tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/environment/articlesEnvironment + Energy – The Conversation2024-03-28T05:51:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2268092024-03-28T05:51:32Z2024-03-28T05:51:32ZCould spending a billion dollars actually bring solar manufacturing back to Australia? It’s worth a shot<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584924/original/file-20240328-21-3cqu7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C5104%2C2866&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-solar-panel-assembly-line-2204939257">IM Imagery/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/solar-sunshot-our-regions">announced today</a> it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those in the solar industry, and guarding against supply chain shocks and geopolitical tension. </p>
<p>The announcement is big. At a stroke, the federal government is proposing to directly invest in manufacturing the main technology Australia will rely on to make its power. By 2050, solar should provide most of our electricity – but only if we have enough panels. </p>
<p>What would that look like? Australia was once a world leader in solar energy technology. But while our solar researchers are still highly regarded, we only have one company commercially manufacturing solar panels. That means the SunShot program will likely start by boosting efforts to make modules here using imported cells and module components, before building out the supply chain to make glass for the panels, aluminium frames and, eventually, the solar photovoltaic cells themselves and the pure polysilicon needed to make them. </p>
<p>If we had a solar manufacturing industry able to make a gigawatt’s worth of panels annually, we <a href="https://arena.gov.au/knowledge-bank/apvi-silicon-to-solar-detailed-and-overview-reports/">would create</a> around 750 jobs and meet about 20% of our current demand for solar. More jobs would come as the ecosystem grows, including manufacturing glass and aluminium frames. </p>
<p>Critics will say it’s pointless to compete with China’s dominant renewable energy industry. But as climate change worsens and global efforts to go green intensify, we can’t rely on a single country. The backdrop, of course, is the increasing popularity of <a href="https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/what-is-onshoring/">reshoring</a>, where Western countries use public funding to try to bring back manufacturing from nations such as China, as the United States is aiming to do with its <a href="https://theconversation.com/made-in-america-how-bidens-climate-package-is-fuelling-the-global-drive-to-net-zero-214709">mammoth Inflation Reduction Act</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-dawn-becoming-a-green-superpower-with-a-big-role-in-cutting-global-emissions-216373">Australia's new dawn: becoming a green superpower with a big role in cutting global emissions</a>
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<h2>Can we compete with cheap panels?</h2>
<p>In 1983, UNSW professor Martin Green invented the first PERC solar cell (which stands for Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact). <a href="https://solarmagazine.com/solar-panels/perc-solar-panels/">This cell</a> was better at converting sunlight to electricity than previous cells. His invention is now in use in about 90% of the world’s installed solar panels.</p>
<p>Australian researchers have long been at the forefront of solar development. But where we’ve struggled is in commercialisation and manufacturing. The world’s first solar billionaire, Shi Zhengrong, did his PhD at UNSW before returning to his native China <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/eric-knight-shi-zhengrong-sun-king-eric-knight-3363">to found</a> the multinational solar giant SunTech. Even now, many of China’s top solar firms have connections with Australian researchers. </p>
<p>China became dominant in renewables not simply because of its enormous domestic market and a deep manufacturing base. The Chinese government has long funded solar firms to make their products more competitive. </p>
<p>That’s where Australia’s SunShot would come in, by helping to create the market of suppliers needed to make solar panel manufacturing a reality.</p>
<p>Australia wouldn’t be trying to go for global market share, but rather to substitute its own imports. Currently, only about 1% of the millions of panels we install annually are made in Australia. Even so, as the solar industry surges worldwide, there may well be room for more entrants. </p>
<h2>What would Australian solar manufacturing look like?</h2>
<p>We can’t run before we can walk. Bringing manufacturing back won’t happen overnight. Today’s announcement is short on detail. But we know it draws on work done last year by the Australian PV Institute in a report titled <a href="https://arena.gov.au/blog/silicon-to-solar-plan-australias-manufacturing-opportunities/">Silicon to Solar</a>, which this article’s lead author worked on. </p>
<p>Realistically, what we’ll have to start with is working with our single existing solar panel manufacturer, Tindo, as well as boosting other market entrants such as the startup SunDrive.</p>
<p>Tindo doesn’t make solar panels from scratch. Instead, it imports cells from overseas and assembles them into modules. </p>
<p>The first step, then, is to grow the market for Australian-made modules using imported products. This is the quickest step in the supply chain to establish.</p>
<p>Then we can begin helping suppliers of other components, such as the special glass to cover the panels, and the aluminium frames. </p>
<p>The next step would be to establish solar cell production lines in Australia and scale them to meet the demand from our own module production lines.</p>
<p>We could then move to the next challenge, turning silicon ingots into the wafers used for cells. Establishing these capabilities in Australia might allow Australia to export these materials to other markets such as the US and Europe.</p>
<p>The final step – and one that will take years and more investment, even if we start planning now – would be to have our own polysilicon factories. A multibillion-dollar factory near Townsville is being planned, with support from the <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/03/25/quinbrook-to-build-polysilicon-factory-in-australia/">Queensland government</a>.</p>
<p>Turning lower-grade metallurgical silicon into 99.9999% pure polysilicon is hard and expensive. You can’t build a small polysilicon factory – scale is important. But it can be done. The size of the factory needed means most of the polysilicon it produces will need to be exported to regions like the US and Europe. We could begin to substitute polysilicon for exports of coal and gas.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="solar production line" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584920/original/file-20240328-30-j3heel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Building up our solar manufacturing capabilities will take many steps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/automated-production-line-modern-solar-silicon-47536699">06photo/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>What are the benefits?</h2>
<p>The government will <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/solar-sunshot-our-regions">spruik jobs</a> in the regions, especially where retiring coal plants such as Liddell in New South Wales will take jobs with them. </p>
<p>But there are other benefits. We could take better advantage of the talent and research knowhow in Australia to begin building next-generation cells. </p>
<p>If we can kickstart a viable solar industry, it would help us unlock other parts of the green economy. Cheap and plentiful solar power could make it viable to crack water to make green hydrogen or make green steel and aluminium. </p>
<p>Many of these initiatives have to be set in train now to gain the benefits in five or ten years’ time. Today’s announcement is just the start. But in a sun-drenched country, it makes sense to aim for the skies. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-just-laid-out-a-radical-new-vision-for-australia-in-the-region-clean-energy-exporter-and-green-manufacturer-186815">Albanese just laid out a radical new vision for Australia in the region: clean energy exporter and green manufacturer</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Hallam is a senior consultant for ITP renewables and was involved in the ARENA Silicon to Solar report.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiacre Rougieux does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What would it mean to bring solar manufacturing back on shore in Australia?Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW SydneyFiacre Rougieux, Senior Lecturer, Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253372024-03-28T05:47:37Z2024-03-28T05:47:37ZMarine protected areas safeguard more than ecology – they bring economic benefits to fisheries and tourism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583964/original/file-20240325-28-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C309%2C2941%2C1670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/C Levers</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Marine Protected Areas (<a href="https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/mpas.html">MPAs</a>) have been used as a conservation measure for decades, but critics continue to <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/14-1427.1">argue that evidence of their economic benefits is weak</a>, particularly with regard to fisheries. </p>
<p>Given the challenges in establishing MPAs, including objections from fisheries and the frequently small size and sub-optimal location of protected areas, one would expect their economic benefits to be hard to detect.</p>
<p>My new <a href="https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.05417.080">study</a> reviews 81 publications about MPAs in 37 countries. It shows their establishment has resulted in benefits to commercial fisheries in 25 countries and to tourism in 24. These benefits covered a diversity of ecosystems, including coral reefs, kelp forests, mangroves, rocky reefs, salt marshes, mudflats and sandy seabed habitats.</p>
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<img alt="An underwater view of a kelp forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583967/original/file-20240325-17-84qdku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Kelp forests are among the marine ecosystems that benefit from protection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kelp-forest-views-below-1331702939">Shutterstock/Andrew b Stowe</a></span>
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<p>There were 46 examples of economic benefits to fisheries adjacent to a marine protected area. These include increased fish stocks and catch volumes, higher reproduction and larval “spillover” to fisheries outside the MPA. Other studies also reported <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641239">larger fish</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82371-5">lobsters</a> close to existing MPAs. </p>
<p>Despite claims in the research literature of fishery displacement due to the establishment of an MPA, it seems the benefits outweigh any temporary disruption of fishing activities. </p>
<p>In my research, I have found no evidence of net costs of an MPA to fisheries anywhere, at any time.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/75-of-australias-marine-protected-areas-are-given-only-partial-protection-heres-why-thats-a-problem-149452">75% of Australia's marine protected areas are given only 'partial' protection. Here's why that's a problem</a>
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<h2>Fishery models need to account for protection benefits</h2>
<p>Most economic models estimating the costs marine protected areas impose on fisheries don’t account for the present costs of fishery management (or absence of management). </p>
<p>When an entire fishery is closed temporarily by fishery management, the models estimate the potential benefit from stock recovery. But they don’t do that when a fraction of a fishery is closed for the long-term in an MPA. </p>
<p>Overall, my research shows that MPAs which ban all fishing have lower management costs and greater ecological and fishery benefits than more complex fishery regulations within a protected area. Thus, the economic models of the effects of MPAs need radical revision. </p>
<p>Although it may seem counterintuitive that a full restriction of fishing in an area will result in more fish elsewhere, this happens because MPAs act like a reservoir to replenish adjacent fisheries. </p>
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<img alt="A graphic listing the economic benefits marine protected areas deliver for fisheries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582964/original/file-20240319-24-7u7pgp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>In financial terms, the capital is invested and people benefit from the interest on the investment. To count the establishment of an MPA as a cost to fisheries is like claiming that interest earned on money is a cost. </p>
<p>In some areas, fishery controls such as quota and the type of gear allowed already restrict fishing over larger areas than a MPA (especially when most MPAs still allow some fishing). </p>
<p>An analysis of the <a href="https://publications.slu.se/?file=publ/show&id=120390">long-term effects of marine reserves in Sweden</a> found they complemented fishery management measures. But when they were reopened to fisheries, even if temporarily, the benefits were promptly lost.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/protected-marine-areas-should-serve-nature-and-people-a-review-of-south-africas-efforts-171438">Protected marine areas should serve nature and people: a review of South Africa's efforts</a>
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<p>MPAs represent a simple, viable, low-tech and cost-effective strategy that can be used for small and large areas. As such, they have proven highly successful both for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304380007002906?via%3Dihub">safeguarding marine biodiversity</a> and ecosystem functioning. More pertinently, they <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096456911630432X?via%3Dihub">reverse fishery declines</a>, secure <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569117300558?via%3Dihub">food and ecosystem services</a> and enable the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. </p>
<p>MPAs shift the management of fisheries from being purely a commercial commodity to include the wider socio-economic benefits they provide to coastal communities. This includes food security, cultural activities and sustainable likelihoods. A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0306-2">recent review of 118 studies</a> found that no-take, well enforced and older MPAs most benefited human wellbeing.</p>
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<img alt="Scuba diver swimming in Namena marine reserve in Fiji." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583965/original/file-20240325-26-9im8al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tourism also benefits from marine protected areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/scuba-diver-behind-swimthrough-namena-marine-reserve-fiji-news-photo/549013267?adppopup=true">Getty Images/Ullstein Bild</a></span>
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<h2>MPAs can generate billions from ecotourism</h2>
<p>In addition to economic benefits to fisheries, MPAs that are accessible to the public, and which harbour biologically diverse habitats, can generate millions to billions of dollars in tourism revenue per year.</p>
<p>This revenue is generated not only from entrance fees and MPA-associated businesses that may develop, but also from providing jobs and therefore improving the local economy and living standards, while contributing significantly to national GDP.</p>
<p>The largest benefits to fisheries and biodiversity, and lowest costs in management, come from the designation of MPAs from which no marine wildlife can be killed or removed. </p>
<p>This principle has been termed Ballantine’s Law after the late New Zealand marine biologist Bill Ballantine, known as the “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717302112?via%3Dihub">father of marine reserves</a>”. </p>
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<img alt="A graphic listing the economic benefits from marine protected areas to tourism" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582406/original/file-20240317-22-57xvcp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Back in the 1970s, Ballantine championed what was then a radical idea – that MPAs should be entirely no-take, permanent areas called marine reserves. This led to the establishment of <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/habitats/marine/type-1-marine-protected-areas-marine-reserves/purpose-and-benefits/">New Zealand’s first marine reserve</a>.</p>
<p>I have worked with Ballantine and one of our earlier <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534715001639">studies</a> found three-quarters of coastal countries didn’t have even one marine reserve. Today, <a href="https://navigatormap.org/">less than 3% of the global ocean</a> is under some form of protection. </p>
<p>Considering the proven benefits and popularity of MPAs, this is a missed opportunity for these countries’ economies and public engagement with nature. Once people witness the benefits of a fully protected area they are likely to want more.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Blue maomao fish swimming in a marine reserve in the Poor Knights, New Zealand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583966/original/file-20240325-24-wxhxwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Zealand’s first marine reserve has seen an increase in fish numbers, such as large shoals of blue maomao.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-maomao-fish-swimming-arch-poor-1290323608">Shutterstock/Bill Xu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fishing industry and fishing communities have much to gain from MPAs. But outdated misconceptions perpetuated in the scientific literature create barriers to their implementation. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320719312182">global analysis</a> has prioritised where to locate MPAs to meet the pledge to fully protect at least 30% of ocean habitats by 2030. This goal is supported by the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>, <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf">UN Convention on the Law of the Sea</a> and the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/protecting-30-of-earths-surface-for-nature-means-thinking-about-connections-near-and-far-180296">Protecting 30% of Earth's surface for nature means thinking about connections near and far</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fishery scientists and fishermen need to promote the placement of MPAs as a strategy to support biodiversity, including ecosystem-based management of fisheries. They should work with conservation scientists to realise the true capacity of MPAs for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/540341e">economic success</a>. </p>
<p>Marine protected areas represent our best strategy to reverse declining biodiversity and fisheries, because business-as-usual for global fisheries is unsustainable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark John Costello receives funding from the European Commission Horizon Europe research programme.. </span></em></p>Marine protection represents our best strategy to reverse declining biodiversity. But protected areas also provide a low-tech and cost-effective way for the fishing industry to safeguard stocks.Mark John Costello, Professor, Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2256642024-03-28T00:33:06Z2024-03-28T00:33:06ZCoastal dunes are retreating as sea levels rise - our research reveals the accelerating rate of change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584278/original/file-20240326-28-gjzijw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2250&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Hesp</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely oblivious to the changes.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X24001156">new research</a> documents the retreat, revealing an accelerating rate of change along Australia’s longest coastal dunefield, in South Australia. These beaches are being reshaped in the geological blink of an eye. </p>
<p>Wave action is eroding the shoreline and the wind is carrying the sand further inland, where new dunes are being formed. Climate change may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-fuelled-wave-patterns-pose-an-erosion-risk-for-developing-countries-184064">accelerating the rate of change</a> by increasing <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aav9527">ocean wind speeds and wave heights</a>.</p>
<p>This provides yet another reason to reduce emissions and limit global warming – before our beaches and dunes disappear before our very eyes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEykBpCvLEE?wmode=transparent&start=10" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Drone footage from Younghusband Peninsula in South Australia (Patrick Hesp)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-rising-sea-levels-will-affect-our-coastal-cities-and-towns-221121">How rising sea levels will affect our coastal cities and towns</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia’s longest stretch of coastal dunes</h2>
<p>Our South Australian study site, the Younghusband Peninsula, is the longest coastal dune system in Australia. It extends some 190km from the Murray River mouth at Goolwa to Kingston in the state’s southeast. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Locator maps pinpointing the dune study area, half a mile southeast of 42 Mile Crossing in South Australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584283/original/file-20240326-30-gbypzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dune study area in South Australia was half a mile southeast of 42 Mile Crossing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Hesp</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The shoreline of the central region of the peninsula, near 42 Mile Crossing in the Coorong National Park, started eroding in the early 1980s.</p>
<p>Our new research has found the shoreline has eroded about 100 metres since that time, at an average rate of 1.9m per year. Recently this has become much faster and is now up to 3.3 metres a year. That’s equivalent to losing a tennis court from the front of your house every seven years.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the dunes are marching inland at an incredible rate of 10 metres a year. </p>
<p>This is an extraordinary rate of change. If the shoreline erosion trend continues, it will dramatically change the national park dune system. </p>
<p>Dune sands may also invade the iconic Coorong Lagoon, impacting the Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance. Sand could slowly fill the lagoon, transforming the environment and reducing the habitat available for fish, waterbirds and other wildlife.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial imagery showing the formation of new sand dunes as the shoreline is eroded by waves" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584299/original/file-20240326-18-ldeufl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Contrasting aerial imagery from 1978, 1995, 2005, 2008, 2013 and 2019, showing erosion of the shoreline and formation of new sand dunes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marcio DaSilva using images from Google Earth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research also examined how the shoreline has changed over the past 80 years, using <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/esp.5400">aerial photography and satellite imagery</a>, and when the dunes on the Younghusband Peninsula formed, using various dating methods, historical aerial photography from 1945, and satellite imagery. We found they are forming at a very rapid rate. </p>
<p>This new field of coastal dunes developed in just over a decade. The landward edge of the dunefield has moved inland more than 100 metres in eight years.</p>
<p>Three factors may be causing the shoreline erosion and subsequent dune evolution. Offshore reefs that would have protected the coastline have been breaking down. Sea level has been slowly rising since 1920, so higher waves may be reaching the shore. And wave energy has been increasing in the Southern Ocean in the past ten years. </p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-1030" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/1030/4cf3eba59b2b09275ba18abf4e6a63f0c94b2b04/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Shaping coastal dunes</h2>
<p>Large dune systems are formed by sediment transported by waves from the ocean and the surfzone (where waves break). Once waves deposit the sand on the beach, the wind transports it landwards, creating dunes. </p>
<p>Where large amounts of sediment are delivered to a beach and blown inland, “transgressive” dunes may form. We also examined what drives the development of a transgressive dunefield.</p>
<p>Our research shows there are various factors involved, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>high sediment supply from the nearshore and beach system</li>
<li>rising sea level acting as a marine bulldozer that pushes sediments shorewards</li>
<li>wave scarping (creating steep, precipitous sand cliffs that are then prone to collapse) followed by wind erosion of dunes at the back of the beach</li>
<li>climate change resulting in lower rainfall, stronger winds, and a lowering of the water table, which all affect plant growth.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-fuelled-wave-patterns-pose-an-erosion-risk-for-developing-countries-184064">Climate-fuelled wave patterns pose an erosion risk for developing countries</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The eroded area is expanding north and south</h2>
<p>Our continuing observations and fieldwork show beach erosion and scarping now <a href="https://cmi.ga.gov.au/data-products/dea/581/dea-coastlines">extends for several kilometres</a> northwest and southeast of the area near 42 Mile Crossing.</p>
<p>Underlying older dunes are being cannibalised by the wind. As the scarp slope retreats, it supplies sediment that continues <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X24001156">building up the dunes</a> and transporting sand landwards across the older dunefield.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An oblique aerial view of the study site showing the formation of steep sand cliffs (~12m high) and new sand dunes smothering vegetation inland" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584245/original/file-20240325-30-ap7je9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drone footage shows wave action is forming steep sand cliffs (~12m high). The new sand dunes are cannibalising and migrating over the older vegetated dunes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Hesp</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Drone footage shows how wave erosion of the shoreline combined with wind-driven erosion can trigger the creation of a transgressive dunefield. </p>
<p>Our research shows many of the standard assumptions about the development rates and timescales of dunefield evolution may be wrong. If erosion at this site continues to extend north and south, massive changes to the dunefield system, coastal habitats and possibly the Coorong Lagoon may occur. </p>
<p>Such shoreline erosion and dunefield changes suggest what may happen in future to many Australian beach and dune systems as sea levels continue to rise with climate change.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K7yAXN-9Jjo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Flinders University Professor Patrick Hesp talks about his research into coastal dunes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/become-a-beach-scientist-this-summer-and-help-monitor-changing-coastlines-214307">Become a beach scientist this summer and help monitor changing coastlines</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Hesp receives funding from Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcio D. DaSilva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some Aussie beaches are being reshaped and coastal dunes are marching inland. We used data from aerial photography, field surveys, laser mapping and drones to study incredible rates of change.Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders UniversityMarcio D. DaSilva, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267242024-03-27T23:28:32Z2024-03-27T23:28:32ZAustralia must wean itself from monster utes – and the federal government’s weakening of vehicle emissions rules won’t help one bit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584679/original/file-20240327-24-tmdd5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5810%2C3867&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards by six months.</p>
<p>The legislation was introduced to parliament on Wednesday. The government <a href="https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/new-vehicle-efficiency-standard-tailored-australia">says</a> the new rules give Australian motorists a greater choice of electric vehicle models and insists the policy is “good for the environment”. </p>
<p>But on the latter point, the government is mistaken. The amended rules will slow the reduction in emissions from Australia’s polluting road transport sector. And they reflect domestic and international trends that, taken together, increase the risk Australia, and the world, will fail to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-passenger-vehicle-emission-rates-are-50-higher-than-the-rest-of-the-world-and-its-getting-worse-222398">Australian passenger vehicle emission rates are 50% higher than the rest of the world – and it's getting worse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the changes?</h2>
