2009 September: Climate
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Jonathan Amos, Laser satellite records ice loss, BBC, 2009 Sep. 24 (Greenland and parts of Antarctica are losing large volumes of ice to the oceans as their glaciers get thinner, a Nasa satellite reveals)
Richard Black, Pause in Arctic's melting trend, BBC, 2009 Sep. 17 (this summer's melt of Arctic sea ice has not been as profound as in the last two years, scientists said as the ice began its annual Autumn recovery
Mark Kinver, Warming Arctic 'halts migration', BBC, 2009 Sep. 17 (milder winters in the Arctic region means fewer Pacific brants—a species of goose—are migrating southwards, say researchers)
Jonathan Amos, 'Ice explorer' ready for launch, BBC, 2009 Sep. 14 (Europe's ice monitoring satellite is likely to launch from Kazakhstan in February next year, officials tell BBC News)
Richard Black, Arctic 'warmest in 2,000 years', BBC, 2009 Sep. 3 (the Arctic region cooled for two millennia, research reveals, before it began warming abruptly in the last century)
Andrew Darby, Scientists fearful for fish stocks, The Age, 2009 Sep. 26 (our consumption of fish is this year expected to reach a tipping point, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation; such is the loss of wild fish that more than half of what we eat will come from aquaculture for the first time)
Adam Morton and Tom Arup, Climate update points to 2060 nightmare rise, The Age, 2009 Sep. 29 (global temperatures could rise 4 degrees in the next 50 years—faster than previously predicted—if greenhouse gas emissions increase unchecked, according to a report for the British Government)
Tom Arup, Humanity moves towards environmental catastrophe, The Age, 2009 Sep. 24 (humanity risks causing catastrophic and irreversible environmental damage by crossing “nine planetary boundaries”, scientists have warned; in a study from the Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, the scientists found that humans had already stepped over three of those boundaries—climate change, species loss and nitrogen cycles)
Ben Cubby, Global warning: Sydney dust storm just the beginning, The Age, 2009 Sep. 23 (what seems certain is that future dust storms will get more frequent and probably bigger, as the climate warms; along with other firmly grounded projections such as an increase in bushfires and a drop in rainfall, we can expect more dust storms in the coming decades as a consequence of climate change)
Stephen Cauchi, 'Quiet' sun could mean cooler days, The Age, 2009 Sep. 13 (the number of sunspots has declined dramatically in the past two years—but scientists say it is too early to tell if it is the start of a solar depression that could lead to cooler weather on Earth)
Don Watson, Language like this should be put to the torch, The Age, 2009 Sep. 19 (telling people requires language whose meaning is plain and unmistakable; managerial language is never this, and being without roots or provenance there is no past from which to learn)
Adam Morton, Judge likens Gippsland logging to the Somme, The Age, 2009 Sep. 15 (a Supreme Court judge has compared images of a felled forest with a World War I battlefield before ordering a temporary ban on logging in a hotly contested part of East Gippsland; environmentalists claimed a historic victory after winning an injunction over logging of two zones of old-growth forest at Brown Mountain, seen as a symbolic battleground by greens and the timber industry)
Adam Morton, Burnoffs would not have helped, The Age, 2009 Sep. 10 (fuel reduction burning did not offer significant protection from the catastrophic bushfire conditions of Black Saturday, a scientific assessment finds)
AP, Winds fuel California fires, The Age, 2009 Sep. 2 (a fierce wildfire destroyed more than four dozen homes as it blackened a wide swathe of tinder-dry southern Californian forest, forced thousands of residents to flee and burned dangerously close to a vital mountain-top broadcasting complex)
Paddy Manning, World wakes to new dawn for solar power, The Age, 2009 Sep. 19 (solar technology has been around for decades, the resource is abundant and the costs are coming down)
Paola Totaro, Brown backs Australian icebreaker, The Age, 2009 Sep. 23 (British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported the Australian Government's proposal to offer a less onerous, compromise emissions package to developing nations, such as Brazil and India, in a bid to secure a binding, global agreement on climate change)
Anne Davies, Big three to move on global warming, The Age, 2009 Sep. 23 (the leaders of the United States, India and China, the countries which hold the key to solving the looming climate change catastrophe, have made significant concessions at overnight climate talks in a renewed effort to clinch a treaty at Copenhagen in December)
Global firms seek climate deal, BBC, 2009 Sep. 22 (a group of more than 500 international companies urges the United Nations to agree a climate deal to help combat global warming)
Jose Manuel Barroso, Pivotal week for climate change action as world leaders gather, The Age, 2009 Sep. 21 (climate change is happening faster than we believed only two years ago; continuing with business as usual almost certainly means dangerous, perhaps catastrophic, climate change during the course of this century; this is the most important challenge for this generation of politicians)
Marian Wilkinson, Chemistry of all kinds is the key, The Age, 2009 Sep. 19 (Kevin Rudd and the 90 world leaders meeting in New York for next week's climate summit have been asked by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to think about the question: what kind of conditions for life do you see as acceptable in the future?)
