2009 March: Climate
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Arctic trek team pushes forward, BBC, 2009 Mar. 24 (the UK team trying to measure Arctic sea-ice thickness on a trek to the North Pole says the weather is turning in its favour)
China's water back-up plan, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (China will start backing up its shrinking glaciers with 59 meltwater reservoirs this year as climate change hits home in the world's most populous nation)
Explorers begin epic Arctic trek, BBC, 2009 Mar. 1 (a British team has begun a gruelling trek to the North Pole to discover how quickly the Arctic sea-ice is melting)
Suzanne Goldenberg, Deniers rain on climate change, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (it is billed as the largest gathering of climate change deniers, a convention that began at the weekend with a title suggesting global warming is a thing of the past and a guest list that included a hurricane forecaster, a retired astronaut and a European president)
Carlos Sere, Balancing the global need for meat, BBC, 2009 Mar. 24 (while meat is all too abundant in rich nations, it is an essential source of protein for millions in developing nations)
Steven Duke, Earth population 'exceeds limits', BBC, 2009 Mar. 31 (science advisor in the US State Department Nina Fedoroff says humans have exceeded the Earth's "limits of sustainability")
Natalie Craig, Super funds in dark over costs of climate change, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (super funds hoping to review investments in light of climate change, but are in the dark over evaluation methods)
Christine McGourty, Global crisis 'to strike by 2030', BBC, 2009 Mar. 19 (rising population will create a "perfect storm" of food, energy and water shortages, the UK's chief science adviser says)
David Adam, Warming to destroy Amazon rainforest, The Age, 2009 Mar. 13 (devastating new study predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises)
Adam Morton and Tom Arup, Climate's 11th hour, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (tomorrow, as the Rudd Government releases its draft legislationon emissions trading, 2000 scientists will begin arriving in Copenhagen to share dire news on climate change)
Tony Wright, Population explosion 'heralds disaster', The Age, 2009 Mar. 6 (world overpopulating itself to catastrophic future of terrorism and climatic disaster, according to Melbourne University professor of reproductive biology)
Carmel Egan, Conservationists slam logging backflip, The Age, 2009 Mar. 29 (one of Victoria's most prized but controversial cool temperate rainforest sites is being clear felled by loggers after the State Government reneged on a deal to protect it)
Mark Kinver, 'Crunch year' for world's forests, BBC, 2009 Mar. 25 (efforts to mitigate climate change could be hampered if nations do not agree to protect the world's forests by the end of the year, warn researchers)
Q&A: Liquefied natural gas, BBC, 2009 Mar. 21 (the first ship carrying liquefied natural gas has arrived in Pembrokeshire, marking the culmination of one of the largest UK engineering projects of its kind)
Tom Arup, Green energy firm pledges 1200 jobs, The Age, 2009 Mar. 18 (renewable energy company Pacific Hydro has challenged claims the Government's climate change policies will cost jobs, saying it will create at least 1200 new positions at Hydro over the next five years if they are implemented)
Biofuels: Fuelled by coffee, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (a novel form of biodiesel is derived from an unusual feedstock that is more commonly used to fuel mental activities: coffee; part of a Technology Quarterly)
Michael Spencer, Water-scarce Australia must tap other nations' ideas, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (the nation's absence at a recent world water forum was an opportunity lost; Abu Dhabi brought to life key points from the water forum: the depth, breadth and severity of the world's water crisis, and the economic and human consequences that flow from water scarcity)
David Adam, Protests call for carbon changes, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (protest and direct action may be the only ways to tackle soaring carbon emissions, leading climate scientist warns)
Roger Harrabin, UN accuses EU over climate change, BBC, 2009 Mar. 18 (the UN's climate change chief accuses the EU of shifting the goalposts in global talks on climate change)
Robert Tait, Watching over world's water woes, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (political leaders, specialists and activists gatherin Istanbul in a bid to avert an impending world water shortage)
Paul Sinclair, Do our political leaders have the courage to save the earth?, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (the thought of the earth's future depending on global governments reaching an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a meeting in Copenhagen in December fills me with terror)
Richard Alleyne, Planet faces 'dangerous climate change', The Age, 2009 Mar. 14 (world's leading scientists issue desperate plea to politicians to act on climate change amid warnings that without action world faces decades of social unrest and war)
America and climate change: Sins of emission, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (Barack Obama is keen to curb greenhouse-gas emissions with a cap-and-trade scheme; can Congress come round to his way of thinking?)
