News for June, 2025
Hello again. With June just complete, what environmental articles and events have caught the eye this time? It seems that a new section gets added each month, and this post is no exception. For now, the new section will be going under the title of 'Plaigue', to reflect the rapidly increasing (and generally negative) influence artificial intelligence is having on affairs.
The images being provided by the recently commissioned Vera Rubin telescope lend an opportunity to pause and consider 'where we are' in the Universe. Imagine that, somewhere in that dense pack of galaxies, is a modest G-type star with an assortment of dots orbiting it. A particular pale blue dot has a climate beneficial to life, which has allowed the establishment of a self-sustaining environment. Within that environment, life flourishes. That includes Humanity, even though they exist within a social structure generally referred to as the 'economy'.
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| The economy's place in the Universe |
(Old story: the World Bank was producing a report with a diagram depicting a model of economic production. It was suggested the model be placed in a box labelled 'environment' to show where 'externalities' were. After some evasive revisions, the diagram was removed. It is an old story, hopefully.)
The economy may dominate our everyday lives, yet it is beholden to the state of the environment in which it exists, just as the environment relies on the climate. It's high time economic decision making took this into account.
Anyway...
Environment
The Ugly
- Logging of Australian forests is diminishing, but it still persists, with loopholes from 50 years ago being exploited.
- Satellite imagery reveals large scale deforestation on private land.
- Analysis of land titles shows banks (esp. NAB) continue to finance deforestation.
- The decision to approve an extension to the NW Shelf extension has undermined environmentalist confidence in the Environment Minister's commitment to strong Nature laws in the EBPC revisions.
- Until stronger nature laws are in place, the only thing the Environment Minister Murray Watt was able to consider in whether or not to approve the NW extension was its effect on the ancient Murujuga rock art. A report finding the effects to be minimal was released shortly before the decision was made. It now appears to have been doctored.
The Bad
- Until now, Ningaloo and other reefs of NW Australia had avoided coral bleaching events. No more.
- What's happened to all the insects?
- Increases in satellite launches pose a new threat to the ozone layer.
- War? What is it good for? Absolutely wrecking the environment, as three years of conflict in the Ukraine show.
- Plutonium levels at Montebello Islands nuclear test site remain 4500 times higher than elsewhere. While nothing's glowing, the effects on local wildlife is yet to be determined. The contamination is likely to persist for thousands of years.
- As increasing bushfire frequency reduces regeneration times, Australia's alpine forests are facing collapse.
- Te SA algal bloom reported last month has now spread to the Coorong.
- In Canada, wildfires displace animals, and indigenous peoples.
- Some moorlands in the UK are becoming monocultural deserts. Here's a deeper explanation
- A reduction in Antarctic sea ice cover is affecting the Antarctic seal population.
- Meanwhile, a twist of irony in the North Atlantic: a potential collapse in ocean conveyor currents threatens a much colder Northern Europe.
The Good
- Test case brought by Doctors for the Environment against Woodside Scarborough gas project can proceed.
- Australia prepares to declare one third of its ocean territory 'highly protected'. This should translate to no fishing or mining.
- An ecocide treaty in Vanuatu?
- A substantial fraction of the Earth's land surface is taken up with agricultural grazing for meat animals. Lab grown meats will ease that pressure. Salmon substitutes also coming available.
- Transition related or not, any mining project should be assessed on its merits v the degradation of its surrounds. Even lithium mines proposed for Portugal.
- Farmers have been revegetating the borders of the Hopkins River in SW Victoria for generations now.
- Critically endangered regent honeyeaters benefit from growth following heavy rains
- Cockatoos continue to adapt to an urban lifestyle, having now figured out drinking fountains.
Climate
The Ugly
- The emissions to be expected from the North West Shelf extension, in graphical form (unless you intend driving around Australia 125 times, your car is nowhere to be seen)
- World banks opt to increase financing to fossil fuel projects.
- Online climate misinformation is causing significant blocks to climate action. Here's how it operates.
The Bad
- Global warming alters weather patterns in a way that induces... more global warming.
- If you thought extreme weather events are being reported more frequently, NASA data confirms it.
- Extreme weather events may have bad effects on the developing brains of unborn children.
- Dr Michael Mann on Heat domes and Summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
- UK heat waves of 32 C: now 100 times more likely
- ... the recent one is estimated to be responsible for 600 deaths.
- Not to be outdone, Alaska recently issued a heat advisory of 110F (43C) for the first time.
- Drought's effects on the next generation of Australian farmers.
- Say farewell to breakfast: a warming world will result in lower harvests.
- ... and rising sea levels. A third of Tavalu residents have applied for Australia's climate visas, within days of the program opening.
- Good news: we have a better idea of why the oceans have been heating so rapidly. Bad news: it's not going to stop.
- A delayed carbon sink that is increasingly prone to go up in smoke anyway: tree planting will not save us (NB planting trees has plenty of other benefits)
- Global warming's dark twin, ocean acidification, is approaching critical levels. (as in: no more shellfish)
- Unsurprisingly, mental health suffers in a warmer world.