<p>Vehicle emissions standards set a limit on grams of CO₂ that can be emitted for each kilometre driven, averaged across all new cars sold. Carmakers failing to meet the standards will incur financial penalties.</p>
<p>The federal government released its <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/cleaner-cheaper-run-cars-australian-new-vehicle-efficiency-standard-consultation-impact-analysis">initial version</a> of proposed vehicle emissions standards in February.</p>
<p>Under the changes announced this week, some 4WD wagons – such as the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol – will be reclassified from “passenger car” to “light commercial vehicle”. The change means less stringent emissions standards will apply to those models.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/new-vehicle-efficiency-standard-tailored-australia">statement</a>, the government justified the change by saying some off-road wagons have a similar chassis and towing capacity to vehicles in the light-commercial category, and so should be subject to the same standards.</p>
<p>The government will also give more favourable treatment to heavier vehicles. And manufacturers will not be penalised under the scheme until July 2025 – six months later than the government originally proposed. </p>
<h2>The global picture</h2>
<p>The government’s decision to weaken the standards is a response to pressure from the domestic vehicle industry, and a concession to the Opposition which falsely claims the new standards are a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-15/fact-check-vehicle-missions-standard-ute-family-car-tax/103587622">ute tax</a>”.</p>
<p>But the watering-down also reflects a broader international trend in which the legacy vehicle industry is backing away from its <a href="https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/09/27/ford-to-lead-americas-shift-to-electric-vehicles.html">earlier</a> <a href="https://www.gm.com/commitments/electrification">commitments</a> to a rapid transition to electric vehicles. </p>
<p>For example, in the United States Ford and GM have both cut back production of some models, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/19/ev-cars-ford-lightning-gm-chevy-blazer-cuts">reportedly due to</a> lower-than-expected consumer demand.</p>
<p>Also in the US, carmakers this month <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/20/bidens-regulators-poised-to-issue-rule-meant-to-drive-electric-car-sales-00148019">secured a relaxation</a> of the Biden administration’s fuel efficiency targets for new vehicle sales.</p>
<p>US politicians are also pushing for <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-introduces-new-bill-raise-tariffs-chinese-evs-protect-american-autoworkers">increased tariff protection</a> from imports, already taxed at 27.5%. This would make US producers even more competitive against big Chinese electric vehicle brands such as BYD.</p>
<p>Toyota, the world’s largest car maker, has gone all-in on hybrid electric vehicles, beginning with the highly successful Prius. But as the global market has shifted to fully electric cars, Toyota has <a href="https://electrek.co/2023/10/30/why-is-toyota-anti-ev-it-lost-the-race-to-compete-ev-council/">fought against</a> further tightening of standards. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three large utes under US flag and Ford sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584688/original/file-20240327-26-ws6hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">US carmakers secured a relaxation on fuel efficiency targets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pressures in Australia</h2>
<p>Australia no longer has a domestic car manufacturing industry. But global carmakers continue to exert powerful influence through the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries, Australia’s peak industry body for manufacturers and importers of passenger and light-commercial vehicles. The chamber has consistently <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/inside-the-car-industry-s-climate-lobbying-push-20230522-p5da61.html">lobbied against</a> effective climate action. </p>
<p>The government’s agreement to weaken standards also reflects the prevailing assumption, apparently shared by both major parties, that tradespeople comprise the majority of the “working class” voters for whom they are vying.</p>
<p>But it’s an out-of-date assumption. In the 1980s, the occupations fitting a broad interpretation this term (trades and technical workers, machinery operators and labourers) <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release">accounted for 40%</a> of all employed workers, and a majority of full-time non-managerial workers. </p>
<p>But today, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release">only 28%</a> of workers fit this description. Workers with professional qualifications, such as teachers and nurses, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release">outnumber</a> trades and technical workers two to one. But their concerns are frequently dismissed by some politicians as those of a woke, inner-city minority. </p>
<h2>Utes are changing</h2>
<p>The shift from substance to symbol in regards to the working class is mirrored in the transformation of utes themselves. </p>
<p>Until relatively recently – and as the name implies – utes were utilitarian vehicles designed for the practical tasks of carrying a farming couple “<a href="https://hidrive.com.au/a-brief-history-of-the-ute/#:%7E:text=In%20one%20version%20of%20the,pigs%20to%20market%20on%20Mondays.">to church on Sundays and the pigs to market on Mondays</a>”. But over time, this has been replaced by various forms of cosplay. </p>
<p>Utes have been tricked out with sports bars and fancy wheels, metallic paint and so on. More recently, the traditional ute has been replaced by US-style pickups, typically sold in dual-cab configurations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-fuel-efficiency-standards-may-settle-the-ute-dispute-but-there-are-still-hazards-on-the-road-222875">Labor's fuel-efficiency standards may settle the ute dispute – but there are still hazards on the road</a>
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<p>Most models of the market-leading Ford Ranger <a href="https://www.ford.com.au/showroom/trucks-and-vans/ranger/specs/">don’t even offer</a> a single-cab version, though such versions are sold overseas.</p>
<p>These vehicles are massive, but many have far less carrying capacity than a traditional ute. For example, the Ram 1500 has a tub length of <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/motoring-news/2023-ram-1500-big-horn-has-arrived-in-australia/news-story/f84366c4e20c57d6a25201cc52440062">1.7 metres</a>, compared to about 2.4 metres for the tray of a standard single-cab ute. </p>
<p>Unless the growth in the size of passenger vehicles is stopped and reversed, Australia’s task of meeting our net-zero target will be even more difficult.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely the two big parties will act on this issue any time soon. But as climate change worsens, the need to wean ourselves from monster cars and internal-combustion engines will demand the attention of our political leaders.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Quiggin is a former Member of the Climate Change Authority, which recommended fuel efficiency standards in 2014</span></em></p>The amended rules will slow the reduction in emissions from Australia’s polluting road transport sector and reflect alarming trends, here and abroad.John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265132024-03-27T01:14:51Z2024-03-27T01:14:51ZThese extraordinary Australian islands are teeming with life – and we must protect them before it’s too late<p>In the Southern Ocean about 4,000 kilometres from Perth lies a truly extraordinary place. Known as the Heard Island and McDonald islands, they are among the most remote places on Earth: a haven for marine life amid the vast ocean, virtually undisturbed by human pressures.</p>
<p>But as our <a href="https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/understanding-the-marine-ecosystems-surrounding-heard-island-and-">report</a> released today reveals, this special place in Australia’s territory is at risk. In particular, climate change is warming the waters around the islands, threatening a host of marine life.</p>
<p>More than 20 years ago, a marine reserve was declared over the islands and parts of the surrounding waters. At the time, it was a significant step forward in environmental protection. But since then, science has progressed and the threats have worsened. </p>
<p>Our report reviewed these protections and found they are no longer adequate. The marine reserve surrounding the Heard and McDonald islands must urgently be expanded. </p>
<h2>Spotlight on the reserve system</h2>
<p>The Heard and McDonald islands are just a tiny tip of the Kerguelen Plateau – a huge underwater mass rising high above the surrounding ocean basins. </p>
<p>The plateau intercepts the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the strongest current system in the world. When the current hits the plateau, deep, nutrient-rich waters are pushed to the surface. This supports a food chain ranging from tiny plankton to fish, invertebrates, seabirds and marine mammals such as elephant seals and sperm whales.</p>
<p>On Heard Island, Mawson’s Peak is officially Australia’s highest mountain. It is 2,745 metres high and forms the summit of an active volcano known as Big Ben. Heard Island and McDonald Islands also host valuable fisheries for Patagonian toothfish and mackerel icefish.</p>
<p>The marine reserve around the islands was declared in 2002 and extended in 2014. It now covers 17% of what is known as the “exclusive economic zone” – the area of the sea in which a nation (in this case, Australia) has exclusive rights to resources such as fish and minerals.</p>
<p>The original reserve was primarily designed for waters shallower than 1,000m, because in 2002 little was known about the area’s deeper waters. A review of the reserve system is due this year.</p>
<p>Our report draws on more than 20 years’ of research conducted since the reserve was first declared. It highlights new scientific understanding of the region and the need to expand its protection.</p>
<p><iframe id="oSiut" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oSiut/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Climate pressures on the plateau</h2>
<p>Climate change poses wicked threats for the Heard and McDonald islands and surrounding marine environment. </p>
<p>We found the shelf area is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20781-1">becoming warmer</a>. This potentially threatens species adapted to cold polar waters, such as the mackerel icefish. This species lives in shallow water and is an important food source for fur seals and other predators. </p>
<p>No other sub-antarctic shelf exists to the south of Heard Island, which means the region is a vital animal habitat. Maintaining the islands’ biodiversity in the face of climate change is best achieved by extending the existing marine reserve to cover more shallow waters, as well as protecting currently unprotected deeper waters.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-only-active-volcanoes-and-a-very-expensive-fish-the-secrets-of-the-kerguelen-plateau-123351">Australia's only active volcanoes and a very expensive fish: the secrets of the Kerguelen Plateau</a>
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<h2>Protecting deep-water species</h2>
<p>The Patagonian toothfish is a top predator species that connects different parts of the food web. Commercial fishing in the islands’ economic zone targets toothfish using “<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/bycatch/fishing-gear-bottom-longlines">bottom longlines</a>” which are weighted to the seafloor at depths down to 2,000m. The footprint of fishing operations has expanded over the past 30 years.</p>
<p>Our report suggests protecting <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380016303325">spawning grounds</a> of toothfish will reduce risks to this species and help ensure the fishery does not deplete fish stock.</p>
<p>Fishing is managed in such a way to eliminate the accidental catching (or by-catch) of seabirds. But there is still significant by-catch of a number of non-target fish species, especially skates. </p>
<p>Keeping fishing out of some areas can reduce pressure on vulnerable species. Important areas for achieving this are in the deeper waters to the southeast of Heard Island. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-risk-index-shows-threats-to-90-per-cent-of-the-worlds-marine-species-190221">Climate risk index shows threats to 90 per cent of the world's marine species</a>
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<h2>Sustaining biodiversity into the future</h2>
<p>Our analysis reveals an updated understanding of the marine ecosystems surrounding Heard and McDonald islands.</p>
<p>Scientists now know more about where <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1470160X16302977">marine mammals and birds forage</a> – particularly in the important period when parents are feeding their young. We found some species that breed on Heard Island, including king penguins and fur seals, rely on areas not protected by the marine reserve during these times.</p>
<p>Our analysis also reveals a complex mosaic of productive habitats in shallow water, and less productive habitats in deeper water. This in turn affects the distribution of animal species.</p>
<p>Increased protection for the areas in the west, south, and southeast of the economic zone will be needed to protect animals in these habitats.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Increased protections are needed to protect biodiversity in the region." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298059/original/file-20191022-28092-12ocbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bird activity behind a research vessel near the Kerguelen Plateau.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Tixier</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>The current marine reserve covering Heard and McDonald islands is not sufficient. It should cover deeper water ecosystems and provide protection for foraging areas of resident seals, penguins and albatross. </p>
<p>Protecting spawning grounds of toothfish and areas important to cold-adapted species, such as mackerel icefish, will help ensure these species have the best chance against continuing warming of the ocean. </p>
<p>Extending the protections would help Australia meet its domestic policy and international agreements. For example, the federal government has committed to protecting <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-committed-to-protect-30-of-australias-land-by-2030-heres-how-we-could-actually-do-it-217795">at least 30%</a> of ocean ecosystems by 2030.</p>
<p>It would also ensure our marine protected areas are <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/marinereservesreview/resources/representative-system">nationally representative</a> – a key national objective Australia has committed to.</p>
<p>By extending adequate protection of Heard and McDonald islands, Australia has the chance to show global leadership in conserving this precious natural asset in the Southern Ocean.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The report underpinning this article was part-funded by Pew Charitable Trusts and the Australian Marine Conservation Society.</span></em></p>A new report has found the marine reserve covering the Heard and McDonald islands must urgently be expanded.Ian Cresswell, Adjunct professor, The University of Western AustraliaAndrew J Constable, Adviser, Antarctica and Marine Systems, Science & Policy, University of TasmaniaKeith Reid, Honorary Research Associate, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257992024-03-26T16:39:55Z2024-03-26T16:39:55ZAir quality at many train stations is alarmingly bad. Here’s how to improve it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583589/original/file-20240321-21-4sarpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-11-january-2020-southern-1616919649">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-06/melbourne-southern-cross-station-air-pollution-data-revealed/103486852">revelations</a> about poor air quality at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station probably came as no surprise for passengers who have experienced such conditions. </p>
<p>Train platforms, bus terminal and nearby areas have recorded alarmingly poor air quality. In some parts of the station, nitrogen dioxide levels were more than 90 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/what-are-the-who-air-quality-guidelines">recommended limit</a>. At such levels, considered much <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-06/melbourne-southern-cross-station-air-pollution-data-revealed/103486852">higher than medically acceptable</a>, human <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data">health is at risk</a>. </p>
<p>Poor air quality in train stations is a concern in many major cities, including <a href="https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/air-pollution-in-sydney-train-stations-is-at-dangerous-levels-but-you-can-do-these-things-to-reduce-harm-022124">Sydney</a>, <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/poor-air-quality-across-northeastern-public-transit-systems">New York and Boston</a> in the US, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/london-underground-polluted-with-particles-small-enough-to-enter-the-human-bloodstream-new-research-196600">London</a> and <a href="https://www.pollutionsolutions-online.com/news/air-clean-up/16/breaking-news/are-train-stations-a-pollution-hotspot/49741">Edinburgh</a> in the UK. In some Sydney stations and tunnels, air pollution was <a href="https://rtbuexpress.com.au/inadequate-ventilation-in-stations-a-concern-for-workers-and-passengers/">up to five times worse</a> than the WHO’s recommended limit. </p>
<p>Poor air quality is a result of fumes from diesel engines, restricted airflow, station design and the wear of train components. These emissions include tiny airborne particles. This fine particulate matter can <a href="https://particleandfibretoxicology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12989-019-0296-2">cause illness and disease</a>. Passengers, workers and nearby residents may all be affected.</p>
<p>Solutions already exist. Investing in technology, alternative fuels, electrification and better management of stations can improve air quality and reduce the health risks. As with COVID, people can also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311076/">reduce their exposure</a> by wearing <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/face-mask.aspx">suitable face masks</a>, such as <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/face-mask.aspx">P2 and N95</a> masks.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1765304033860821344"}"></div></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/london-underground-polluted-with-particles-small-enough-to-enter-the-human-bloodstream-new-research-196600">London Underground polluted with particles small enough to enter the human bloodstream – new research</a>
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<h2>It’s a worldwide problem</h2>
<p>International studies show poor air quality is common in enclosed train and bus stations. Data for most stations from many cities show levels of fine particulate matter exceeded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rndxwsxrBJ0">WHO guidelines</a>.</p>
<p>In Sao Paolo, Brazil, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31831243/">a study found</a> “time spent inside a bus terminal can result in an intolerable health risk for commuters”. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b06980">Danish study</a> identified much higherpollution levels of pollutants in and around diesel trains than for electric trains. Inside the diesel trains, levels of ultrafine particulate matter were 35 times higher, black carbon six times higher, nitrogen oxides (NOx) eight times higher, PM2.5 (particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, so they can enter the bloodstream) twice as high and benzo(a)pyrene six times higher. </p>
<iframe title="PM2.5 levels in train stations around the world" aria-label="Bar Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-OBmQR" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OBmQR/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="708" data-external="1"></iframe>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/commuting-by-subway-what-you-need-to-know-about-air-quality-82859">Commuting by subway? What you need to know about air quality</a>
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<h2>But aren’t trains a more sustainable form of transport?</h2>
<p>In terms of sustainability and general urban <a href="https://www.iqair.com/world-air-quality-report">air quality</a>, trains help reduce emissions and air pollution when compared to <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-rapid-shift-to-electric-vehicles-can-save-24-000-lives-and-leave-us-148bn-better-off-over-the-next-2-decades-190243">cars and trucks</a> in Australia. Trains transport people more efficiently, with a much smaller land, energy and emissions <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/fb7dc9e4-d5ff-4a22-ac07-ef3ca73ac680/The_Future_of_Rail.pdf">footprint</a>. </p>
<p>The health impacts of air pollution are usually <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266716300214?via%3Dihub#ecomp10">lower</a> for train commuters than those who commute by car. However, the impacts on train commuters depend on <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/acs.est.8b06980">location, the fuel used</a> (diesel or electric) and the extent of their exposure to highly polluted air in enclosed and underground stations.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-from-brake-dust-may-be-as-harmful-as-diesel-exhaust-on-immune-cells-new-study-129594">Air pollution from brake dust may be as harmful as diesel exhaust on immune cells – new study</a>
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<hr>
<h2>What can be done to improve air quality?</h2>
<p>Rail operators can do many things to help passengers breath more easily. These involve both trains and station management.</p>
<p>Train-side interventions include the use of cleaner fuels, more efficient engines and filtering systems, and shifting from diesel to electric trains. </p>
<p>Station-side solutions include exhaust fans, station design and real-time monitoring of air quality. Optimising schedules and operations can reduce train engine idling time. Loading and unloading facilities can be relocated away from congested areas. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An infographic showing the ways to improve air quality, including electrified trains, air filters and policy changes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583612/original/file-20240322-28-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Swinburne University of Technology (2024)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p><strong>Alternative fuels</strong></p>
<p>Train operators have <a href="https://www.up.com/customers/track-record/tr090622-biofuel-locomotive-fleet.htm">trialled the use of biofuels</a>, typically blended with mineral diesel. Biodiesel and renewable diesel are made from renewable resources and burn cleaner. Biofuels can cut greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c00289">by up to 86%</a>. </p>
<p>Biodiesel costs <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/files/u/publication/alternative_fuel_price_report_january_2024.pdf">nearly the same</a> as mineral diesel, but renewable diesel costs more. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Viyc8JcqL0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Biodiesel in the Outback.</span></figcaption>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-could-biofuels-replace-all-fossil-fuels-in-new-zealand-162502">Climate explained: could biofuels replace all fossil fuels in New Zealand?</a>
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<p><strong>Technology fixes</strong></p>
<p>Exhaust after-treatment systems on diesel engines are a low-cost option. Filters can capture most soot particles. <a href="https://enginetechforum.org/selective-catalytic-reduction-scr">Selective catalytic reduction</a> technology uses a chemical reaction to reduce <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40825-015-0020-0">NOx emissions</a>. </p>
<p>Improving ventilation and air flow within stations can also help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114284">limit pollution</a>.</p>
<p>Another option is diesel-hybrid <a href="https://new.abb.com/news/detail/94295/department-for-infrastructure-and-transport-in-south-australia-selects-abb-for-australias-first-diesel-hybrid-train-fleet-conversion">train fleet conversion</a>. Electric traction modules and energy-storage systems recover energy when the train brakes and store it in a battery for later use. </p>
<p>These systems can operate the train when the diesel engines are shut down, for example during boarding. Energy savings can be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352152X2202103X#ab0005">up to 6,000kWh/day</a>. </p>
<p>The South Australian government has <a href="https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/news/feed?a=1288902">retrofitted trains</a> with these systems. They can cut fuel use by up to 20% and carbon dioxide emissions by 2,400 tonnes a year on the Adelaide Metro. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vq_3rGhcIBg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">South Australia has retrofitted Adelaide trains with hybrid-diesel technology.</span></figcaption>
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<p><strong>Electrification</strong></p>
<p>Electric trains produce much less air pollution – around <a href="https://www.railway-technology.com/features/overhead-lines-vs-third-rail-how-does-rail-electrification-work/?cf-view">20-30% less greenhouse gas emissions</a> per passenger kilometre. </p>
<p>Being lighter and more efficient, electric trains are also cheaper to make, maintain and run than diesel trains (with average savings of <a href="https://www.railway-technology.com/features/overhead-lines-vs-third-rail-how-does-rail-electrification-work/">20%, 33% and 45%</a> respectively).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-freight-used-to-go-by-train-not-truck-heres-how-we-can-bring-back-rail-and-cut-emissions-219332">Australia's freight used to go by train, not truck. Here's how we can bring back rail – and cut emissions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Cleaner air saves lives</h2>
<p>Estimating health impacts in Australia is difficult due to limited data, but international evidence provides guidance.</p>
<p>Compared to travel on roads, commuters on trains and metros typically have less exposure to air pollution, except for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266716300214?via%3Dihub#ecomp10">black carbon</a>. Long-term exposure to black carbon <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519621002771">typically increases</a> mortality rates even at low levels of ambient air pollution.</p>
<p>At exposure levels close to what is <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/epdf/10.1164/rccm.201211-2004OC?role=tab">often found</a> in cities, excess lifetime lung cancer mortality is 0.3 per 1,000. For train staff, <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/acs.est.8b06980">Danish research</a> estimates black-carbon exposure results in an extra 16 lung cancer deaths per 1,000 individuals over a lifetime (assuming an eight-hour working day). For working conditions over ten years, a six-fold increase in black carbon lifts this rate to 1.9 per 1,000. A ten-fold increase takes it to <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/epdf/10.1289/ehp.1306880">3.2 extra deaths per 1,000</a>. </p>
<p>Short-term exposure to high air pollution is also linked to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9875429/">deaths from kidney disease</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SDlyCRC4I8o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers discuss the link between air pollution and lung cancer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Leadership is needed to protect people and the planet</h2>
<p>Some solutions are easy to apply immediately. Others require planning and foresight. </p>
<p>The impacts on rail costs and operations should be balanced against the importance of protecting the health of commuters and staff, as well as cutting emissions. </p>
<p>Active monitoring and transparent reporting of air quality promote public trust. They’re also needed to assess the effectiveness of solutions. </p>
<p>Shifting towards a cleaner rail system is an opportunity for operators and regulators to show vision and leadership by supporting trains as one of the best alternatives to cars and trucks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magnus Moglia receives funding from the iMOVE Australia Cooperative Research Centre, Transport for New South Wales, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Sydney Water, Sustainability Victoria, AHURI, and ACIAR. He is affiliated with Regen Melbourne.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian A. Nygaard receives funding from the iMOVE Australia Cooperative Research Centre, Transport for New South Wales, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Sustainability Victoria, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, and the Community Housing Industry Association</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hadi Ghaderi receives funding from the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre, Transport for New South Wales, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, IVECO Trucks Australia limited, Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre, Victoria Department of Education and Training, Bondi Laboratories, Australian Meat Processor Corporation, MotorOne Group, 460degrees and Passel.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hussein Dia receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the iMOVE Australia Cooperative Research Centre, Transport for New South Wales, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, and Beam Mobility Holdings.