David Adam, Sudden carbon cuts could spark 'revolution' in US, The Age, 2009 Mar. 12 (the head of the UN body charged with leading the fight against climate change has conceded that US President Barack Obama will face a "revolution" if he commits the US to the deep carbon cuts that scientists say are needed)
Tony Wright, Population explosion 'heralds disaster', The Age, 2009 Mar. 6 (world overpopulating itself to catastrophic future of terrorism and climatic disaster, according to Melbourne University professor of reproductive biology)
Bid to aid daddy longlegs numbers, BBC, 2009 Mar. 26 (climate change is killing off cranefly and in turn threatening the survival of upland wild bird species that feed on them, RSPB Scotland has warned)
Melissa Fyfe, Water projects 'not needed', The Age, 2009 Mar. 29 (the controversial $750 million north-south pipeline is unnecessary and the desalination plant could have been avoided with greater efforts to cut water use, according to top-level advice delivered to the State Government just weeks before both projects were announced)
Melissa Fyfe, As cities wilt, most major water projects are delayed, The Age, 2009 Mar. 29 (most of Melbourne's major water projects have been postponed or delayed despite the continued water supply crisis, an assessment by the Essential Services Commission has found; the commission recently assessed the Government's progress on 37 major water projects and found 28 had been delayed; these include new pipes, sewerage upgrades, odour abatement and water recycling)
Adrian Lowe, Water use drops but cost up, The Age, 2009 Mar. 25 (Victorians are using less water but are paying more for it, a new report shows)
Kenneth Davidson, Water lot of PPPosturing over desal, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (there are three reasons why the $3.5 billion desalination plant at Wonthaggi is unlikely to go ahead: there is no appetite by financial institutions to back infrastructure plants of this magnitude; there has been no credible environmental effects statement which gives the project a clean bill of health; and the two French finalists in the bid to build, own and operate the plant—Veolia and Suez—will lose their Paris water licences when they come up for renewal on December 31)
Royce Millar, State emission cuts 'futile' and would aid polluters, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (Victoria's climate policies to make no difference to achieving emissions targets and will subsidise big polluters, according to State Government assessment)
Peter Ker, Pipe dream: water strategy in doubt as forecasts dry up, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (Victoria's top water officials preparing for controversial north-south pipeline to deliver less water than promised, under new water supply forecasts)
Peter Ker, We can't keep it all, says Murray-Darling expert, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (one of the foremost experts on the Murray-Darling river system has called for it to be disconnected from hundreds of lakes, wetlands and other environmental assets as part of a radical shrinking and reconfiguration of the waterway)
Peter Ker, Exodus fears for Murray towns, The Age, 2009 Mar. 18 (Northern Victorians are in danger of becoming Australia's first climate change refugees, according to a top Brumby Government water official)
Peter Ker, Plan flags stricter water restrictions for longer, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (Melbourne will be on stricter water restrictions for longer, under a revised plan being devised by state's top water officials)
David Rood and Royce Millar, Government attacked on solar tariff plan, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (unions accused State Government of forfeiting thousands of new jobs and billions of investment dollars by going soft on solar power)
Peter Fisher, Big solutions for our water needs will use even more energy, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (technology exists to reduce emissions and ensure the water supply)
Royce Millar, Cash flows for desalination dry up, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the project meant to secure Melbourne against water shortages is facing a crisis: a money shortage because of the global credit squeeze)
Marika Dobbin, Heavens open and a hellish season ends, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (worst of Victoria's catastrophic bushfire season over, authorities say)
Peter Ker, Target 155 a 'flop' as people splashed out, The Age, 2009 Mar. 3 (a high-profile campaign to limit personal water consumption to just 155 litres each day has been called a flop as statistics show Melburnians failed to meet the target)
Andrew Darby, Hopes sink of artificially capturing carbon in seas, The Age, 2009 Mar. 27 (the most determined attempt to make the ocean soak up more greenhouse gas has failed to make a significant dent)
Marian Wilkinson, Warming to force retreat from coast, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (the top government scientist leading Australia's efforts to adapt to climate change has warned that some coastal communities will have to be abandoned in a "planned retreat" because of global warming)
Climate change: Sea levels are rising twice as fast as had been thought, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (the reason for the rapid change in the predicted rise in sea levels is a rapid increase in the information available)
Bridie Smith, Coastal flooding threat now 'urgent', The Age, 2009 Mar. 12 (sea levels could rise by more than a metre by 2100, significantly more than previously predicted, according to Australian research presented at an international climate change conference)
David Rood and Royce Millar, Government attacked on solar tariff plan, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (unions accused State Government of forfeiting thousands of new jobs and billions of investment dollars by going soft on solar power)
Martin Livermore, Cold reality of global warming efforts, BBC, 2009 Mar. 10 (setting targets is easy, achieving them is not, so why do we continue to support a framework that has failed to deliver?)