Adam Morton, Climate change biggest world-health threat, The Age, 2009 Sep. 17 (in a letter published in two leading British journals, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and 17 sister associations described climate change as the “biggest global health threat of the 21st century” and called on doctors to pressure politicians to adopt more aggressive policies)
Richard Black, Doctors warn on climate failure, BBC, 2009 Sep. 15 (failure to agree a new UN climate deal in December will bring a "global health catastrophe", say 18 of the world's professional medical organisations)
Gracelia Chichilnisky, Surviving Kyoto's 'do or die' summit, BBC, 2009 Sep. 15 (global warming is the first truly global problem that needs all nations to work together in order to limit its impact, says carbon markets expert Chichilnisky; she highlights a way forward that could suit all nations at the "do or die" summit in Copenhagen)
Tom Arup, Rich countries to foot climate change bill, The Age, 2009 Sep. 16 (rich countries will have to spend about $550 billion a year to help developing countries tackle climate change, the World Bank has estimated before crucial international talks next week)
Adam Morton, Australia coming last on climate, The Age, 2009 Sep. 14 (while the debate in Canberra focuses on whether to pass climate change legislation this year, the analysis by London-based consultants Vivid Economics suggests Australia is already being left behind)
Adam Morton, The world's worst polluters, The Age, 2009 Sep. 11 (the CO2 Energy Emissions Index, released by risk assessment company Maplecroft, found Australia's overwhelmingly coal-based electricity supply meant the average person emitted 20.58 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year)
Warwick McFadyen, Armed forces may be the agents of climate change, The Age, 2009 Sep. 6 (it appears that the US military is as concerned about the fate of the Earth as the man and woman on Civvy Street; and, as history has shown, what troubles the US generals troubles the rest of the world; actually what is causing the hairs on the back of their necks to stand up is the effect climate change might have on America's national security)
Roger Harrabin, Harrabin's Notes: Spending $250bn, BBC, 2009 Sep. 4 (the thesis of two veteran environmentalists who believe the Copenhagen climate meeting will not deliver results)
Scientists begin earthworm count, BBC, 2009 Sep. 24 (a project begins to count Scotland's earthworms in a bid to understand how climate change is affecting their numbers)
Peter Ker, Victoria urged to scrap water-trade limit, The Age, 2009 Sep. 11 (Victoria has been dealt a major blow over water policy after Australia's competition watchdog found one of the state's controversial water trading limits was “poorly targeted” and having negative impacts on the farmers it was supposed to protect)
Peter Ker, Water plan a 'threat to river', The Age, 2009 Sep. 9 (an extra 10 billion litres is to be taken from the already-stressed Thomson River each year, despite an admission from Water Minister Tim Holding that the move poses “a significant threat” to the environment)
Peter Ker, Eco group backs Brumby on pipeline water rights, The Age, 2009 Sep. 8 (in a rare boost for the Brumby Government over the controversial pipeline, Australian Conservation Foundation spokeswoman Arlene Buchan denounced last month's disallowance of the pipe's water rights in the Victorian Parliament; with the 70-kilometre pipeline now built, Dr Buchan urged opposition parties to ensure the success of the Government's second attempt at issuing a water entitlement)
Adam Morton, Emissions fall as states heat up, The Age, 2009 Sep. 7 (one of Victoria's warmest ever winters has produced a positive side effect—a fall in the state's greenhouse gas emissions)