For this article, Hussein acknowledges the input of Mr Ali Matin, PhD candidate from Swinburne University of Technology, for the work he completed in collating the data and development of diagrams and visuals.</span></em></p>Serious air pollution is a common problem in stations around Australia and the world. But solutions already exist, and some can be applied immediately to protect station staff and commuters.Magnus Moglia, Associate Professor in Systems Science and Sustainable Urbanism, Swinburne University of TechnologyChristian A. Nygaard, Professor in Social Economics and Urban Studies, Swinburne University of TechnologyHadi Ghaderi, Associate Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Swinburne University of TechnologyHussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259972024-03-26T00:03:22Z2024-03-26T00:03:22ZHow climate change could affect the microbes that ferment grapes and give wine its specific flavours<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583911/original/file-20240324-26-w9yap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1005%2C143%2C5796%2C2766&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/sauvignon-blanc-grapes-on-the-vine-in-the-marlborough-wine-news-photo/527401538?adppopup=true">Getty Images/Tim Clayton</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The far-reaching consequences of climate change inevitably include the production of foods and beverages, including wine. </p>
<p>In New Zealand, winemaking is an important business, with exports worth more than NZ$2 billion per year. </p>
<p>Earlier <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.618039">studies</a> have already suggested that grapevine characteristics such as flowering and grape sugar ripeness may be linked to climatic changes. But so far, the microbes that ferment grapes have received little attention.</p>
<p>Our new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296859">research</a> explores how yeasts, bacteria and fungi may be affected by changes in temperature and rainfall. </p>
<h2>Microbes, wine and the coveted gold star</h2>
<p>Without microbes, all we have is grape juice.</p>
<p>It is well established that individual strains of yeast (most commonly <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em>) used to ferment grape juice into wine play a major role in the generation of a range of chemical compounds that influence the flavour, aroma and mouthfeel of wine. A “good” strain (or strains) can mean the difference between a gold award or a bottle of plonk.</p>
<p>Conventional commercial winemakers tend to use established strains from yeast suppliers to provide increased assurance for their production schedule and consistency of the final product. Nonetheless, inevitably every batch of juice will already possess its own diverse community of microorganisms, some of which will begin exerting their own influences upon the wine as it develops.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Barrells of fermenting wine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583913/original/file-20240324-20-3lvuqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As wine develops, chemical compounds released by microbial processes influence the flavour and aroma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Rudmer Zwerver</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some winemakers choose to eschew the addition of commercial yeast, relying on the native microflora in and on the grapes to do the job. This process can be referred to as either spontaneous or “wild” fermentation. </p>
<p>In such cases, the role and diversity of these microbes is critical in the development of the wine, and to its quality. Various <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1317377110">studies</a> have demonstrated that the microbial populations in a given winemaking region can be distinctive, contributing to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944501315300185">terroir of the wine</a>. </p>
<p>But what if they change over time and in different climates? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grape-growers-are-adapting-to-climate-shifts-early-and-their-knowledge-can-help-other-farmers-183636">Grape growers are adapting to climate shifts early – and their knowledge can help other farmers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Climatic factors and changing microbes</h2>
<p>In collaboration with Greystone Wines, an organic winemaker in North Canterbury, we had the opportunity to explore how microbial ecosystems (yeasts, bacteria and fungi) in organic winemaking changed between vintages. </p>
<p>We set out to test this by analysing must (grape juice sampled during fermentation). We also tested exposure of their Pinot Noir wines to wild microbes in their winery and vineyard during two different years of production, 2018 and 2021.</p>
<p>We then subjected these samples to a molecular genetic process called “metabarcoding”. In this process, universal gene markers found in every single known example of bacteria, fungi and yeast are used to describe the diversity and distribution of microbes in the samples taken at different times of the wine production.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/come-pests-frost-or-fire-how-the-swiss-are-arming-their-wines-against-climate-change-202663">Come pests, frost or fire: How the Swiss are arming their wines against climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296859">results</a> were striking. Samples taken from the 2018 vintage contained certain organisms that seemed to be completely absent in the 2021 vintage – and vice versa. </p>
<p>We found significant differences between vintages, most striking for bacteria (with 12 of 16 organisms present in one vintage but not the other). For fungi and yeast species, we found six of a total of 12 organisms fluctuating between harvests. </p>
<p>What could cause these differences? We suggest changes in temperature and rainfall play an important role. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rows of wine in a vineyard" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583914/original/file-20240324-26-fhrz82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Temperature and moisture influence how well microbes grow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/byvalet</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using publicly available climate data on humidity, temperature and rainfall to model climatic differences we determined that especially temperature, but also humidity, may be important factors in influencing the composition of different populations of microbes. The average rainfall during each of the production periods was also very different. </p>
<p>Temperature and moisture are well established elements that influence microbial growth, but to observe such stark differences between populations was a surprise to us.</p>
<h2>Implications of climatic and microbial diversity for wines</h2>
<p>Fermentative yeasts are the major agents converting grape fruit sugar into alcohol, the primary winemaking reaction. As mentioned above, they also help produce a range of other chemicals involved with the overall flavour and perception of the wine. </p>
<p>Different yeast strains will produce different compounds. Even at early stages of fermentation, certain yeasts may affect the overall quality of the wine. Most bacteria are not well adapted to the rather harsh environments of wine (ethanol is toxic, hence its use as a sanitiser); however several may proliferate, and some are known to spoil.</p>
<p>Like yeasts, any bacterium able to grow in grape juice (even for a short time) will secrete chemicals into the wine. Whether or not such chemicals are perceptible, favourable or undesirable to humans depends entirely on the individual chemical. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-may-make-bordeaux-red-wines-stronger-and-tastier-215503">Climate change may make Bordeaux red wines stronger and tastier</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some of the organisms observed are expected, with well-known adaptations to the wine environment. However, the dominance of a bacterium (<em>Tatumella</em>)
previously found in winemaking regions abroad is especially striking in the 2021 vintage. Its role is unknown.</p>
<p>What does this mean for the New Zealand, and indeed international, wine industry? We don’t know yet whether the changes in microbial diversity affect the flavour profiles of these two vintages. However, it is prudent to say that changes in microbial populations in winemaking are associated with differences in climatic factors.</p>
<p>It is therefore important we understand the full extent of climate change impacts on winemaking to be better prepared to protect the industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Winemakers need to understand the full extent of climate change impacts on the industry, including how changes in temperature and humidity may affect the microbes that ferment grapes.Stephen On, Professor of Microbiology, Lincoln University, New ZealandManpreet K Dhami, Senior Researcher, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2256742024-03-25T19:05:50Z2024-03-25T19:05:50ZIf you’ve got a dark roof, you’re spending almost $700 extra a year to keep your house cool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584001/original/file-20240325-26-6somxa.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C66%2C4025%2C2969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sebastian Pfautsch</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you visit southern Greece or Tunisia, you might notice lots of white rooftops and white buildings to reflect the intense heat and keep residents cooler. </p>
<p>It’s very different in Australia. New housing estates in the hottest areas around Sydney and Melbourne are dominated by dark rooftops, black roads and minimal tree cover. Dark colours trap and hold heat rather than reflect it. That might be useful in winters in Tasmania, but not where heat is an issue.</p>
<p>A dark roof means you’ll pay considerably more to keep your house cool in summer. Last year, the average household in New South Wales paid A$1827 in electricity. But those with a lighter-coloured cool roof <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/unsw-adobe-websites/arts-design-architecture/built-environment/our-research/high-performance-architecture-research-cluster/2022-08-22282-UNSW-Cool-Roofs-Project-Report-WEB.pdf">can pay</a> up to $694 less due to lower cooling electricity needs. Put another way, a dark roof in Sydney drives up your power bill by 38%. </p>
<p>When suburbs are full of dark coloured roofs, the whole area heats up. And up. And up. This is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-western-sydney-is-feeling-the-heat-from-climate-change-more-than-the-rest-of-the-city-201477">urban heat island effect</a>. In January 2020, Penrith in Western Sydney was the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sydney-suburbs-that-hit-50c-last-summer-20201002-p561by.html">hottest place on Earth</a>. </p>
<p>Cool roofs have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112577">many benefits</a>. They slash how much heat gets into your house from the sun, keep the air surrounding your home cooler, boost your aircon efficiency, and make your solar panels work <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148123013939?via%3Dihub">more efficiently</a>.</p>
<p>State governments could, at a stroke, penalise dark roofs and give incentives for light-coloured roofs. Scaled up, it would help keep our cities cooler as the world heats up. But outside South Australia, it’s just not happening. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="infrared image of housing estate showing dark roofs becoming much hotter than light" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583606/original/file-20240322-18-1dka8v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You can clearly see here the difference roof colour makes. On the left, you can see the real view of a new housing estate. On the right, an infrared camera shows you the difference in heat (redder = hotter, green = cooler.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sebastian Pfautsch</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why won’t state governments act?</h2>
<p>To date, our leaders show no interest in encouraging us to shift away from dark roofs. </p>
<p>In New South Wales, plans to ban dark roofs were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/09/plan-to-ban-dark-roofs-abandoned-as-nsw-government-walks-back-sustainability-measures">axed abruptly</a> in 2022 after pushback from developers. </p>
<p>The current NSW planning minister, Paul Scully, has <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/basix-pause-to-help-home-buyers-and-builders">now paused upgrades</a> to the state’s sustainability building standards which would have <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/nonsense-call-leaves-millions-vulnerable-to-summers-silent-killer/news-story/d4f9221eb33157f8d6df4b6213e4c1e3">encouraged light-coloured roofs</a>. Other Australian states and territories have <a href="https://www.absa.net.au/notes/ncc-2022/">also paused</a> the rollout of new, more ambitious building sustainability standards. </p>
<p>This is short-sighted for several reasons: </p>
<ol>
<li>it costs the same for a light- or dark-coloured roof </li>
<li>owners will pay substantially higher electricity bills to keep their houses cool for decades</li>
<li>keeping the building status quo makes it harder to reach emission targets</li>
<li>dark roofs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2023.111948">cut how much power</a> you get from your rooftop solar, especially when it’s hot. This is doubly bad, as blackouts are most likely during the heat. </li>
</ol>
<p>At present, South Australia is the only state or territory acting on the issue. Early this year, housing minister Nick Champion announced dark roofs <a href="https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-releases/news-items/northern-suburbs-housing-hotspots-cooler-future">will be banned</a> from a large new housing development in the north of Adelaide. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-australian-dream-new-homes-in-planned-estates-may-not-be-built-to-withstand-heatwaves-166266">The Great Australian Dream? New homes in planned estates may not be built to withstand heatwaves</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s at stake?</h2>
<p>At present, the world’s cities <a href="https://ghgprotocol.org/ghg-protocol-cities">account for 75%</a> of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. It’s vitally important we understand what makes cities <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/resources/factsheets">hotter or cooler</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chart showing city design and built infrastructure make cities hotter while trees and proximity to water make it cooler" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583603/original/file-20240322-30-hbnhwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These are the main factors making cities hotter or cooler.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/figures/chapter-10/faq-10-2-figure-1">IPCC</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Brick, concrete, tarmac and tiles can store more heat than grass and tree-covered earth can, and release it slowly over time. This keeps the air warmer, even overnight. </p>
<p>Built-up areas also block wind, which cuts cooling. Then there’s transport, manufacturing and air-conditioning, all of which increase heat. </p>
<p>Before aircon, the main way people had to keep cool was through how they designed their homes. In hot countries, buildings are often painted white, as well as having small windows and thick stone walls. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="mykonos greece panorama, white rooftops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583975/original/file-20240325-30-bm2jka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">White rooftops are common in hot regions, such as Mykonos in Greece.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mykonos-greece-panoramic-view-town-cyclades-1916571950">Izabela23/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The classic <a href="https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/features/list/why-queensland-architecture-is-celebrated">Queenslander house</a> was lifted off the ground to catch breezes and had a deeply shaded veranda all around, to reduce heat. </p>
<p>But after aircon arrived, we <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2017/5/9/15583550/air-conditioning-architecture-skyscraper-wright-lever-house">gradually abandoned</a> those simple cooling principles for our homes, like cross-ventilation or shade awnings. We just turned on air conditioning instead. </p>
<p>Except, of course, the heat doesn’t go away. Air conditioning works by exchanging heat, taking the heat out of air inside our house and putting it outside. </p>
<p>As climate change intensifies, it makes hot cities even hotter. Heatwaves are projected to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081004">be more frequent</a>, including in spring and autumn, while overnight temperatures will also increase. </p>
<p>As cities grow, suburbs can push into hotter areas. The 2.5 million residents of Western Sydney live at least 50km from the sea, which means cooling sea breezes don’t reach them. </p>
<p>Sweltering cities aren’t just uncomfortable. They are dangerous. Extreme heat <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102671">kills more people</a> in Australia than all other natural disasters combined. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-will-swelter-through-46-days-per-year-over-35-c-by-2090-unless-emissions-drop-significantly-177056">Western Sydney will swelter through 46 days per year over 35°C by 2090, unless emissions drop significantly</a>
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<hr>
<h2>How can we cool our cities?</h2>
<p>We don’t have to swelter. It’s a choice. Light roofs, light roads and better tree cover would make a real difference. </p>
<p>There’s a very practical reason Australians prize “leafy” suburbs. If your street has established large trees, you will experience less than half the number of days with extreme heat compared on residents <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/9/945">on treeless streets</a>. If you live in a leafy street, your home is also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920461200299X">worth more</a>.</p>
<p>Blacktop roads are a surprisingly large source of heat. In summer, they can <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-01-24/why-australia-builds-dark-roads-despite-heatwaves-climate-change/103375122">get up to 75°C</a>. Our research shows reflective sealants can cut the temperatures <a href="https://doi.org/10.26183/hstd-bj72">up to 13°C</a>. Some councils <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-01-24/why-australia-builds-dark-roads-despite-heatwaves-climate-change/103375122">have experimented</a> with lighter roads, but to date, uptake has been minimal. </p>
<p>Cool roofs markedly reduce how much energy you need to cool a house. When used at scale, <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-architecture/our-schools/built-environment/our-research/clusters-groups/high-performance-architecture/projects/study-on-the-cool-roofs-mitigation-potential-in-australia">they lower</a> the air temperatures of entire suburbs. </p>
<p>The simplest way to get a cool roof is to choose one with as light a colour as possible. There are also high-tech options able to reflect <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778823003614">even more heat</a>.</p>
<p>Soon, we’ll see even higher performance options available in the form of daytime radiative coolers – <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1110">exceptional cooling materials</a> able to reflect still more heat away from your house and cut glare.</p>
<p>Until we choose to change, homeowners and whole communities will keep paying dearly for the luxury of a dark roof through power bill pain and sweltering suburbs.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-western-sydney-is-feeling-the-heat-from-climate-change-more-than-the-rest-of-the-city-201477">Why Western Sydney is feeling the heat from climate change more than the rest of the city</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Riccardo Paolini has received funding from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastian Pfautsch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We could make our hot cities cooler with white roofs and light roads. But progress has been glacially slow.Sebastian Pfautsch, Research Theme Fellow - Environment and Sustainability, Western Sydney UniversityRiccardo Paolini, Associate Professor, School of Built Environment, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260112024-03-25T02:42:08Z2024-03-25T02:42:08ZIndustry shutdowns are messy and painful: 4 lessons Australia’s coal sector can learn from car-makers about bowing out<p>Shifting Australia’s electricity sector to low-carbon technologies and closing coal plants is vital to tackling climate change. But such transitions are easier said than done.</p>
<p>People and economies are often deeply connected to the coal industry. Coal plants have often been integral to a community for decades, and closing them is a complex social process. </p>
<p>So how do we minimise the social and economic effects of such closures, and ensure communities and regions continue to thrive?</p>
<p>To answer this question, we looked to another sector that’s recently undergone large-scale shutdowns: Australia’s car-making industry. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422424000261">research</a> highlights four lessons to help plan the end of the coal-fired power sector.</p>
<h2>The huge loss of the car industry</h2>
<p>Australia’s coal plants are polluting, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Coal_fired_power_stations/Final_Report">ageing</a> and inefficient. Closing them sooner rather than later makes sense. </p>
<p>But the shift is challenging. First, renewable energy must be scaled up to cover the loss of coal-fired power. Second, poorly managed closures can lead to widespread social and economic disruption.</p>
<p>For guidance, we can look to closures in the Australian car industry in recent decades, mostly in South Australia and Victoria. The closures were due to <a href="https://www.afr.com/opinion/bill-scales-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-australian-car-manufacturing-industry-20171018-gz3ky4">economic and policy shifts</a> which made the domestic industry untenable.</p>
<p>The last closure occurred in October 2017, when Holden shut down its <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-08/holden-closure-australia-history-car-manufacturing/9015562">Elizabeth plant</a> after 70 years of operations. The move led to mass <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/21681376.2021.2016071?src=getftr">job losses</a>. It also disrupted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/apr/11/adelaide-elizabeth-holden-500-car-industry-manufacturing-loss">community and social cohesion</a>, leading to family breakdowns and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hpja.564?src=getftr">social and health issues</a> among workers.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-just-transition-to-net-zero-and-why-is-australia-struggling-to-get-there-218706">What is a 'just' transition to net zero - and why is Australia struggling to get there?</a>
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<h2>Lessons for coal plant closures</h2>
<p>Holden’s closure process was not perfect. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21582041.2024.2322132">Research</a> showed three years after the Elizabeth plant closed, many workers remained financially vulnerable. And while workers were helped into new employment as quickly as possible, this often came at the expense of quality employment, and did not meet the demand for new skills to align with emerging industries.</p>
<p>The Holden experience nonetheless offers lessons for the coal-fired power industry.</p>
<p>Both industries are male-dominated and involve a high proportion of blue-collar workers with low levels of formal education and skills training. Plants are often located in communities dominated by single-income households. The industries are a source of pride for locals and form a major part of people’s social and cultural identity, often across generations.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422424000261">our research</a>, we spoke with people from various groups involved in Holden’s closure process. These included the car industry and its supply chain, agencies across all levels of government, community organisations and academia.</p>
<p>Our research highlights four standout lessons: </p>
<p><strong>1. Timing matters</strong></p>
<p>The Elizabeth plant closure was a gradual process that unfolded over several years. This extended timeline allowed most workers, families and businesses to be prepared – as well as they could be – for imminent restructuring. </p>
<p>Holden planned a staged release of workers over three years. This prompted local and state agencies to coordinate resources, and helped workers and their families plan for the transition without experiencing immediate pressure on their social and economic wellbeing.</p>
<p><strong>2. Try innovative solutions</strong></p>
<p>Holden’s “transition centre”, established in 2014, was a one-stop shop where employees could access a range of services and information. A local government representative told us the transition centre:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>took care of every aspect of [the worker’s] life […] their social, their health and well-being, their finances.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With the mental health of the workers and their families in mind, for example, the centre provided information about healthy eating and exercising. However, the centre wasn’t always on the cards. As one interviewee observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Although Holden’s leadership wanted to make a difference, it wasn’t easy to convince the company to fund the centre. There was no other way […] Government funds were not arriving soon enough and were going to be accessible only to certain employees for certain purposes. At the government’s request, the centre opened its doors to the whole supply chain eventually.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>3. Consider families, too</strong></p>
<p>When longstanding industries close, the impact is felt beyond the worker. It changes family dynamics and poses risks to mental health. It also demands new skills such as financial literacy amongst redundant workers and families so they can better manage payouts and future investments. </p>
<p>Research participants told us these issues were overlooked in the early phases of Holden’s closure of the Elizabeth plant. In several cases, poor financial decision-making led to family breakdowns and bankruptcy.</p>
<p>However, the transition team eventually recognised the need to engage with affected families. It organised morning and afternoon tea sessions for workers’ partners, and mailed financial literacy information to employees’ homes.</p>
<p><strong>4. Work together</strong></p>
<p>In the early days of Holden’s closure planning, there was limited coordination between workers and government agencies providing support services to workers and their families.</p>
<p>What’s more, one state government expert closely involved with the transition process said agencies recognised the need for consultation with workers, however:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the translation of the messages into something that was appropriate for the scale of the transition and that responded to the specific needs and aspirations of the community was significantly lacking.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over time, industry and governments recognised the need to coordinate efforts to engage with and assist workers and their families, to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible.</p>
<h2>Navigating a difficult time</h2>
<p>Like the car industry shutdowns, the closure of coal-fired power stations is likely to be messy at times – but the negative effects should be managed as well as possible. </p>
<p>The car industry’s experience can guide governments and the private sector in how to minimise disruption for regions, communities and workers.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-to-workers-when-coal-fired-power-plants-close-it-isnt-good-215434">Here's what happens to workers when coal-fired power plants close. It isn't good</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The closure of Australia’s coal-fired power stations will be challenging. The car industry experience provides lessons on how to protect workers and families.Vigya Sharma, Senior Research Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of QueenslandJulia Loginova, Research fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259032024-03-22T10:49:08Z2024-03-22T10:49:08ZAustralia must lead the world on nature restoration through ambitious interpretation of international law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583313/original/file-20240321-16-pgufis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5396%2C3616&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/restoration-sign-wetlands-alviso-marsh-don-622076825">Sundry Photography, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to halt and reverse biodiversity loss through ambitious law and policy reform.</p>
<p>The federal government is currently rewriting our <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/epbc/epbc-act-reform">national environmental laws</a> and updating the overarching <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/conservation/strategy">Strategy for Nature</a>. The updated strategy will include, among other things, goals for the restoration of degraded areas. </p>
<p>Part of the impetus for this reform is the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-15/cop-15-dec-04-en.pdf">Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework</a>. This 2022 United Nations treaty was signed by almost 200 countries committing to address the biodiversity crisis. It includes a pledge to achieve 30% of degraded land, water, coastal and marine ecosystems “under effective restoration” by 2030. </p>
<p>But as we argue in our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02389-6">new correspondence</a> in Nature Ecology and Evolution, this restoration target is wide open to interpretation at the domestic level. Some responses could be very ambitious, while others would barely shift us from the status quo. Australia has an opportunity to lead here. We can show the world how to restore land and water for the benefit of all. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) ended in Montreal, Canada, on December 19, 2022 with a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030.</span></figcaption>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-we-need-to-see-in-australias-new-nature-laws-217271">5 things we need to see in Australia's new nature laws</a>
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<h2>Interpreting the 30% restoration target</h2>
<p>The global framework contains 23 targets, to be “initiated immediately and completed by 2030”. </p>
<p>The restoration target obliges countries to: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ensure that by 2030 at least 30% of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>At first glance, this 30% restoration target sounds like a huge and important step towards reversing biodiversity loss. But the devil is in the detail, and almost every word of this target is open to interpretation. </p>
<p>For example, the term “degraded” can be interpreted in various ways. A country may interpret it to include only areas that have seen a drastic decline in biodiversity, such as those that have been totally cleared. </p>
<p>But if a country interprets it more broadly as areas that have experienced any decline in biodiversity, this translates to a much larger area for restoration.</p>
<p>The wording also refers to 30% of areas of “degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems”. Crucially, it does not say effort must be spread evenly across these different ecosystems. This may lead countries to focus on areas where restoration is easier or cheaper. Given the <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.13050">complexities involved in marine and coastal restoration</a>, there is a risk countries may focus their efforts on land while continuing to neglect freshwater, marine or coastal ecosystems.</p>
<p>The phrase “under effective restoration” also has a range of possible meanings. Does “effective” simply mean in a better state than it was before restoration began? Or does it mean bringing the ecosystem back to an approximation of its natural state – prior to interference from development or other harm? </p>
<p>How the term “effective” restoration is defined at a national scale will drastically influence reports of “success” and make it difficult to compare results between countries. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The United Nations is honouring the planet’s most ambitious, successful, and inspiring examples of large-scale ecosystem restoration.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scaling up</h2>
<p>Australia has signed the framework and is currently considering how to implement it domestically. If Australia does decide to interpret the restoration target broadly and commit to restoring larger areas of land and water through more ambitious standards, there will be other issues to contend with. </p>
<p>For example, one study identified a lack of funding and complex legal requirements as <a href="https://www.nespmarinecoastal.edu.au/project/1-6/">barriers to upscaling restoration</a> in marine and coastal areas. In particular, having to apply for numerous government permits for restoration can <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.13050">slow progress</a> and lead people to scale back their plans.</p>
<p>To meet the 30% target, the government will need to reconsider how to fund restoration and streamline legal processes. Remember, much of the heavy lifting is currently done by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-major-players-in-conservation-ngos-thrive-while-national-parks-struggle-199880">non-government organisations</a> such as The Nature Conservancy, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Bush Heritage Australia and Trust for Nature.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-major-players-in-conservation-ngos-thrive-while-national-parks-struggle-199880">The new major players in conservation? NGOs thrive while national parks struggle</a>
