Climate

The Australian Government's "Improved Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Native Forests method" incentivises state governments to cease certain native forest harvesting purportedly to reduce Australia's carbon emissions. The Department's announcement and the response from the industry body, Forest & Wood Communities Australia may be the start of much debate over a contentious scheme.

The MCi Carbon plant takes carbon dioxide captured from ammonia production and turns it into materials used in concrete, plasterboard, glass and paper. 

The Cook Labor Government has granted an aquaculture licence to Fremantle-based company SeaStock Pty Ltd for Western Australia's first commercial scale, land-based seaweed production facility, now under construction in Oakford. In recent years, algae aquaculture markets have developed significantly both locally and abroad for a type of red algae known as Asparagopsis.

Allora local Sally Higgins has been appointed by Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen as the United Nations Presidency Youth Climate Champion (PYCC) for COP31 - a global role created to ensure young people are meaningfully included in international climate discussions.

The recent Snow Gum Summit in Jindabyne has drawn attention to the health of this notable tree of the Australian alps. The causes or primary cause of widespread snow gum decline, with a particular focus on fire regimes, climate change and insects, and the appropriate response to this problem, are the subject of a considered exchange of differing views here between two experts from different generations but not entirely different schools or schools of thought.

Leading scientists have issued a dire warning that the widespread death of a key eucalypt species in Australian ecosystems could be imminent, due to global heating. Scientists from eminent institutions recently gathered at the Snow Gum Summit in Jindabyne to discuss combating the loss of an iconic tree of the Australian Alps, the Snow Gum.

Christine Webster. Heatwave conditions at the start of the 2026 Riverland vintage, followed by recent heavy rainfall in some parts of the region, are causing headaches for many wine grape growers. The Oxford Landing Winery’s regional viticulturist Glynn Muster said the long spell of hot weather in late January and February had initially caused heat stress to some vineyards.

Adaptation to climate change is happening at ground level amongst the vines in Australia. One winemaker in the vanguard is Mudgee winemaker David Lowe, who, in 2021, made a major decision in pivotting his certified organic and biodynamic estate away from "delicate French varieties" and towards hardy Mediterranean styles better able to handle a hotter, more volatile future.

Net zero is another step closer to being achieved, as the City of Greater Geraldton commences work to begin gas flaring at Meru Waste Management Facility. The project will help reduce emissions from landfill by abating the potent greenhouse gas, methane.

A wildfire burning over five days would do more damage to vegetation and biodiversity in the northern jarrah forest than five decades of climate change has done ..."This forest has survived for some four to five million years. I am confident it can survive for a few decades longer. We humans must recognise that the ecosystem is never static, and be able to live with and accept some level of change": Frank Batini, professional forester and environmental consultant.

Vytelle last week announced the commercial release of Vytelle SENSE™ Methane, a methane phenotyping system that costs a fraction of available systems and enables concurrent measurement of intake and sustainability. The technology was featured at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association CattleCon in Nashville on February 3, where producers saw live demonstrations.

More than 120 farmers across the state are working with government experts to develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their property ... The plans are designed to help farmers baseline their emissions, understand where their emissions are coming from, and what carbon farming practices they can implement on their farm, including extensive livestock, dairy and mixed farming systems. One of those farmers is Casino dairy farmer Fleur Tonge.

For the purposes of Australia's GHG inventory, bushfires are treated as a event about which we can do nothing and the emissions they produce are not counted. However, perversely, emissions from prescribed or cultural burning and other land management done to minimise bushfire risk are counted and so count against Australia's Net Zero goal.

"I have never experienced fire behaviour like it on the ground," Jarrod said, and the weight of those decades of experience makes the statement hit harder. "The first day we experienced temperatures of about 62 degrees on the top of the hill, 108 kilometre an hour winds."

Geopolitics remains the "dominant risk factor" for Australian agriculture in the year ahead, Rabobank says in its newly-released annual outlook, with the prospect that fast-changing global trade rules and volatile commodity prices are set to continue.

Without agriculture, hundreds of millions of people would go hungry every day. Yet modern agriculture is increasingly judged not just on how much food it produces — but on how well it stores carbon, protects biodiversity, and reduces emissions. Farmers are being asked to deliver food, climate solutions and conservation outcomes, while still running profitable businesses.

A study tracking not only the forces that drive drought but the damage it leaves behind has revealed that droughts have lasted longer in Australia in recent decades, especially in areas with the most people and farms. UNSW researchers analysed drought trends across Australia between 1911 and 2020 based on rainfall shortages and falling river and dam levels.

“Net zero means we have to completely change everything we do in a single generation, from how we drive, to what we eat and make ... There needs to be new modelling done on what the exact cost of net zero is. In Senate estimates, the government was unable to outline the cost of Australia reaching net zero. That is unacceptable. Australians deserve to know how much this radical proposal will cost them”: Senator Matt Canavan.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry recently announced the delivery of an $8 million grant program to support industry to scale up production of Asparagopsis, the red seaweed known for its significant methane-reducing qualities when fed to livestock. ARR.News asked Professor Catriona Macleod, ASSA Chair, for an update on the state of industry in Australia.

Young people living in the Murray–Darling Basin are calling for a stronger voice in shaping responses to environmental change. A Murray–Darling Water and Environment Research Program (MD–WERP) study led by Griffith University has found that young people aged 16–25 are increasingly concerned about the impact of a changing climate on their futures...

Testimony to the potential presented by Southeast Asia is the steady progress of innovative Australia agtech company Bygen, both domestically and in the region, in this case Vietnam. Bygen is a Melbourne-based manufacturer producing granular and powdered activated carbon products. ARR.News found out more from Cameron Griffiths, Bygen CCO.

As a critic of the climate catastrophists—and someone who prefers a long-term, science-based view of climate change—I thought I’d share a basic understanding of the science and terminology behind the BoM forecasts we rely on ... Every time a farmer glances at the Bureau’s forecast, the same terms pop up: Indian Ocean Dipole, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode, cold fronts from the Great Southern, tropical moisture feeds, and the Leeuwin Current ...