A controversial coal mine planned for the Southern Highlands has hit a major hurdle with the government finding groundwater effects “would be the most significant for any mining project that has ever been assessed in NSW”. The damning […]
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Delivery of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been secured with state and federal governments agreeing to terms about how environmental water will be returned to rivers. Up to 450 gigalitres will be returned to the environment, provided it […]
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Water is essential for life. It shapes where and how we live, determines the availability of food and other services that underpin human well-being and is crucial for healthy natural ecosystems. Yet in Australia and globally the water […]
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Clearfell logging in the Thomson Catchment with the Thomson Reservoir in the background. (Source: Chris Taylor) Continued logging in Melbourne’s water catchments could reduce the city’s water supply by the equivalent of 600,000 people’s annual water use every […]
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Rain of biblical proportions, heatwaves, tornadoes and bushfires — extreme weather events happen around the world on a regular basis and Australian scientists are hoping to improve their forecasting with the help of citizen scientists. A new app […]
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Australia is facing more severe floods and droughts as rainfall patterns diminish over the past three decades, a new report has warned. Co-author Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Council said the report shows an intensification of drought and […]
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On my way to work, I walk across the intersection of Knuckey and Wood streets. Most days a homeless man on his haunches is mouthing bureaucratic platitudes: Let’s workshop this? We need to have meeting about this! Can […]
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Drought is in the news here in New South Wales, Australia. But how are rainfall, drought and groundwater related? First, we need to understand what drought is. Is it a water shortage? Or a lack of rainfall? Or […]
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Two years ago we were celebrating just about the best year for farmers ever. Now many farmers – particularly in New South Wales and southern Queensland – are in the grip of drought. It underlines just how variable […]
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Australia Institute report find communities, graziers, small irrigators and native title holders are being left behind A new report looking at how the $13bn for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is being spent has found that big agribusiness is […]
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A year-and-a-half after massive floods inundated Lismore, the northern NSW town is to serve as a national “living laboratory”, hosting a research centre to focus on identifying flood risks and how to cope with their aftermath. The National […]
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With Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s National Drought Summit on today, state and federal political leaders will be pressured to “drought-proof” Australia. We have seen it all before –ideas from the bottom drawer of past policies, reflecting Australia’s obsession […]
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It’s not about more money for farmers. It’s about long-term settings for a changing climate – and taking the politics out of it Central to the Australian meaning of drought is the idea of a rainfall deficiency, a […]
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All over the world, the wind is slowing. Bit by bit, low-level land wind speeds have been decreasing since reliable records began in the 1970s. It is called “the stilling”. The decline was silently sneaking through under the […]
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Australians should brace for a dry, hot summer, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with no relief for drought-stricken farmers. The bureau’s climate outlook for November to January, released on Friday, says there is an 80% chance temperatures […]
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Lake Eyre is one of Australia’s most iconic wetlands, home to thousands of waterbirds that migrate from all over Australia and the world. But it is often dry for decades between floods. Many people think wetlands are swamps […]
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Barnaby Joyce, Australia’s new special envoy for drought assistance and recovery, will have to be careful he doesn’t do more harm than good. Government funding of agriculture during a drought typically falls into three categories: subsidies for farm […]
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If you’ve ever walked in a rainforest or even a greenhouse, you’ll know that the air inside is heavy with moisture. This phenomenon is caused by trees releasing water vapour through pores in their leaves called stomata. We […]
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Technology is quickly catching up with water theft and the NSW Government is funding new research projects to monitor water anomalies, as well as water flows. Just a week after the new NSW water regulator announced a number […]
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So far, 2018 has been very warm and exceptionally dry over large parts of mainland Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology’s climate outlook for spring, released today, shows that significant widespread relief is unlikely. The chance of a spring […]
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