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<h2>Leading by example</h2>
<p>Ultimately, we argue countries should have discretion over how and where to implement restoration based on their individual circumstances. But we also think the global framework could be supplemented by standardised terminology and metrics to allow genuine comparison of countries’ progress towards the global targets. </p>
<p>Closer to home, our analysis has some important lessons for Australia as the federal government contemplates the fate of our national environmental laws and biodiversity strategy. Australia’s <a href="https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/">most recent State of the Environment Report</a> painted a bleak picture of biodiversity decline, highlighting an urgent need to upscale restoration of our land and water.</p>
<p>Australia has an opportunity to take a leading role in this area and reverse our legacy of biodiversity loss. Interpreting the 30% restoration target broadly and ambitiously would set us on a path towards achieving meaningful outcomes for biodiversity and make Australia a world leader in restoration. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-committed-to-protect-30-of-australias-land-by-2030-heres-how-we-could-actually-do-it-217795">We've committed to protect 30% of Australia's land by 2030. Here's how we could actually do it</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Bell-James receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Science Program. She is a Director of the National Environmental Law Association.</span></em></p>Australia committed to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030 when we signed the global biodiversity framework. But what does that really mean? It’s open to interpretation. So let’s be ambitious.Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263192024-03-22T04:41:46Z2024-03-22T04:41:46ZGrey-headed flying-fox population is stable – 10 years of monitoring reveals this threatened species is doing well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583611/original/file-20240322-18-n9e3rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C20%2C4559%2C3428&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam McKeown, CSIRO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Flying foxes, or fruit bats, are familiar to many Australians. So it may come as a surprise to learn two of the four mainland species, both grey-headed and spectacled flying foxes, are threatened with extinction.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298530">our decade-long survey</a> of one of these species – the grey-headed flying fox – brings some encouraging news. Our data show the population has been relatively stable since 2012, when surveys first began under the <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/species/flying-fox-monitoring">National Flying-fox Monitoring Program</a>.</p>
<p>Incredibly, the species emerged from the <a href="https://recovery.preventionweb.net/collections/recovery-collection-australia-black-summer-bushfires-2019-2020">Black Summer of 2019–20</a> relatively unscathed. Flying foxes also suffer in heatwaves and many die, but overall numbers have remained stable. </p>
<p>While this study is good news for the species, we must not become complacent. Heatwaves are expected to become more frequent and intense as the climate changes. Only further monitoring can determine its effects. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flying-foxes-pollinate-forests-and-spread-seeds-heres-how-we-can-make-peace-with-our-noisy-neighbours-215811">Flying foxes pollinate forests and spread seeds. Here's how we can make peace with our noisy neighbours</a>
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<h2>Hanging out with flying foxes</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=186">grey-headed flying fox</a> (<em>Pteropus poliocephalus</em>) is common in most cities and towns across south-eastern Australia. More recently, colonies have become <a href="https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/goodliving/posts/2016/03/flying-foxes">established in South Australia</a>.</p>
<p>The species can be found anywhere from Maryborough, on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, to Adelaide, with some outlying populations as far north as Ingham in north Queensland. There’s also a breakaway group in Port Augusta, 300km north of Adelaide.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Coloured map of grey-headed flying fox counts across eastern Australia and across to South Australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583630/original/file-20240322-16-j46w0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of grey-headed flying fox counts. Minor roosts had fewer than 100 in total over the ten-year period while major roosts had more than 100,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Vanderduys</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The “vulnerable” listing means the species is at risk of extinction. But it’s not as dire as if it were “endangered”. </p>
<p>The original <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/conservation-advices/pteropus-poliocephalus">vulnerable assessment</a>, endorsed in 2001, was based on a population decline of about 30% over ten years and the potential for ongoing land clearing in the grey-headed flying fox’s core range.</p>
<p>But this is the flying fox you’re most likely to see and hear in south-east Australia, from Sydney to Adelaide. </p>
<p>During the day, flying foxes like to hang out together. They rest and socialise in large roosts, sometimes numbering more than 100,000 animals. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of grey-headed flying foxes roosting in a tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583352/original/file-20240321-28-joql1y.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 150,000 grey-headed flying foxes roosted in Gympie, Queensland, after much of their habitat burned during the Black Summer of 2019-20.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Vanderduys, CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the sun sets, they take to the sky, departing in large streams to forage during the night in the surrounding landscape. They can travel long distances to find food, sometimes venturing more than 40km from home, and flying more than 300km in a single night. </p>
<p>Their food of choice is nectar from a wide variety of eucalypt, bloodwood and melaleuca species. In return, they play an important pollination role, as if they were nocturnal bees with a one-metre wingspan. </p>
<p>They also feed extensively on native figs. In urban areas, they feast on the nectar and fruit of introduced species found in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259395">gardens and street trees</a>. </p>
<p>Individuals regularly change roosts. They move throughout the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12915-020-00829-w">species’ range</a>, following food resources. </p>
<p>That means the number of bats in roosts is constantly changing, depending on the availability of the surrounding resources, which makes accurate counting particularly challenging.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A grey-headed flying-fox hanging from a tree, wrapped in its wings, with its eyes wide open" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583617/original/file-20240322-24-tqaufc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grey-headed flying foxes sleep and socialise during the day but are often well aware of approaching humans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam McKeown, CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Monitoring a threatened species</h2>
<p>Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, co-ordinated the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program in partnership with federal and state environmental agencies from 2012 to 2022. </p>
<p>The intention was to monitor the populations of the two nationally listed flying fox species on the mainland. It was specifically designed to understand their population trends. Here we focus on the grey-headed flying foxes. </p>
<p>The program involved quarterly visits by federal, state and local government staff and volunteers to as many flying fox roosts as possible. Over the entire program almost 12,000 counts were conducted at 912 potential roosts. Grey-headed flying foxes were found at 469 of those roosts.</p>
<p>This program would not have been possible without hundreds of hours of work around the clock by staff and volunteers, often in challenging conditions. Their work highlights the importance of long-term monitoring programs. </p>
<p>From 2012 to 2022 we counted an average of 580,000 grey-headed flying foxes in each survey. But total numbers ranged between 330,000 and 990,000, with strong seasonal variation. This variation relates to their reproductive cycle and the availability of food within their range. </p>
<p>Flying foxes pup late in the year. When those pups become independent, they can be counted. This results in a sudden increase in the numbers, typically around February. So while our data show peaks and troughs throughout each year, overall the population remained stable.</p>
<p>We developed a model to allow for this seasonality and examine overall population trends. The model strongly suggests the population hovered around 600,000 adults for the ten years of the survey. We found a 70% chance of a slightly increasing population, versus a 30% chance the population has declined slightly.</p>
<p>The population appeared to be stable despite exceptional events such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-black-summer-of-fire-was-not-normal-and-we-can-prove-it-172506">2019–20 megafires</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/killer-climate-tens-of-thousands-of-flying-foxes-dead-in-a-day-23227">severe heatwaves known to have killed thousands of flying foxes</a>.</p>
<p>The flying foxes seem resilient to these threats for two main reasons. </p>
<p>First, they are nomadic and well adapted to travelling long distances. This allows them to evade threats such as fires and droughts. </p>
<p>Second, grey-headed flying-foxes are likely to benefit from a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259395">human-modified landscape</a>”. In other words, they may well be urban “winners”, as the urban areas we’ve created provide diverse foraging opportunities. </p>
<p>Grey-headed flying foxes <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/webgis-framework/apps/ffc-wide/ffc-wide.jsf">continually occupied</a> all major cities within their range throughout our monitoring program. </p>
<p>These urban environments offer a smorgasbord of flowering and fruiting species, especially palms and figs. Many of these species are exotics, with flowering and fruiting patterns that flying foxes can readily exploit. </p>
<p>We found continuous occupation of individual roosts was unusual. The few that were continuously occupied were all in urban areas, supporting the view that <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/ZO/pdf/ZO20086">urban areas are increasingly important</a> for this species.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Closeup of a young grey-headed flying fox looking at the camera, with a dark green leafy background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583391/original/file-20240321-18-96pnpi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This young grey-headed flying fox is big enough to count.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Vanderduys, CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Good news, but we need to be cautious</h2>
<p>After ten years of monitoring we can safely say the grey-headed flying fox is doing ok, for the time being. </p>
<p>But threats to its survival remain. Climate change is expected to cause more <a href="https://www.acs.gov.au/pages/heatwaves">heatwaves</a>, bushfires and droughts within their range. This could turn their fate around. </p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that while our monitoring continued for two years after the 2019–20 bushfires, the longer-term impacts are still unknown. </p>
<p>Given this uncertainty, continuing monitoring using similar methods and incorporating updated technology would increase certainty about the population trajectory. Unfortunately, monitoring has paused since 2022, pending further funding discussions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-stop-new-viruses-jumping-across-to-humans-we-must-protect-and-restore-bat-habitat-heres-why-194634">To stop new viruses jumping across to humans, we must protect and restore bat habitat. Here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Vanderduys works for CSIRO. He receives funding from a range of federal and state government agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam McKeown receives funding from a variety of federal and state government agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris R. Pavey works for CSIRO. He receives funding from a variety of federal and state government agencies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Martin works for Ecosure ecological consultancy. He receives funding from a variety of federal and state government agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Caley works for the CSIRO. He receives funding from a range of federal and state government agencies.</span></em></p>Ten years of data from Australia’s comprehensive national flying-fox monitoring program reveals the grey-headed flying fox (fruit bat) population is stable. It’s good news for this threatened species.Eric Vanderduys, Research Scientist, Field Ecology, CSIROAdam McKeown, Experimental Scientist in Ecology, CSIROChris R. Pavey, Principal Scientist in Ecology, CSIROJohn Martin, Adjunct associate and ecological research scientist, University of SydneyPeter Caley, Senior Research Scientist in quantitative ecology, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260092024-03-21T19:07:53Z2024-03-21T19:07:53ZAlmost a third of Australia’s plant species may have to migrate south if we hit 3 degrees of warming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582458/original/file-20240318-16-jmvgyn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5982%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cosattler.wordpress.com">Cornelia Sattler</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For ecologists, one of the most pressing questions is to understand how ecosystems will change or adapt as the climate changes rapidly. We are already seeing many species of plant and animal moving uphill and towards the poles in response to higher temperatures. It’s very likely most species will move to track their preferred temperature niche. </p>
<p>But what’s strange is that many species can survive in much broader temperature ranges than their current distribution suggests. We don’t yet fully understand why temperature affects ecosystems so strongly. </p>
<p>To shed light on this puzzle, our <a href="https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/oik.10556">new research</a> used the current range of Australian plants and calculated each species’ minimum and maximum temperature preferences. These data told us how many and what percentage of species are lost or gained when transitioning from, say, a 15°C to a 16°C average annual temperature.</p>
<p>The results were astonishing. In Australia’s wetter east coast, you gain on average 19% more species and lose 14% of species when moving up the temperature gradient by 1°C. In the dry centre, you gain 18% of species and lose 21% of species for every extra degree. </p>
<p>That’s at in our current climate. What will happen if the world warms by 3°C, which we are <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/">still heading towards</a>? </p>
<p>If we assume the whole flora is trying to track their current climate niche, we would likely see 30% of our plant species in Australia moving south. That would be an enormous shift. Almost one in every three species would change in the natural vegetation around us.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="australian alps, snow and gum trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582463/original/file-20240318-16-ms9410.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plant species are more selective about their temperature niche than you would expect. Many will have to chase colder temperatures south.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.julianschrader.wordpress.com">Julian Schrader</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What does this mean?</h2>
<p>What our data show is that even slight natural changes in temperature have an effect on the species occurring in different regions. </p>
<p>Why do most plant species only occur in a narrow band within the wider range in which they can survive? A long-held theory, dating back to the work of Charles Darwin, is that species ranges are determined more by competition as you head towards warmer temperatures.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-seas-get-warmer-tropical-species-are-moving-further-from-the-equator-218676">As seas get warmer, tropical species are moving further from the equator</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In this theory, some species are simply better at finding and using resources than others. These competitive traits are thought to be fine-tuned to work best at specific temperatures. These species outcompete those with lower growth rates or fitness <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13864">at these temperatures</a>.</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t superior competitors spread everywhere? Their traits are likely only functional under specific, often narrow, temperature bands. As soon as it gets too cold, they can’t grow as efficiently and other species can compete.</p>
<p>This means the southern limit of an Australian species is determined by its tolerance of cooler temperatures. If you were on a road trip from Cape York to Tasmania, you would see new species appearing and tropical species becoming less common and disappearing as you drove south towards the pole. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cOyqieJWlQU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some species can adapt rapidly to changes in their climate, while others cannot.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When the heat is on, do plants have to move?</h2>
<p>Australia’s plant species – especially in the wetter east – tend to be very old. Species with long histories have likely found their ideal temperature niche. </p>
<p>But the climate is heating up rapidly. 2023 was the first full year Earth was 1.5°C hotter <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2023-hottest-year-record">than the pre-industrial era</a>. </p>
<p>As temperatures rise, staying put may no longer be possible. More and more species will find themselves <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(13)00105-5">out of their preferred temperature niche</a>. They either adapt, move or go locally extinct. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="colourful leaves of nothofagus gunnii" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583292/original/file-20240321-16-8c4pk6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cold-loving deciduous beech (<em>Nothofagus gunnii</em>) is part of the ancient Antarctic beech family of trees and one of Australia’s only deciduous trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/autumn-leaf-colors-nothofagus-gunnii-fagus-2029915706">Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01286">evidence</a> so far suggests species will move – if they can. </p>
<p>When species do move, the ecosystems they leave behind and the new ones they move into will change.</p>
<p>We don’t know if all species will be able to move freely down the east coast. Our industrious efforts to make farms, homes, roads and cities have heavily fragmented the natural vegetation. We have converted once-continuous spans of habitats into island-like remnants. </p>
<p>Some species can disperse better and over longer distances between habitat fragments than others. For instance, species with winged or windborne seeds are better dispersers than species with large seeds, which include many of our rainforest species. </p>
<p>The more dispersive species may win the race to secure new climate niches. To avoid some species becoming overly dominant, should we help plant species that don’t spread their seeds well by transplanting seedlings or sowing their seeds? This is an important question for the future to which we don’t yet have an answer. </p>
<p>Our plant species have found their climate niches over millions of years. What our research suggests is that climate change may force a surprising amount of our plants to move.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-will-the-tropics-eventually-become-uninhabitable-145174">Climate explained: will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226009/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Schrader does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our plant species are pickier about their preferred temperature range than you would expect. That means many will have to move south, seeking cooler climes.Julian Schrader, Lecturer in Plant Ecology, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223672024-03-21T02:05:02Z2024-03-21T02:05:02Z10 million animals die on our roads each year. Here’s what works (and what doesn’t) to cut the toll<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576080/original/file-20240215-18-zoy3x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3050%2C2027&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-australian-kangaroos-hopping-fast-along-1404997343">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s almost no warning. A dark shape appears on the side of the road, then you feel a jolt as something goes under the car. Or worse, the shape rears up, hits the front of your vehicle, then slams into the windscreen. You have just experienced a wildlife-vehicle collision. </p>
<p>This gruesome scene plays out <a href="https://www.bbcearth.com/news/australias-road-kill-map">every night across Australia</a>.
When these collisions happen, many animals become instant roadkill. An <a href="https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/23121/Thesis%20updated%20for%20library%20submission.pdf?sequence=1">estimated 10 million</a> native mammals, reptiles, birds and other species are killed each year.</p>
<p>Others are injured and die away from the road. Some survive with <a href="https://theconversation.com/10-million-animals-are-hit-on-our-roads-each-year-heres-how-you-can-help-them-and-steer-clear-of-them-these-holidays-149733">terrible injuries and have to be euthanised</a>. The lucky ones might <a href="https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/who-should-i-contact-about-injured-wildlife/">be rescued</a> by groups such as <a href="https://wildliferescue.net.au/">Wildlife Rescue</a>, <a href="https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/">Wildlife Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.wires.org.au/">WIRES</a>.</p>
<p>Wildlife-vehicle collisions also increase the risk to whole populations of some threatened species, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR17143">Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo</a> on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland.</p>
<p>People are affected, too. Human <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.13361">deaths and injuries</a> from these collisions are rising, with motorcyclists at greatest risk. Vehicle repairs are <a href="https://www.mynrma.com.au/-/media/wildlife-road-safety-report--final.pdf">inconvenient and costly</a>. Added to this is the distress for people when dealing with a dead or dying animal on the roadside.</p>
<p>How can we reduce the wildlife toll on our roads? Many measures have been tried and proven largely ineffective. However, other evidence-based approaches can help avoid collisions.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2-biggest-threats-to-wombats-revealed-in-new-data-gathered-by-citizen-scientists-215713">2 biggest threats to wombats revealed in new data gathered by citizen scientists</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Evidence for what works is limited</h2>
<p>Many communities are worried about the growing impacts of wildlife-vehicle collisions and are desperate for solutions. Recent reports from <a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1822182/FULLTEXT01.pdf">Europe</a> and <a href="https://westerntransportationinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/4w7576_Huijser_etal_WVC_ConnectivityLiteratureReview_PooledFundStudyFinalReport_2021.pdf">North America</a> review the many methods to reduce such collisions. </p>
<p>Do these findings apply to Australia’s unique fauna? Unfortunately, we don’t have a detailed analysis of options for our wildlife, but here’s what we know now.</p>
<p>Well-designed fences keep wildlife off our highways but also fragment the landscape. Happily, animals will use crossing structures – overpasses and <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-news-highway-underpasses-for-wildlife-actually-work-187434">underpasses</a> – to get to food and mates on the other side of the road. Fences and crossings do work, but are regarded as too costly over Australia’s vast road network.</p>
<p>As for standard wildlife warning signs, drivers <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4494358/">ignore most of them</a> after a while, making them ineffective. Signs with graphic images and variable messages get <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani3041142">more attention</a>, but we need road trials to assess their effect on drivers and collision rates.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A road sign warns of the danger of camels, kangaroos and wombats crossing the road for the next 92km" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576084/original/file-20240215-26-epzn5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The vastness of Australia’s road network is one of the challenges for protecting native wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Taras Vyshnya/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/good-news-highway-underpasses-for-wildlife-actually-work-187434">Good news: highway underpasses for wildlife actually work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Whistling in the dark</h2>
<p>Some drivers install cheap, wind-driven, high-pitched wildlife whistles on their vehicles. Tests in the United States 20 years ago found humans and deer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1582071">could not hear any whistling sound</a> above the road noise of the test vehicle. Yet these devices are still sold in Australia as kangaroo deterrents. </p>
<p>The Shu-Roo, an Australian invention, is an active wildlife whistle. It is fitted to the bumper bar, producing a high-pitched electronic sound, which is claimed to scare wildlife away from the road. Sadly, <a href="https://rest.neptune-prod.its.unimelb.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c3154e0-2f48-5b73-a6cd-a7423c2a75ee/content">our tests</a> show the Shu-Roo signal can’t be heard above road noise 50 metres away and has no effect on captive kangaroo behaviour. </p>
<p>We also recruited fleets of trucks, buses, vans, utes and cars to field test the Shu-Roo. Nearly 100 vehicles covered more than 4 million kilometres across Australia over 15,500 days. The drivers reported just over one wildlife-vehicle collision per 100,000km travelled, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2021.042">there was no difference in the rate</a> for vehicles fitted with a Shu-Roo versus those without one.</p>
<p>The virtual fence is the latest attempt to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. It uses a line of posts spaced along the roadside, each with a unit producing loud sounds and flashing lights aimed away from the road. Vehicle headlights activate the units, which are claimed to alert animals and reduce the risk of collision. </p>
<p>Early results from Tasmania were encouraging. A 50% drop in possum and wallaby deaths was reported, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19009">this trial had many design flaws</a>. Recent trials in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/10/752">Tasmania</a>, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/10/1323">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.redland.qld.gov.au/downloads/download/292/virtual_fence_to_reduce_vehicle_collisions_with_wallabies_on_heinemann_rd_-_final_report_2020">Queensland</a> show no effect of virtual fencing on collisions with possums, wallabies or wombats. </p>
<p>Our concern is that this system is being <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-02/wildlife-fence-trial-underway-in-queensland-and-phillip-island/12268110">rolled out</a> in <a href="https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/about-council/news-and-publications/media-releases/2023/june/councils-innovative-trial-helping-keep-local-wildlife-safe">many</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/nsw-south-coast-council-first-virtual-fence-to-protect-wildlife/101571600">parts</a> of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/the-stealth-tech-aiming-to-stop-roos-from-becoming-roadkill-20231222-p5etda.html">Australia</a>. It gives the impression of action to reduce collisions with wildlife, but without an evidence base, solid study design or adequate monitoring.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1419098857699364864"}"></div></p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/roadkill-we-can-predict-where-animals-cross-roads-and-use-it-to-prevent-collisions-164001">Roadkill: we can predict where animals cross roads – and use it to prevent collisions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A very messy problem</h2>
<p>The problem has many dimensions. We need to consider all of them to achieve safe travel for people and animals on our roads. </p>
<p>At a landscape level, collision hotspots occur where wildlife frequently cross roads, which can help us predict the collision risk for species such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13465">koalas</a>. But the risk differs between species. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01530">on Phillip Island</a> most wallaby collisions happen on rural roads, while most involving possums and birds are in urban streets. </p>
<p>Traffic volume and speed are key factors for many species, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2306">kangaroos</a>. </p>
<p>Driver training and experience are also important. In the Royal National Park in New South Wales, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/6/6/40">half the drivers surveyed</a> had struck animals, including wallabies and deer. Yet most still <a href="https://theconversation.com/10-million-animals-are-hit-on-our-roads-each-year-heres-how-you-can-help-them-and-steer-clear-of-them-these-holidays-149733">weren’t keen</a> to slow down or avoid driving at dawn and dusk.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-million-animals-are-hit-on-our-roads-each-year-heres-how-you-can-help-them-and-steer-clear-of-them-these-holidays-149733">10 million animals are hit on our roads each year. Here’s how you can help them (and steer clear of them) these holidays</a>
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<hr>
<p>Road design has a major influence on wildlife-vehicle collions too, but the planning process too often <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.959918">neglects wildlife studies</a>.</p>
<p>Smarter cars are <a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1822182/FULLTEXT01.pdf">being developed</a>. One day these will use AI to spot animal hazards, apply automatic emergency braking and alert other drivers of real-time risk. </p>
<p>To explore potential technological solutions, Transport for NSW is running a <a href="https://www.eianz.org/events/event/symposium-using-technology-to-reduce-wildlife-vehicle-collisions">symposium</a> at the University of Technology Sydney on May 21. The symposium will cover wildlife ecology and the evidence base for options to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>If you see an injured animal on the road, call <a href="https://www.wildliferescue.net.au/">Wildlife Rescue Australia</a> on 1300 596 457. for specific state and territory numbers, go to the <a href="https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/who-should-i-contact-about-injured-wildlife/">RSPCA injured wildlife site</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Coulson currently receives funding from Nakatomi, Parks Victoria, Phillip Island Nature Parks and ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena Bender received past funding from the following organisations to undertake PhD research that is drawn up and reported in this work: Holsworth Wildlife Fund, The Royal Automative Club of Victoria, New South Wales Road Traffic Authority, National Roads and Motorists' Association Limited, Transport South Australia, The University of Melbourne (Department of Zoology and the Faculty of Science). She has received funding more recently from Nakatomi.</span></em></p>Many measures commonly thought to reduce the toll of animals injured and killed on our roads aren’t effective. But there is evidence to support other solutions.Graeme Coulson, Honorary Principal Fellow, School of BioSciences, The University of MelbourneHelena Bender, Senior Lecturer, Environmental Social Sciences, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2261222024-03-20T19:04:04Z2024-03-20T19:04:04Z‘How long before climate change will destroy the Earth?’: research reveals what Australian kids want to know about our warming world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582994/original/file-20240320-16-lx7lnj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C19%2C6374%2C4224&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-taking-photos-land-burnt-1563856276">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every day, more children discover they are living in a climate crisis. This makes <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext">many children feel</a> sad, anxious, angry, powerless, confused and frightened about what the future holds. </p>
<p>The climate change burden facing young people is inherently unfair. But they have the potential to be the most powerful generation when it comes to creating change.</p>
<p>Research and public debate so far has largely <a href="https://www.hhrjournal.org/2014/07/climate-change-childrens-rights-and-the-pursuit-of-intergenerational-climate-justice/">failed to engage</a> with the voices and opinions of children – instead, focusing on the views of adults.