Peter Fisher, Big solutions for our water needs will use even more energy, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (technology exists to reduce emissions and ensure the water supply)
Carbon capture: Scrubbing the skies, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (removing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere could help combat climate change; will it really work?; part of a Technology Quarterly)
China's water back-up plan, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (China will start backing up its shrinking glaciers with 59 meltwater reservoirs this year as climate change hits home in the world's most populous nation)
Tim Lenton, Big problems need big solutions, BBC, 2009 Mar. 4 ("geo-engineering" projects, such as reflecting sunlight back into space, could help win the battle against dangerous climate change)
Peter Ker, Target 155 a 'flop' as people splashed out, The Age, 2009 Mar. 3 (a high-profile campaign to limit personal water consumption to just 155 litres each day has been called a flop as statistics show Melburnians failed to meet the target)
Climatology: Tree rings are laying bare the climatic history of Asia, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (the possibility that two periods of conflict in the area, in the 15th and 18th centuries, were provoked by droughts)
Climate change: Sea levels are rising twice as fast as had been thought, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (the reason for the rapid change in the predicted rise in sea levels is a rapid increase in the information available)
Matt McGrath, 'More bad news' on climate change, BBC, 2009 Mar. 10 (a meeting of scientists in the Danish capital Copenhagen is expected to reveal further worrying data on global warming)
Michael Spencer, Water-scarce Australia must tap other nations' ideas, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (the nation's absence at a recent world water forum was an opportunity lost; Abu Dhabi brought to life key points from the water forum: the depth, breadth and severity of the world's water crisis, and the economic and human consequences that flow from water scarcity)
Guy Pearse, Polluters' blank cheque, The Age, 2009 Mar. 30 (real cuts in emissions are impossible under the Federal Government's scheme)
Tom Arup, Miner puts 5000 jobs on the line, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (mining company Xstrata threatens to axe 1000 coalmining jobs if Federal Government goes ahead with its emissions trading scheme)
Bridie Smith, Climate woes hit flagship species close to home, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (according to a report, some of the species most threatened by climate change call Australia home)
Tom Arup, Emissions heat up in economic meltdown, The Age, 2009 Mar. 14 (Australia's carbon emissions surged in the last quarter of 2008 despite a crumbling economy; the increase defied predictions that the financial crisis could slow emissions)
Kenneth Davidson, War on water demands visionary, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (city slickers lose as dam lies and political ambition erode the Murray water debate)
Adam Morton and Tom Arup, Climate's 11th hour, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (tomorrow, as the Rudd Government releases its draft legislationon emissions trading, 2000 scientists will begin arriving in Copenhagen to share dire news on climate change)
Carbon polluters to hit campaign trail, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the campaign to overhaul the Federal Government's climate change policy will escalate this week as big greenhouse polluting companies and their lobbyists target politicians representing voters in coal mining, steel and aluminium towns)
Adam Morton, States' war of words over water, The Age, 2009 Mar. 7 (escalating dispute over parched Murray Darling river system takes personal turn as South Australian Government targets Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding)
Kenneth Davidson, Climate change won't wait for recession's end, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (delaying measures to reduce emissions is economically unsound)
US birds in 'widespread decline', BBC, 2009 Mar. 20 (nearly one third of US bird species are "endangered, threatened or in significant decline", a report shows)
Bridie Smith, Climate woes hit flagship species close to home, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (according to a report, some of the species most threatened by climate change call Australia home)
Climate 'hitting Europe's birds', BBC, 2009 Mar. 4 (climate change is already having an impact on European bird species, according to British scientists)
Peter Ker, We can't keep it all, says Murray-Darling expert, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (one of the foremost experts on the Murray-Darling river system has called for it to be disconnected from hundreds of lakes, wetlands and other environmental assets as part of a radical shrinking and reconfiguration of the waterway)
Peter Ker, Exodus fears for Murray towns, The Age, 2009 Mar. 18 (Northern Victorians are in danger of becoming Australia's first climate change refugees, according to a top Brumby Government water official)
Robert Tait, Watching over world's water woes, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (political leaders, specialists and activists gatherin Istanbul in a bid to avert an impending world water shortage)
Peter Ker, Plan flags stricter water restrictions for longer, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (Melbourne will be on stricter water restrictions for longer, under a revised plan being devised by state's top water officials)
Anna Hurlimann, Just stop and think before you sink, The Age, 2009 Mar. 14 (many people—well-educated and intelligent ones at that—don't realise that the use of bore water can have an impact on the availability of water in dams and rivers)
Climatology: Tree rings are laying bare the climatic history of Asia, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (the possibility that two periods of conflict in the area, in the 15th and 18th centuries, were provoked by droughts)
Peter Ker, SA raises Murray weir plan, The Age, 2009 Mar. 13 (the option of "last resort" for managing the decline of the Coorong and lower lakes of the Murray River moves a step closer)
Royce Millar, Cash flows for desalination dry up, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the project meant to secure Melbourne against water shortages is facing a crisis: a money shortage because of the global credit squeeze)
Water in California: Good things can come from a drought, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (the problem with water in the American West is not that it is too scarce but that it is too cheap; low, stable prices have encouraged some farmers to waste water and to pour it on low-value crops like rice and alfalfa, while others struggle to sustain valuable almond trees; the water market that is emerging in California helps change that; there is an old saying that water flows towards money; at last it is starting to do so)
AP, Menacing cyclone forces island evacuations, The Age, 2009 Mar. 8 (islands in the Whitsundays evacuated and northern Queensland placed on severe alert over the escalating threat from cyclone Hamish)