The Australian Government has asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a public inquiry into the efficacy of current national natural disaster funding arrangements, taking into account the priority of effective natural disaster mitigation and the reduction in the impact of …
Productivity Commission inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Read more »
In the paper Fracking the future, The Australia Institute look at both the economic claims and the health and environmental risks of coal seam gas (CSG) extraction, concluding that while the economic benefits are likely to be relatively small, a …
High speed rail linking Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane would reduce carbon emissions and provide a profitable and popular service, according to the Zero Carbon Australia High Speed Rail report. The report recommends an alignment broadly similar to the government’s recent …
Continuing hot on the heels of the ‘Angry Summer’ of 2012/2013, Australians again endured record breaking extreme events this summer. The new Climate Council 2013/2014 Angry Summer report alerts that many of Australia’s largest population centres stand out as being …
Urban heating further increases extreme summer temperatures. The urban heat island effect is explored in the video Melbourne an ‘urban heat island’. In recognition of the climate buffer and other benefits of urban trees, the City of Melbourne is implementing an …
Research at the National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Environmental Decisions Hub has found that heat waves, droughts and floods expected under climate change will alter environmental conditions so much that many eucalypts will no longer survive in their native ranges. …
Research highlights climate risk to Australian eucalypts Read more »
The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology has released the Annual Climate Statement 2013. Data collected and analysed show that 2013 was Australia’s warmest year on record while rainfall was slightly below average nationally: Summer 2012–13 was the warmest on record …
Our cities need more plants and trees. They’re good for our health and productivity, keep cities cool and reduce pollution. People even heal faster when they’re around them. Yet, so often, plants and trees are overlooked when plans are drawn …
202020 Vision national campaign to increase urban green space by 20% by 2020 Read more »
The international community has agreed to limit global warming to below two degrees Celsius. However climate scientists agree that current national emissions targets collectively will not achieve this goal. Instead, the gap between climate science and climate policy is likely …
Four Degrees of Global Warming: Australia in a Hot World Read more »
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified natural ecosystems as being the most vulnerable sector in Australia to the negative impacts of climate change. The Terrestrial Report Card 2013 summarises knowledge on climate change impacts in Australian …