Warnings come as extreme heat kills more people than all other natural disasters in Australia combined
Karen Thorne’s rental home heats up as soon as the morning sun hits her east-facing bedroom in the Sydney suburb of Rosemeadow.
“I could wake up at 8am to 28-degree heat in there,” Thorne said. “The heat is what actually wakes me up.”
Continue reading...PM highlights China’s ‘chilling silence’ on Russian invasion as Labor says China has ‘responsibility’ to call out Putin’s actions; NSW Health confirms seventh case of Japanese encephalitis; man in court over Sydney boarding house fire; Coalition to spend $243m on four mining projects; a man has died in Broken Hill after driving his ute into flood waters; nation records at least 17 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed
NSW Health has added the results from 10,000 additional positive rapid antigen tests to its official numbers after a data error meant they were left out.
The results were registered between Sunday 13 March and Monday 14 March, with NSW Health warning the numbers will “inflate the cases being reported today for the 24 hours to 4pm yesterday (Tuesday)”.
Palaszczuk government to support purchases of EVs cheaper than $58,000 and invest $10m in charging stations
The Queensland government will pay a $3,000 subsidy to electric vehicle buyers and build new charging stations to incentivise take-up, under a new strategy to be announced on Wednesday.
The 10-year strategy includes measures the state says will help to drive down emissions and ultimately help Queensland meet its net zero commitment by 2050.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Rewilding programme marks the ‘most significant step’ in ensuring the critically endangered species’ survival
Five mountain bongos have been released into a sanctuary in Kenya, a milestone in the fight for the animals’ survival with fewer than 100 left in the wild
Considered critically endangered, the chestnut-coloured mountain bongo is one of the largest forest antelopes and native to the equatorial forests of Mount Kenya, Eburu, Mau and Aberdares. IUCN predicts their numbers will probably continue to decline without direct action. A recent wildlife census in Kenya counted just 96 mountain bongos in the wild.
Continue reading...Centrist Democrat, who holds key swing vote in US Senate, has poured scorn on the idea of phasing out gasoline and diesel cars
Faced with rising gasoline prices, many Americans are now looking to switch to an electric car. But the shift away from fossil fuel vehicles has been criticized by Senator Joe Manchin, who has said he is “very reluctant” to see the proliferation of battery-powered cars.
There has been a surge in interest in buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the wake of the war in Ukraine, analysts say, with drivers in the US unnerved by gasoline prices that have surpassed $4.30 a gallon as a result of the conflict and the supply chain issues from the pandemic.
Continue reading...Conservationists warn using workaround to speed up decisions will lead to worse outcomes
The Morrison government has announced it will remove the need for developments in some areas to receive project-specific approval under national environment laws, in a step conservationists fear will further weaken nature protection.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that the government was considering using a little known section of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to allow some developments to be given the green light as part of a regional plan without consideration of the impact of the project itself.
Continue reading...Is it hoped discovery of medieval trading town Ravenser Odd can teach people about perils of climate crisis
Hopes are high that a fabled medieval town known as “Yorkshire’s Atlantis” is about to be located and will begin giving up secrets held for more than 650 years.
Ravenser Odd was a prosperous port town built on sandbanks at the mouth of the Humber estuary before it was abandoned and later destroyed and submerged by a calamitous storm in 1362.
Continue reading...Experts launch Australian Alliance for Animals to push for independent national animal welfare commission
Two RSPCA animal welfare experts have left the organisation to campaign for a national independent animal welfare commission, saying the current regulatory structure is “broken”.
Dr Bidda Jones stepped down as chief scientific officer at RSPCA Australia in late 2021, after 25 years. Dr Jed Goodfellow stepped down as a senior policy officer in October.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Water firms commit to improving sewage discharge practices after government pressure
Severn Trent and Anglian Water say they will accelerate efforts to protect rivers after the government and regulators called on the sector to do more.
Last month, the environment minister Rebecca Pow called on water companies to significantly improve their practices in England and Wales to support the local environment.
Continue reading...Local leaders are calling for a loan system or longer-term funding to build more resilient roads than those washed away
Leaders in northern New South Wales are concerned they will not be able to “build back better” with flood relief money and will instead be forced to rebuild the same flood-prone roads and bridges, leaving communities at risk.
While Transport for NSW works to restore the most critical of the hundreds of roads that have been damaged or swept away in the disaster, councils are also turning their thoughts to the future.
Continue reading...Repairs could top $1bn and mayors say roads and bridges shouldn’t just be rebuilt but ‘rebuilt to withstand future disasters’
Commuters across New South Wales and Queensland are dodging gaping potholes and avoiding cracked roads after flooding damaged the states’ road networks, with mayors arguing they will need to be repaired stronger to withstand future disasters.
Many NSW and Queensland councils are scrambling to find funding that could top $1bn in total to repair roads ripped apart by the devastating flood waters.
Continue reading...Environment minister Sussan Ley asks Perdaman not to go ahead until a review is carried out after traditional owners raise concerns
The federal government has asked a multinational fertiliser company to stop work on plans to remove Indigenous rock art from a world heritage-nominated area in the Burrup Peninsula after traditional owners raised concerns.
