The Environment Thread

[basilio]

Makes one wonder about our priorities. Great picture. Check it out before it is turned into dunny paper. (I couldn't capture the individual shot.)

A member of environment group Knitting Nannas stands in front of Big Spotty, a giant spotted gum, in the North Brooman state forest near Termeil on the NSW south coast on World Environment Day on 5 June. Big Spotty is 72 metres high, 12 metres wide and possibly the tallest spotted gum in the world, dated at around 500 years old. The area in which Big Spotty is growing is earmarked for logging in September.

Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

Australia’s best photos of the month – June 2023

A nudist swim, a ‘yes’ dress and possibly the tallest spotted gum in the world. Guardian Australia looks back at the month’s most striking photos from across the country

www.theguardian.com

 

[basilio]

This is one for the birds .

It seems that urban crows and magpies are nicking anti bird spikes and using them to make their nests. They use them for structural strenth and also as a protection to keep other animal away from their chicks.

Clever little buggers

Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find​

Dutch study identifies several examples of corvids’ ‘amazing’ ability to adapt to the urban environment

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample
Wed 12 Jul 2023 00.41 AESTLast modified on Wed 12 Jul 2023 11.30 AEST



Birds have never shied away from turning human rubbish into nesting materials, but even experts in the field have raised an eyebrow at the latest handiwork to emerge from urban crows and magpies.

Nests recovered from trees in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Antwerp in Belgium were found to be constructed almost entirely from strips of long metal spikes that are often attached to buildings to deter birds from setting up home on the structures.

Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find

Dutch study identifies several examples of corvids’ ‘amazing’ ability to adapt to the urban environment

www.theguardian.com

 

[basilio]

This story is very clever. The development of exceptionally effective offshore reefs to
1) Protect the beach from erosion
2) Create an environment that provides a breeding ground for sea grass, fish and all manner of life.

The way this has been achieved is a very creative solution.

As the tide ebbs on this Victorian coast, a curious line of domes come into view

Residents along Victoria's coast are fighting back against coastal erosion with innovative and environmentally friendly solutions.

www.abc.net.au

 

[basilio]

Came across this review on how the world is "tackling" sustainability issues. Professor Sachs does a brutal job disassembling the widespread failure of how we address the multitude of problems we face..

It came from a 2018 conference but the last 5 years hasn't improved the picture IMV.

 

[basilio]

The price of progress. The Guardian article offers a good overview. The video gives a personal perspective on how this ubiquitous chemical is affecting the entire eco system.

What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?​

Everything you need to know about ‘forever chemicals’ detected in air, water, soils, sediments and rain

• Revealed: scale of ‘forever chemical’ pollution across UK and Europe
• Buncefield: the PFAS legacy of ‘biggest fire in peacetime Europe’

Rachel Salvidge and Leana Hosea
Thu 23 Feb 2023 16.00 AEDTLast modified on Fri 24 Feb 2023 01.36 AEDT

What are PFAS ‘forever chemicals’?​

You may not realise it but you have an intimate relationship with PFAS. The human-made chemicals are in your blood, your clothes, your cosmetics. They have been detected in air, water, soils, sediments, and in rain at levels that would be considered unsafe in drinking water in some countries.

PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, it’s an umbrella term for a family of thousands of chemicals – about 12,000 at the last count – that are prized for their indestructible and non-stick properties.

They are used in a huge range of consumer products, including waterproof clothing, furniture, cookware, electronics, food packaging and firefighting foams and are employed in a wide array of industrial processes.

Most PFAS are so well designed and robust that they won’t break down in the environment for tens of thousands of years, earning them the moniker “forever chemicals”. This persistence means the PFAS burden is ever growing, so much so that a group of scientists have concluded that the global spread of just four PFAS in the atmosphere has led to the “planetary boundary for chemical pollution being exceeded, raising risks to the stability of the Earth system”.

The substances’ grease and water repellent properties enable them to be very mobile, which means that once the chemicals have departed their original products they can slide their way out of old landfills for example, and migrate into the environment.
That’s bad news because many PFAS also tend to bioaccumulate, which means they are absorbed by organisms faster than they can be excreted and will build up over time. PFAS biomagnify up food chains too, supplying apex predators such as orcas with hefty doses at mealtimes.

What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

Everything you need to know about ‘forever chemicals’ detected in air, water, soils, sediments and rain

www.theguardian.com

The Poison In Us All

PFAS chemicals are used in thousands of products aimed at making life easier. But the chemicals are now almost everywhere, including in human blood, and are being linked to severe health problems. (The video has been corrected to show that Minnesota's ban on PFAS in food packaging begins in...

www.bloomberg.com

 

[basilio]

This has to be first. One Nation, Gina Rinehart and The Greens all on the same page and jointly fighting against a big business proposal.

I think the idea is plain nuts.

Gina Rinehart, One Nation and the Greens all oppose Glencore’s plan to store CO2 in the Great Artesian Basin – why? ​

Graham Readfearn

The mining company insists the storage hub is safe but many are unconvinced about injecting carbon dioxide into a major Australian water resource

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Thu 9 May 2024 11.23 AESTLast modified on Thu 9 May 2024 11.46 AEST


Swiss mining company Glencore has been on the offensive over its controversial plans to try to inject carbon dioxide into a section of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) – one of the world’s biggest underground water sources and a lifeblood for farmers and regional towns.
Later this month, the Queensland government is expected to decide if it will allow Glencore’s pilot carbon storage project to go ahead.

Glencore’s proposal has brought together unusual bedfellows in furious opposition to the plans – from farming and conservation groups to billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s agriculture business and One Nation and the Greens.


Queensland farming lobby launches legal challenge against Great Artesian Basin carbon capture trial

Read more
Queensland agricultural body AgForce is running a campaign against the plans, saying they will put the the GAB at risk, and has gone to court to try to force the federal government to fully assess the project under national environment laws (the decision not to assess the project was made by the previous Coalition government).

In the Senate, the Greens and the Coalition voted in favour of a One Nation-backed Senate inquiry into the plans. Queensland’s premier, Steven Miles, reportedly said on Wednesday he did not expect the project to pass the state’s environmental test.

Gina Rinehart, One Nation and the Greens all oppose Glencore’s plan to store CO2 in the Great Artesian Basin – why? | Temperature Check

The mining company insists the storage hub is safe but many are unconvinced about injecting carbon dioxide into a major Australian water resource

www.theguardian.com

 

[basilio]

Lets get positive. I just came across this simple, massively successful way to restore arid lands in just a few years
Not just a story. A well proven process.