Ecos articles from August 2008

Ecos archives from August 2008

Returns on investment.(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... It seems surreal that, after such a prolonged lead-up, the framework of a national emissions trading scheme (ETS)--or pollution reduction scheme--is now being negotiated into place. What a remarkable change of pace; one which takes us forward,...

Science input'a must' for climate-policy decisions.
August 1, 2008... Climate change monopolised national media headlines in July, with the release of a draft emissions trading review report by Professor Ross Garnaut, the government's independent advisor on climate change, and the Federal Government's own Green...

Cane toads meet their nemesis?(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An Amazonian parasite and a pheromone may be the keys to slowing the rapid spread of cane toads in Australia, according to cane toad expert Professor Rick Shine from the University of Sydney. Professor Shine's...

Cures to help protect wildlife.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The Australian Government has established an endangered species certification scheme that will enable compliant traditional-medicine practitioners to use an accreditation logo that will alert customers to the fact that their products do not...

Australia in on billion-dollar Asia-Pacific illegal timber trade.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... An illegal timber trade worth more than $2 billion is thriving in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology. The report says illegal logging is widespread in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and...

Species recovers in no-take zones.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It took less than two years for coral trout numbers in the Great Barrier Reef to bounce back after a strict no-fishing ban was imposed over 33 per cent of the reef in 2004, reports a research team from the ARC Centre...

Australia leads world in sustainable bluefin tuna aquaculture.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... A European research consortium has reported spawning of Atlantic bluefin tuna--the southern bluefin's northern cousin--using the same strategy conceived by Port Lincoln-based Clean Seas Tuna Limited earlier this year. Researchers from the...

Land and sea--lower emissions options than air?(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Australia Post's Managing Director, Graeme John, told a recent meeting of nine of the world's biggest postal groups that climate change will put increasing pressure on the international freight industry to cut back on flights and revert to sea...

Cape York wilderness area under indigenous management.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The federal and Queensland governments have declared 200 000 hectares of the Cape York Peninsula an indigenous protected zone to be managed by the local Aboriginal community as a national reserve, Kaanju Ngaachi. The land--between Weipa,...

Flat screens a global warming risk?(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The demand for plasma TVs could be adding to global warming, according to a recent Geophysical Research Letters article in which two US researchers noted that nitrogen trifluoride (N[F.sub.3])--used in the manufacture of flat-screen TVs--is...

Brown to fight on to protect Wielangta forest.(Bob Brown )(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says he will continue his fight to protect Tasmania's Wielangta Forest, despite the High Court rejecting his application in May to appeal against a full Federal Court ruling that forestry operations in the...

Zero tillage boosts harvests in war-torn Iraq.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... An Australian-led cropping project in Iraq has led to increased production of wheat, barley and legumes, increased uptake of the conservation farming technique zero tillage, and wider use of improved crop varieties. The project is in the...

Crystals that make solar power and purify air.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... University of Queensland researchers have grown the world's first titanium oxide (titania) single crystals with large areas of reactive surface which, they say, could lead to a new generation of solar energy technology in 5 to 10 years' time....

The living culture whose time has come: while permaculture has had a low profile in the West, it has been the key to self-sufficiency for many people in the developing world. Given that climate change and sustainable development are dominating world headlines, the concept is finally beginning to get mainstream recognition in Australia--the home of permaculture. Rachel Sullivan spoke to co-originator David Holmgren.
August 1, 2008... Essentially a design toolkit aimed at teaching people how to feed themselves and live as energy-efficiently as possible, permaculture borrows techniques from organic agriculture, sustainable forestry, horticulture, agroforestry and indigenous...

The pursuit of happiness: sustaining human well-being.
August 1, 2008... CSIRO's Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds and Anthea Coggan argue that insights from research into happiness and well-being are important to achieving sustainable development in its broadest sense. Sustainable development is really about ensuring the...

