BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Saturday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today
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Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as cyclone bears down
We have a news story this morning about the impact the cyclone is already having on life in Queensland.
Fallen trees and giant stands of bamboo blocked the single road to our farm until the army and council brought heavy machinery to clear a path some time after.
We were without running water or power for days, maybe weeks, the packing shed a makeshift kitchen where we ate meals cooked off a gas barbecue and drank instant coffee made with rainwater and UHT milk to the hum of a generator.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/06/2025 - 14:33
03/06/2025 - 14:00
Drop in line with rate of overall insect loss as scientists point to habitat loss, pesticide use and the climate crisis
Butterflies may be among the most beloved of all creatures, routinely deified in art and verse, but they are in alarming decline in the United States with populations plummeting by a fifth in just the past two decades, according to the most comprehensive study yet of their fortunes.
The abundance of butterflies in the US slumped 22% between 2000 and 2020, the new analysis of more than 76,000 mostly regional surveys, published in Science, found. For every five butterflies fluttering daintily around at the start of the century, just four remain today.
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03/06/2025 - 13:00
Caroline Cotto’s research group taste-tests meat alternatives so plant-based companies can attract new customers – and help the climate
I am sitting in a Manhattan restaurant on a frigid Thursday in January, eating six mini servings of steak and mashed potatoes, one after another. The first steak I am served has a nice texture but is sort of unnaturally reddish. The second has a great crispy sear on the outside, but leaves behind a lingering chemical aftertaste. The next is fine on its own, but I imagine would be quite delicious shredded, drenched in barbecue sauce and served on a bun with vinegary pickles and a side of slaw.
If you peeked into this restaurant, you’d see nothing out of the ordinary – just a diverse range of New Yorkers huddled over plates of food. But everyone present is here for more than just a hot meal. We’re participating in a blind taste test of plant- (or sometimes mushroom-) based steaks, organized by a group of people who hope that better-tasting meat alternatives just might be a key to fighting the climate crisis.
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03/06/2025 - 11:02
The term ‘polycrisis’ has gained traction as we face one disaster after another. It’s overwhelming – but diagnosing the catastrophe is the first step to addressing it
Two months into 2025, the sense of dread is palpable. In the US, the year began with a terrorist attack; then came the fires that ravaged a city, destroying lives, homes and livelihoods. An extremist billionaire came to power and began proudly dismantling the government with a chainsaw. Once-in-a-century disasters are happening more like once a month, all amid devastating wars and on the heels of a pandemic.
The word “unprecedented” has become ironically routine. It feels like we’re stuck in a relentless cycle of calamity, with no time to recover from one before the next begins.
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03/06/2025 - 11:00
Move to expand landfill for US hazardous waste stirs disputes between leaders in Quebec and Montreal suburb
The proposed expansion of a Quebec landfill that accepts hazardous waste from the United States has ignited a turf war between the Quebec provincial government and local leaders, who say they oppose putting US trash into a local peat bog.
Local leaders are protesting against the move – saying the province is capitulating to a US company in the midst of a tariff war between Canada and the United States.
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03/06/2025 - 10:06
Murray Auchincloss paid £5.4m in 2024 as oil company ditched green investment strategy
BP cut the pay of its chief executive after a chastening year in which the British oil company missed profit targets and ditched its green investment strategy as it came under pressure from a US-based activist investor.
Murray Auchincloss’s pay decreased by 30% to £5.4m for 2024, according to the company’s annual report published on Thursday.
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03/06/2025 - 09:00
Exclusive: More than 3,000 critically endangered Baw Baw frogs set free in a high-altitude forest to bolster dwindling population
Tropical Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updates
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More than 3,000 critically endangered Baw Baw frogs have been released in Victoria’s east as part of a record-breaking conservation breeding program.
Zoos Victoria’s reintroduction of 3,000 tiny froglets and 40 adult frogs into the high-altitude forests of the Baw Baw plateau, about 120km east of Melbourne, was the largest in its breeding program for the species.
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03/06/2025 - 09:00
As chief scientist says state should drop ‘zero tolerance’, former EPA official says many problems could be solved during demolition process
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A former senior New South Wales environment watchdog officer says more needs to be done to stop asbestos from being mixed into waste materials as the state government considers overhauling the regime for dealing with the toxic contaminant.
Jason Scarborough, who led an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) investigation that found potentially contaminated soil fill could have been applied to land across the state, said many of these issues could be solved at the time of demolition.
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03/06/2025 - 07:02
Blue Marine Foundation charity asks high court to declare quota decision unlawful amid concern over sustainability of fish stocks
At the start of 2024, Jerry Percy, who led the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, dedicated to small boats, said he started to receive lots of calls from members. “They were calling my office to report that a lack of fish in the inshore grounds were putting their livelihoods in peril,” he said.
The fishers said they had noticed a depletion of species such as pollack, typically caught off Britain’s coasts.
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03/06/2025 - 05:00
Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers say
Revealed: how Wall Street is making millions betting against green laws
In the mountains of Transylvania, a Canadian company makes plans for a vast gold and silver mine. The proposal – which involves razing four mountain tops – sparks a national outcry, and the Romanian government pulls its support.
After protests from local communities, the Italian government bans drilling for oil within 12 miles of its shoreline. A UK fossil fuel firm has to dismantle its oilfield.
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