Australia may have a a crazy or completely corrupt prime minister running the show right now, but the solar energy market in Queensland is unstoppable. Approximately 25% of homes have rooftop solar panels there, and the number is still growing continuously. Recent data from southeast Queensland show that ~13% of the region’s home electricity demand
The threatened Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (source: environment.nsw.gov.au). Sadly, we hear too much about the logging, clearing, and obliteration of earth’s rainforests, and about the global repercussions, including climate change. Here’s a story about rainforest rejuvenation, albeit on a small scale. From Germaine Greer, the Australian author of White Beech: The Rainforest Years: “This is
A massive new liquified natural gas (LNG) construction project in Australia — one of the first “coal-conversion” projects of its kind — took a major step towards completion last week when, on June 25, a dome-shaped steel roof, weighing more than 850 tons (more than four 747 airliners) was lifted to into place by electric
The factors behind the devastating Queensland floods of December 2010 are threefold, according to a new study that found that not only did Cyclone Tasha and La Niña contribute to the inundation, but so did record-high sea-surface temperatures off northern Australia. Original estimates suggested that La Niña and the cyclone were enough to cause
Fires throughout the northeastern Australian state of Queensland have been captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite this past Sunday, with several blazes clearly visible due to the smoke pouring into the atmosphere and being swept northeast.
Northern Australia has suffered its fair share of trials and tribulations these past few months, with floods burying huge swathes of Queensland under water only to be hit by one of the most powerful cyclones ever to hit the country. Extreme rain events such as these may be a growing trend though, according to new
It won’t come as a big surprise, but La Niña – or “the girl” in Spanish – is to blame for recent extreme weather events that have taken place in Africa and Australia. Scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), part of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, expect “moderate-to-strong” La Niña conditions
Cyclone Yasi has hit and devastated communities in Queensland, and the storm continues to move, believed to be heading south into New South Wales and Victoria. The University of Leicester has provided satellite footage of the storm moving in, as well as satellite photography. For a full idea of what has hit Australia following the
After months of rain, flooding, lives lost and weeks now of starting to rebuild after the recent inundation, Queenslanders are facing the brunt of tropical cyclone Yasi, seen below in an image captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite as it makes landfall near Cairns. On Feb. 2 at 03:35 UTC/1:35 p.m. Australia local time, the Moderate
A report from the UN’s weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization, has reported that the current La Nina event will last through the first quarter of 2011, and possibly into the second quarter. However, the report noted that “the strength of the event is likely to decrease during the course of the coming 4 months.”
Residents of Queensland’s flood hit communities have been returning to their homes to find devastation, and to begin the long process of cleaning and rebuilding. At least 31 have died, with an additional 40 currently listed as missing. Already there are claims of governmental mismanagement, and blame is being heavily laid at the feet of
This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates flooding in suburbs of the Brisbane, Australia metropolitan region. The Brisbane area experienced catastrophic flooding following unusually heavy rainfall on January 10, 2011. With surficial soils already saturated from previous rainfall events, eastward-draining surface flow caused the Brisbane River to flood—inundating an estimated 20,000 homes in suburbs of the capital
My home is Australia, and I woke up this morning to hear that 8 people were dead and another 72 currently missing, with the death toll expected to rise, as floodwaters sweep through the north of our country. “There’s no doubt that we are now in a very different sort of disaster,” said Australian prime
Amazing footage of the East Creek on Monday the 10th of January, washing cars downstream as if they’re little toys. And make sure you watch this video of an amazing rescue in the midst of the raging floodwaters.
Here are some photos that people have put up on the internet for people to see, and understand just what is going on in Queensland, Australia, as the floodwaters continue to rush through and rise. Kingbob86 lordphantom74 robstephaustralia kingbob86
Below is a video of the flood waters rushing through Toowoomba, Queensland.
[social_buttons] A man who stabbed an Emu to death ‘because he wanted to eat it for Christmas lunch’ has been fined almost A$4,000 (US$2,500) for animal cruelty. An Australian court heard that, two days before Christmas, Patrick James Andrews, 23, crept into the Emu enclosure at Alexandra zoo in south-east Queensland, where he repeatedly stabbed
Water contamination by toxic chemicals appears to be the cause of a mutation which resulted in the deaths of thousands of bass larvae in Australia. The two headed fish survived a mere 48 hours before dying off en masse. Dr. Matt Landos of the Australian College of Veterinarian Sciences specializes in aquatic animals, and says
It’s sunny and hot in Cloncurry, Australia, so much so that the Queensland government is planning construction of a $7 million solar thermal power station to provide the community of under 5000 with 24 hour a day electricity. Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland, announced the town will be powered by a 10-megawatt plant using
