Climate Conversations Robert McLean

Retired Admiral, Chris Barrie (pictured), who once led the Australian Defence Force and who was speaking recently on the webinar, "Too Hot to Handle - the scorching reality of Australia's climate security failure", finds the rapidly unfolding climate crisis as "pretty scary".

"Fossil fuel subsidies hit $14.5 billion in 2023-24, up 31%";

"Nations must go further than current Paris pledges or face global warming of 2.5-2.9°C";

"Brook trout are in trouble in Adirondacks lakes";

"Opposition questions government's inflation forecast";

"How a long-lost fish species was brought back to Bendigo";

"Maya van Rossum Wants to Save the World";

"15,000 squares, 500 hours, 19 months: how I used embroidery to make sense of Australia’s catastrophic fires";

"Where did money come from?";

"Sky-high vanity: constructing the world’s tallest buildings creates high emissions";

"How Texas became the hottest grid battery market in the country";

"Chart: Renewables generated a record 30% of global electricity in 2023";

"Scrapping the waste export levy threatens Australia’s emerging lithium battery recycling industry";

"Climate Justice Groups Confront Chevron on San Francisco Bay";

"Plastic, Plastic Everywhere — Even at the UN’s “Plastic Free” Conference":

"Field workers, farm owners, and buyers band together to protect workers from heat";

"Too hard basket: why climate change is defeating our political system";

"Thousands told to evacuate due to British Columbia, Canada wildfire";

"Phoenix Braces—and Plans—for Another Hot, Dry Summer";

"The Arctic ice between Russia and the US is melting. What’s at stake at the top of the world?";

"Is the Coalition planning to overtake Labor and tax rich inner-city EV drivers?";

"Climate Extremes Slammed Latin America and the Caribbean Last Year. A New UN Report Details the Impacts and Costs";

"More Australians are looking to ditch their cars. But the alternatives haven’t quite arrived";

"Why Highway 1 is the climate challenge that California can’t fix";

"Afghanistan flash floods kill more than 300 as torrents of water and mud crash through villages";

"Dozens killed in cold lava mudslides on Indonesian island of Sumatra";

"Fossil fuel subsidies in Australia 2024";

"Malaysia’s appetite for oil and gas puts it on collision course with China";

"Academics and Lawmakers Slam an Industry-Funded Report by a Former Energy Secretary Promoting Natural Gas and LNG";

"Biden and oil companies like this climate tech. Many Americans do not.";

"‘We can’t defeat nature but we can be climate-resilient’: how plant roots can help stop landslides";

"Brutal heatwaves and submerged cities: what a 3C world would look like";

"‘No alternative’: EU climate chief urges MEPs not to use crisis as political tool";

"77% of top Climate Scientists think 2.5°C of warming is coming – and they’re horrified";

"As Extreme Weather Batters Schools, Students Are Pushing For More Climate Change Education";

"Floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan, UN says";

"Mining lobby: Fast-track bill’s ministerial powers ‘not unusual":

"Bringing the world’s food production in line with global climate goals";

"It looks like the Batmobile, works on solar energy, and could be the future of cars";

"World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target";

"The Climate Crisis Is Already Transforming the Family";

"Horse’s rooftop rescue gives flood-hit Brazil ‘something we could root for’";

"Here are three common recycling myths you should discard";

"How one Oregon county plans to make big oil pay for the 2021 heat dome";

"Europeans see natural disasters as a bigger threat than armed conflict, study reveals";

"‘False promises and phantom emissions’: How was Shell able to double its carbon credits in Canada?";

"Foodwise: A kid’s guide to fighting

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Susan Lengel (pictured) champions conversation about climate change, but beyond that, and critically, "Conversation at the Crossroads".

Susan, who hails from South Australia and once worked for that State's National Parks and Wildlife Service", enriched her climate change experience and knowledge while working with "The Royal Parks" in London.

Check out the group's website and you'll learn that Susan has vast experience in grassroots activism.

Also, check out the group's coming events and I'm sure you will find something there to capture your interest and stimulate your mind.


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From The Scotsman we hear: "After SNP's 17 years of failure on climate change, things are about to get worse";

"Harnessing the power of coming together";

"Cool Geelong";

"Vote Climate One";

"Geelong Sustainability";

"‘Not a single government dollar’: Albanese plays down gas policy push after blowback";

"‘Paying to be exploited’: Labor has now fully succumbed to the fossil fuel industry";

"A pathway for future generations";

"Labor’s gas strategy: what is it and why do critics call it ‘Back to the Future’?";

"Government halts plans for pilot ‘hydrogen town’ heating scheme";

"I understand climate scientists’ despair – but stubborn optimism may be our only hope" (Christiana Figueres - pictured);

"Billions are needed for climate adaptation – now some frontline communities are deciding how the money gets spent";

"How to Create a Society That Prizes Decency";

"‘I am starting to panic about my child’s future’: climate scientists wary of starting families";

"April Extends World’s Record-Breaking Temperature Streak to 11 Straight Months";

"Vermont Could Become First State to Make Biggest Emitters Pay for Climate-Related Damages";

"World’s Largest CO2 Removal Plant Opens in Iceland";