Climate code red: the case for emergency action: war time style rationing is one of the solutions proposed for slashing our carbon emissions, in a new book calling for the most radical transformation of the economy and society since the Industrial Revolution. We've only got 10 years to do it--but it's possible. Alexandra De Blas spoke with the authors.
August 1, 2008... Imagine swiping your smart card to register your carbon ration every time you fuel up at the bowser. Your personal carbon allowance--which gets debited when you pay for carbon-based services or goods--would be granted annually and its value...

New management for Brisbane's natural assets.(Progress)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As increasing numbers of people move to the region, Brisbane City Council is assessing the feasibility of using asset-based management processes, traditionally used for managing infrastructure such as bridges and...

Taking the pulse of Australia's oceans.(Focus)
August 1, 2008... The rapid advance of remote sensing technology is now allowing the collection of continuous ocean data on an unprecedented scale. The national Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) program uses a wealth of distributed marine devices,...

Reading climate signatures in the Southern Ocean.(Focus)
August 1, 2008... The polar regions are sensitive barometers of environmental change--what we see at both the poles foreshadows what we can expect elsewhere on the globe in a changing climate, and right now they are experiencing some of the most rapid rates of...

Focus on climate adaptation to complement mitigation research.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... With some degree of climate change now 'locked in' over coming decades due to the concentration of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, CSIRO has launched a Climate Adaptation Flagship, which complements the organisation's existing...

Deep ice cores show greenhouse gases are highest for 800 000 years.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... In a paper published in Nature in May, a team of researchers reported that greenhouse gases are at higher levels in the atmosphere than at any time in at least 800 000 years, during which time the earth has experienced eight ice ages and...

New centre for climate policy targets flight emissions and feedbacks.(CLIMATE CHANGE BULLETIN)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The Australian National University (ANU) has opened the world's first legal research centre devoted to climate change policy. Andrew Macintosh, Associate Director of the Centre for Climate Law and Policy, has already called for airlines...

A view to our emissions trading scheme: whether it is the centrepiece of Australia's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the government claims, or just one of a raft of measures as others argue it should be, Australia's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is taking shape. Robin Taylor provides perspective on what and who is involved.(Focus)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As Professor Ross Garnaut said when releasing his Draft Report in early July, Australia is not early in entering the global emissions trading market; other developed countries are already well into testing emissions...

Rebuilding Vietnam's war-torn forests: Vietnam was once a land of dense forest. But nearly two-thirds of its tree cover was destroyed by war, overharvesting and clearing for agriculture. Today, trees are on the way back with the Vietnamese Government committed to planting five million hectares of trees on denuded land. Australian species and forestry expertise have played an important role.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the 1940s, 60 per cent of Vietnam was forested. But conflict (and the infamous Agent Orange), overexploitation, and slash-and-burn cultivation have all taken their toll, reducing forest coverage to just 23 per...

Guiding Australia's natural resources reporting.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The National Land & Water Resources Audit and its partners have made significant recent progress in building the basis of an enduring information system to report on the status of Australia's natural resources and...

The warming issue: a book in time.(Climate Change: What You Can Do About It)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Climate Change What You Can Do About It Paul Holper and Simon Torok Pan Macmillan Sydney 2008, Paperback ISBN: 9781405038782--AU$29.95 Available from Pan Macmillan With the recent...

Visions of future cities.(Transitions: Pathways Towards Sustainable Urban Development in Australia )(Book review)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Transitions Pathways Towards Sustainable Urban Development in Australia Peter W Newton (Ed.) CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne (with Springer) 2008, Hardback ISBN: 9780643094192--AU $195.00 ...

Scientists hold onto hope for the Coorong.(Research)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A worsening hyper-marine condition is one of five altering ecological states identified by researchers studying the future of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) region under a three-year, $5.3-million...

Mapping climate impacts on our coastal cities.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dr Ben Preston, a CSIRO scientist from the Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, is working with local councils and state governments to help them plan for the sea and weather impacts of climate change on...

Farmers bid for funding to protect Murray catchment biodiversity.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Through NestEgg, a collaboration between the NSW Murray Catchment Management Authority (MCMA), landholders and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Division, farmers are being paid to create the right conditions for birds to...