NEWS

Closer to home is better: fuel reduction lessons from Black Saturday

Reducing fuel within 40 metres of houses is the most effective way to reduce the impacts of severe bushfires, according to a team of scientists from Australia and the USA who analysed house losses after Victoria's Black Saturday fires.

Worms a winner for engineering students

First-year engineering students from the University of Western Australia (UWA) have won an Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge prize for designing a worm farm to help farmers in Tamil Nadu, India.

Conserving biodiversity protects the world's poorest

Scientists have discovered strong correlations between effective management of the world's high-biodiversity regions and the welfare of the world's poorest.

White roofs cool for Melbourne

The City of Melbournehas commissioned the University of Melbourne to help building owners assess the benefits of white roofs – which absorb less heat and keep buildings cooler during hot days – in the metropolitan area.

Small country sets precedent choosing forest conservation over oil

Ecuador has announced it will go ahead with its so-called ‘Yasuni ITT Initiative' to leave untapped more than 900 million barrels of crude oil – 20 per cent of its known oil reserves – beneath a pristine Amazonian nature reserve, in exchange for annual international donations.

First national Telework Week promises less commuter pollution

The Australian Government wants more employers and employees to reap the environmental, economic and social benefits of telework according to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.

Research shows community generally on board with wind farms

Survey findings announced by renewable energy company Pacific Hydro accord with separate CSIRO research showing strong community support for wind farm developments – in contrast to media coverage of the issue over the past few years.

Rare primate re-discovered in Borneo

An international team of scientists has found one of the rarest and least-known primates in Borneo, Miller's grizzled langur, a species believed to be extinct or on the verge of extinction.

Carbon dioxide affecting brains of fish

Rising CO2 levels may be affecting the brains and central nervous systems of sea fishes with serious consequences for their survival, an international scientific team has found.

Take a dive for conservation on the Great Barrier Reef

One of the Great Barrier Reef's most spectacular and diverse marine habitats, the fringing reef surrounding Orpheus Island, is at risk from rising sea temperatures.

Overfishing of western Pacific bigeye tuna continues

Overfishing of bigeye tuna continues in the western and central Pacific tuna fishery, the world's biggest tuna fishery, according to the 2010 tuna fishery assessment report released in January 2012 by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (Oceanic Fisheries Programme) (SPC).

Gift of the gab helps plants beat drought

Australian researchers have discovered a new cellular communication process used by plants to respond to drought.

Lake Eyre Basin protected under Wild River declarations

Queensland's iconic ‘Channel Country' – the Lake Eyre Basin, one of the world's last great natural wetlands – will be protected from large dams and unsustainable industrial development under proposed Wild River declarations.

Deep knowledge sharing to help protect world's natural capital

Four leading global organisations have signed an agreement to create a Green Growth Knowledge Platform, a global initiative that will identify and address major knowledge gaps in green growth theory and practice.

Groundwater under increasing pressure worldwide

As groundwater use soars globally, experts warn of increasing environmental and social costs.

MD Basin graziers: ‘go ahead and flood our land'

Livestock farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin have pledged to allow the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to flood more than a million acres (400 000 hectares) of their land.

National energy savings' initiative: call for comment

The Australian Government is calling for responses to an issues paper on its planned national energy savings initiative (ESI).

Cook Islands Marine Park to join Pacific Oceanscape

Planning for the world's largest marine park is set to benefit from technical and scientific assistance from a range of partners, including GIS company Esri and Conservation International.



News Feeds

Critically endangered parrot on brink of extinction

The critically endangered orange-bellied parrot appears to be moving closer to extinction.

Plans stall for more desal plants in regional SA

A company which supplies desalination systems says a lack of support from SA Water is denying three South Australian towns better quality water.

Supplied By: ABC Environment News

Ecos Issue 166 - Table of Contents

 Events

AQUA: A Journey into the World of Water

Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, 3 December 2011 – 26 February 2012

Retrofitting Healthcare Facilities

Melbourne, 22-24 February 2012

Australian Science Communicators National Conference

Sydney, 27-29 February 2012

Indigenous Sustainability: Enterprise, Education & Environment

Sydney, 28 February 2012

3rd Sustainable Phosphorus Summit

Sydney, 29 February - 2 March 2012

Feature Product

Clean Energy, Climate and Carbon

Clean Energy, Climate and Carbon

Outlines the global challenge of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.