Peter Ker, Drinking-water fears over cattle in rivers, The Age, 2009 Sep. 7 (concerns over protection of drinking supplies have emerged as the Brumby Government prepares to re-issue thousands of the five-year licences that allow farmers to let their stock roam on river frontages that are part of Crown land; renewal of the licences has long been opposed by environmental groups, who claim cattle damage river health by eroding banks, dirtying water and creating more algal blooms)
Richard Black, 'Millions at risk' as deltas sink, BBC, 2009 Sep. 21 (most of the world's major river deltas are sinking due to dams and the extraction of gas and groundwater, a study shows)
Tom Arup, Great Barrier Reef faces catastrophe, The Age, 2009 Sep. 3 (the Reef Outlook Report concludes that the rate of climate change backed by the Federal Government would result in “severe mass coral bleaching” and threaten the habitats of key species on the reef)
Glenn Tong, Bold science needed for fertile future, The Age, 2009 Sep. 30 (technology holds the solution to food production)
Adam Morton, Green groups aim at revitalising our homes, The Age, 2009 Sep. 17 (a report to be launched today by five green and clean energy groups will call on governments to follow Britain's lead by introducing regulations to make all new homes emissions free by 2020; proposals include minimum seven-star energy efficiency and 40 per cent water efficiency for new homes by next year)
David Hillyard, Last chance to change our behaviour, BBC, 2009 Sep. 8 (despite a growing awareness of the damage humans are doing to the planet, we still refuse to radically changes our behaviour)
Roger Harrabin, Harrabin's Notes: Spending $250bn, BBC, 2009 Sep. 4 (the thesis of two veteran environmentalists who believe the Copenhagen climate meeting will not deliver results)
Saroj Pathirana, Coconuts used to capture carbon, BBC, 2009 Sep. 3 (the Maldives government aims to reduce its CO2 emissions using fertiliser; the "biochar" is a charcoal made from bio-wastes such as coconut shells)
Alan Gadian, Earth experiment could buy precious time, BBC, 2009 Sep. 1 (cloud whitening must be tested, if we are to find out what options we have in the fight against global warming)
Andrew Darby, Signs ozone layer may be in slow recovery, The Age, 2009 Sep. 23 (human-induced ozone depletion, which once threatened massive disruption to life on Earth, is lessening on a global scale, the European Space Agency said yesterday; the finding comes as this year's Antarctic ozone hole appears set to level out below the worst 2006 benchmark, confirming predictions that repair is likely, though distant)
Adam Morton, Hot August nights, The Age, 2009 Sep. 2 (August was Australia's warmest winter month on record, by nearly a full degree; the average temperature last month was 2.47 degrees above the long-term norm and 0.98 degrees hotter than the previous high, in 1998)
Josh Gordon, $14m climate change blitz leaves public caring less, The Age, 2009 Sep. 27 (a $14 million Federal Government publicity blitz designed to win public support for its carbon pollution reduction scheme appears to have failed spectacularly; a Government market research report obtained by The Sunday Age reveals the level of public concern about climate change fell after the completion of the public relations push, known as ”Think Change”; it involved television, radio, and newspaper advertisements, a telephone hotline, a website and a public consultation road show, all between July and November last year)
Peter Ker, Murray plans in tatters, The Age, 2009 Sep. 24 (hopes for a unified national plan to revive the Murray-Darling river system are in tatters, with NSW to enact its own water trading rules after a long-running dispute with Victoria)
Peter Ker, Report dampens dreams for northern water, The Age, 2009 Sep. 22 (envisaged by many as the future home of the nation's agricultural industry, or as a source of water to be piped south to drying cities, the north's water riches are mostly unsuitable for large-scale capture, a report says)
Adam Morton, Green groups aim at revitalising our homes, The Age, 2009 Sep. 17 (a report to be launched today by five green and clean energy groups will call on governments to follow Britain's lead by introducing regulations to make all new homes emissions free by 2020; proposals include minimum seven-star energy efficiency and 40 per cent water efficiency for new homes by next year)
