Aussie Enviro

Nickel is commonly used in renewable energy infrastructure, such as in batteries and corrosion-resistant steel, and demand is expected to double by 2050 to support low-carbon technologies," Dr. Mervine said.

"However, the biomass carbon emissions from vegetation clearing for nickel mines are almost always overlooked in carbon accounting, sustainability reports, and sourcing decisions.

Dr. Evelyn Mervine from UQ's School of the Environment analyzed data from 481 international nickel mine sites and undeveloped deposits and found the land footprint of nickel mining could be four to 500 times greater than previously reported.

The number of Australian animals, plants and unique ecological communities officially recognised as being in danger of extinction rose to 2,245 last year.

Australia has one of the world's highest rates of extinctions with about 100 species of flora and fauna lost since European colonisation.

There were 42 new additions to the national list of threatened species, including 21 animals, 20 plants and one threatened ecological community — the King Island scrub complex.

tl;dr Pumped the shit out to sea after an initial filtering only, no other city in Aus does this (they use secondary processes after the initial filtering), did it because it was cheaper.

back to the article...

The environmentalists Dr Richard Gosden and Prof Sharon Beder take a different view – Gosden accuses the EPA and Sydney Water of knowing “exactly what’s happening”.

Gosden and Beder were part of a group called Stop the Ocean Pollution (Stop) who campaigned in the 1980s to have “secondary” treatment added to the Bondi, Malabar and North Head plants before the outfall pipes were built.

Stop garnered significant support, including from the 250,000 people who Gosden said attended the Turn Back the Tide protest concert in Bondi in 1989, but ultimately were unsuccessful.

Sydney invented beach culture,” Gosden says. “It’s Australia’s single cultural invention that’s been properly exported. And all the time, it’s been conducted in diluted sewage.”

Must be disappointing to them, in the 1980s they protested (as experts!) and pointed out this will lead to a "shitty" future (pun intended) FF 40 years and here we are, swimming in our own shit.

Reminds me of the climate debate really.

Link to report:

Electric Shock! Australia's Lightbulb Moment

Sigh

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-new-species-of-sydney-funnel-web-has-been-discovered-and-it-s-a-monster-20241211-p5kxmz.html

Scientists have declared the Sydney funnel web – hallowed and feared as the world’s most venomous spider – is in fact three separate species. And one of the spiders, new to science, is a certified monster.

but the state government insists the decline is due to climate change and not tourism.

I don't know what they think causes climate change but burning fossil fuels to go see a decimated penguin colony is part of it.

That aside, this from a WA state Labor Government thats all "drill, baby, drill!" in terms of Gas, so not much hope of emissions mitigation from those shit stains or alas, the voters electing them :(

Water is going to be a key commodity to maintain stable supply across the world.

In short:

A bioluminescent algae that appears pinkish-red in the day and glows blue when disturbed has appeared across Tasmania's south-eastern coastline.

Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin, a biologist and world-leading expert on jellyfish, says the algae could be fatal for other sea life.

What's next?

Dr Gershwin predicts the algal bloom could lead to a spike in jellyfish populations across the state's south.

I hate that this involves AI.

But it’s kind of hopeful to read when it feels like my individual efforts are worth nothing.

If we don't fix it, the planet will cease to function and humanity will be in trouble," Professor Alex McBratney from the University of Sydney's Institute of Agriculture said.

I guess were going to test the Professor's hypothesis :) no do overs though

After an extremely successful inaugural crowdsourced investigation in 2023, we were stoked to return in 2024 to scan more land and take on the bulldozers.

We tasked nature lovers like you with a mission and you stepped up.

From commuters on their smartphones to keen investigators on their computers, 675 people from 21 countries scanned 4,734,000 hectares of land – that’s an area bigger than Denmark! ...

Some of these installations only have 6 ongoing jobs, pretty insane how few people are needed for these.

Interesting take on Australian solar manufacturing options.

Writer is Georgia Edmonston.

Well, that burns my coal :(

archive.org.

With vast amounts of space, intense sunshine and a leading role in solar power’s creation, Australia is an ideal candidate to take advantage of the solar revolution.

But that’s not been the case so far for large-scale solar. In 2023, Australia fell out of the top 10 countries for solar installations for the first time in three decades.

We’ve seen mega-projects struggle to get off the ground and have been unable to fully capitalise on our geographic advantage.

As is all too common in this space, large-scale solar power has been politicised, with the Nationals calling for renewables projects in regional areas to be scrapped.