<a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(24)00100-3">Our research</a> set out to change this. </p>
<p>We asked 1,500 children to tell us what they wanted to know about climate change. The results show climate action, rather than the scientific cause of the problem, is their greatest concern. It suggests climate change education in schools must become more holistic and empowering, and children should be given more opportunities to shape the future they will inherit.</p>
<h2>Questions of ‘remarkable depth’</h2>
<p>In Australia, research shows <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264546580_Children's_Fears_hopes_and_heroes_Modern_childhood_in_Australia">43% of children</a> aged 10 to 14 are worried about the future impact of climate change, and one in four believe the world will end before they grow up.</p>
<p>Children are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.853">seen as</a> passive, marginal actors in the climate crisis. Evidence of an intergenerational divide is also emerging. Young people report feeling <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378023001103">unheard</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718520302748?via%3Dihub">betrayed by older generations</a> when it comes to climate change. </p>
<p>Our study examined 464 questions about climate change submitted to the <a href="https://curiousclimate.org.au/schools/">Curious Climate Schools</a> program in Tasmania in 2021 and 2022. The questions were asked by primary and high school students aged 7 to 18.</p>
<p>The children’s questions reveal a remarkable depth of consideration about climate change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-well-does-the-new-australian-curriculum-prepare-young-people-for-climate-change-183356">How well does the new Australian Curriculum prepare young people for climate change?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="teenagers hold signs at rally" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The vast majority of children worry about climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-united-kingdom-15th-february-1315212515">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Kids are thinking globally</h2>
<p>The impacts of climate change were discussed in 38% of questions. About 10% of questions asked about impacts on places, such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>With the rate of climate change, what will the Earth be like when I’m an adult?</p>
<p>What does the melting of glaciers in Antarctica mean for Tassie (Tasmania) and our climate?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These questions demonstrate children’s understanding of the global scale of the climate crisis and their concern about places close to home.</p>
<p>How climate change will affect humans accounted for 12% of questions. Impacts on animals and biodiversity were the subject of 9% of questions. Examples include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Will climate change make us live elsewhere, eg underwater or in space?</p>
<p>What species may become extinct due to climate change, which species could adapt to changing conditions and have we already seen this begin to happen?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Approximately 7% of questions asked about ice melting and/or sea-level rise, while 3% asked about extreme weather or disasters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="four children in school uniforms reading book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6262%2C4694&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children wonder what Earth will look like when they are adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/row-multiethnic-elementary-students-reading-book-143878204">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘What can we do?’</h2>
<p>Action on climate change was the most frequent theme, discussed in 40% of questions. Some questions involved the kinds of action needed and others focused on the challenges in taking action. They include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How would you make rapid climate improvements without sacrificing industry and finance?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Around 16% of questions asked about, or implied, who was responsible for climate action. Governments and politicians were the largest group singled out. Other questions asked about the responsibilities of schools, communities, states, countries and individuals. Examples include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What can I do as a 12-year-old to help the planet, and why will these actions help us?</p>
<p>If the world knows about climate change, why has not much happened?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some 20% of questions suggested action by specific sectors of the economy. This included stopping using fossil fuels and moving to renewable energy or nuclear power. Some suggested action related to food, agriculture or fisheries.</p>
<h2>Existential worries</h2>
<p>In 27% of questions, students raised existential concerns about climate change. This reveals the urgency and frustration many children feel.</p>
<p>The largest group of these questions (15%) asked for predictions of future events. Some 5% of questions implied the planet, or humanity, was doomed. They included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Will all the reefs die?</p>
<p>How long before climate change will destroy the Earth?</p>
<p>How long will we be able to survive on our planet if we do nothing to try to slow down/reverse climate change?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why is Earth getting hot?</h2>
<p>Scientific questions about climate change made up 25% of the total. The largest group related to the causes and physical processes, such as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What causes the Earth to get hotter due to climate change?</p>
<p>Would our world be the same now if the Industrial Revolution hadn’t happened?</p>
<p>How do they know the climate and percentage of gases, such as methane, in the 1800s?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What all this means</h2>
<p>Our analysis indicates children are very concerned about how climate change affects the things and places they care about. Children also want to know how to contribute to solutions – either through their own actions or influencing adults, industries and governments. Children asked fewer questions about the scientific evidence for climate change. </p>
<p>So what are the implications of this?</p>
<p>Research shows that where climate change is taught in schools, it is primarily <a href="http://www.jsedimensions.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Siperstein-JSE-Nov-2015-Hope-Issue-PDF.pdf">represented as</a> a scientific and environmental issue, without focus on the social and political causes and challenges.</p>
<p>While children need information about the science of global warming, our research suggests this is not enough. Climate change should be integrated into all subjects in the curriculum, from social studies to maths to food. </p>
<p>Teachers should also be trained to understand climate challenges themselves, and to identify and support students suffering from climate distress.</p>
<p>And children must be given opportunities to get involved in shaping the future. Governments and industry should commit to listening to children’s concerns about climate change, and acting on them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-tend-to-be-very-gentle-how-teachers-are-navigating-climate-change-in-the-classroom-212370">'I tend to be very gentle': how teachers are navigating climate change in the classroom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chloe Lucas received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate Schools program. She is also funded by the Australian Research Council. Chloe is a member of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the Institute of Australian Geographers and the International Environmental Communication Association, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Australian Geographer.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Earl-Jones received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate Schools program. She is also funded by Westpac Scholars Trust and the Australian Commonwealth Government Research Training Program. She is a member of the Institute of Australian Geographers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabi Mocatta received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office (now re-named Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania) for the research and engagement reported here. She is also President of the Board of the International Environmental Communication Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gretta Pecl receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment, Department of Primary Industries NSW, Department of Premier and Cabinet (Tasmania), the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, and has received travel funding support from the Australian government for participation in the IPCC process. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Beasy received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate School program. She is a member of the Centre of Marine Socioecology and the Australian Association of Environmental Education. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Kelly receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania.</span></em></p>The result shows climate change education in schools must become more holistic and empowering, and children should be allowed to shape the future they will inherit.Chloe Lucas, Lecturer and Research Fellow, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences. Coordinator, Education for Sustainability Tasmania, University of TasmaniaCharlotte Earl-Jones, PhD Candidate, University of TasmaniaGabi Mocatta, Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania, and Lecturer in Communication, Deakin UniversityGretta Pecl, Professor, at IMAS and Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of TasmaniaKim Beasy, Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of TasmaniaRachel Kelly, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures (FOCI) Consortium, Memorial University, Canada, and Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243352024-03-20T19:03:42Z2024-03-20T19:03:42ZTasmania’s tall eucalypt forests will be wiped out by heatwaves unless we step in to help them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582418/original/file-20240318-26-dug8wt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4898%2C3253&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicolas Rakotopare</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests are globally significant. They <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037811270900872X">accumulate carbon faster</a> than any other natural forest ecosystem in the world. </p>
<p>But climate change is making it harder for these forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in wood. During heatwaves, they <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06674-x">stop removing carbon</a> altogether and release it instead.</p>
<p>What will happen as <a href="https://climatefutures.org.au/extreme-events-technical-report/">heatwaves occur more frequently</a>? Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests will become carbon sources more and more of the time. As temperatures continue to rise, the forests will reach a “<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aay1052">tipping point</a>”. When this happens the forests will no longer be able to store carbon and mass tree deaths will occur. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://bit.ly/Giants-Under-Threat_Report-2024">new report</a> released today makes recommendations about preparing for this. There are serious implications for greenhouse gas emissions, conservation and wood production. We cannot ignore the risks of a warming climate. There is a lot we can do now to prepare and make future forests more resilient. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-heatwave-conditions-tasmanias-tall-eucalypt-forests-no-longer-absorb-carbon-176979">In heatwave conditions, Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests no longer absorb carbon</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Forests of immense value</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/181/">Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area</a> is <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2344">ranked number one</a> of all UNESCO sites globally for taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it. That’s because western Tasmania’s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geb.12171">high rainfall and cool temperatures are ideal for forest growth</a>.</p>
<p>These tall eucalypt forests contribute greatly to Tasmania’s claim to net-zero emissions in its <a href="https://recfit.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/440592/Tasmanian_Greenhouse_Gas_Emissions_Report_2023.pdf">greenhouse gas accounts</a>.</p>
<p>The forests have produced most of the high-quality sawlogs supplying Tasmania’s sawmilling industry for more than a century.</p>
<p>They also provide unique and long-lasting habitat for wildlife. Large logs support diverse communities of insects and fungi.</p>
<p>The forest supports unique <a href="https://tahuneadventures.com.au/">tourism experiences</a> and an emerging opportunity for “<a href="https://www.bigtreestate.com/">big tree tourism</a>”.</p>
<p>Tall eucalypt forests are dominated by one or two or three species of <em>Eucalyptus</em>: </p>
<ul>
<li><em>E. obliqua</em> (messmate or stringy bark)</li>
<li><em>E. regnans</em> (swamp gum or mountain ash) </li>
<li><em>E. delegatensis</em> (alpine ash or gum-top stringybark). </li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582466/original/file-20240318-24-2fq2cg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stringybark flowers <em>(Eucalyptus obliqua)</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Wardlaw</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Preparing for tipping points</h2>
<p>As temperatures continue to rise, many ecosystems are predicted to reach a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aay1052">tipping point</a>. This is the point at which the ecosystem can no longer function and is eventually replaced by a different ecosystem.</p>
<p>Many plant-based ecosystems, mostly in the tropics, are expected to reach a tipping point within three decades. Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests may be among them because they share <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084378">similarities with tropical rainforest</a>. </p>
<p>World Heritage values would be jeopardised, huge amounts of stored carbon would be released, and biodiversity dependent on the tall trees would be threatened. So there is an urgent need to begin preparing now for a future tipping point in these forests. </p>
<p>The main ambition of the measures outlined in my <a href="https://bit.ly/Giants-Under-Threat_Report-2024">report released today</a> is to restore forested areas after the original forest is lost – or damaged irreversibly. The new forests would be grown from the same species of eucalypts but the seed sown would regenerate forests better suited to the new climate than the original forest.</p>
<p>To achieve this ambition, we need to decide what features of tall eucalypt forests we want to retain in future forests. Capacity for rapid growth after disturbance would be high on the list of those features. </p>
<p>We also need to know what features need to change to make the forests better suited to a new climate. Increasing the optimum temperature for carbon uptake is the top priority. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Peering inside the forest, looking through ferns and sedges at ground level and trees of various heights beneath the canopy" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582465/original/file-20240318-16-1k5k0h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beneath the canopy of the tallest trees there is a mid-layer of trees and a lower layer of ferns and sedges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Wardlaw</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Producing climate-ready seed for sowing</h2>
<p>In new research, soon to be published, I reviewed several studies that compared the features of Tasmanian tall eucalypt forests with other forests on the Australian mainland. </p>
<p>I wanted to understand why Tasmania’s forests were so sensitive to heatwaves and what, if anything, could be done to lessen their impact. I found the poor response to heatwaves had more to do with the local conditions than anything else. The forests are accustomed to high rainfall and a narrow temperature range. </p>
<p>Could we speed up natural selection to help Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests adapt to a new, warmer climate? </p>
<p>Previous research has shown forests can be managed to speed up natural selection and <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecm.1333">produce seed better suited to new climates</a>. But this is only feasible in forests managed for wood production. </p>
<p>We need to find out whether natural selection can increase the optimum temperature for carbon uptake by the forest, and if so, by how much. </p>
<p>We need to ensure the right policy settings are in place. A policy to end logging of native forests, for example, would rule out speeding up natural selection.</p>
<p>And we need to think and plan what to do if tall eucalypt forests in reserves are lost or irreparably damaged. Should we try to restore new generations of tall eucalypt forests, and if so, how?</p>
<p>Finally, community support is required. People need to understand what we are trying to achieve. They can also bring new ideas about how to make tall eucalypt forests more resilient. </p>
<p>Timely, accurate, trusted, and accessible information will be crucial. Ongoing <a href="https://www.tern.org.au/tern-ecosystem-processes/warra-tall-eucalypt-supersite/">monitoring</a> of the tall eucalypt forest in the upper reaches of Tasmania’s Huon Valley can provide much of this information.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of the Warra landscape looking looking south from the Warra flux tower above the canopy" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582464/original/file-20240318-18-dzlsif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Warra Supersite in the upper reaches of the Huon Valley is one of 16 intensive ecosystem monitoring field stations in Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Brown, ComStar Systems</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future forests</h2>
<p>Clearly, humanity must cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. But some climate impacts are now unavoidable and we need to be prepared.</p>
<p>As heatwaves intensify, Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests will reach a tipping point. Trees will die. The forest we know today will be lost forever. </p>
<p>But if we are prepared, we can ensure another forest takes its place. With our help, future generations of tall eucalypt forests can still exist – forests better suited to Tasmania’s new climate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-to-kill-heres-why-eucalypts-are-survival-experts-222743">Hard to kill: here's why eucalypts are survival experts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I receive funding from the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.</span></em></p>Our tallest trees are world champions when it comes to capturing and storing carbon, but they don’t like the heat. Climate change will trigger mass tree deaths in Tasmania. Here’s what can be done.Tim Wardlaw, Research Associate, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2255642024-03-20T19:03:24Z2024-03-20T19:03:24ZWe need faster, better ways to monitor NZ’s declining river health – using environmental DNA can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583001/original/file-20240320-18-n3pzxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=72%2C252%2C5925%2C3053&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images/Julia Crim</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New Zealand’s rivers are not in a good shape. The Ministry for the Environment’s <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/publications/our-freshwater-2023/">latest freshwater report</a> shows an estimated 45% of total river length is no longer suitable for swimming and 48% is partially inaccessible to endangered migratory fish. </p>
<p>The science is clear. Inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous, coupled with invasive species, stress some rivers to the point where they can’t sustain healthy ecosystems. The state of rivers and groundwater also impacts on the quality of drinking water.</p>
<p>The government’s <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-takes-first-steps-towards-pragmatic-and-sensible-freshwater-rules">intention to replace</a> the <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/acts-and-regulations/national-policy-statements/national-policy-statement-freshwater-management/">national policy statement on freshwater management</a> brings the topic of freshwater quality back into the national spotlight. </p>
<p>But irrespective of political debates, given the perilous state of New Zealand’s freshwater, effective monitoring based on sound evidence is needed in order to weigh trade-offs and understand if we are managing rivers sustainably. </p>
<p>This is where environmental DNA (eDNA) comes in. </p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand will always need multiple methods to monitor the thousands of rivers and streams across the country, but we hope our <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/16963/">new eDNA method</a> will help by making freshwater monitoring faster, cheaper, more comprehensive and better suited to countrywide surveys.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-sounds-like-science-fiction-but-we-can-now-sample-water-to-find-the-dna-of-every-species-living-there-216989">It sounds like science fiction. But we can now sample water to find the DNA of every species living there</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rivers are full of life</h2>
<p>The life found in New Zealand’s rivers is a vital component of their health. Microbial diversity is continually degrading and recycling nutrients that sustain new life and maintain river health.</p>
<p>Whether fish, frog or falcon, all organisms shed bits of genetic material into the environment. These DNA “breadcrumbs” provide vital clues about what is living in the area. We can test all these DNA signals without actually ever seeing an animal.</p>
<p>The same ultra-sensitive technology is already being used to <a href="http://www.poops.nz">detect COVID in wastewater</a> by tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants and concentrations of the virus.</p>
<p>Until eDNA was developed, the primary method we had to monitor river health involved catching (often killing) and sorting thousands of invertebrates or electric fishing. Such methods are time consuming, costly, require specialist expertise and typically need five-year windows to detect a change in river health.</p>
<p>The game changer with eDNA is its ability to detect many species at once, employing an easy-to-use (filtration) sampling method. This opens up a raft of possible applications.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up of someone taking a sample of river water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C7%2C1187%2C810&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582728/original/file-20240319-30-v9h68o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A small sample of river water can help detect the presence of many species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Department of Conservation is using eDNA to detect <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/488225/dna-technology-helps-discover-critically-threatened-clutha-flatheads">new populations of endangered galaxid fish</a> and the Ministry for Primary Industries is using it to track the spread of the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490630/newly-discovered-invasive-gold-clam-can-produce-400-offspring-a-day">freshwater golden clam</a> that invaded the Waikato river. </p>
<p>But there is much more to eDNA than detecting a favourite (or least favourite) animal. The real shift is the ability to read eDNA barcodes across the “tree of life”. </p>
<h2>‘Seeing’ entire ecosystems</h2>
<p>Rather than focusing on just a few select indicator species, eDNA helps us to <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wilderlab.openwaters/reports/f207132b0f954602.html">consider the ecosystem more holistically</a>, such as the example below from the Waikato River, from a single litre of filtered water.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic showing the tree of life." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581156/original/file-20240312-20-e5hzh3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An eDNA analysis of one litre of water from the Waikato River shows all the species detected.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wilderlab and Wai Tuwhera o Te Taiao</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a partnership between the eDNA company <a href="https://www.wilderlab.co.nz/">Wilderlab</a>, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry for the Environment and regional councils, we harnessed this holistic ecosystem data to develop a new index to measure river health called the <a href="https://www.wilderlab.co.nz/tici">Taxon-Independent Community Index</a>, or TICI. </p>
<p>Using regularly monitored river sites across Aotearoa New Zealand, we focused on 3,000 eDNA barcodes from bacteria, fungi, plants and animals that are indicators of river nutrification.</p>
<p>The TICI index is a score from 60 to 140, based on which of the 3,000 barcode signatures are present. Some barcodes push the dial in a positive direction, others nudge it negative.</p>
<p>Raw DNA data can be complex. The TICI index distils the genetic code into a metric that people can more easily engage with. From zero river samples profiled using eDNA in 2019, we now have more than 50,000 eDNA records, including 16,000 TICI scores. Collectively, this has generated one of the most powerful global eDNA datasets, and opens a number of new applications. </p>
<p>Teichelmann Creek in the predator-free Perth Valley (in South Westland) currently tops the leader board with a TICI score of 135.03 (pristine). At the other end of the table, Papanui Stream in the Hawke’s Bay generated a TICI of 68.05 (very poor).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An infographic that shows TICI scores across New Zealand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=657&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581550/original/file-20240313-30-57zbs9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This infographic shows TICI scores across New Zealand and how they change along a river’s length.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wilderlab</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to next for eDNA?</h2>
<p>We envisage that eDNA-based indicators, like the TICI index, will provide a practical way for people to track health in their local rivers. </p>
<p>Communities are already engaging with this tool through the <a href="https://www.epa.govt.nz/community-involvement/open-waters-aotearoa/">Wai Tuwhera o te Taiao programme</a>. Farmers are <a href="https://ourlandandwater.nz/outputs/using-edna-to-identify-taonga-species-te-miro-farm-case-study/">getting on board</a> and eDNA techniques feature in the <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/about-doc/long-term-insights-briefings/2023/ltib2023-doc-linz.pdf">futures thinking</a> of central government.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/consumers-want-nz-farmers-to-comply-with-regulations-better-monitoring-and-transparency-would-help-to-build-trust-204682">Consumers want NZ farmers to comply with regulations -- better monitoring and transparency would help to build trust</a>
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<p>In a 2019 <a href="https://pce.parliament.nz/publications/focusing-aotearoa-new-zealand-s-environmental-reporting-system/">report on New Zealand’s environmental reporting system</a>, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment identified deficiencies and fragmentation in New Zealand’s environmental data gathering and reporting, including for freshwater. We argue that eDNA gets us a step closer to fixing some of these issues. </p>
<p>Using the eDNA toolkit it is within our technical (and budgetary) reach for regular monitor of all rivers in Aotearoa to help prioritise where, when and how much management (or restoration) is needed. </p>
<p>And there is more to come on the eDNA monitoring front, including methods of sampling eDNA from the air, household taps, shipping containers and around aquaculture facilities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Bunce has received funding from Australia & New Zealand on the use of eDNA technologies, including to work with community groups as part of the Wai Tuwhera o Te Taiao programme at the Environmental Protection Authority. He is currently Chief Science advisor at the Department of Conservation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Jarman currently works with eDNA Frontiers and Wilderlab, companies which offer fee-for-service eDNA services. </span></em></p>Monitoring methods based on environmental DNA are faster, more comprehensive and cheaper than traditional ecological surveys. They help fill gaps in New Zealand’s data on river health.Michael Bunce, Honarary Professor in Environmental Genomics, University of OtagoSimon Jarman, Professor of Environmental Genomics, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251652024-03-20T05:06:52Z2024-03-20T05:06:52ZA battery price war is kicking off that could soon make electric cars cheaper. Here’s how<p>The main cost of an electric vehicle (EV) is its battery. The high cost of energy-dense batteries has meant EVs have long been more expensive than their fossil fuel equivalents.</p>
