Research

New data released by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today shows that the impact of extreme weather on the Australian economy has more than tripled over the last three decades. Insured losses from declared insurance catastrophes have grown from 0.2 of GDP from 1995 to 2000 to 0.7 per cent for the last five years ... The new data analysis is contained in the Insurance Council of Australia’s Insurance Catastrophe Resilience Report 2023-24, released today.

Matthew Harrison. With global temperature rise likely to exceed 1.5oC by 2050, interest in the development of skills, practices and technologies for removing carbon dioxide to avoid dangerous climate change abounds. One way to do this is via improved storage of soil organic carbon (SOC), as incremental gains in soil carbon at scale can have massive effect on residual CO2 circulating in the atmosphere.

Australia's national science agency CSIRO is calling on all Aussies to record koala sightings in the Koala Spotter all, to help build the most accurate national population count to date ... The latest koala national population estimate according to NKMP is between 224,000 and 524,000. The next estimate is due in March 2025.

Laboratory-based study confirms bacteriophages can suppress the growth of rattles-causing bacteria in soil. A ground-breaking project led by Dr Gary Muscatello at The University of Sydney has paved the way for a novel potential management strategy to combat Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals, commonly known as ‘rattles’.

As countries including Australia embrace renewable energy production, a recent study sheds light on some overlooked impacts of this transition. While the benefits of renewable energy are well-established, researchers are also examining the less discussed economic and social impacts of the move towards ‘green’ energy.

Rural libraries make up 81 per cent of all public libraries in Ukraine. In the near future, the number of these libraries may be reduced by 5 times. Libraries have failed to become attractive and profitable in a market economy. However, no one has tried to make them so.

Charles Darwin University (CDU) researchers are calling out for over 500 citizen scientists living in the northern part of the Territory and Western Australia to collect water samples from their bores using sampling kits in a bid to increase water security.  Groundwater is stored beneath the Earth’s surface and is often seen as out of sight and out of mind, but it is an important permanent source of water in otherwise dry landscapes.  

Robert Onfray. Over the past two years, I have quietly compiled a significant body of evidence detailing instances of research misconduct and fraud, including data fabrication and manipulation. My story highlights how scientific research and public policies are often swayed by special interest groups and political agendas, leading to manipulation, censorship, and the suppression of data.

Increases in the price of wheat and lamb helped lift the NAB Rural Commodities Index* for the third consecutive month, rising by 0.4 per cent in June. NAB’s July Rural Commodities Wrap … reports while the wheat price rally slowed in June, prices continued to rise, increasing 3.5 per cent on average over the month.

Understanding the "basics of emissions" is becoming increasingly important for Australia’s farmers as the sector faces growing expectations to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farm … In a new guide produced for its farming clients ... Rabobank says as large corporations – including food and agribusiness companies – become more active in managing climate impact across their full supply chain, this is expected to have increasing market access implications for farmers.

New research from the University of South Australia shows that the Australian seafood industry has become more resilient to food shocks – a good sign, with Australians eating more seafood now than ever before. Shocks are a sudden and dramatic loss in food production and can impact food security, as well as local industries and livelihoods.

A new ABARES report investigates the slowdown in productivity which has impacted Australian broadacre agriculture over the past two decades. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said climate variability, particularly drought, was having an important impact.

Stopping cane toads with a Toad Containment Zone (TCZ) before they reach the Pilbara in Western Australia will protect 27 million hectares of sensitive habitat, significant Aboriginal cultural heritage, and a trove of native Australian animals from population decline … the TCZ was created to halt a toad invasion with a landscape level strategy – effectively, a ‘toad-break’ - on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert.

“Imagine shifting gear from being just pig chasers to becoming field staff in the world's biggest wild pig research project.” That’s the message the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA) is sending to pig hunters across Australia. The bold plan by the national hunting group aims to collect 10,000 feral pigs' ears as part of a study of the animals...

A leading Charles Sturt University researcher co-led a multi-discipline team investigating the origins of dingoes, when they arrived in Australia, and how they changed over nearly three thousand years. Professor of Evolution and Environmental Change Alan Cooper … analysed genomes from skeletons and mummies of dingoes found in the many caves of the giant Nullarbor Plain across southern Australia.

Old Man Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia), a salt-loving, native shrub, that thrives on the plains but in the paddock this humble shrub is proving vital to production ... Recognising an opportunity to improve shrub systems, CSIRO worked to select and develop a special variety for farmers to use as a supplementary feed. It’s called Anameka Saltbush.

Commodity prices, production and exports have broadly lifted in the first half of the year, with beef the standout performer in Rural Bank’s Australian agriculture mid-year outlook 2024 (the Outlook), released today. With an overall outlook favourable for the second half of the year, despite some variability across sectors, some cost-of-living relief is also expected to reach beyond the farm gate.

To help protect Australia's livestock industry from the threat of infectious diseases, a revolutionary diagnostic test designed to swiftly detect infections in livestock has been tested by the CSIRO. The test is being developed by ZiP Diagnostics, a pioneering biotech company, and it is designed to provide early detection for diseases such as foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease.

This special edition of “Sparks from the Past” – is written in appreciation of Jim Whistler, founder of The [Lord Howe Island] Signal ... Sally looked through every [Lord Howe Island] Signal in the LHI Historical Society collection - all 1157 of them! ... Her high regard for Jim, and extensive use of the Signal for research purposes, clearly illustrate the contribution both have made to our precious Island archives.