This report provides a summary of selected significant extreme weather and climate events which occurred across Australia in 2023. The report provides a description of each event and an explanation which
A red panda in the Darjeeling zoo. File picture Darjeeling, July 24: John has just fathered two lovely red pandas in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and has more than one reason to feel proud, having fought off 11 other males to catch the attention of Sheetal, one of only two reproductive females in the zoo. The skewed sex ratio among the pandas is now beginning to worry the zoo authorities. "We have 15 pandas out of which 12 are males. We are not sure of the gender of the new ones as they were born as recently as July 6,' said A.K. Jha, the director of the zoo.
The famous tribute to 18th century philosopher Voltaire - "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - is as apt today as ever before. Freedom of expression is one of the principles that underpin the health of liberal democracies the world over. It is also normal and indeed essential for scientific research to be subjected to scrutiny and to be challenged. That is why there is cause for concern about aspects of the current debate about climate change.
The proposed framework for tackling climate change is robust and balanced. Modifications to the universality and simplicity of the emissions trading regime are only proposed where there are overwhelming arguments for doing so. Coal-based electricity generators get differential treatment because their future investment decisions are central to tackling climate change. If the value of their existing assets is virtually eliminated overnight, their capacity to make those investments in low emission technologies will be crippled.
THE unseemly haste associated with the implementation of Australia's emission trading scheme seems to be driven more by political aspirations and the pseudo-science of special interest groups than sound environmental concern. On a recent visit to Australia, Jeffrey Sachs, distinguished professor of sustainability from Columbia University, pointed out the futility of a highly politicised debate on emissions trading. He said that the science, technology and economics of any optimal new "clean" energy policy should be properly simulated, studied and understood by all national stakeholders.
KOLKATA: Gujarat NRE Coke, which has coke units in India and coking coal mines in Australia, on Friday announced its plans to set up a greenfield one-million tonne coke plant in Andhra Pradesh at an investment of Rs. 450 crore.
Gujarat NRE Coke is planning to invest around $450 million (Rs 1,935 crore) to raise the total coking coal production from its Australian mines to 7 million tonnes by 2012-13. The company has two mines in Australia and the production from the second coal mine in that country commenced recently. The company expects 1.25 million tonnes from the mines in 2008-09 as against 0.5 million tonnes in the previous year.
Sydney, July 18: A veterinarian in Australia plunged his arm up to his shoulder into the throat of a rare shark to save the animal after it swallowed a grappling hook. David Blyde reached between the jaws of the 3-metre gray nurse shark to dislodge the hook, which was stuck in the animal's digestive tract, leaving a long metal handle sticking from its mouth. The gray nurse shark is generally much smaller than the more aggressive great white.
Cancer survival rate varies widely between countries, according to a worldwide study of the cancers of the breast (women), colon, rectum and prostate. The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is the highest in the United States as compared to any of the 31 countries studied as part of the study published in Lancet Oncology. However, in the US, cancer survival in black men and women is systematically and substantially lower than in white men and women.
AS IF rising gasoline prices weren't enough, motorists are being hit by higher parking charges, with London coming up tops as the world's most expensive city to park your car, according to a survey. Parking your car in the City, London's financial district, costs on average $68.07 a day, or $1,166.87 a month, while parking in the popular West End entertainment district cost $1,135.76 month, according to an annual survey by real estate firm Colliers International that was conducted in June.
Sushmi Dey & Subhash Narayan NEW DELHI WHILE the Indo-US nuclear deal may be waiting in the wings, the government has proposed yet another initiative to boost the growth of alternative energy sources in the country. It is planning to enact a new Renewable Energy Law that would stipulate mandatory procurement of prescribed minimum renewable energy in each state. The move is aimed at diversifying the country's energy mix that is dominated by oil, gas and coal as basic fuel feed.
