Land & water
Changing Beautifully: Transforming Carbon
"What would happen if we talked of caring for carbon?", asks Aviva Reed, a transdisciplinary visual ecologist, for Chain Reaction #143. Perhaps always thinking of carbon as the "enemy" of the climate erases the place it has in the ecology of life? This beautiful image-essay shares two of Aviva's visual artworks, and radical ecological philosophy about the importance of interrogating our relationship with carbon.
Land & water
Australia’s Mining Rush for Green Energy
Australia is leading a mining boom to provide resources for the ‘green energy transition’ - a transformation in energy and infrastructure which the Paris Agreement (2015) stipulates must occur to avoid perilous levels of global heating. Within Australia and globally, this mining expansion is affecting already stressed environments and communities, with impacts likely to dramatically increase as mining projects are pushed through to meet industry demands.
Land & water
Protecting our Native Forests for Climate and Public Health
Forests can help us mitigate climate impacts - yet Victoria's native forests are being logged and burned, writes Alana Mountain writes for Chain Reaction #142.
Land & water
COVID was just a practice run
The Lismore floods show that radical action needs to be taken now, writes Zianna Faud for Chain Reaction #142 - "...although I have trust in spontaneous and unpredictable social transformation, the truth is, there is no such thing as ‘normal’ anymore."
Land & water
The Lismore Floods: A Reflection
Tessa Campisi shares a heartfelt reflection on the Lismore floods, for Chain Reaction #142.
Land & water
2022 State of the Environment report released
Friends of the Earth Australia welcomes the release of the national State of the Environment report. Although required to produce them every five years, the previous Coalition government held up the release of the report, delaying Australia’s ability to respond to the biodiversity crisis outlined in the document.
Australia has produced a national state of environment report every five years since 1995. They assess every aspect of Australia’s environment and heritage, covering rivers, oceans, air, land and urban areas. They show that our natural environment is in continuous decline.
This report is the first to consider how our declining natural environment is impacting on the health and well-being of Australians. It is also the first to include Indigenous co-authors.
Land & water
Fire ready policies
We know that Australia is facing ever worse climate change driven disasters (‘UnNatural’ disasters). These include worsening fire seasons, longer heatwaves, increased flooding and longer droughts. The following are some suggestions on how Australia should be responding to longer and more intense fire seasons.
Having a new national government offers huge opportunities to fine tune how we fight fires.
The first thing, of course, is to stop contributing to climate change. This means increasing our ambition on climate change (for instance committing to a 75% emission reduction target by 2030) and ending the development of all new fossil fuel projects. Reducing emissions will reduce future climate impacts.
We also need to increase our ability to fight fires as seasons get longer and more intense.
Land & water
Changing climate, Changing oceans
Wendy Flannery examines the latest ocean changes, and their affect on the Pacific. Published in Chain Reaction #141.
Land & water
Another year. Still no national air fleet
Aerial firefighting capacity – planes and helicopters - are an essential component of Australia’s ability to respond to bushfires. This was demonstrated in the 2019-2020 bushfire season, when an unprecedented use of aircraft occurred. This summer was mild in the east but Western Australia saw months of terrible fires.
Land & water
Fighting the fires of the future
The fires of 2019/20 showed that, in a bad year, we just don’t have enough capacity to fight wildfire. Thankfully the summer of 2020/21 was mild. Before this summer starts, we need a deeper commitment from the federal government for fire fighting.