<p>But this could change faster than we thought. The world’s largest maker of batteries for electric cars, China’s CATL, claims it will slash the cost of its batteries by up to 50% this year, as a <a href="https://cnevpost.com/2024/01/17/battery-price-war-catl-byd-costs-down/">price war kicks off</a> with the second largest maker in China, BYD subsidiary FinDreams. </p>
<p>What’s behind this? After the electric vehicle industry experienced a <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-batteries">huge surge</a> in 2022, it has hit headwinds. It <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/industry-pain-abounds-electric-car-demand-hits-slowdown-2024-01-30/">ramped up faster</a> than demand, triggering efforts to cut costs. </p>
<p>But the promised price cuts are also a sign of progress. Researchers have made great strides in finding <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-batteries">new battery chemistries</a>. CATL and BYD now make EV batteries without any cobalt, an expensive, scarce metal linked to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-miners-die-a-lot-appalling-conditions-and-poverty-wages-the-lives-of-cobalt-miners-in-the-drc-220986">child labor and dangerous mining practices</a> in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>
<p>Economies of scale and new supplies of lithium make it possible to sell batteries more cheaply. And the world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, is pinning its hopes on solid-state batteries in the hope these energy-dense, all but fireproof batteries will make possible EVs with a range of more than 1,200km per charge .</p>
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<h2>How are battery makers cutting costs?</h2>
<p>The largest market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is China. But demand for EVs here has eased off, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2a9f1dae-ddc4-4214-900d-c763208e9a45">dropping from</a> a 96% surge in demand in 2022 to a 36% rise in 2023. </p>
<p>As a result, battery giant CATL has seen its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-catl-posts-first-profit-fall-since-q2-2022-2024-03-15/#:%7E:text=CATL's%20profit%20for%20the%20October,the%20whole%20of%20last%20year.">profits fall</a> for the first time in almost two years. </p>
<p>One of the best ways to create more demand is to make your products cheaper. That’s what’s behind the cost-cutting promises from CATL and BYD. </p>
<p>You might wonder how that’s possible. One of the key challenges in shifting to battery-electric cars is where to get the raw materials. The electric future rests on viable supply chains for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements. </p>
<p>Until recently, the main EV battery chemistry has been built on four of these, lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt. These are also known as NMC batteries. </p>
<p>If you can avoid or minimise the use of expensive or controversial minerals, you can cut costs. That’s why Chinese companies such as CATL have all but monopolised the market on another chemistry, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. These batteries are cheaper, as they have no cobalt. They have other benefits too: a longer usable life and less risk of fire than traditional lithium battery chemistries. The downside is they have lower capacity and voltage. </p>
<p>The recent price cuts come from a deliberate decision to use abundant earth materials such as iron and phosphorus wherever possible. </p>
<p>What about lithium? Prices of lithium carbonate, the salt form of the ultra light silvery-white metal, shot up sixfold between <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-price-slide-deepens-china-battery-giant-bets-cheaper-inputs-2023-02-28">2020 and 2022</a> in China before falling last year. </p>
<p>Despite this, battery prices have <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/01/record-low-ev-battery-prices/">kept falling</a> – just not by as much as they otherwise would have. </p>
<p>The world’s huge demand for lithium has led to strong growth in supply, as miners scramble to find new sources. CATL, for instance, is spending A$2.1 billion on lithium extraction plants <a href="https://batteryjuniors.com/2023/06/19/catl-investment-bolivian-lithium">in Bolivia</a>. </p>
<p>Growth in lithium supply <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-price-slide-deepens-china-battery-giant-bets-cheaper-inputs-2023-02-28/">is projected</a> to outpace demand by 34% both this year and next, which should help stabilise battery prices. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="bolivia salt flats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bolivia’s salt flats are a rich source of lithium, though its extraction has come with environmental concerns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/worlds-largest-salt-flat-salar-de-317843843">Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Battery options are multiplying</h2>
<p>China’s battery makers have cornered the market in lithium iron phosphate batteries. But they aren’t the only game in town. </p>
<p>Tesla electric cars have long been powered by batteries from Japan’s Panasonic and South Korea LG. These batteries are built on the older but well established NMC and lithium nickel cobalt aluminate oxide (NCA) chemistries. Even so, the American carmaker is <a href="https://insideevs.com/news/587455/batteries-tesla-using-electric-cars/">now using</a> CATL’s LFP batteries in its more affordable cars. </p>
<p>The world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/01/toyota-chief-executive-faces-electric-vehicle-reality/">long been sceptical</a> of lithium-ion batteries and has focused on hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles instead. </p>
<p>But this is changing. Toyota is now focused heavily on making <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/04/solid-state-batteries-inside-the-race-to-transform-the-science-of-electric-vehicles">solid-state batteries</a> a reality. These do away with liquid electrolytes to transport electricity in favour of a solid battery. In September last year, the company <a href="https://electrek.co/2023/06/13/toyota-claims-solid-state-ev-battery-tech-breakthrough/">announced a breakthrough</a> which it claims will enable faster recharging times and a range of 1,200km before recharge. If these claims are true, these batteries would effectively double the range of today’s topline EVs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/petrol-pricing-and-parking-why-so-many-outer-suburban-residents-are-opting-for-evs-225565">Petrol, pricing and parking: why so many outer suburban residents are opting for EVs</a>
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<p>In response, China’s battery manufacturers and government are <a href="https://kr-asia.com/catl-byd-others-unite-in-china-for-solid-state-battery-breakthrough">working to catch up</a> with Toyota on solid-state batteries. </p>
<p>Which battery chemistry will win out? It’s too early to say for electric vehicles. But as the green transition continues, it’s likely we’ll need not just one but many options. </p>
<p>After all, the energy needs of a prime mover truck will be different to city runabout EVs. And as electric aircraft go from dream to reality, these will need different batteries again. To get battery-electric aircraft off the ground, you need batteries with a huge power density. </p>
<p>The good news? These are engineering challenges which can be overcome. Just last year, CATL announced a pioneering <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/04/21/catl-launches-500-wh-kg-condensed-matter-battery/">“condensed matter” battery</a> for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-05-03/catl-announces-battery-to-make-electric-aviation-possible/102289310">electric aircraft</a>, with up to three times the energy density of an average electric car battery. </p>
<p>All the while, researchers are pushing the envelope even further. A good electric car might have a battery with an energy density of 150–250 watt-hours per kilogram. But the <a href="https://newatlas.com/energy/highest-density-lithium-battery/#:%7E:text=The%20battery%20tested%20at%20711.3,off%20any%20form%20of%20commercialization.">record in the lab</a> is now over 700 watt-hours/kg. </p>
<p>This is to say nothing of the research going into still other battery chemistries, from <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/04/1066141/whats-next-for-batteries/">sodium-ion to iron-air</a> to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/liquid-metal-battery">liquid metal</a> batteries. </p>
<p>We are, in short, still at the beginning of the battery revolution. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sodium-ion-batteries-could-make-electric-cars-cheaper-207342">How sodium-ion batteries could make electric cars cheaper</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>China’s two largest EV battery makers are pledging to slash the cost of their batteries this year. Behind the pledge is a cost war – and new battery chemistries.Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityWaqas Uzair, Research associate, Edith Cowan UniversityYasir Arafat, Senior research associate, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2262062024-03-20T01:25:27Z2024-03-20T01:25:27ZNZ’s summer insects are packing up for autumn – here’s how our gardens can help them through the cold months<p>Chillier mornings and higher heating bills aren’t the only signs of the changing seasons. Common insects, too, are having to adapt. One day we see them in our gardens and parks, the next they appear to have disappeared. </p>
<p>But most are still here – they’re just harder to find.</p>
<p>Overwintering is an adaptation that many plants, insects and other invertebrates undergo in temperate climates. It’s how they survive cold times of the year when food sources are scarce. </p>
<p>It’s similar to the way some mammals, such as bears, hibernate. But while hibernation involves an extended and deep dormancy akin to sleep, overwintering organisms are still active, just to a lesser extent. </p>
<p>Some alpine insects, such as wētapunga, can even tolerate being <a href="https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/mountain-stone-weta/">frozen solid</a> for days at a time, slowing down their metabolism until conditions become favourable again.</p>
<h2>The stay-at-home monarch</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s monarch butterflies demonstrate how insects can adapt to new environments. In North America, they disappear for the northern winter, <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml">migrating up to 5,000 kilometres</a> from around the Great Lakes to the central Mexican volcanic mountains. </p>
<p>They arrive in huge swarms, with population estimates one year of around <a href="https://monarchconservation.org/monarch-status/monarch-population-status">380 million butterflies</a>, clustering together to conserve energy. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-and-spiders-make-up-more-than-half-nzs-animal-biodiversity-time-to-celebrate-these-spineless-creatures-195450">Insects and spiders make up more than half NZ's animal biodiversity – time to celebrate these spineless creatures</a>
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<p>In New Zealand, however, the monarch has adapted to island life and does not migrate. We know this because, for 15 years, the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust tagged monarch butterflies in autumn and winter to track where they were overwintering. </p>
<p>The data collected showed <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/project/tagging-monarchs/">no pattern of migration</a> or any common destination. Most recovered tags were still within the general area in which the butterflies were released. </p>
<p>New Zealand monarchs do show some similar behaviours to their North American counterparts, though. You might be fortunate to see a tree with a swarm of monarchs, usually on the tree’s northern side. </p>
<p>The butterflies stay active during winter, as temperatures allow. On a sunny day you will see them flying around, looking for nectar from flowers to top up their energy.</p>
<h2>Leave the leaf litter</h2>
<p>Overwintering in large numbers, however, is not typical of the way most insects survive the winter. Aotearoa’s <a href="https://jandtlab.com/how-can-i-help-save-the-bees/">native bees</a> are active only in the summer, when females forage to collect a nutritious “pollen ball” to sustain their dozen or so offspring underground during development. </p>
<p>Bee larvae will remain underground during winter, long after their parents have perished. They will emerge the following summer as the new generation of adults, never having met their caregivers.</p>
<p>While flowers rich in nectar and pollen are crucial for insects to forage when they emerge from overwintering, dead and decaying plant matter is the <a href="https://xerces.org/blog/leave-leaves-to-benefit-wildlife">lifeblood of the invertebrate world</a> during autumn and winter. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-votes-the-red-admiral-butterfly-bug-of-the-year-how-to-make-your-garden-its-home-223083">NZ votes the red admiral butterfly ‘bug of the year’ – how to make your garden its home</a>
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<p>Leaf litter provides cover and nutrition for millions of insects and other microorganisms that cycle nutrients and soil, pollinate ecosystems and sustain larger organisms such as birds and fish.</p>
<p>You can help butterflies and other invertebrates survive winter by raking dead leaves onto the garden, rather than into the rubbish, and leaving seed heads on plants. Not only will this give these amazing ecosystem engineers somewhere to shelter, it will also help them return precious nutrients to the soil. </p>
<p>Plants such as <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/List-of-some-nectar-species.pdf">Leucanthemum and Alyssum</a>, which produce nectar-filled flowers in autumn and winter, can provide a top-up feed for butterflies and other pollinators during warm spells. </p>
<p>Native winter-flowering whauwhau, or five-finger (<em>Pseudopanax arboreus</em>), provides vital overwintering energy for insects. And kotukutuku (<em>Fuchsia excorticata</em>), though mainly bird-pollinated, is also <a href="https://thisnzlife.co.nz/top-17-trees-feed-bees-new-zealand-year-round/">popular with bees</a>.</p>
<h2>Flight of the bumble bee</h2>
<p>Not all insects overwinter. Colony and social insects such as bumble bees and honey bees follow <a href="https://www.nzbct.org.nz/bee-informed/">characteristic phenological cycles</a>, intricately and inseparably linked to floral blooming seasons. </p>
<p>Bumble bee queens initiate a colony underground and begin to produce workers that typically live for an average of 28 days. </p>
<p>As the colony deteriorates with age at the end of summer, the queen will shift from producing sterile workers to producing reproductive individuals. These male <a href="https://www.perfectbee.com/beekeeping-articles/role-of-the-drone-bee">drones</a> and female <a href="https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/gyne/">gynes</a> will leave the nest to mate, while workers consume the remaining resources.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-bees-have-queens-2-biologists-explain-this-insects-social-structure-and-why-some-bees-dont-have-a-queen-at-all-213208">Why do bees have queens? 2 biologists explain this insect's social structure – and why some bees don't have a queen at all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Around March and April you may see many <a href="https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bee-faqs/finding-dead-bees/">dead bumble bees</a> on the ground. This isn’t necessarily cause for alarm – they have simply worked hard pollinating and have reached their natural life expectancy. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, newly mated queen bumble bees will now seek out new spots in which to begin colonies, such as vacant rodent and rabbit burrows. The queens benefit from the retained heat provided by undisturbed leaf litter, which also protects them from predators.</p>
<p>Eventually, our overwintering insects will emerge, often coinciding with the start of flowering and pollen production. But a changing climate can <a href="https://www.beeculture.com/pollination-its-all-about-timing/">disrupt key plant-animal interactions</a> such as pollination. In the meantime, they will appreciate all the help we can give them as temperatures drop and the cycle of life turns again.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of the <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/">Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust</a> in the preparation of this article.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Lord has received funding for invertebrate-related research from the Miss E.L. Hellaby Indigenous Grasslands Research Trust, Royal Society of New Zealand, Department of Conservation, and University of Otago. She is a member of the Entomological Society of New Zealand and an honorary associate of Plant and Food Research Ltd.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Connal McLean is a member of The Entomological Society of New Zealand and The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust.</span></em></p>Many common insects seem to disappear during autumn and winter – but they are still around. Making your garden a good winter habitat can help these vital pollinators survive and thrive.Janice Lord, Associate Professor in Botany, University of OtagoConnal McLean, Natural History Technician – Invertebrates, Te Papa TongarewaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252772024-03-19T19:42:37Z2024-03-19T19:42:37ZEven far from the ocean, Australia’s drylands are riddled with salty groundwater. What can land managers do?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580832/original/file-20240310-25-gs1bb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C11%2C7464%2C4023&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nik Callow</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the 1890s, railway engineers noticed river water used by steam locomotives <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/managing-dryland-salinity/history-salinity-western-australia-%E2%80%93-salty-bunch-dates">started to become salty</a> when surrounding land was cleared for agriculture.</p>
<p>Over the next decades, the problem worsened. In 1917, a Royal Commission in Western Australia <a href="http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/RC+1917/$FILE/0002006.pdf">dismissed the threat</a> from salt and instead promoted more clearing of land. </p>
<p>Ignoring the problem didn’t solve it. Salt water began rising from below in many new agricultural regions. Crops could not use this salty water. In March 1924 – a century ago this month – the railway engineer W.E. Wood published the <a href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46488592#page/73/mode/1up">first scientific paper</a> on the causes of salinity in Australia. </p>
<p>Wood concluded land clearing was causing groundwater levels to rise, bringing salt stored underground to the surface. He correctly proposed the salt in this region had come from the oceans, after evaporated seawater with residual salt <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/sr/sr9760319">fell as rain</a>. </p>
<p>In 2002, our last comprehensive national estimate put <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4615.0#:%7E:text=Farms%20primarily%20involved%20with%20the,land%20showing%20signs%20of%20salinity.">salinity-affected land at around 1.75 to 2 million hectares</a> – about 7.5 times the size of the Australian Capital Territory.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="salt crust on ground western australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582704/original/file-20240319-22-tabhig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Salt crusts can form once shallow ponds evaporate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wide-open-plain-view-dry-salt-391820593">Taras Vyshnya/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is dryland salinity?</h2>
<p>Salt is a natural part of our oceans. Some parts of the land have plenty of salt and are naturally saline. Salt lakes are part of <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/songlines">traditional songlines</a>. Globally, we also find salted earth where former inland seas have deposited salt and where irrigation has concentrated salt in the soil.</p>
<p>But other areas have become salty due to land clearing. This is dryland salinity. When deep-rooted trees and shrubs are present, they use most of the rainfall. Very little is left over to leak down into the groundwater. </p>
<p>When trees and shrubs are cut down to make way for farmland, more rain permeates the earth. This mixes with naturally salty groundwater and rises to the surface where it can damage plants and infrastructure.</p>
<p>Plants such as samphire are salt-tolerant and can live in salt lakes. Saltbush can absorb salty water and get rid of the salt by expelling it onto the outside of its leaves. But most plants can’t do this. Absorbing salt water will damage or kill them. </p>
<p>The cruel irony of dryland salinity is that plants can die in dry landscapes from there being too much water.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="eroded landscape and dead trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582701/original/file-20240319-24-hr02pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After dryland salinity killed these trees, serious erosion can begin. This image is of a mesa landscape west of Charters Towers in northern Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CSIRO_ScienceImage_4090_Dryland_salinity_has_induced_serious_hillslope_gully_and_sheet_erosion_at_base_of_Mesa_landscape_just_west_of_Charters_Towers_Northern_QLD.jpg">CSIRO/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The long search for solutions</h2>
<p>In Australia, dryland salinity is worst in southwest Western Australia, as well as the <a href="https://www.mdba.gov.au/climate-and-river-health/water-quality/salinity">southern and western reaches</a> of the Murray-Darling Basin. </p>
<p>We didn’t begin trying to fix the problem in earnest until the 1950s, when state-based <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-and-land-conservation-council">Soil and Land Conservation</a> services started tackling salinity in Australia. </p>
<p>The 1990s saw the first nationally coordinated efforts through the <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/natural-resources/salinity">National Dryland Salinity Program</a>. This drew together farmers, community groups, <a href="https://nrmregionsaustralia.com.au/what-is-nrm/nrm_regional_model/">natural resource management organisations</a>, universities and government agencies such as CSIRO. <a href="https://data.wa.gov.au/land-monitor">Satellites</a> gave us a better understanding of the true extent of the problem, <a href="https://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4615.0Main%20Features12002?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4615.0&issue=2002&num=&view=">estimated to affect</a> around 20,000 farms.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we no longer have a coordinated national approach. Government investments have shifted to focus on equally complex challenges such as improving water quality in <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/great-barrier-reef/protecting/our-investments">Great Barrier Reef catchments</a> and trying to save <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened">threatened species</a> from extinctions. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-have-always-wondered-why-is-the-sea-salty-83489">I have always wondered: why is the sea salty?</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Saltbush, not ponds</h2>
<p>So what works against dryland salinity? Researchers have found some <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-salinity/managing-dryland-salinity-south-west-western-australia">practical and economic solutions</a>.</p>
<p>Revegetating the landscape can work, but requires trees, shrubs and plantations to cover <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/stream-salinity-status-and-trends-south-west-wa">two-thirds of a cleared catchment</a> to manage a problem affecting a much smaller area. This is very expensive, and doesn’t work well with existing farms or for regional communities.</p>
<p>The most widely adopted methods of dealing with salt are based on adaptation, such as planting species <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-salinity/saltbushes-dryland-salinity-management-western-australia">such as river and old man saltbush</a> on saline land and areas around it. Livestock can eat the leaves, and saltbush species are excellent at living in salty soils. </p>
<p>Other developing options include pumping up brackish groundwater and turning it into high-quality water through <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/water-management/groundwater-desalination-farms-western-australia">micro-desalination</a>. </p>
<p>Engineering solutions such as pumping out salty water and <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/water-management/deep-drainage-groundwater-drains-salinity-management-western-australia">deep drainage</a> run into problems with salt disposal, cost and challenges with clay soils, which do not drain well. </p>
<p>Subsurface drains in sandier soils near the surface can reduce waterlogging and salinity, and also increase crop productivity. </p>
<p>In areas prone to dryland salinity, reducing pooling of water reduces the salinity of water <a href="https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/717/2020/">flowing into ecosystems downstream</a>. This means landscape rehydration strategies such as natural sequence farming, which deliberately slow and pond water, can <a href="https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/lr_consultrpts/11/">actually make salinity worse</a> in older, weathered landscapes.</p>
<h2>Less rain but still salinity</h2>
<p>The scale of the salinity challenge is further demonstrated by the impact of climate change.</p>
<p>Since 1970, annual rainfall has <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/trendmaps.cgi?map=rain&area=aus&season=0112&period=1970">fallen across Australia</a> by about 10–15%, particularly in Victoria and southwest Western Australia. This change in climate has <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/Our-water">impacted drinking water supplies</a> in WA, forcing an increasing reliance on desalination.</p>
<p>You might expect groundwater levels to also potentially drop. But for many areas such as south-western WA and the <a href="https://www.waterquality.gov.au/issues/salinity">Murray Darling Basin</a>, groundwater levels are actually still rising even as rainfall declines, due to the ongoing impact of historic land clearing.</p>
<p>A key lesson we have learned from the long fight against dryland salinity is it’s very hard to create profitable farms which mimic the original natural systems. </p>
<h2>The fight against salinity continues</h2>
<p>Salinity still <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-salinity/dryland-salinity-western-australia-0">affects millions of hectares</a> of agricultural land across Australia, driven by the processes described 100 years ago. An award for excellence in salinity research named after railway engineer W.E. Wood was awarded five times in the early 2000s, and will return in 2024 to mark the <a href="https://www.uwaceep.org/wood-award">centenary of his paper</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve learned a lot about dryland salinity in a century, but the search continues for viable methods of combating or adapting to the salt below.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-south-west-a-hotspot-for-wildlife-and-plants-that-deserves-world-heritage-status-54885">Australia's south west: a hotspot for wildlife and plants that deserves World Heritage status</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nik Callow has received salinity-related funding as an employee of The University of Western Australia and previously when working for the WA Government Department of Food and Agriculture. He is a director of the Centre for Water and Spatial Science at UWA that receives private, industry and public funding to undertake research on salinity and water resources.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Pannell received salinity-related funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity, the Future Farm Industries CRC, the Australian Research Council, and the University of Western Australia. He was a member of a Ministerial Taskforce on salinity in 2001, the Salinity Investment Framework committee for the Western Australian Government, and various other salinity-related committees. He was the fifth winner of the W.E. Wood Award for Salinity Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ed Barrett-Lennard is Senior Principal Soil Scientist in the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Professorial Fellow at Murdoch University. He has previously received research funding through the CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity and the Future Farm Industries CRC. He currently receives funding for salinity research through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. He was fourth winner of the W.E. Wood Award for salinity research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard George works for the West Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. He was second winner of the W.E. Wood Award for salinity research</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I previously worked for CSIRO 1988-2014 and in 1999 was the first recipient of the W.E.Wood Award for Salinity Research.</span></em></p>We’ve known about dryland salinity for a century. But while we’ve made progress, the problem hasn’t yet been solved.Nik Callow, Associate Professor - Geography, The University of Western AustraliaDavid Pannell, Professor and Director, Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy, The University of Western AustraliaEd Barrett-Lennard, Professorial fellow, Murdoch UniversityRichard George, Adjunct professor, Murdoch UniversityTom Hatton, Adjunct professor, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260202024-03-19T06:21:50Z2024-03-19T06:21:50ZFinally, good news for power bills: energy regulator promises small savings for most customers on the ‘default market offer’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582732/original/file-20240319-16-nu9kfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C8%2C5540%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/queensland-australia-common-public-substations-1062133949">chinasong, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-electricity-prices-going-up-again-and-will-it-ever-end-201869">price increases</a>, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re going down. </p>