Paddy Manning, Lost opportunities from the crisis, The Age, 2009 Sep. 12 (the $42bn stimulus should have focused on global warming)
Peter Ker, Canberra sticks its nose in over threatened fish, The Age, 2009 Sep. 10 (plans to extract more water out of the Thomson River have caused ripples in Canberra, with the Federal Government set to review Victoria's controversial plans for the river; the extraction of an extra 10 billion litres sparked the Commonwealth's attention because of its potential impact upon the Australian grayling, a fish protected under federal law)
Tom Arup, Great Barrier Reef faces catastrophe, The Age, 2009 Sep. 3 (the Reef Outlook Report concludes that the rate of climate change backed by the Federal Government would result in “severe mass coral bleaching” and threaten the habitats of key species on the reef)
Lorna Edwards, No rain, no meat, no work, The Age, 2009 Sep. 22 (a dire shortage of dairy cows in the drought-stricken north-east of the state has forced the Tongala abattoir to cut almost half its workforce; the HW Greenham abattoir—which produces lean grinding meat for the American hamburger market, with Burger King its biggest customer—has been hit by a sharp drop in the number of aged cattle available for processing as dairy herds decline)
Peter Ker, Canberra sticks its nose in over threatened fish, The Age, 2009 Sep. 10 (plans to extract more water out of the Thomson River have caused ripples in Canberra, with the Federal Government set to review Victoria's controversial plans for the river; the extraction of an extra 10 billion litres sparked the Commonwealth's attention because of its potential impact upon the Australian grayling, a fish protected under federal law)
Matt Wade, Water wars loom in a nation of parched fields, The Age, 2009 Sep. 26 (farmers are on the verge of violent conflict as thirsty crops, population growth and climate change deprive them of their most vital resource)
Peter Ker, Report dampens dreams for northern water, The Age, 2009 Sep. 22 (envisaged by many as the future home of the nation's agricultural industry, or as a source of water to be piped south to drying cities, the north's water riches are mostly unsuitable for large-scale capture, a report says)
Judith Burns, UK rivers failing new EU standard, BBC, 2009 Sep. 21 (three quarters of rivers in England and Wales fall below a new European environmental standard, according to a report)
Xan Rice, Cattle blunder spells danger for starving Kenyans, The Age, 2009 Sep. 19 (a devastating drought sweeping across Kenya is causing widespread hunger, thirst and, in the case of cattle, death)
Peter Ker, SA towns to get water the Murray can't buy, The Age, 2009 Sep. 17 (water put on sale to restore environmental health in the Murray River will now be consumed in towns and cities, after South Australia seized on the popularity of a scheme for farmers to sell their water rights)
Richard Macey and Natasha Wallace, Red alert as big dust storm blankets Sydney, The Age, 2009 Sep. 24 (eight years of drought and record temperatures that have baked outback soils bone-dry were blamed for yesterday's dust storm that turned Sydney's sky red and the sun blue; scientists estimated 75,000 tonnes of dust were being blown across NSW every hour in what may have been the most severe dust storm Sydney has seen since the droughts of the 1940s)
Mark Russell and John Mangan, Record heat, winds, fire alert put state on edge, The Age, 2009 Sep. 13 (Melbourne records hottest day on record for the first half of September as wild winds cause chaos, blacking out more than 3000 houses)
Adam Morton, Hot August nights, The Age, 2009 Sep. 2 (August was Australia's warmest winter month on record, by nearly a full degree; the average temperature last month was 2.47 degrees above the long-term norm and 0.98 degrees hotter than the previous high, in 1998)