Political support grows for ban on native forest logging

Howard-era Coalition frontbencher Robert Hill and prominent Labor figure and Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett are among several former environment ministers who have signed on to a campaign to ban native forest logging across Australia, spearheaded by independent MP Sophie Scamps.

The Victorian government will follow the ACT and could become the first Australian state to recognise that animals are sentient beings, under a draft overhaul of cruelty laws to be released in the coming weeks.

Scientists are concerned the world’s strongest ocean current which acts like a force field around Antarctica could be breaching, letting in warmer water and compounding sea ice melt.

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‘Enough is enough’: former Coalition environment minister joins push for a national ban on native forest logging
The push is being led by the independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, and calls on federal and state governments to work together to transition away from industrial-scale native forestry.

Animals to be recognised as sentient beings under proposed Victorian cruelty laws
The new protections are expected to cover more species, including octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, lobsters, crabs and crayfish.

Scientists studying Antarctic Circumpolar Current to take closer look at five 'heat flux gates' letting in warmer water
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current surrounds Antarctica like a force field, keeping out warmer waters, but scientists are worried that eddies spinning off from the current act as gateways to let warmer water reach the icy continent, speeding up melting.

University of Copenhagen study says Greenland's glaciers melting at five times previous rates over the last 20 years
Global warming has increased the speed at which glaciers in Greenland are melting fivefold over the last 20 years, according to scientists from the University of Copenhagen.

Pollution could be turning Great Barrier Reef's green sea turtles female, study suggests
New research in the scientific journal Frontiers in Marine Science suggests the presence of trace heavy metals in green sea turtles might be skewing clutches towards having more females than males. The news comes as scientists are already worried about a collapse in male sea turtle populations as global warming has a feminising effect on major nesting sites

Climate protesters wait on challenge to parliament law
A group of 13 Extinction Rebellion protesters will not face a hearing on whether they are guilty of disrupting Queensland’s Parliament until at least February next year.

'Starvation event' behind deaths of hundreds of seabirds found washed up on New South Wales beaches
The WIRES animal rescue service said the mass deaths came as the seabirds were making their annual migration from Alaska, a flight ranging from 11,000km to 16,000km, and one of the longest of any bird species.

Young Australians want healthy environment right in law
Australian Conservation Foundation research found nine out of 10 people aged 13 to 24 think they have a right to a healthy environment, with three in four believing the federal government must do more to address climate change.