Climate

Assoc. Professor Matthew Harrison presents the results of a comprehensive study on the costs of transitioning farming systems across Australia to net zero emissions using a range of practical models. The study found that there are multiple pathways to net zero.

Blanket bans of native forest harvesting will not improve our carbon balance or recover biodiversity according to the professional association for forest scientists, growers and managers, Forestry Australia. President Dr Michelle Freeman said the consensus position of independent scientific experts, forest managers and researchers  is that active management of forests is required to maintain forest health, mitigate fire risk, conserve biodiversity and maximise carbon outcomes.

Australian Winter crop production is forecast to fall from record highs due to below average rainfall for winter and spring. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the Australian Crop Report forecasts total Australian winter crop production to fall by 34% to 44.9 million tonnes in 2023–24 following three consecutive record production years.

The overall value of the agriculture sector is set to contract by 14% in 2023-24 due to drier than normal conditions after three La Nina years ... “Looking further ahead, it’s likely we will see either El Nino or a positive Indian Ocean Dipole in the coming months, which will reduce crop yields": Executive Director of ABARES Dr Jared Greenville.

A fresh study on the environmental impacts of lab-grown meat has led an internationally recognised expert on the future of cell-based protein, Professor Paul Wood, AO, to confirm the economics of producing lab-grown meat at scale “just won’t work” and will be less sustainable than traditional red meat production systems. The new study from the University of California, Davis, argues the global warming potential of cell-based meat production could be up to 25 times greater than the average for retail beef.

On 14th of February 2023, 20 students aged 8 to 11 years old from Lord Howe Island became marine scientists for the day. In doing so, they joined UNESCO’s global environmental DNA research initiative that is being rolled out across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the impacts of climate change.

The nation is on track to plant an impressive 23.48 million hectare winter crop this year – up slightly on last year’s crop area – Rabobank says in its newly-released 2023/24 Australian Winter Crop Outlook ... overall harvest totals are forecast to be lower than last season, with expectations of drier growing conditions due to the likely transition to an El Nino climate cycle, the specialist agribusiness bank says.

‘Branching Out”, the latest report on the NSW native forestry by the Blueprint Institute, was released on 26 April and put into the media with the subeditorial line “Report outlines economic benefit of ending native forest logging’ ... The Report should be marked ‘draft’ given its deficiencies - and that is being generous.

Managing fire together: Applying science, skills, and stories. The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is excited to announce details of the 13th Biennial Bushfire Conference. The conference is unique in its focus on community participation in fire management...

Frank Batini and Michael Freeman. We are convinced that the reports of rainfall change in the southwest region of Western Australia being linked to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are not   correct. We believe this despite all the media reports, climate change modelling, Government documents and peer-reviewed research papers from Universities that say the opposite. We feel very lonely ... ARR.News asked some further questions of Frank and Michael.

Despite evidence to the contrary, the WA Minister for Forests (Jacki Jarvis) continues to argue that the WA timber industry had to close because it has run out of wood as a result of reduced growth rate due to climate change, quoting reports from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology as evidence. Neither of these organisations has any involvement in the determination of timber yield.

Gavin Butcher. Analysis of publicly available data by respected scientist Dr Lachie McCaw has shown that claims by Premier McGowan and his coterie of Forestry Ministers, Jarvis and Kelly, to be without substance. The WA government had stated that one of the reasons the timber industry had been axed was because the trees are no longer growing. Dr McCaw has used published data on the long-term forest monitoring plots called ForestCheck to demonstrate that the harvested forest is growing and the uncut forest is in decline.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has launched an online, web-based greenhouse gas (GHG) calculator based on the Sheep and Beef Greenhouse Accounting Framework (SB-GAF) tool for Australian sheep and beef producers. The digitised version of the SB-GAF tool is based off the freely available excel version of the tool available on the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre (PICCC) website to ensure consistency across the sector.

Nicola Harvey is an experienced media executive, producer and writer working across digital, audio, print and live events. She’s also the author of 'Farm: the making of a climate activist' ... Speaking from her farm in New Zealand, Nicola talked to Australian Rural and Regional News contributor Serena Kirby about the writing process and the incredible amount of work that went into writing her book. She also offered some wise words to other first-time authors.

The southern Murray–Darling Basin tracked some of its highest rainfall and inflow totals on record in the tail end of 2022, according to the MDBA's update to the 2022-23 Annual Operating Outlook. The update details how the Murray–Darling Basin Authority may run the River Murray under a range of possible climate and rainfall scenarios, to help water users and river managers with future planning.

Community water and sewer systems across north-east Victoria are now more resilient to the growing impacts of climate change and natural disasters ... John Day, General Manager Environment, Systems and Operations, said ‘behind the meter’ power systems will help keep water and sewer infrastructure operating in emergency situations.

Hiding behind climate change is not a strategy to address the increasing number and intensity of fires and floods across Australia, according to the Howitt Society. The society's president, Rick Cooper, said even if all burning of fossil fuels was stopped across the world tomorrow, climate change was not going to shift into reverse.

Prof Mitloehner's presentation covers a range of issues relating to methane and carbon dioxide in terms of global warming, climate neutrality, GWP100, GWP*, implications for the livestock sector and action to reduce global methane emissions.

Food and Fibre Great South Coast and our valued partners have collaborated to bring together specialists to the region for a night of discussion ... It’s vital we have the best information informing our decisions.