There was a time when the world looked to China to reduce its emissions. China was, they quite rightly pointed out, one of the globe’s worst polluters. A repost from Feb 15, 2024 But it’s never been the world’s worst offender. There are many arguments why. The obvious one is the per capita argument:China has Continue reading »
politics
Hundreds of scientists gathered in Australia for an “emergency summit” within the auspices of the inaugural Australian Antarctic Research Conference d/d November 2024. This gathering of 450 mostly “early-career” polar scientists flexed scientific muscles to alert the world to the what’s happening to our planet, taking off the gloves and coming out swinging. They claim Continue reading »
In 2024, faster than forecast change taught us new lessons about the climate system. In 2025, worse is to come, as political shock troops steer a course towards climate-driven societal collapse, writes David Spratt. If an unexpected leap in the global average temperature in 2023 was described by one scientist as “gobsmackingly bananas”, are there Continue reading »
The Albanese government has begun to rebuild Australia’s shattered Public Service. The government’s fate depends significantly on it — but there’s much still to do. For almost half a century, the balance of power and influence in government has shifted inexorably from the public service to ministerial advisers. The change has had profound implications for Continue reading »
Fifty years ago, I enjoyed an overnight stay in Hong Kong while on my way from Melbourne to visit the United Kingdom for the first time. Hong Kong was already established as a “tourist and shopping paradise” by then. I remember being somewhat bewildered by the crowds of people everywhere I went. But it was Continue reading »
Here’s a sad prediction for 2025. By the end of next year, more states and territories will have dropped the age of criminal responsibility to 10, and adopted punitive laws based on slogans such as Queensland’s “you do the crime, you do the time” for juvenile as well as adult offenders. The greatest proportion will Continue reading »
The arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant sparked outrage in Israel and across the Jewish world. But the ICC’s decision is neither antisemitic nor a modern-day blood libel: it is a call for Jews not to sacrifice the universal ideal of justice on the altar of uncritically defending Israel. Two Continue reading »
I’ve had a hard day’s night watching an excruciating, made-for-Fox-TV showdown between political scientist Norman Finkelstein and the former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. It’s white knuckled viewing, no doubt about that. It’s designed to be. Piers Morgan, an infotainment stalwart, presides over these so-called “debates” (which are anything but) by extolling his own Continue reading »
In October 2024, four key Southeast Asian countries became partners of BRICS, making the organisation much closer to home for Australians. So why have Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam put themselves on a path to membership? What is BRICS? BRICS was established in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and is viewed Continue reading »
If it wasn’t already clear, the writing is now well and truly on the wall for the fossil car makers: Just a week after BYD launched its $US15,000 “Corolla killer” and with the world’s largest EV battery maker recently announcing it’s on track to cut battery costs in half this year, new research suggests the decline in Continue reading »