal coal mine expansions in New South Wales, in a move that critics say lays bare the blatant disregard of climate change in Australia’s federal environmental laws.
> But it is the “reckless disregard” for the effects of catastrophic climate change that has been the most jarring, with the three projects estimated to lock in as much as 1.5 billion tonnes of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions – more than double Australia’s total annual emissions.
- www.abc.net.au Coal train stopped by activists protesting federal approval of NSW mine extensions
Rising Tide protesters have climbed onto a coal train near Newcastle, calling for the federal government to reverse its approval for three coal mines to extend their operations for another three to four decades.
> In short: > > A group of Rising Tide protesters have stopped and climbed onto a coal train at Sandgate near Newcastle. > > The group is protesting over federal approval of three coal mine expansions in NSW. > > The company behind one of the expansions says it will support hundreds of regional jobs.
- www.abc.net.au Australia's largest night parrot population may be protected by dingoes, but mining is planned for their desert home
Around half of the nation's total known night parrots live in a patch of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. While dingoes appear to protect them, the potential effects of a proposed road are less clear.
> In short: > > The largest known population of night parrots, around 50 birds, is believed to live in a remote Indigenous Protected Area in Western Australia. > > A new study suggests the rare parrots may be protected by dingoes. > > What's next? > > Change is coming to the region with the first piece of industrial development in the area, a potash mine and 350-kilometre sealed haul road, seeking environmental approval.
- • 97%glamadelaide.com.au Experts plead, don't move the Echidnas!
As we settle into the first few weeks of spring, local echidnas are becoming more active and visible
