14 May 2015, The Conversation: Single-crop farming is leaving wildlife with no room to turn. Rolling plains of wheat, endless fields of flowering canola, row upon row of fruit trees: these agricultural landscapes are the stuff of stunning photographs. Filling these paddocks with just one crop, known as monoculture, is a relatively easy, common and efficient way to produce food and fibre. But international research shows that these monocultures can be bad for the environment and production through effects on soil quality, erosion, plants and animals, and ultimately declining crop yields. Research I have published this week in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability shows a possible link between monoculture landscapes and fewer wild pollinators. Read More here
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13 May 2015, Climate News Network, Green city offers clean alternative to tar sands boom: Canada has been called an international pariah for its climate change policies, but now one of its major cities is aiming to be the greenest in the world by 2020. In a country reckoned to have the worst climate policies in the industrialised world, one big city is setting out to defy central government and become 100% carbon neutral. Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, wants to establish itself as “the greenest city in the world by 2020” by demonstrating that economic growth and the welfare of its citizens depends on developing renewables, rapid transit systems, and promoting cycling and walking to curb car use. It is one of dozens of cities worldwide working towards improving the life of their citizens while reducing fossil fuel use, but it claims to have the most ambitious targets. Read More here
The rise and rise of the 2015 El Niño: The Bureau of Meteorology has officially declared that we are in an El Niño, shifting its tracker from ALERT (a greater than 70% chance of El Niño forming) to an actual event. Speculation began in early 2014 that the world would see an El Niño, possibly a significant “super” event, by the end of that year. However the event development hit a few setbacks, and many thought the El Niño was already dead. In March this year, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared that the “most-watched” 2014-15 El Niño had finally arrived. Now our own Bureau has followed suit. So what’s going on? And how severe could the 2015-16 El Niño turn out to be? Read More here
Federal Budget 2015 – environment experts react: Environmental and energy issues did not feature heavily in the Budget, although there was a A$400 million total package of assistance for drought-stricken farmers (particularly relevant in the week that the Bureau of Meteorology called an El Niño), as well as an extra A$100 million in funding for the Reef Trust, aimed at safeguarding the Great Barrier Reef. Below, our experts react to the budget’s environmental and energy measures. Read More here