"Government hypes gas crisis ahead of restarting drilling";

"Biden EPA Finalizes Rules Excluding Gas Power Plants From Carbon Regulations";

"Vessel Strikes on Whales Are Increasing With Warming. Can the Shipping Industry Slow Down to Spare Them?";

"How climate change is raising the risks of another pandemic";

"A Natural Ecology Lab Along the Delaware River in the First State to Require K-12 Climate Education";

"Colorado students say they want more solutions-oriented climate education now before it’s too late";

"Aftermath of the storm: What roads, schools remain closed due to flood damage";

"What is winter without snow? Our children are finding out.";

"I weep for the corals, but what I saw on the Great Barrier Reef gives me hope";

"Brazil floods: horse stranded on roof is rescued as death toll rises to 107 people";

"Used electric car sales in UK reach record highs";

"PepsiCo outlines plans to deliver its first net-zero plant";

"Solar Storm Intensifies, Filling Skies With Northern Lights";

"Need help electrifying your home? This startup has an app for that";

"In praise of shade trees";

"This Earth Day, Choose the Planet Over Plastics";

"Drought fuels wildfire concerns as Canada braces for another intense summer";

"A Puerto Rico Community Pushes for Rooftop Solar as Fossil-Fuel Plants Face Retirement";

"Heat stress has damaging impact on older adults’ vital organs";

"The climate crisis is no laughing matter, no matter what those on Radio 4’s Today programme think";

"UN agrees carbon market safeguards to tackle green land grabs";

"World Bank tiptoes into fiery debate over meat emissions";

"At State’s Energy Summit, Wyoming Promises to ‘Make Sure Our Fossil Fuels Have a Future’";

"Italy's falling birth rate is a crisis that's only getting worse";

"Anthony Albanese faces internal revolt from inner-city Labor MPs over gas strategy";

"New US and China climate envoys, seeking show of progress, meet for first time in Washington";

"Net Zero Ministers Met Oil and Gas Representatives Twice a Week in 2023";

"Solar plus batteries ‘cheaper than new coal’ for meeting China’s rising demand";

"Record-breaking increase in CO2 levels in world’s atmosphere";

"Indian Ocean temperature anomalies predict long-term global dengue trends";

"The Guardian view on Britain’s dirty waterways: a failure of industry and regulation";

"Major emitters ‘may retain or expand’ fossil fuels despite net-zero plans";

"Labor’s gas boost opens new front in crossbench election battle";

"‘The stakes could not be higher’: world is on edge of climate abyss, UN warns";

"UK farmers consider quitting after extreme wet weather and low profits";

"Labor’s gas strategy: what is it and why do

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has today urged a suite of actions and
investments to protect the future of the Murray-Darling Basin in the face of climate change, which is threatening the river’s health and sustainability.

In a new essay series A thriving Murray-Darling Basin in 50 years: Actions in the face of climate change,
ATSE urges more investment in technologies to monitor the river for climate impacts and in sustained governance with regional and rural communities at the centre, coupled with evolving our agriculture industry in the face of decreased water availability and accepted water-sharing policies.

The essay series highlights the vibrant, thriving potential of the Basin if sustainably managed for the benefit of communities and the environment.

To achieve this, it recommends reinstating a body to provide independent objective policy advice on national water management, including for the Murray-Darling Basin, to help guide consistent national data-driven decision-making.

ATSE President Katherine Woodthorpe AO FTSE (pictured) said the future of the Murray-Darling Basin is recognised to be at severe risk. That comprehensive action across Federal, State and Territory Governments will be decisive in safeguarding its biodiversity, and social and economic importance to Australia.

"Essays address climate change in the Murray-Darling Basin";

"Australia could play a key role: what a key Paris Agreement negotiator thinks about our climate future";

"Poorer nations must be transparent over climate spending, says Cop29 leader";

"Weather tracker: Mexico swelters under season’s first heatwave";

"Oil giant plans to move 60,000 tonnes of steel, rig waste to UN-listed wetlands";

"A Grampians town’s remarkable recovery after ‘the beast’ burnt through";

"Energy Efficiency Council".

"YIMBY: Community composting for connection and climate action";

"The Loudest Guys in the Room: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Warps the Information Ecosystem";

"In ‘Silent Spring,’ Rachel Carson Described a Fictional, Bucolic Hamlet, Much Like Her Hometown. Now, There’s a Plastics Plant Under Construction 30 Miles Away";

"A Plastics Plant Promised Pennsylvania Prosperity, but to Some Residents It’s Become a ‘Shockingly Bad’ Neighbor";

"Wildfire smoke a threat to already endangered orangutans";

"Why some corals are better off dead";

"Reflections on being an Earthling";

"The EPA’s Carbon Crackdown Is Finally Here";

"We aim to call Government and Industry to action . . . . .Charter 29";

"Curious Kids: why do trees have bark?";

"Weather tracker: torrential rainstorms cause death and destruction in Brazil";

"Here’s why so many Republicans won’t buy EVs";

"Making merry: how we brought Melbourne’s Merri Creek back from pollution, neglect and weeds";

"Buddha taught us to be happy with less. How does this apply to the climate crisis?";

