In this issue


ECOS ECOS
Issue 165



Features

There's more to it than the price of carbon
A significant milestone was achieved with the passage of the Federal Government's Clean Energy Future legislation this month. It will finally create an emissions trading scheme for Australia, making low-carbon investments more attractive relative to fossil fuel alternatives and business as usual.
Learn more
 
Adelaide a focus for the ‘barcode of life'
The world may contain up to 50 million species of plants and animals. But after 250 years of taxonomic research, less than two million have been named. How can we ever hope to get the job done? The solution may lie in a visionary plan to digitally barcode every species using ‘bits' of DNA.
Learn more
 
Blooming marvellous – 20 years of private conservation
Bush Heritage is celebrating the release of scientific data summarising its conservation successes over two decades.
Learn more
 
Balancing fire-risk at the urban fringe
After heavy spring rains in south-eastern Australia, fire agencies are warning of danger ahead as hot, dry weather turns lush grass into fuel. How can we better equip at-risk homes – old and new – to withstand bushfires? ECOS put the question to CSIRO scientist Justin Leonard who studies the impact of bushfires on homes and urban infrastructure.
Learn more
 
Science takes on the global food challenge
The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change (CSACC) – an independent global commission of eminent scientists – has released a blueprint for urgent action to deal with the global challenge of feeding the world in the face of climate change, population growth, uneven food distribution, volatile markets and degraded ecosystems.
Learn more
 
Are Australian fish in hot water?
We are already noticing the consequences of climate change on land, but what do they mean for our aquatic environments, their fish and fisheries?
Learn more
 
Helping Africans solve agricultural challenges
Australian and African scientists have formed a new partnership to help address the challenges of sustainable agriculture and food security across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Learn more
 
Will ocean life have time to adapt to climate change?
Direct effects of climate warming on biodiversity pose a serious conservation challenge for marine life, according to new research just published in the peer-reviewed journal Science. The research concludes that marine life may need to relocate and readjust faster than life on land, challenging the idea that ocean life could respond more gradually to climate change than land species due to slower warming in the oceans.
Learn more
 
A water-reform visionary who continues to challenge
Peter Cullen was a leader and a major driving force in water reform across Australia. He effectively combined his extensive ecological understanding with a great awareness of water resource management and policy to address major problems in water management across Australia. In doing so, he proposed solutions and advocated for ecologically sustainable and achievable policies.
Learn more
 
Increasing the resilience of seabirds in a changing climate
Around the globe, growing evidence suggests that a warming climate is affecting marine ecosystems and species. This raises the question of what can be done to help seabirds and other species adapt to a changed environment.
Learn more
 

In Brief - Round-up of sustainability news

Corals perplexed by ocean warming
 
 
Australia to get new national soil mapping facility
 
 
Record numbers chase WA’s whale sharks
 
 
Window on the climate challenge still ajar, just
 
 
Draft plan for eastern marine reserves open to comment
 
 
Businesses warned to back up carbon-price claims
 
 
Are all ‘low energy' and ‘zero carbon’ homes equal?
 
 
From electric trucks to first carbon-neutral Australian city
 
 
New aircon test facility to judge star performance
 
 
Best countries juggling the ‘energy trilemma' highlighted
 
 
Koala science pledged to help assess population decline
 
 
Australia's water in-depth
 
 
Call to create marine reserve network around Antarctica
 
 
New research supersite will tell woodlands climate story
 
 
Identifying the risk of past ‘oil leaks’ to human health
 
 
Bettongs have bounced back to Canberra
 
 
Indigenous rangers help protect west Kimberley waterways
 
 
Auditing the Earth's sea-level and energy budgets
 
 
More support to keep toxic waste out of poor countries
 
 
‘Factory' that makes water from waste wins gold
 
 

Past Issues

 

2015

January 2015

2014

December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014


Past Years

2010 to 2013
2000 to 2009
1990 to 1999
1980 to 1989
1974 to 1979



ECOS Archive

Welcome to the ECOS Archive site which brings together 40 years of sustainability articles from 1974-2014.

For more recent ECOS articles visit the blog. You can also sign up to the email alert or RSS feed