"In 2011, when ProPublica first reported on the different health problems afflicting people living near gas drilling operations, only a handful of health studies had been published. Three years later, the science is far from settled, but there is a growing body of research to consider."
"Renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydro power could supply electricity at prices comparable to fossil fuels by 2030, according to a study commissioned by the federal government. Modelling by the Australian Energy Market Operator shows that 100 per cent of power from clean energy would be technically viable by 2030 - although with a price tag ranging from $219 billion to $252 billion."
"AN INDEPENDENT study of wind farms and noise is among the first environmental priorities of the Abbott government.
Incoming Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said he would begin talking to wind farm operators before parliament sits in November to discuss the scope of the inquiry and a law to establish real time monitoring."
"Upwards of 5 billion people in the tropics will soon find temperature and other weather conditions falling outside anything experienced in modern record-keeping, according to a groundbreaking study published Wednesday. What's past is no longer prologue. We are outside of our experience. The study, by a team of University of Hawaii researchers led by professor Camilo Mora, is the first to map the timing of "climate departures" - when a particular region's climate conditions escape the bounds recorded over the past 140-odd years by modern instruments. Among the team's surprising findings: The tropics will depart first, even though all climate models and data show the Arctic is warming fastest. And the transformation, underway now, will happen very quickly."
"With careful design, the same development projects that improve communities, save lives, and increase GDP can also fight climate change.
A new study examines the multiple benefits for a series of policy scenarios addressing transportation and energy efficiency in buildings and industry in five countries and the European Union. It provides concrete data to help policymakers understand the broader potential of climate-smart development investments."
"One third of articles in Australia's major newspapers rejected or cast doubt on the overwhelming findings of climate science, with climate sceptic Andrew Bolt monopolising coverage of the topic in several high-circulation News Corporation titles, according to a new analysis. A study of 602 articles in 10 newspapers by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found that 32% dismissed or questioned whether human activity was causing the climate to change. The articles were analysed between February and April in 2011 and again in the same period in 2012."
"The decline of wild bees and other pollinators may be an even more alarming threat to crop yields than the loss of honeybees, a worldwide study suggests, revealing the irreplaceable contribution of wild insects to global food production."
"Global warming has propelled Earth's climate from one of its coldest decades since the last ice age to one of its hottest -- in just one century.
A heat spike like this has never happened before, at least not in the last 11,300 years, said climatologist Shaun Marcott, who worked on a new study on global temperatures going back that far."
"Based on guidance I put together to assist interested laymen, journalists and others trying to understand the knotty problem of wind energy and its health impacts, I've done a very rough application to most of the major pieces of evidence referenced in the discussions. This material will be updated periodically as I assess more material and as new evidence is presented."
""Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation" is a free, open-source textbook available for viewing online or as a download for use on e-readers or printing. First and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge - including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field. Designed for the new generation of e-readers, the book can also be viewed in a browser, saved as a pdf, or printed."
"The Yarra Energy Foundation and The City of Yarra invites everyone who lives, works, studies or volunteers in the City of Yarra to seize power through the Yarra Project Zero to achieve zero carbon living, learning and earning by 2020."
"You've likely seen the graph of the Earth's average global temperature over the past 2000 years...it's mostly a straight line until you get to the industrial revolution and then it shoots up. It looks like a hockey stick. In a study published today in Science, that graph has been extended back 11,300 years and you can really see the scope of the abrupt temperature change."
"Unless urgent action is taken to reduce carbon emissions, more than half of common plants and a third of animal species around the world are likely to see their living space halved by 2080, predicts a new study."
"Ocean warming has already affected global fisheries in the past four decades, a new international study has found, driving up the proportion of warm-water fish being caught and posing a threat to food security worldwide."
".... behind the scenes a growing number of economists and energy analysts are challenging the assumptions and methods behind these studies. None of them argues against seizing truly cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. Rather, they caution against overestimating their energy and carbon savings potential. As such, it is time to rethink the privileged place efficiency has taken in the climate and energy strategies of national governments and international agencies. "
A study has found that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can reduce the amount of water plants need to grow.
Carbon dioxide concentrations recently exceeded 400 parts per million for the first time in three million years.
But researchers at the Australian National University say the benefits of higher CO2 levels could partially offset some of the negative affects of climate change.
"Australia is on the cusp of a solar energy revolution. First, a recent study suggests that the country could power its entire national domestic infrastructure using only solar (while slashing the price of home electricity by 70 percent). Now, the University of Melbourne has introduced a new organic PV cell printer that rolls out a functional binder page-sized sheet of solar panel every two seconds, making the production of all those cells cheaper and a whole lot faster."
"The significance of having a carbon budget should not be underestimated. International studies, such as those by the International Energy Agency, say the global budget (and by inference national budgets) could be rapidly exhausted unless the scale of action is increased. They generally agree that to meet the science, between two-thirds and four-fifths of the world's fossil fuel reserves will need to be left in the ground."