"3 energy questions hang over EPA’s carbon rule";

"Sometimes, to Make an Electric Car Better, You’ve Got to Make It a Little Worse";

"Climate Change Is Making Your Seasonal Allergies Worse";

"As the Environmental Crisis Worsens, So Too Does the Safety of Journalists Covering It";

"‘Like wildfires underwater’: Worst summer on record for Great Barrier Reef as coral die-off sweeps planet";

"Federal Court hears closing arguments in Torres Strait Islanders' climate change case";

"Floods in southern Brazil kill at least 75 people over 7 days, with 103 people missing";

"‘We’re looking at losing 20% of Olympic nations’: how the climate crisis is changing sport";

"First ever cyclone confronts flood-hit Kenya";

"Over 100 temperature records in Vietnam broken in April as heatwave scorches";

"There's a soundtrack to our coral reefs and scientists are hopeful it can encourage coral regrowth";

"The cleanest air in the world is at Tasmania's Kennaook/Cape Grim. It's helping solve a climate puzzle"


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"I’ve done the sums. All we need is 1,200 square kilometres. That’s not much. The area devoted to agriculture is about 3,500 times larger at 4.2 million square kilometres. The area of land that would be taken away from agriculture works out at about 45
square metres per person – about the size of a large living room.

"We can ditch fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions with negligible impact on agriculture. And, in many cases, farmers can be paid for hosting renewable energy infrastructure while continuing to run
sheep and cows or grow crops."

So says a Professor of Engineering from the Australian National University, Professor Andrew Blakers (pictured), in an article published in The Conversation: "No threat to farmland: just 1,200 square kilometres can fulfil Australia’s solar and wind energy needs".

Professor Blakers visited Mooroopna, just across the Goulburn River from Shepparton, several years ago as one of about three speakers at a climate change forum organised by the Shepparton-based group, "Slap Tomorrow".

The convenor of Zero Carbon Tatura, Terry Court, also on the Goulburn Valley-based GV Community Energy board, joined me for the conversation with Professor Blakers.


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Those who understand climate change see adaptation and mitigation as key planks in national security and former international oil, gas and coal industry executive, chair of
the Australian Coal Association and CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Ian Dunlop, writes on Pearls and Irritations - "Climate security risks and Australia’s failure";

"Australia’s National Defence Strategy: Where ideology trumps strategy";

"As climate change pushes deer north, other animals may lose out";

"Startup mimics nature to produce zero-carbon cement";

"Here’s what record-breaking temperatures looked like around the globe";

"8 years into America’s e-scooter experiment, what have we learned?";

"Why India is key to heading off climate catastrophe";

"Southern Africa drought flags dilemma for loss and damage fund";

"Where seas are rising at alarming speed";

"Air Pollution Could Potentially Exacerbate Menopause Symptoms, Study Says";

"Girt by Sea: can Australia reduce its dependence on US security?";

"‘Near unliveable’ extreme heat poses national security risk";

"Study: Climate change boosted July's heat for 81% of world's population";

"Getting together on climate action";

"ELECTRIC SUV EXPO 24, MELBOURNE";

"Mom fights air pollution in North Denver";

"Welcome to the Regen Learning Hub";

"Surveyors warn EV chargers in old apartment buildings should have fire safety approval";

"Slow Fashion 101: Everything You Need to Know";

"‘Near unliveable’ extreme heat poses national security risk";

"Climate-security risks too hot to handle for Australian Government";

"Florida sees thriving future if climate resilience managed, research finds";

"Appeals Court Ordered the Dismissal of a Landmark Youth Climate Court Case";

"Loss and Damage Meeting Shows Signs of Giving Developing Countries a Bigger Voice and Easier Access to Aid";

"Policy Experts Say the UN Climate Talks Need Reform, but Change Would be Difficult in the Current Political Landscape";

"Perth residents question use of groundwater for Coca-Cola bottled water amid record low rainfall";

"Roger Cook faces defamation threat from teen climate protesters";

"Minnesota’s biggest solar project will help replace a huge coal plant";

"Texas Companies Eye Pecos River Watershed for Oilfield Wastewater";

"Increasingly Frequent Ocean Heat Waves Trigger Mass Die-Offs of Sealife, and Grief in Marine Scientists";

"First ever planet-wide analysis shows conservation work is making a measurable difference";

"We think we control our health – but corporations selling forever chemicals, fossil fuels and ultra-processed foods have a much greater role";

"Is bioenergy ever truly green? It depends on 5 key questions";

"El Niño not climate change key to drought that caused Panama Canal disruption, study says";

"No Mow May: How to turn your garden into a haven for butterflies this spring";

"How close is the world to securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution?";

"Can Forests Be More Profitable Than Beef?";

"Curbing Contrails: A Climate Solution in the Skies";

"Trains Are Cleaner Than Planes, Right";

"Corn to Power Airplanes? Biden Administration Sets a High Bar.";

"Why 40°C is bearable in a desert but lethal in the tropics";

"Sharing the Truth About Electric Vehicles and Clean Energy";

"Transformative Incrementalism: Changing Global Systems By Changing Our Part Of The World".


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