Coal-fired power plants disrupt rainfall and threaten human health, study shows

Coal-fired power plants can pose a bigger threat to human health and the environment than cars, a groundbreaking long-term global study has revealed.

Barnaby Joyce has called for the Morrison government
to bankroll a new coal plant, despite health and
environmental concerns.

Modern coal-fired power stations emit higher levels of dangerous pollutants known as “ultrafine dust particles” than urban road traffic, and can even redistribute rainfall patterns, researchers from Australia and Germany have found.

While road traffic has long been considered the main source of ultrafine particles (UFP) in urban areas, the 15-year study showed that coal-fired power stations clearly emit larger amounts of UFPs through filtering technology of exhaust gas.

Read the story from The New Daily by Isabelle Lane - “Coal-fired power plants disrupt rainfall and threaten human health, study shows.”

Human race just 0.01% of all life but has eradicated most other living things

Humankind is revealed as simultaneously insignificant and utterly dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth by a groundbreaking new assessment of all life on the planet.

A cattle farm in Mato Grosso, Brazil. 60%
of all mammals on Earth are livestock.

The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, according to the study. Yet since the dawn of civilisation, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds.

The new work is the first comprehensive estimate of the weight of every class of living creature and overturns some long-held assumptions. Bacteria are indeed a major life form – 13% of everything – but plants overshadow everything, representing 82% of all living matter. All other creatures, from insects to fungi, to fish and animals, make up just 5% of the world’s biomass.

Read the story by The Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington - “Human race just 0.01% of all life but has eradicated most other living things.”

Stephen Hawking's Final Warnings Urged World to Halt Climate Change

Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest minds on Earth, died peacefully at his home in Cambridge on Wednesday at the age of 76.

Stephen Hawking - final warnings were for
the world to halt climate change

As well as being a renowned physicist whose groundbreaking theories helped us understand the complexities of space, time and the universe, the British professor also taught us about our home planet.

In his last years, Hawking used his platform to warn that human activity is causing irreversible planetary damage and that we must take action to halt climate change.

Read the EcoWatch story by Lorraine Chow - “Stephen Hawking's Final Warnings Urged World to Halt Climate Change.”

Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse to grow food without fresh water

Sundrop Farms head grower
Adrian Simkins says the
tomato project is a world-first.

A groundbreaking greenhouse that relies on sunlight and seawater to grow tomatoes officially opens next week, 300 kilometres north of Adelaide.

The company Sundrop Farms spent several years developing the idea at a pilot plant on the outskirts of Port Augusta, before building a commercial facility that is 100 times larger.

"This is a very special project," head grower Adrian Simkins said.

The 20-hectare futuristic-looking facility includes a field of more than 23,000 mirrors that capture the sunlight and direct it to a central receiver at the top of a 127-metre "power" tower.

Read the ABC story - “Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse to grow food without fresh water.”