The Good
- One of the few bright spots comes from the literary world. In addition to the recognition provided to 'cli-fi' by Grist's 'Imagine 2200' competition, there is now the Climate Fiction Prize, whose inaugural award was recently granted to Abi Daré's 'And so I Roar'. If people write about things, then other people will read, and think about them...
- China has competition: Norway's emissions dropped 3.5% in 2024.
- Meanwhile, NSW is starting to pick up the reins, aiming to cut its emissions by 50% by 2030 (although still a little under target)
- ... and, surf's up! It helps store carbon.
- Carbon capture is a solution, but one better suited for tomorrow. First, we must stop generating the carbon that will need capturing.
- Some solutions may also be found in indigenous knowledge. This is partly what has prompted UNESCO to appoint two indigenous co-chairs to investigate cultures and languages. Sound a bit fuzzy? Consider the layered meanings of words like 'X̱maay'
Energy
The Ugly
- Anyone remember how Adani managed to cadge indigenous approval for the Carmichael Mine by gathering some people of 'dubious' attachment? It seems Empire Gas is trying something similar to get its Beetaloo Project going.
- Spain recently suffered a nation wide blackout. The underlying cause was subtle, and took weeks of painstaking research to determine. Meanwhile, predictably, renewables unfairly took the blame. South Australians may be familiar with this phenomenon.
- APA group opts out of the bidding to build new transmission links to renewable energy centres. They "prefer opportunities complementary to their current portfolio of assets". They're a gas company...
- Trump's US culture wars means that support for renewables is giving way to support for fossil fuels
- In news that will not surprise, university funding by fossil fuel companies is slowing/discouraging energy transition programs. (eg Monash and Woodside)
- Louisiana Government is proposing to codify methane as 'green energy'
- Brazil: not a good look to start auctioning oil exploration licenses months before hosting COP30.
- New Zealand: also not a good look to repeal a ban on offshore oil and gas explorations and withdraw from a coalition to phase out fossil fuels.
The Bad
- Given the lobbying from the WA government to extend the NW shelf project, there is some irony in the stability of the state's power grid depending on a methane plant on the verge of bankruptcy.
- Old coal mines don't go away: they continue to leak methane
- Leaks from old Canadian wells and mines are seven times worse than thought
- Approval of a renewable energy project has sparked outrage in the NE Victorian town of Dederang. Local concerns should be listened to (certainly more than is implied in the article). On the other hand, I also recall the mischief arising from the astroturf 'Waubra Foundation'. Will watch this.
- Queensland: while they haven't broken with a renewable transition yet, another conservative government is having difficulty.
The Good
- Victoria is making active strides to wean itself of domestic gas usage (although there is one small problem: the gas used to export gas is considered 'domestic')
- Even the IEA is revising its estimates for global gas consumption significantly downward...
- Bad news: gas corporation spruiking the renewable benefits(?) of natural gas.. Good news: ACCC suing said company for misleading advertising.
- The sun doesn't always shine... except solar batteries are now cheap enough for it to be practicable to continue providing power all night.
- The speed at which Greece is switching to renewables is 'stunning'
- Boston Metal promotes process for producing 'green' steel, that requires no fossil fuels
- Microgrids in Puerto Rico keep the lights shining
- Gregory Andrews has recently posted a series of articles debunking the feeble excuses people make for not adopting renewables. They're a hoary lot you have probably encountered before, but it's useful to have them gathered in one spot so you can respond next time someone tells you "Yeah, but...":
Transport
The Ugly
- The electric vehicle gets a lot of bad press for some reason. Most of it is false, but persistent. For instance, do you believe EVs are more prone to catch fire?
The Bad
- Walking home at night: men and women look at it differently.
- Australia record on high speed rail is... not good. Perhaps this US project can help?
The Good
- Using electric vehicles to give power to the grid as well as take from it has been a long term goal. Now one step closer.
- With 4 passengers plus pilot, it's not quite the same as an Airbus 380, but the first electric powered aircraft recently landed at JFK airport
- The rustic idyll v the grungy tenement. Yet it's long been known that environmental conservation and urban density are not the strange bedfellows often depicted. Quite the opposite, in fact.
- Washington State has just adopted a plan for transit-oriented transport. Volts podcast explains...
- Gulls are now using garbage trucks to get about.
Resistance
Trump's kakistocratic reign continues, but as someone a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away once said, "authority is brittle".
The Ugly
- To date, the excesses of Trump's Executive Orders have been limited by federal judge injunctions. In the case of denying citizenship by birth, the Supreme Court has now ruled, 6-3, that such injunctions are limited. This will probably affect other injunctions. For what it's worth these days. the dissenting opinion pulls no punches in eviscerating the decision for abandoning legal rigour so as to appease the Executive. Not how the SC is supposed to work...
- ICE raids continue in LA. The helicopter might have been overkill.
- The helicopter certainly would have been overkill when arresting a fourth grader.
- Here's what to expect if you start monitoring an ICE raid. Note the heavy masking and general lack of ID. Are these people even police?
