In this issue


ECOS ECOS
Issue 189



Features

Breaking bad habits can save on power bills
One of the solutions, often overlooked, to the problem of rising power bills in Australia, is energy efficiency – being smarter about the way we use gas and electricity. A recent CSIRO study aimed at promoting energy-saving habits among low-income earners has produced valuable insights into how best to motivate people and help them capitalise on life's 'habit-breaking' moments.
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Why the world loves Aussie 'tigers' and 'bananas'
On World Fisheries Day last Thursday, Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) had cause to celebrate its first year of sustainability certification, and a successful year-one audit by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
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Are our ecosystems healthy? Ask the ants
Among the various animals used as bio-indicators in environmental management, insects and invertebrates have long been the poor cousins. But according to CSIRO ecologist, Dr Alan Andersen, the humble ant can be a more powerful tool than larger vertebrates for biodiversity monitoring.
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Australian endangered species: Lord Howe Long-eared Bat
Some threatened species are familiar and well-known; others are obscure. The Lord Howe Long-eared Bat may be the epitome of obscure. Were it not for the fluke discovery of a single tiny but distinctive skull (less than 3 cm in length) in Gooseberry Cave on Lord Howe Island in 1972, we wouldn't know that this species ever existed.
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Explainer: how does the electricity grid work?
Where would we be without electricity? Assuming that you own a fridge, there won't be many points in your life when you aren't making use of it. But what do we mean when we talk about the electricity grid?
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Measuring methane seeps in the Surat Basin
With methane holding 28 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, any increase in emissions is cause for concern. Recently, attention has focused on methane seepage associated with coal seam gas extraction.
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What's the washup from this chemical life?
Every day, Australians flush relatively small – but significant – amounts of chemicals down the drain, many excreted from their own bodies.
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Setting a carbon budget to keep below two degrees
We have already committed the planet to a certain amount of warming due to past carbon emissions. But efforts to reduce emissions now and over the next few decades will critically affect the degree of future warming.
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In Brief - Round-up of sustainability news

Murray flood ecology work to aid native fish recovery
 
 
‘Toilet equality’ essential for sustainable development: UN
 
 
Warming doubles odds of abnormal El Nino
 
 
Feral camel population must be kept down warns Ninti One
 
 
Boom and bust above feeds life deep below
 
 
Australia warmed more than the rest of the world in 2013
 
 
Pheromones to protect GBR from crown-of-thorns?
 
 
‘No-slip strips’ slow the flow of Antarctic glaciers
 
 
Sterile flies: a pesticide-free way to stop the rot
 
 
New apps for critical bushfire assessment
 
 
Warming will disturb dryland soil nutrient balance
 
 
Greenhouse gas levels in atmosphere reach new high: WMO
 
 
Unchartered waters: project to turn ocean images into national data bank
 
 
Statistics show water-efficient gardening on the wane
 
 
Minerals roadmap, recycling needed to fuel sustainable renewables
 
 
Field research finds a home in the Great Western Woodlands
 
 

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