Ecos articles from June 2007

Ecos archives from June 2007

Planning for contingencies.(Editorial)(Editorial)
June 1, 2007... We lead issue 137 with a Focus on sea-level rise predictions and their implications for Australia over the next decades. International research, including that by CSIRO (see page 4), is showing that both greenhouse gas emissions and...

Piecing together Australia's climate change picture.
June 1, 2007... CSIRO researchers have been playing a leading role in tracking the emerging signals of climate change, advancing understanding about how the phenomenon will impact the Asia-Pacific region. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research scientists...

Wave power push for new WA desalination plant.(Carnegie Corporation)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Western Australian company, Carnegie Corporation, is proposing to set up the world's first base-load wave-power electricity station and desalination plant by 2012 based on locally developed CETO technology. Carnegie Managing Director Dr...

Using sewage and mining wastes to make arable land.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... According to the CRC for Contaminated Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Australia's 13 million tonnes of fly ash from power generation, an even larger amount of 'red mud' from bauxite processing and millions of tonnes of...

Commercial fishermen agree to protect Coral Sea reefs.(Coral Sea Fishers Association )(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The Coral Sea Fishers Association (CSFA), one of Australia's largest commercial fishing groups, has volunteered not to fish some of the country's most lucrative reefs. An agreement between tourist dive-boat operators and the CSFA means...

Millions allocated to Micronesia to meet climate change challenge.(marine resources conservation)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... As part of a US$100 million commitment to island conservation and reducing the impact of climate change, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has committed US$6 million to the Micronesia Challenge, a landmark conservation initiative in the...

Indonesia declares marine reserves in a biodiversity hotspot.(Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Indonesia's Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Mr Freddy Numberi, announced in May the establishment of a marine reserve encompassing 900 000 hectares of the Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat off the north-western tip of West Papua....

Nanotube membranes for energy efficient desalination.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... New membrane technology that would halve the amount of energy required to desalinate seawater is the goal of the latest Water for a Healthy Country Flagship initiative involving CSIRO and nine Australian universities. The Advanced Membrane...

A legend lives on in the salty West.(Profile)(Richard St. Barbe Baker's influence on environmental organizations)
June 1, 2007... In 1922, young forester Richard St Barbe Baker, working for the British Colonial Office in Kenya, persuaded thousands of Kikuyu tribesmen to undertake a massive tree-planting program to replace the forests they had destroyed. Eighty-five...

The benefit to the economy of early climate change action.(Progress)
June 1, 2007... For years economic rationalists have warned that the costs of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will undermine not only Australia's economy but also the world's. In short, argue the rationalists, GHG mitigation is a bad investment, the...

Preparing for sea-level rise.(SEA-LEVEL RISE)
June 1, 2007... The past 12 months have seen a deluge of newspaper articles, scientific papers and reports on climate change and global sea-level rise. One of the most anticipated was the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment...

Engaging international communities for whale shark conservation.(Progress)
June 1, 2007... Brad Norman's new funding support through a Rolex Award for Enterprise is enabling him to put his vision for localised whale shark conservation into practice around the globe. Winning a Rolex Award last year (see Ecos 133) was when it hit...

Letting the marshes.
June 1, 2007... As part of the Macquarie River system, rising above Bathurst and the Central Tablelands of north-west NSW, there was a time when the vast 220 000 hectare expanse of the Macquarie Marshes was home to Australia's greatest diversity of waterbirds...

Business challenged to make its own path to carbon rewards.(Progress)(carbon trading)
June 1, 2007... Trail-blazers from organisations on the leading edge of sustainable practice came together at the recent Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development in Brisbane to present an overview of the imperatives for our community in the new...

Improving performances in the boardroom.(Progress)(Company overview)
June 1, 2007... True to global research, companies that value their intangible assets and pay regard to the social, environmental and community issues that ultimately matter to stakeholders are now registering above-average financial performance. This is being...

A call for tougher groundwater management.(Progress)
June 1, 2007... Sometimes called the forgotten resource, groundwater occupies the spaces created by geological fractures and soil pores underground. These are known as aquifers when they can hold a usable quantity of water, and the depth at which aquifers...

Scientific approach to an emotional--and political--issue.(Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy )(Book review)
June 1, 2007... In his latest book, Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, he argues that the solutions to reducing emissions already exist--efficient energy use, solar hot water, gas, bioenergy, wind power, improved public transport and fuel efficient...

Reuse locally at e-cycled.com.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... 'We were mainly concerned about items such as furniture and whitegoods that many people throw out when they still have quite a bit of use left in them,' Wang says. When moving apartments recently, Andrews found he had a pile of furniture,...

Plastic membrane to bring down the cost of C [0.sub.2] capture.(Research)(carbon dioxide )
June 1, 2007... Coal-fired power stations are acknowledged as the single largest contributor to Australia's carbon dioxide emissions. PhD student, Julianna Franco, has developed a cost-effective C [O.sub.2] capture system based on the use of inexpensive...

Spider man in the hunt for a safer insecticide.(Research)(use of spider venom for an eco-friendly insecticide)
June 1, 2007... An Australian researcher is developing a new natural insecticide from spider venom that is deadly to insects yet harmless to humans, animals and the environment. Professor Glenn King from the University of Queensland's Institute for...

Smart fishing sets a standard in NZ.(Research)(New Zealand )
June 1, 2007... New Zealand has a regulatory framework to protect the marine environment against human assaults and is now using a unique management model developed by Aotearoa Fisheries Limited to construct a sustainable crab fishing industry from scratch....

Events Calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2007... Biodiversity Extinction Crisis Conference: A Pacific Response Sydney, 10-12 July www.biodiversity2007.com 3rd AWA Water Reuse and Recycling Conference Sydney, 16-18 July www.cwwt.unsw.edu.au/reuse07/index.html Cleantech Solutions for...