<p>The good news is contained in two separate draft decisions today by the <a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/news/articles/news-releases/default-market-offer-dmo-2024-25-draft-determination">Australian Energy Regulator</a> and Victoria’s <a href="https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/electricity-and-gas/prices-tariffs-and-benchmarks/victorian-default-offer/victorian-default-offer-price-review-2024-25">Essential Services Commission</a>, on the maximum price energy retailers can charge electricity consumers under a specific plan that must be offered to all consumers.</p>
<p>The price is officially known as the “<a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/programs/price-safety-net">default market offer</a>”. It’s the price you’re charged on a “default” plan with an electricity retailer – in other words, the plan customers are on if they haven’t shopped around to find a better deal from competing retailers. The bottom line is, most of these residential electricity customers should receive price reductions of between 0.4% (A$13) and 7.1% ($211) next financial year. In most cases that’s less than the rate of inflation. </p>
<p>The relief is largely the result of a drop in <a href="https://theconversation.com/wholesale-power-prices-are-falling-fast-but-consumers-will-have-to-wait-for-relief-heres-why-222495">wholesale prices</a> – that’s the price paid to the generators producing electricity. Unfortunately, however, at the same time transmission and distribution prices – or network costs – have gone up. So the savings won’t be as great as they might have been. </p>
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<h2>A big improvement on previous years</h2>
<p>This is the sixth year in which regulators have set default market offers for retail electricity customers. They do it where there is competition in the sector: so in southeast Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and, separately, Victoria. </p>
<p>It does not include Tasmania, the ACT, Western Australia or the Northern Territory, where the relevant regulator sets the prices and there’s no or very little competition.</p>
<p>About 5-10% of consumers across the states involved are on default plans. The rest have a contract arrangement with a retailer. But the draft decision, if enacted, still directly affects hundreds of thousands of people. And as commentators <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-19/aer-flags-price-cuts-for-some-rises-for-others/103602946">have observed</a>, it sends an important market signal about the general direction of electricity prices.</p>
<p>The Australian Energy Regulator says most residential customers on the default market offer can expect to save on their electricity bills in 2024-25. But the offers vary depending where you live. </p>
<p>Have a look at the table above to see what residential customers without “controlled load” can expect. That covers most households. (Controlled load is when you also have an off-peak tariff for hot water heating.)</p>
<p>Some customers will be paying more for electricity. In Southeast Queensland, residential customers will pay 2.7% more, which is an extra $53 on average. </p>
<p>Using an inflation forecast of 3.3%, the Australian Energy Regulator also calculates what they call the “real” year-to-year variation in prices. So even if there’s a small increase in the price for a particular area, it’s less than the rate of inflation. For that example in southeast Queensland, it equates to a decrease of 0.6% and a saving of $12 in real terms. </p>
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<p>Residential customers on the <a href="https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/electricity-and-gas/prices-tariffs-and-benchmarks/victorian-default-offer">Victorian default market offer</a> can expect to save 6.4%. The retail power prices in Victoria are <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/power-bill-relief-could-be-coming-as-wholesale-electricity-prices-fall-20240130-p5f14e">slightly better than in the other states</a> largely because there are lower wholesale power prices.</p>
<p>All in all it’s a big improvement on the price hikes of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-electricity-prices-going-up-again-and-will-it-ever-end-201869">last year</a> and the year before that. </p>
<p>The final default market offer prices will be released in May, but we can expect little change. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-will-underwrite-risky-investments-in-renewables-heres-why-thats-a-good-idea-218427">The government will underwrite risky investments in renewables – here's why that's a good idea</a>
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<h2>Network prices are up</h2>
<p>Regulators set the default market offer by itemising all costs retailers are likely to incur in the course of running their business. From that, they calculate the fair price retailers should offer customers on default plans. </p>
<p>Wholesale electricity costs, incurred when retailers buy electricity from generators on the wholesale market, make up <a href="https://www.energyfactsaustralia.org.au/key-issues/energy-costs/">maybe 30–40% of your bill</a>. </p>
<p>The other major cost retailers face is for the electricity transmission and distribution network – that is, the “poles and wires”. These also comprise around 40% of your bill.</p>
<p>The network price is driven by inflation and interest rate rises, and also includes the costs of maintenance, and building new transmission infrastructure to connect renewable energy generators to the grid.</p>
<p>The easing of wholesale prices since their 2022 peak has been offset by increases in these network prices. In fact, network prices have increased by almost as much as wholesale prices have come down. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wholesale-power-prices-are-falling-fast-but-consumers-will-have-to-wait-for-relief-heres-why-222495">Wholesale power prices are falling fast – but consumers will have to wait for relief. Here's why</a>
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<h2>A difficult ask</h2>
<p>Responding to the draft decision on Tuesday, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen <a href="https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/media-releases/albanese-government-energy-plan-stabilising-energy-prices-after-global-crisis">said</a> it showed the Albanese government was stabilising energy prices.</p>
<p>But Bowen came to office promising to <a href="https://www.chrisbowen.net/media/media-releases-and-op-eds/powering-australia-labor-s-plan-to-create-jobs-cut-power-bills-and-reduce-emissions-by-boosting-renewable-energy/">cut power bills by $275 by 2025</a>. That deadline is not very far away.</p>
<p>Bowen made that commitment in December 2021. Very soon after, <a href="https://theconversation.com/electricity-prices-are-spiking-ten-times-as-much-as-normal-here-are-some-educated-guesses-as-to-why-182849">electricity prices</a> shot through the roof. It’s becoming very difficult to see how the $275 cost reduction will be achieved by next year. </p>
<p>The bottom line is prices have stabilised after a couple of bad years and hopefully the worst is behind us. But, it would be a brave person who attempts to predict where they go from here. There are too many moving parts. Governments should stay the course on policies, and consumers, worried about electricity prices, should go online, compare offers, and to find the best possible deal.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unsexy-but-vital-why-warnings-over-grid-reliability-are-really-about-building-more-transmission-lines-212603">Unsexy but vital: why warnings over grid reliability are really about building more transmission lines</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Wood may have interests in companies impacted by the energy transition through his superannuation fund.</span></em></p>In states with competition between retailers, the energy regulator is promising savings for most customers on the default plan. But it’s small change compared to price hikes. Here’s what to expect.Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257902024-03-19T03:17:31Z2024-03-19T03:17:31ZThe government wants to fast-track approvals of large infrastructure projects – that’s bad news for NZ’s biodiversity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582659/original/file-20240318-20-iz8kas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C95%2C3938%2C1981&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images/Gerald Corsi </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to be of national or regional significance.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCENV_SCF_083F0A7B-F182-41D5-0897-08DC3E31559C/fast-track-approvals-bill">Fast-track Approvals Bill</a>, introduced under urgency on March 7, would <a href="https://www.bellgully.com/insights/government-s-fast-track-approvals-bill-released-under-100-day-plan/">take precedence over several current environmental laws</a> and give ministers the power to skirt existing approval processes.</p>
<p>Leaders of ten scientific societies that conduct biodiversity research in Aotearoa New Zealand, representing thousands of members (ourselves included), have called on the government to <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/open-letter-coalition-government-scientific-societies-13-march-2024">slow down the pace of reform</a>. </p>
<p>They warn that <a href="https://www.bellgully.com/insights/government-s-fast-track-approvals-bill-released-under-100-day-plan/">decision-making criteria are weighted towards
development</a>, not environmental protection or sustainable resource use, and undermine New Zealand’s obligations to protect the country’s unique and threatened biodiversity.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s economy relies on the environment in many ways. One study <a href="https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/assets/Publications/Ecosystem-services-in-New-Zealand/3_2_Patterson.pdf">estimated</a> New Zealand’s land-based ecosystem services contributed NZ$57 billion to human welfare in 2012 (27% of the country’s GDP). This includes services such as <a href="http://www.mwpress.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/77057/2_11_Newstrom.pdf">crop pollination by insects</a>, erosion control by plants and flood regulation by wetlands. </p>
<p>The fast-track bill requires expert panels to provide recommendations to the relevant ministers within six months of a project being referred to them. This time frame is wholly unsuitable to making <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195925513001108?casa_token=1abt1A-X3y0AAAAA:zjrU7aX-Mh1FDQfdP0XfQLYzE268A9qBb64jfjnJ6jX8MvSsORW28sAc6t1DcRGAc7pEqDnxvQ">proper assessments</a> of environmental impacts, including those on plants and animals, as surveys will likely be conducted at <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2404742">inappropriate times of the year</a>.</p>
<h2>No time for on-site ecological assessments</h2>
<p>A key requirement of assessing impacts on biodiversity is to undertake <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07349165.1995.9726099">new ecological surveys</a> of the project site and surrounds. Such surveys identify the threatened species and ecosystems found on the site, catalogue where they are found and estimate their population numbers. </p>
<p>This information is then used to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07349165.1995.9726099">determine</a> how those species and ecosystems could be affected, and whether the project could be modified to avoid or mitigate these impacts.</p>
<p>There are currently no directions in the bill for the expert panel to commission new ecological surveys. However, even if panels could do this, the six-month time frame precludes robust ecological surveys.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/without-a-better-plan-new-zealand-risks-sleepwalking-into-a-biodiversity-extinction-crisis-182279">Without a better plan, New Zealand risks sleepwalking into a biodiversity extinction crisis</a>
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<p>Thorough ecological assessments involve conducting surveys at multiple times throughout the year because certain species will only be present during particular seasons. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/apply-for-permits/interacting-with-wildlife/applying-to-develop-land-with-native-lizards-and-frog-species/">reptiles, frogs</a>, <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3551">invertebrates</a> and <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/sap232.pdf">migratory species of birds</a> are usually only detectable during warmer times of the year. Surveys for them during winter are unlikely to find these species. </p>
<p>Even certain plants, such as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2008.01869.x">orchids</a> that can lie dormant underground as a tuber, have life cycles that make them difficult to detect. Many grasses are <a href="https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/AusGrass/key/AusGrass/Media/Html/Guide/bestpractice.htm">best identified</a> when they are in flower.</p>
<p>In many cases, restricting consenting to just six months means expert panels would have to make their assessments based only on existing ecological information. This is known as a “desktop assessment”.</p>
<p>While a useful first step, these are not a replacement for on-the-ground surveys. This is particularly the case in New Zealand, where we have limited data on many species and for many parts of the country. For example, we don’t have sufficient data on most of New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs35entire-feb2024.pdf">reptiles</a>. </p>
<h2>Evidence-based decisions are critical</h2>
<p>Apart from the proposed fast-tracking of resource consents, the government has already repealed the <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/acts-and-regulations/acts/natural-and-built-environment-act-2023/">Natural and Built Environment Act</a> and the <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/acts-and-regulations/acts/spatial-planning-act-2023/">Spatial Planning Act</a>. Both were enacted only last year as part of a new resource management regime. </p>
<p>The government also plans to replace the <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/publications/national-policy-statement-for-freshwater-management-2020-amended-january-2024/">National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management</a>, which provides direction to local authorities on how to manage activities that affect the health of lakes and rivers.</p>
<p>None of the recent and proposed changes to environmental legislation are responsive to the dual biodiversity and climate crises. They are also inconsistent with the government’s own <a href="https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/350118150/national-act-coalition-agreement-full">stated goal</a> of evidence-based decision making. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-ecosystems-to-boost-biodiversity-is-an-urgent-priority-our-eco-index-can-guide-the-way-217092">Restoring ecosystems to boost biodiversity is an urgent priority – our ‘Eco-index’ can guide the way</a>
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<p>New Zealand’s plants, animals, fungi and ecosystems are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35002501">globally unique</a>. They underpin key economic sectors, especially primary production and tourism. But they are also threatened with extinction. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extinction-threat-to-indigenous-species/">More than 75%</a> of New Zealand’s native species of reptile, bird, bat and freshwater fish are either threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened. </p>
<p>New Zealand has international obligations to conserve biodiversity under the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile?country=nz">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>, which was signed in 1993. In 2022, New Zealand joined almost 200 member nations in adopting the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/gbf">Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework</a>, which commits countries to protect 30% of land and ocean globally by 2030. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-its-green-image-nz-has-worlds-highest-proportion-of-species-at-risk-116063">Despite its green image, NZ has world's highest proportion of species at risk</a>
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<p>Much of New Zealand’s most at-risk indigenous biodiversity is <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3235.pdf">found on private land</a> and may be subject to detrimental impacts from land use and development pressures. </p>
<p>The fast-tracking agenda threatens to undermine New Zealand’s progress on biodiversity protection and other key environmental issues. It erodes rather than sustains the natural capital on which the economy depends. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s scientific societies are urging the coalition government to allow adequate time for appropriate parliamentary select committee processes and thorough public consultation on the bill. </p>
<p>They call for a comprehensive legislative and policy framework, centred on the protection of environmental values and sustainable resource management, to ensure development occurs in ways that don’t further degrade natural capital.</p>
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<p><em>The authors thank Dr Fleur Maseyk for her comments and discussions on this piece.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Curran receives funding from the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the Hellaby Grasslands Trust, Marlborough District Council, Brian Mason Scientific and Technical Trust, and the Lincoln University Argyle Trust. Tim is the Submissions Coordinator and a past President of the New Zealand Ecological Society, and coordinated and helped draft the open letter to the government referred to in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Monks receives funding from the New Zealand Department of Conservation and Auckland Zoological Park. She is Vice President of the New Zealand Ecological Society and a council member of the Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand. Jo is a previous employee of the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Jo signed the open letter to government referred to in this article on behalf of the New Zealand Ecological Society.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s plants and animals are globally unique and underpin primary production and tourism. The government’s fast-tracking proposal threatens to erode the natural capital the economy relies on.Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New ZealandJo Monks, Lecturer in Ecology, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252682024-03-18T19:21:15Z2024-03-18T19:21:15ZOn a climate rollercoaster: how Australia’s environment fared in the world’s hottest year<p>Global climate <a href="https://wmo.int/media/news/wmo-confirms-2023-smashes-global-temperature-record">records were shattered</a> in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year and numerous weather disasters occurred as climate change reared its head. </p>
<p>How did Australia’s environment fare against this onslaught? In short, 2023 was a year of opposites.</p>
<p>For the past nine years, we have trawled through huge volumes of data collected by satellites, measurement stations and surveys by individuals and agencies. We include data on global change, oceans, people, weather, water, soils, vegetation, fire and biodiversity. </p>
<p>Each year, we analyse those data, summarising them in an <a href="https://bit.ly/ausenv2023">annual report</a> that includes an overall Environmental Condition Score and <a href="https://ausenv.online/aer/scorecards/">regional scorecards</a>. These scores provide a relative measure of conditions for agriculture and ecosystems. Scores declined across the country, except in the Northern Territory, but were still relatively good.</p>
<p>However, the updated <a href="https://tsx.org.au/">Threatened Species Index</a> shows the abundance of listed bird, mammal and plant species has continued to decline at a rate of about 3% a year since the turn of the century.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Environmental condition indicators for 2023, showing the changes from 2000–2022 average values. Such differences can be part of a long-term trend or within normal variability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wenfo.org/aer/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023_Australias_Environment_Report-1.pdf">Australia's Environment 2023 Report.</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-2023s-record-heat-worsened-droughts-floods-and-bushfires-around-the-world-220836">How 2023's record heat worsened droughts, floods and bushfires around the world</a>
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<h2>Riding a climate rollercoaster in 2023</h2>
<p>Worldwide, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-2023s-record-heat-worsened-droughts-floods-and-bushfires-around-the-world-220836">77 countries broke temperature records</a>. Australia was not one of them. Our annual average temperature was 0.53°C below the horror year 2019. Temperatures in the seas around us were below the records of 2022. </p>
<p>Even so, 2023 was among Australia’s eight warmest years in both cases. All eight came after 2005.</p>
<p>However, those numbers are averaged over the year. Dig a bit deeper and it becomes clear 2023 was a climate rollercoaster.</p>
<p>The year started as wet as the previous year ended, but dry and unseasonably warm weather set in from May to October. Soils and wetlands across much of the country started drying rapidly. In the eastern states, the fire season started as early as August. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, there was generally still enough water to support good vegetation growth throughout the unusually warm and sunny winter months.</p>
<p>Fears of a severe fire season were not realised as El Niño’s influence waned in November and rainfall returned, in part due to the warm oceans. Combined with relatively high temperatures, it made for a hot and humid summer. A tropical cyclone and several severe storms caused flooding in Queensland and Victoria in December. </p>
<p>As always, there were regional differences. Northern Australia experienced the best rainfall and growth conditions in several years. This contributed to more grass fires than average during the dry season. On the other hand, the rain did not return to Western Australia and Tasmania, which ended the year dry.</p>
<h2>So how did scores change?</h2>
<p>Every year we calculate an Environmental Condition Score that combines weather, water and vegetation data.</p>
<p>The national score was 7.5 (out of 10). That was 1.2 points lower than for 2022, but still the second-highest score since 2011. </p>
<p>Scores declined across the country except for the Northern Territory, which chalked up a score of 8.8 thanks to a strong monsoon season. With signs of drought developing in parts of Western Australia, it had the lowest score of 5.5.</p>
<p>The Environmental Condition Score reflects environmental conditions, but does not measure the long-term health of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. </p>
<p>Firstly, it relates only to the land and not our oceans. Marine heatwaves damaged ecosystems along the eastern coast. Surveys in the first half of 2023 suggested the recovery of the Great Barrier Reef plateaued. </p>
<p>However, a cyclone and rising ocean temperatures occurred later in the year. In early 2024, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-barrier-reefs-latest-bout-of-bleaching-is-the-fifth-in-eight-summers-the-corals-now-have-almost-no-reprieve-225348">another mass coral bleaching event</a> developed. </p>
<p>Secondly, the score does not capture important processes affecting our many threatened species. Among the greatest dangers are invasive pests and diseases, habitat destruction and damage from severe weather events such as heatwaves and megafires.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-ecosystems-unprecedented-climates-more-australian-species-than-ever-are-struggling-to-survive-222375">New ecosystems, unprecedented climates: more Australian species than ever are struggling to survive</a>
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<h2>Threatened species’ declines continued</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://tsx.org.au/">Threatened Species Index</a> captures data from long-term threatened species monitoring. The index is updated annually with a three-year lag, largely due to delays in data processing and sharing. This means the 2023 index includes data up to 2020.</p>
<p>The index showed an unrelenting decline of about 3% in the abundance of Australia’s threatened bird, mammal and plant species each year. This amounts to an overall decline of 61% from 2000 to 2020.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Line graph of Threatened Species Index" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Threatened Species Index showing the abundance of different categories of species listed under the EPBC Act relative to 2000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wenfo.org/aer/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023_Australias_Environment_Report-1.pdf">Australia's Environment 2023 Report</a></span>
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<p>The index for birds in 2023 revealed declines were most severe for terrestrial birds (62%), followed by migratory shorebirds (47%) and marine birds (24%).</p>
<p>A record 130 species were added to Australia’s <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/nominations">threatened species lists</a> in 2023. That’s many more than the annual average of 29 species over previous years. The 2019–2020 <a href="https://theconversation.com/200-experts-dissected-the-black-summer-bushfires-in-unprecedented-detail-here-are-6-lessons-to-heed-198989">Black Summer bushfires</a> had direct impacts on half the newly listed species.</p>
<h2>Population boom adds to pressures</h2>
<p>Australia’s population passed <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-clock-pyramid">27 million</a> in 2023, a stunning increase of 8 million, or 41%, since 2000. Those extra people all needed living space, food, electricity and transport. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-population-is-expected-to-double-in-80-years-we-asked-australians-where-they-want-all-these-people-to-live-176889">Our population is expected to double in 80 years. We asked Australians where they want all these people to live</a>
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<p>Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/australias-emissions-projections-2023">have risen by 18% since 2000</a>. Despite small declines in the previous four years, emissions increased again in 2023, mostly due to air travel rebounding after COVID-19. </p>
<p>Our emissions per person are the <a href="https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2023">tenth-highest in the world</a> and more than three times those of the average global citizen. The main reasons are our coal-fired power stations, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-passenger-vehicle-emission-rates-are-50-higher-than-the-rest-of-the-world-and-its-getting-worse-222398">inefficient road vehicles</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/11/how-many-cattle-are-there-in-australia-we-may-be-out-by-10-million">large cattle herd</a>.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, there are reasons to be optimistic. Many other countries have dramatically <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-gdp-decoupling">reduced emissions without compromising economic growth</a> or quality of life. All we have to do is to finally follow their lead.</p>
<p>Our governments have an obvious role to play, but we can do a lot as individuals. We can even save money, by switching to renewable energy and electric vehicles and by eating less beef.</p>
<p>Changing our behaviour will not stop climate change in its tracks, but will slow it down over the next decades and ultimately reverse it. We cannot reverse or even stop all damage to our environment, but we can certainly do much better.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-australias-net-zero-transition-threatens-to-stall-rooftop-solar-could-help-provide-the-power-we-need-220050">As Australia's net zero transition threatens to stall, rooftop solar could help provide the power we need</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225268/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Australia’s Environment is produced by the ANU Fenner School for Environment & Society and the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an NCRIS-enabled National Research Infrastructure. Albert Van Dijk receives or has previously received funding from several government-funded agencies, grant schemes and programmes.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tayla Lawrie is a current employee of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shoshana Rapley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Conditions deteriorated in 2023 but were stlil relatively good for ecosystems and agriculture. Unfortunately, the alarming decline of threatened species continued.Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National UniversityShoshana Rapley, Research Assistant, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National UniversityTayla Lawrie, Project Manager, Threatened Species Index, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2172732024-03-18T02:28:19Z2024-03-18T02:28:19ZEven as the fusion era dawns, we’re still in the Steam Age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582432/original/file-20240318-30-py4kah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C36%2C5925%2C3971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/steam-turbine-rotor-1008297052">SmartS/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. </p>
