Monash air quality station records index almost 20 times above hazardous level

The new year has brought thick smoke haze to Canberra and some of the highest levels of air pollution ever seen in the nation's capital. The air quality in Tuggeranong on Wednesday morning was almost 20 times above hazardous levels. 

The War Memorial barely visible from a thick
smoke haze that has impacted Canberra.

The thick smoke haze descended on Canberra on Tuesday night from fires burning at the South Coast. Authorities said the haze was likely to remain well into Wednesday.

Acting chief health officer Dr Paul Dugdale said all Canberrans were advised to avoid physical activity outside during periods of heavy smoke.

"We are strongly advising people who are sensitive to smoke, especially those with pre-existing heart and lung conditions, to take extra care during these conditions," he said.

Read the story from The Canberra Times by Lucy Bladen - “Monash air quality station records index almost 20 times above hazardous level.”

Drought and climate change are driving high water prices in the Murray-Darling Basin

Water prices in the southern Murray-Darling Basin have reached their highest levels since the worst of the Millennium drought more than a decade ago. These high water prices are causing much anxiety in the region, and have led the federal government to call on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to hold an inquiry into the water market. 

The receding waters of Lake Pamamaroo, in western
 NSW, in February 2019. Reduced water supply, due to
 lower rainfall and higher temperatures, has been the
 main cause of increasing water prices.

Inevitably, whenever an important good becomes more expensive – be it housing, electricity or water – there is a rush to identify potential causes and culprits. In the past few years high water prices have been blamed on foreign investors, corporate speculators, state government water-sharing rules, new almond plantings and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

While some of these factors have had an effect on the market, they are in many ways a distraction from the simpler truth: that high water prices have mostly been caused by a lack of rain.

Read the story from The Conversation by a Senior Economist with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Neal Hughes - “Drought and climate change are driving high water prices in the Murray-Darling Basin.”

‘Terrible’: Rising gas output lifts Australia's greenhouse gas emissions

Australia's greenhouse gas emissions have continued to climb, reaching the highest levels on a quarterly basis since 2010, led by a surge in gas production.

Big jump in gas production has propelled
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions higher.

For the 12 months to March 31 2018, emissions totalled 529.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent, up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, the Environment Department said in the report released on Friday afternoon. Fugitive emissions, mostly from the gas sector, jumped 13.7 per cent.

Read the story by Peter Hannam from The Age - “‘Terrible’: Rising gas output lifts Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.”

(Releasing this damning information on a Friday afternoon when people are already in leisure mode and further distracted by AFL and NFL grand finals implies that the coalition Government is afraid people will get to see and understand that it is failing in it efforts to control Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and so has no chance of achieving its 2015 Paris Promises - Robert McLean)

‘Terrible': Rising gas output lifts Australia's greenhouse gas emissions

Australia's greenhouse gas emissions have continued to climb, reaching the highest levels on a quarterly basis since 2010, led by a surge in gas production.

Big jump in gas production has propelled Australia's
 greenhouse gas emissions higher.

For the 12 months to March 31 2018, emissions totalled 529.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent, up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, the Environment Department said in the report released on Friday afternoon. Fugitive emissions, mostly from the gas sector, jumped 13.7 per cent.

Read the story by Peter Hannam from The Sydney Morning Herald - “‘Terrible': Rising gas output lifts Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.”