- After six months, Trump continues to refuse permits for offshore wind farms.
- Trump explicitly orders a coal power station to stay operating, although it was scheduled for retirement, and will cost a lot for states to maintain.
- NOAA's climate information website climate.gov, has had all its staff fired, and will shut down.
- The US EPA is now going to repeal climate pollution limits on power plants.
- Louisiana (again) has legislation banning the publication of air quality data. It is being challenged.
- And don't mention the weather! DoD will no longer provide information essential for accurate hurricane forecasts.
The Bad
- What is the cost benefit of all this science? A perennial explanation that is still needed. (You will also find numerous examples in the links of this post.)
- The hard anti-science stance taken by the US Government via the likes of RFK Jr has precedents, and consequences. Here is what happened in Soviet Russia when the agronomist Trofimov Lysenko was permitted to discard Mendelevian genetics for an ideological feeling.
The Good
- In the US, there was a massive national turnout for the 'No Kings' rally on June 14. Estimates range from 6-12 million. The lower value comes from an assessment of registered attendance whereas the higher number comes from head count estimates. These photographs contrast the turnout for Trump's birthday parade (which even the military were clearly unenthusiastic about.)
- Staged across the country in all manner of communities, these events were generally peaceful and remarkably violence free, apart from an incident provoked by the (apparently notorious) LA Sheriff Department. Naturally, the few instances of violence are being used to spin a tale of national mayhem and anarchy.
- A pride rally in Florida was banned from lighting up bridges in rainbow colours. It provided an opportunity to show that life will find a way.
- Monash University has a cosy relationship with Woodside (the company who's North West shelf gas expansion has just been approved). It's coming up for renewal, and many staff and students are working to scrap it.
- IN the US, the many headed hydra that is referred to as the 'Big Beautiful Bill' is intended to siphon wealth from public assets and the poor, and hand it to the rich. Why this awful prospect is in the 'good' category is because Democrats in the Budget Committee are tearing it to pieces via a regulation known as the 'Byrd Rule', which stipulates that some points of a budgetary bill require a 60 vote supermajority. How much of it survives to the July 4 deadline remains to be seen.
- One of these items cut? The sell-off of over 250 million acres of public lands, including national parks.
- Trump may be hell-bent on drilling, baby, but youth aren't having it, and are suing the US government for damages.
- RFK Jr is now being officially called out for his anti-vaccination stance, *and* for lying to the US Senate in order to secure his confirmation.
- A recent court case means that fossil fuel companies can no longer 'greenwash' their activities with impunity
- "Progressive tax reforms are impossible because you'll scare away investors". Except, it doesn't.
- Totalitarianism seeks *all* of our attention. A simple act of resistance is therefore not to give it to them. The recent release of the first images from the Vera Rubin telescope offers a moment for us to escape from all that. These views into deep time represent a huge trove of information that will need analysing. This is where you can help...
Plaigue (sic)
The first articles on artificial intelligence were noted to highlight the excessive energy demands they introduced, and how convenient it was for fossil fuel sources to meet these demands. However, it's rapidly becoming clear that the issues are far more extensive and worthy of attention. It's not all bad, but...
The Ugly
- Planning to build the world's largest AI data centre in convenient proximity to the Alberta tar sands suggests an ulterior motive...
- Your AI therapist is not your friend, or even a good therapist.
- Part of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' is a fine on any state attempting to oversee AI activity
The Bad
- So how much energy do LLMs use? It's a lot, yeah, but how much? The answer to this is suspiciously hard to estimate.
- Data centres also soak up water as well as energy.
- One estimate notes that AI could account for half of all existing data centre power use by the end of the year.
- AI collapses in the face of more complex problems. Lies about it, as well.
- Before the current AI craze, there was bitcoin mining, which was also an energy hog. LLM energy consumption has now overtaken it. It will be interesting to see whether interest in bitcoin wanes as a result.
- Real estate adverts are notorious for digitally manipulated images. Legislation is starting to catch up.
The Good
- Lots of people using video posts these days. How can you tell whether or not they're AI generated? This video may come in useful (...assuming it isn't AI generated. Try practising on the adverts!)
- How can you even tell your AI is AI, and not 200 Indian engineers operating a 'mechanical Turk'??
- In keeping with the above discussion of renewable sites and local communities, it is worth noting that local communities can and have opposed the creation of large data centres.
- Since Large Language Models perform their presdigitalisation via a lot of input, their proponents have long held that copyright is a barrier that should be waived for their purposes. A 'creative' legal argument, to say the least, and one that's been found to be false: a perfectly good LLM can be formed from the public domain.
- Referring to the earlier article on EV myths and misconceptions, researchers found that a properly curated Chatbot could help reduce the level of misinformation. (Good news, but note the modifier)
- Overpriced, underperforming, and it's being noticed. AI is a bubble that is going to burst. The sooner this happens, the less damage will result. Hopefully, the next iteration of this technology will be viewed with greater criticism, and be more worthy as a result.