<p>Many of us think the age of steam has ended. But while the steam engine has been superseded by internal combustion engines and now electric motors, the modern world still relies on steam. Almost all thermal power plants, from coal to nuclear, must have steam to function. (Gas plants usually do not).</p>
<p>But why? It’s because of something we discovered millennia ago. In the first century CE, the ancient Greeks invented the aeolipile – a steam turbine. Heat turned water into steam, and steam has a very useful property: it’s an easy-to-make gas that can push. </p>
<p>This simple fact means that even as the dream of fusion power <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a46973142/nuclear-fusion/">creeps closer</a>, we will still be in the Steam Age. The first commercial fusion plant will rely on <a href="https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/magnetic-fusion-confinement-with-tokamaks-and-stellarators#:%7E:text=While%20tokamaks%20are%20better%20at,a%20prospective%20fusion%20energy%20plant">cutting-edge technology</a> able to contain plasma far hotter than the sun’s core – but it will still be wedded to a humble steam turbine converting heat to movement to electricity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="inside a fusion torus" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582437/original/file-20240318-30-bqmy57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even high-tech fusion plants will use steam to produce electricity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JET_vessel_internal_view.jpg">EUROfusion/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why are we still reliant on steam?</h2>
<p>Boiling water takes a significant amount of energy, the highest by far of the common liquids we’re familiar with. Water takes about 2.5 times more energy to evaporate than ethanol does, and 60% more than ammonia liquids. </p>
<p>Why do we use steam rather than other gases? Water is cheap, nontoxic and easy to transform from liquid to energetic gas before condensing back to liquid for use again and again.</p>
<p>Steam has lasted this long because we have an abundance of water, covering 71% of Earth’s surface, and water is a useful way to convert thermal energy (heat) to mechanical energy (movement) to electrical energy (electricity). We seek electricity because it can be easily transmitted and can be used to do work for us in many areas. </p>
<p>When water is turned to steam inside a closed container, it expands hugely and increases the pressure. High pressure steam can store huge amounts of heat, as can any gas. If given an outlet, the steam will surge through it with high flow rates. Put a turbine in its exit path and the force of the escaping steam will spin the turbine’s blades. Electromagnets convert this mechanical movement to electricity. The steam condenses back to water and the process starts again. </p>
<p>Steam engines used coal to heat water to create steam to drive the engine. Nuclear fission splits atoms to make heat to boil water. Nuclear fusion will force heavy isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) to fuse into helium-3 atoms and create even more heat – to boil water to make steam to drive turbines to make electricity. </p>
<p>If you looked only at the end process in most thermal power plants – coal, diesel, nuclear fission or even nuclear fusion – you would see the old technology of steam taken as far as it can be taken. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-decades-of-research-are-still-needed-before-fusion-can-be-used-as-clean-energy-196758">Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Decades of research are still needed before fusion can be used as clean energy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The steam turbines driving the large electrical alternators which produce 60% of the world’s electricity are things of beauty. Hundreds of years of metallurgical technology, design and intricate manufacturing has all but perfected the steam turbine.</p>
<p>Will we keep using steam? New technologies produce electricity without using steam at all. Solar panels rely on incoming photons hitting electrons in silicon and creating a charge, while wind turbines operate like steam turbines except with wind blowing the turbine, not steam. Some forms of energy storage, such as pumped hydro, use turbines but for liquid water, not steam, while batteries use no steam at all. </p>
<p>These technologies are rapidly becoming important sources of energy and storage. But steam isn’t going away. If we use thermal power plants, we’ll likely still be using steam. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="steam turbine in power plant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582429/original/file-20240318-28-uxd635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thermal power plants rely on giant steam turbines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/industry-installations-power-turbines-49207051">rtem/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why can’t we just convert heat to electricity?</h2>
<p>You might wonder why we need so many steps. Why can’t we convert heat directly to electricity? </p>
<p>It is possible. Thermo-electric devices are already in use in satellites and space probes. </p>
<p>Built from special alloys such as lead-tellurium, these devices rely on a temperature gap between hot and cold junctions between these materials. The greater the temperature difference, the greater voltage they can generate. </p>
<p>The reason these devices aren’t everywhere is they only produce direct current (DC) at low voltages and are between 16–22% efficient at converting heat to electricity. By contrast, state of the art thermal power plants are up to 46% efficient. </p>
<p>If we wanted to run a society on these heat-conversion engines, we’d need large arrays of these devices to produce high enough DC current and then use inverters and transformers to convert it to the alternating current we’re used to. So while you might avoid steam, you end up having to add new conversions to make the electricity useful.</p>
<p>There are other ways to turn heat into electricity. High temperature solid-oxide fuel cells have been under development <a href="https://www.energy.gov/fecm/solid-oxide-fuel-cells">for decades</a>. These run hot, at between 500–1,000°C, and can burn hydrogen or methanol (without an actual flame) to produce DC electricity. </p>
<p>These fuel cells are up to 60% efficient and potentially even higher. While promising, these fuel cells are not yet ready for prime time. They have expensive catalysts and short lifespans due to the intense heat. But progress is <a href="https://www.greencarcongress.com/2023/07/20230713-bosch.html">being made</a>. </p>
<p>Until technologies like these mature, we’re stuck with steam as a way to convert heat to electricity. That’s not so bad – steam works. </p>
<p>When you see a steam locomotive rattle past, you might think it’s a quaint technology of the past. But our civilisation still relies very heavily on steam. If fusion power arrives, steam will help power the future too. The Steam Age never really ended. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-power-the-future-elon-musks-battery-packs-or-twiggy-forrests-green-hydrogen-truth-is-well-need-both-191333">What will power the future: Elon Musk's battery packs or Twiggy Forrest's green hydrogen? Truth is, we'll need both</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andreas Helwig receives funding from Federal Government Department of Education SURF and RRC research grants. </span></em></p>In the 19th century, the world ran on steam. In the 21st century, little has changed. Every thermal power plant still relies on steam as a final stage.Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253462024-03-17T19:01:24Z2024-03-17T19:01:24ZSmart meters haven’t delivered the promised benefits to electricity users. Here’s a way to fix the problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582098/original/file-20240315-18-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C311%2C3642%2C2419&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-modern-smart-grid-residential-digital-108664646">Pi-Lens/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/advanced-metering-infrastructure-market">Billions of dollars</a> are being spent worldwide to modernise electricity grids with smart meters. These meters promise to save households money by making it easier for us to understand and manage our energy use. However, our <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">new research</a> suggests these promises might not be fully delivered due to a lack of access to high-resolution, real-time energy data.</p>
<p>Smart meters are the enabling technology of modern smart electricity grids. Smart grids can use digital technology to fine-tune the management of electricity supply and demand. This ensures the grid can deliver low-cost and reliable power. </p>
<p>Countries like Australia are racing to install smart meters extensively. Last year the Australian Energy Market Commission <a href="https://www.aemc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-08/emo0040_-_metering_review_-_final_report.pdf">recommended</a> a goal of 100% uptake among small customers by 2030. In response, an Australian Energy Council <a href="https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/rushing-to-the-finish-line-can-we-clear-the-hurdles-on-the-way-to-100-smart-meters-by-2030/">article</a> suggested these meters aren’t living up to their potential. </p>
<p>This isn’t just an Australian problem – it’s a global challenge. <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">Our research</a> offers a solution to unleash the promised benefits of smart meters at least cost. From improving data transmission to protecting our privacy, there’s a lot we can do to make our energy systems smarter and fairer for everyone.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1117998554998554625"}"></div></p>
<h2>Why do we need a truly smart grid?</h2>
<p>Our demand for electricity is set to soar as the push to electrify everything gains momentum. The Victorian government, for instance, has <a href="https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/691119/Victorias-Gas-Substitution-Roadmap-Update.pdf">banned gas in new homes</a> from 2024. </p>
<p>The International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/green-energy-electricity-demand-growth-iea-report/">forecasts a 3.4% annual rise</a> in electricity consumption from 2024 to 2026. As transportation electrifies, electricity’s share could increase <a href="https://www.irena.org/Energy-Transition/Technology/Transport">from 1% in 2018 to 49% by 2050</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cooking-and-heating-without-gas-what-are-the-impacts-of-shifting-to-all-electric-homes-210649">Cooking (and heating) without gas: what are the impacts of shifting to all-electric homes?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>To meet this growing demand while cutting carbon emissions, we must ramp up renewable energy production. However, the unpredictable nature of wind and solar power presents challenges for the grid.</p>
<p>To manage highly variable supply and demand, we need to digitise our grid. Advanced technologies such as sensors, machine-learning algorithms and cloud computing will enable us to optimise electricity generation, distribution and consumption. </p>
<p>Smart meters are the cornerstone of such a system. They can provide the detailed, real-time data needed for smart grid applications. </p>
<p>Smart meter deployment has surged globally. The smart meter market is <a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/advanced-metering-infrastructure-market">forecast</a> to grow from US$17.5 billion ($A26.6 billion) in 2024 to US$31.8 billion by 2028.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">Our research</a> sheds light on this global deployment and its significant challenges. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582087/original/file-20240314-24-3y4x18.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A summary of the rollout of smart meters in selected countries. (Data for Australia and US from 2023, Canada, China, Japan and UK from 2022, and Sweden, Estonia and Denmark from 2020. DSO = distribution service operator, IESO = independent electricity system operator)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">Rui Yuan et al 2024</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-successful-energy-transition-depends-on-managing-when-people-use-power-so-how-do-we-make-demand-more-flexible-213079">A successful energy transition depends on managing when people use power. So how do we make demand more flexible?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What will better data allow us to do?</h2>
<p>Grid modernisation and smart meters came with big promises of saving money for consumers. This hasn’t happened. The reason is that many direct benefits to consumers require high-resolution data – and the required level of fine detail in real time isn’t being provided. </p>
<p>For example, as a direct benefit to consumers, <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8322199">some machine-learning techniques</a> can help households optimise their energy use by providing insights into exactly how much electricity each appliance is using and when. This information could enable them to lower their electricity bill. These tools can also detect abnormal usage patterns, allowing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/int.22876">timely intervention and maintenance</a> of faulty appliances. </p>
<p>However, these applications and <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">other smart grid benefits</a> for consumers all require high-resolution data. </p>
<iframe title="Smart grid applications, data needs and benefits" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-ZbaZF" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZbaZF/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="600" data-external="1"></iframe>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-electricity-market-wasnt-made-for-a-renewable-energy-future-heres-how-to-fix-it-215067">The National Electricity Market wasn't made for a renewable energy future. Here's how to fix it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What obstacles must be overcome?</h2>
<p>We found three major reasons for the current limitations of smart-metering infrastructure. </p>
<p><em>Data transmission</em> is the first big challenge. High-resolution and more frequent data means a higher volume of numbers, which leads to more delays or disruptions to data transmission. </p>
<p>The second challenge is the <em>data warehousing</em> needed for huge volumes of data. It’s expensive too. </p>
<p>Building and running a data warehouse costs <a href="https://ilsr.org/utilities-customer-data-portability-ler155/">US$19,000–$25,000 per terabyte</a> each year. Upgrading from hourly data to every two seconds requires 1,800 times the storage, at an extra cost of US$36 million! And that’s not counting maintenance, backups, or sharing the data.</p>
<p>The third major issue is <em>data privacy</em>. The data can also be exploited by attackers. They could figure out what appliances you have, your home setup, or even your habits. </p>
<p>This can lead to criminal activities or serious invasion of privacy. For example, people could be tracked based on their vehicle-charging patterns. </p>
<p>Even law enforcement uses electricity data in court cases. One case involved the detection of <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/546876/microsoft-subnet-are-smart-meters-real-time-surveillance-spies.html">indoor marijuana growing</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1217580090944622593"}"></div></p>
<h2>A way forward at the cheapest cost</h2>
<p>Ideally, we need a solution that tackles all the issues using the smart meters we already have. <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00055-9">Our solution</a> is based on discovering repeated patterns within electricity usage data, then dividing these data into two parts. </p>
<p>It’s like a book divided into piles of papers and page numbers, with each then handed to different parties. Neither the page alone nor the page numbers make sense until they are combined. </p>
<p>Similarly, we suggest dividing detailed data into smaller patterns called codewords and their daily representations. We’d send only representations to the data centre, letting users keep their codewords to ensure their privacy. </p>
<p>Patterns of energy use often repeat. By using a single codeword to represent multiple days of similar consumption, we can greatly reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. This would cut data communication and warehousing costs. </p>
<p>Continuous research on software, hardware and regulations is needed to refine the proposed framework for the stages of data collection, transmission, storage and analysis. </p>
<p>It’s important for modern energy consumers to be aware that as well as consuming and generating energy (from rooftop solar systems), they also generate data through their smart meters. This data asset is becoming increasingly valuable in the transition to the net-zero era.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Pourmousavi Kani receives funding from Future Battery Industry Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) and Watts AS (from Denmark) for his research. He also has done and is currently involved with consulting jobs that are available in his resume. None are related to the topic of this article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rui Yuan receives funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program and Watts AS (Denmark) for his PhD research. He currently affiliates with Watts AS. </span></em></p>The amount of detailed real-time data a smart grid needs to manage the push for electrification and renewables presents challenges – but there’s an affordable solution.Ali Pourmousavi Kani, Senior Lecturer of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, University of AdelaideRui Yuan, Industry PhD Candidate, School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242532024-03-15T01:53:33Z2024-03-15T01:53:33ZUltra-fast fashion is a disturbing trend undermining efforts to make the whole industry more sustainable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582074/original/file-20240314-22-28steu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C10%2C6659%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-lying-on-pile-different-2212805919">New Africa, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 1990s, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09593960903498300">fast fashion</a> has enabled everyday people to buy the latest catwalk trends. But the sheer volume of garments being whipped up, sold and soon discarded is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7">contributing to a global sustainability crisis</a>.</p>
<p>Now, just when the fashion industry should be waking up and breaking free of this vicious cycle, it’s heading in the opposite direction. We’re on a downward spiral, from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9">fast fashion</a> to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40691-023-00337-9">ultra-fast fashion</a>. The amount of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9">natural resources consumed and waste produced</a> is snowballing.</p>
<p>Ultra-fast fashion is marked by even faster production cycles, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it trends, and <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com.au/latest-news/what-s-the-real-cost-of-shein/">poor labour practices</a>. Brands like Shein, Boohoo and Cider are liberated from the concept of seasonal collections. Instead they are <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/cases/strategy-at-shein-the-secrets-of-ultra-fast-fashion">producing garments at breakneck speeds</a> and self-generating <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/core-aesthetic-microtrends-2023">microtrends</a> such as balletcore, Barbiecore and even mermaidcore. At the same time there is <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJRDM-04-2019-0133/full/html">limited transparency or accountability</a> around clothing supply chains. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/infs_00082_7">overproduction and consumption of clothing</a> cannot be allowed to continue. Without change, the industry will account for <a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/fashion-and-the-circular-economy-deep-dive">26% of the world’s carbon budget</a> for limiting global warming to 2°C by 2050. The fashion industry must take responsibility for its actions. Policymakers also have an important role to play in enabling the necessary shift towards a <a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/sft_0010_1">more responsible and circular fashion economy</a>. And let’s not forget the power of consumers.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The dark side of Shein’s success (China Tonight, ABC News)</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-make-our-wardrobes-sustainable-we-must-cut-how-many-new-clothes-we-buy-by-75-179569">To make our wardrobes sustainable, we must cut how many new clothes we buy by 75%</a>
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<h2>Cheap clothing at what cost?</h2>
<p>It was once thought the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15487733.2020.1829848">pandemic would trigger a transition</a> to a more sustainable fashion industry. Unfortunately in reality the industry is getting worse, not better. </p>
<p>Most ultra-fast fashion brands emerged in the late 2010s following the most well known, Shein, founded in 2008. These online, direct-to-consumer brands exploded in popularity during lockdowns, with Shein holding the title of the <a href="https://time.com/6247732/shein-climate-change-labor-fashion/">world’s most popular brand in 2020</a>.</p>
<p>Established brands such as Gap introduce <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/fast-cheap-out-of-control-inside-rise-of-shein/">12,000 new items a year and H&M 25,000</a>. But Shein leaves them in the dust, listing 1.3 million items in the same amount of time. How is this even possible? </p>
<p>The ultra-fast fashion model <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/fast-cheap-out-of-control-inside-rise-of-shein/">thrives on data</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/18/ultra-fast-fashion-retail-sites-shein">addictive social media marketing</a> to create insatiable consumer demand.</p>
<p>But Shein’s incredibly low prices (its website has thousands of items under A$5) come at a human cost. The company’s own 2021 Sustainability and Social Impact Report (later removed from the site) found <a href="https://fashionmagazine.com/style/shein-influencer-trip/">only 2% of its factories and warehouses met its own worker safety standards</a>, with the rest requiring corrective action. </p>
<p>The brand has also forgone in-house designers. Instead it works with independent suppliers who can <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/fast-cheap-out-of-control-inside-rise-of-shein/">design and manufacture a garment in two weeks</a>.</p>
<p>The result is an incredibly profitable business model. Shein filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last year to value the brand at US$136 billion, up from US$2.5 billion in 2018.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">How Shein Built a $66B Fast-Fashion Empire (WSJ)</span></figcaption>
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<p>Shifting from fast to ultra-fast fashion has serious environmental and social consequences. This includes even more exploitative labour practices. Shein garment workers reportedly work <a href="https://www.publiceye.ch/en/media-corner/press-releases/detail/75-hour-weeks-for-shein-public-eye-looks-behind-the-chinese-online-fashion-giants-glitzy-front">75-hour weeks and warehouses operate 24/7</a>. </p>
<p>Ignoring this shift isn’t just a fashion faux pas. Doing so jeopardises national efforts for a more sustainable fashion industry.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-fashion-why-garment-workers-lives-are-still-in-danger-10-years-after-rana-plaza-podcast-203122">Fast Fashion: Why garment workers' lives are still in danger 10 years after Rana Plaza — Podcast</a>
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<h2>A seamless transition to sustainability</h2>
<p>The Australian Fashion Council is leading a <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/program/seamless/">national product stewardship scheme</a> called Seamless that promises to transform the fashion industry by 2030. </p>
<p>The idea is to bring fashion into the <a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy">circular economy</a>. Ultimately that means zero waste, but in the meantime raw materials would be kept in the supply chain for as long as possible by designing out and minimising waste. </p>
<p>Members will contribute a four-cent levy for every clothing item they produce or import. </p>
<p>These funds go into clothing collection, research, recycling projects and education campaigns.</p>
<p>BIG W, David Jones, Lorna Jane, Rip Curl, R.M. Williams, THE ICONIC, <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/womenswear-giant-sussan-group-joins-seamless-foundation-members/">Sussan Group</a> and <a href="https://cottonongroup.com.au/news/cotton-on-signs-seamless/">Cotton On</a> are <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/program/seamless/">Seamless Foundation Members</a>. Each has <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/meet-the-foundation-members-of-seamless/">contributed A$100,000</a> to the development of the scheme.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFC-NCPSS-Global-Scan-Report.pdf">one of the world’s first</a> industry-led collective product stewardship initiatives for clothing textiles, Seamless presents a unique opportunity to drive change towards a more sustainable and circular fashion industry. </p>
<p>But there is a risk ultra-fast fashion brands <a href="https://stewardshipexcellence.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/White-Paper-Overcoming-Freeriders-September-2021.pdf">may act as freeriders</a> in Seamless, benefiting from the investment and initiatives without making meaningful contributions. Shein and others will continue putting more and more product on the market, which will need to be dealt with at the end of its short life. But if they fail to commit to the scheme, they won’t be the ones paying for that. </p>
<p>The government-funded consortium must also recognise ultra-fast fashion in tackling the industry’s environmental and social sustainability challenges. At the moment they’re only talking about fast fashion and ignoring the rise of ultra-fast fashion. Their global scan, for example, includes a discussion of fast fashion and <a href="https://ausfashioncouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFC-NCPSS-Global-Scan-Report.pdf">no mention of ultra-fast fashion</a>. </p>
<p>This also points to a lack of data more broadly in the industry but in the case of Seamless, it could have a big impact if this growing market segment is ignored. </p>
<p>Shein and Temu are estimated to earn a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-08/rise-of-shein-temu-effect-on-australian-retail-ecommerce-future/103546188">combined $2 billion in sales in 2024</a>, with customers from all walks of life.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-fashions-waste-problem-could-be-solved-by-recycled-textiles-but-brands-need-to-help-boost-production-213802">Fast fashion's waste problem could be solved by recycled textiles but brands need to help boost production</a>
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<h2>The critical crackdown</h2>
<p>Some brands are actively engaged and <a href="https://insideretail.com.au/business/ebay-australia-names-dempstah-as-circular-fashion-fund-winner-202402">working towards a more sustainable future</a>. But others such as Temu are learning from Shein and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-06/fashion-retailer-shein-s-competitors-are-copying-its-super-fast-business-model?sref=Yg3sQEZ2">looking to emulate</a> their business model. </p>
<p>The transition to a more sustainable and responsible fashion industry requires a greater understanding of ultra-fast fashion, urgent systemic changes and collective efforts. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/isf">Institute for Sustainable Futures</a>, where I work, is a founding member of an international academic research network aimed at tackling the complexities of ultra-fast fashion. That includes how ultra-fast fashion is affecting the livelihoods of garment workers, how it’s fuelling textile waste and underscoring the industry’s struggle to embrace circular economy principles. We’re also investigating how to reshape consumer behaviour, away from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/education/war-on-waste-shein-haul/102708968">social media-fuelled hauls</a> towards more sustainable consumption particularly among Gen-Z consumers. </p>
<p>Last month, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/plibersek-warns-fast-fashion-considering-clothes-levy/103492154">potential intervention</a>, perhaps by introducing minimum environmental standards or a clothing levy by July.</p>
<p>The clock is ticking. It is time to lay the foundation for a more sustainable and just fashion industry. Australia has a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12460">rich fashion history</a> and is home to many leading local brands – many of whom have gone global. These brands show us what is possible when good design, sustainability and innovation drive an industry.</p>
<p>Ultimately, our collective choices wield immense power. By understanding the consequences of our fashion habits and advocating for change, we can all be catalysts for a more sustainable and just fashion industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Brydges is an Advisor to the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, which has provided mentorship to Seamless. </span></em></p>We know fast fashion is bad for the environment. Ultra-fast fashion makes matters worse. This disturbing trend towards disposable clothing is the opposite of sustainable. Here’s what must be done.Taylor Brydges, Research Principal, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.