Perdaman is planning to build a $4.5bn fertiliser plant in Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula. The company is already contracted to buy gas used to make the fertiliser from Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas field.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Australia follows lead of US and UK with latest Russia sanctions; ‘We want tradies to come to Queensland,’ premier says; helicopter crashes in NSW Snowy Mountains; Japanese encephalitis outbreak grows to 15; nation records at least 30 Covid deaths, seven in New Zealand. Follow all the day’s news live
Labor leader Anthony Albanese is speaking to ABC News breakfast now from Lismore. He has been asked about the death of Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.
It was an enormous shock, James. I was visiting a family in Ballina yesterday, who have lost everything and I got an urgent message and then I took a call and it is something that was just totally unexpected. Kimberley was just 52 years of age. She was just beginning her political career. It was her first term serving in the Senate.
I appointed her to the frontbench and gave her additional responsibilities when I became the leader and Kimberley was someone who lit up a room when she was there. She was so full of life. She was a vivacious character and to lose her so young is just an enormous shock.
Essential workers who were lauded in the pandemic, like those in aged care, child care or supermarkets were already forking out up to three-quarters of their salary on rent. Unless we want a social disaster to follow this natural disaster we need to get serious about giving people on low and modest incomes a decent shot at getting and keeping a house. That means more social and affordable housing is urgently needed.
The problem with temporary housing is the lack of security and the poor quality. If people are in a temporary home but know they will have permanent housing soon, they are safe and warm through winter, and they can keep their job and kids can continue at their school, then they will most likely do well.
But if they are worried about how long they will have a roof over their head, and where they will live in the future, if they feel unsafe, or always have a cold because they can’t warm their home, or if the housing dislocates the family from the community they know, then their mental and physical health will suffer.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson’s suggestion practice could re-emerge after invasion of Ukraine has rallied campaigners
Anti-fracking campaigners have vowed to give energy firms “no peace” if the government lifts the moratorium on fracking, pledging “inconvenient and noisy” protests at every site.
Steve Mason, campaign director of Frack Free United, said there was an army of retired “geri-activists” ready to lie down and face prosecution for the cause again.
Continue reading...Heavy rainfall can cause untreated sewage containing viruses and bacteria to flow into waterways posing health risks to swimmers
Pollution washed into Sydney’s beaches and waterways could linger for days, with state authorities urging swimmers to exercise caution after the flood disaster.
Sydney Harbour turned brown as a result of storm water carrying soil and debris, and algal blooms have appeared on the usually pristine sands of Hyams beach in the Jervis Bay region.
Continue reading...Four studies are first to support theory PFAS could hinder body’s ability to fight virus, but authors say more is research needed
Higher levels of exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” may increase the likelihood of Covid-19 infection, more serious symptoms and death, a group of recent studies have found.
Public health advocates and researchers have feared since the coronavirus pandemic’s onset that PFAS, which are known to be immunotoxic, could hinder the body’s ability to fight Covid-19, and the four studies represent the first bit of research supporting the theory. However, the authors caution that more research is needed.
Continue reading...US military aims for net zero by 2050 but with a carbon footprint greater than some 140 countries critics say it needs radical change
The US military, an institution whose carbon footprint exceeds that of nearly 140 countries, says it wants to go green.
On 8 February, the US army released its climate strategy.
Continue reading...Palaszczuk rejects Morrison’s move to declare national emergency in Queensland, where flood costs are ‘well into the billions’; Rio Tinto will terminate all contracts with Russian businesses; nation records at least 21 Covid deaths amid concerns over Omicron subvariant. Follow all the updates live
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is being questioned about his promises to keep the cost of living down as he chats to ABC News Breakfast:
Well, we have been making policies that have been driving down the cost of living, for example, around electricity prices which are down by 8% in the last two years.
They doubled under our political opponents, but what I was referring to last night is the international events in the Ukraine have seen a spike in oil prices, and that is flowing through with some people paying more than $2 a litre.
This high and increasing burden of skin cancer emphasises the need for continued investment in skin cancer education and prevention.
We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to do it so that one day Australia is no longer considered the skin cancer capital of the world.
Continue reading...Environment groups say visiting scientists must be given true picture of the reef, ahead of world heritage committee meeting in June
A United Nations monitoring trip to the Great Barrier Reef will land in Queensland later this month just as forecasts suggest the risk of widespread coral bleaching will be at its highest.
Unesco has confirmed two scientists will carry out the mission, requested by the Morrison government, lasting for 10 days from 21 March.
Continue reading...Demonstration against what activists call a historic assault floods capital after musician Caetano Veloso’s call for action
Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Brazil’s capital after one of the country’s leading musicians, Caetano Veloso, called a major protest to denounce what environmentalists call a historic assault on the Brazilian environment under President Jair Bolsonaro.
The “Ato pela Terra” (Stand for the Earth) demonstration was held in Brasília to oppose what activists call a “death combo” of five environment-related bills being considered by Brazil’s congress.
Continue reading...