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Months after the bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, signs of the hoped-for recovery are scant. Kirsten Tidswell/Climate Council

The Great Barrier Reef’s ‘new normal’ is a forlorn sight

Member of the Climate Council this week returned to one of the areas of the Great Barrier Reef that was worst affected by this year’s coral bleaching. What they found was far from encouraging.
China’s embrace of technologies like solar roofs has seen it become the world’s biggest renewable energy investor. Climate Council

Australia is losing ground as the climate policy race gains pace

Climate change, now belatedly added to the agenda for this month’s G20 meeting in Brisbane, is a perennial topic whenever leaders gather for international summits. That’s understandable, given that countries…
Starting earlier, lasting longer: the challenge of managing the New South Wales bushfire season is getting harder. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Bushfire season in New South Wales grows longer and stronger

In New South Wales in 2013, bushfires in January and October collectively burned 768,000 hectares of bushland and destroyed 279 homes. Tragically, two people lost their lives and the damage was estimated…
Australia’s coast is famous around the world - but rising sea levels are poised to make things a lot less fun. Adam J.W.C./Wikimedia Commons

Climate Council: without action, rising seas will cost us billions

“I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” holds true for many Australians who live on or near the coast. On top of the many lifestyle amenities coastal living offers, much of the country’s crucial infrastructure…
The sun is setting on a heavily coal-dependent power sector, a new Climate Council report argues. Tao Zero/Flickr

Australia’s ancient electricity sector urgently needs a new plan

It takes 10 years or more to plan, permit, finance and build major new power plants. That means the decisions we make today – or don’t make – will have lasting consequences for generations to come. And…
This isn’t summer: Sydney broke the previous autumn warmth record by 10 days. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

‘Abnormal autumn’ shows the climate system is in a foul mood

The climate system is in a foul mood. From “angry summer” to “abnormal autumn” – we’re running out of words to describe the relentless extreme weather that Australia is experiencing as global temperatures…
Facts not enough: the climate message is still not getting through. Shutterstock

Facts won’t beat the climate deniers – using their tactics will

A colleague of mine recently received an invitation to a Climate Council event. The invitation featured this Tim Flannery quote: “An opinion is useless, what we need are more facts.” My first thought was…
Bathers on Melbourne’s St Kilda beach on 28 January this year, as temperatures hit 39°C. AAP

Climate Council: heatwaves are getting hotter and more frequent

Heatwaves are one of the most important climate-related risks for Australians. Sometimes called the “silent killers”, they cause the greatest number of deaths of any natural disaster type in Australia…
Firefighters battle a bushfire close to homes in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in October this year. AAP/Dan Himbrechts

Climate Council’s Code Red bushfire warning

Australians have always had to live with bushfires - but climate change is driving that fire danger even higher. And we’re not talking about a distant threat to future generations. According to real observations…
Former Chief Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery with a solar array at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus in 2011. AAP/Dave Hunt

Loved by the crowd, but will the new Climate Council be truly independent?

The newly-formed Climate Council has been swamped with A$160,000 in donations and so many followers that its Twitter account has been repeatedly suspended. But experts warn that concerns about its independence…

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