Australian Government declares opposition to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean
Joint media release: Minister for Foreign Affairs, The Hon Julie Bishop MP and Minister for the Environment, The Hon Greg Hunt MP
7 December 2015
The Australian Government has joined 32 like-minded nations to protest Japan’s decision to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer.
Governments urged Japan to respect the International Whaling Commission’s procedures and the advice of its Expert Review Panel and Scientific Committee. There is no scientific basis to include lethal methods in Japan’s whaling program. As such, Japan should not issue a special permit to conduct lethal whaling activities.
The science is clear: all information necessary for management and conservation of whales can be obtained through non-lethal methods.
The Australian Government does not support what is a deeply disappointing decision by Japan and we will continue to raise our concerns at the highest level of the Japanese Government.
Australia is committed to the protection of whales. We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to promote whale conservation and uphold the global moratorium on commercial whaling.
We are working with other likeminded nations to build international consensus against Japanese whaling. We are also exploring options for further legal action.
Hot rock and ice: Volcanic chain underlies Antarctica
December 8, 2015
Seismic maps of the mantle will improve predictions of giant ice sheet's fate
The topography of West Antarctica below the ice sheet as viewed from above, looking toward the Antarctic Peninsula. Much of West Antarctica is a basin that lies below sea level (blue), although it is currently filled with ice, not water. West Antarctica was stretched and thinned as it moved away from East Antarctica, forming one of the world's largest continental rift systems. Credit: Bedrock Consortium
Planetary scientists would be thrilled if they could peel Earth like an orange and look at what lies beneath the thin crust. We live on the planet's cold surface, but Earth is a solid body and the surface is continually deformed, split, wrinkled and ruptured by the roiling of warmer layers beneath it.
The contrast between the surface and the depth is nowhere starker -- or more important -- than in Antarctica. What is causing the mysterious line of volcanoes that emerge from the ice sheet there, and what does it mean for the future of the ice?
"Our understanding of what's going on is really hampered because we can't see the geology," said Andrew Lloyd, a graduate student in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "We have to turn to geophysical methods, such as seismology, to learn more," he said.
Lloyd helped deploy research seismometers across the West Antarctic Rift System and Marie Byrd Land in the austral summer of 2009-10. He then returned in late 2011 and snowmobiled more than 1,000 miles, living in a Scott tent, to recover the precious data.
The recordings the instruments made of the reverberations of distant earthquakes from January 2010 to January 2012 were used to create maps of seismic velocities beneath the rift valley. An analysis of the maps was published online in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
This is the first time seismologists have been able to deploy instruments rugged enough to survive a winter in this part of the frozen continent, and so this is the first detailed look at Earth beneath this region.
Not surprisingly, the maps show a giant blob of superheated rock about 60 miles beneath Mount Sidley, the last of a chain of volcanic mountains in Marie Byrd Land at one end of the transect. More surprisingly, they reveal hot rock beneath the Bentley Subglacial Trench, a deep basin at the other end of the transect.
The Bentley Subglacial Trench is part of the West Antarctic Rift System and hot rock beneath the region indicates that this part of the rift system was active quite recently.
A volcanic mystery
Mount Sidley, the highest volcano in Antarctica, sits directly above a hot region in the mantle, Lloyd said. Mount Sidley is the southernmost mountain in a volcanic mountain range in Marie Byrd Land, a mountainous region dotted with volcanoes near the coast of West Antarctica.
"A line of volcanoes hints there might be a hidden mantle plume, like a blowtorch, beneath the plate," said Doug Wiens, PhD, professor of earth and planetary sciences and a co-author on the paper. "The volcanoes would pop up in a row as the plate moved over it."
"But it's a bit unclear if this is happening here," he said. We think we know which direction the plate is moving, but the volcanic chain is going in a different direction and two additional nearby volcanic chains are oriented in yet other directions.
"If this was just a plate moving over a couple of mantle plumes, you'd expect them to line up, as they do in the Hawaiian Islands," he said.
Although the hot zone's shape is ill-defined, it is clear there is higher heat flow into the base of the ice sheet in this area, Wiens said.
Deeper than the Grand Canyon
The most interesting finding, Lloyd said, is the discovery of a hot zone beneath the Bentley Subglacial Trench.
The basin is part of the West Antarctic Rift System, a series of rifts, adjacent to the Transantarctic Mountains, along which the continent was stretched and thinned.
The old rock of East Antarctica rises well above sea level, but west of the Transantarctic Mountains, extension has pulled the crust into a broad saddle, or rift valley, much of which lies a kilometer below sea level.
"If you removed the ice, West Antarctica would rebound, and most of it would be near sea level. But the narrower and deeper basins might remain below it," Lloyd said. "The Bentley Subglacial Trench, which is the lowest point on Earth not covered by an ocean, would still be a kilometer and a half below sea level if the ice were removed."
Because the West Antarctic Rift is hidden, less is known about it than about other famous rift systems such as the East African Rift or, in the United States, the Rio Grande Rift.
"We didn't know what we'd find beneath the basin," Wiens said. "For all we knew it would be old and cold.
"We didn't detect any earthquakes, so we don't think the rift is currently active, but the heat suggests rifting stopped quite recently."
In this way, it resembles the Rio Grande Rift, which is also no longer active but has yet to cool completely.
A period of diffuse extension created the rift valley in the late Cretaceous, roughly 100 million years ago, Lloyd said, and more focused extension then created deep basins like the Bentley Subglacial Basin and the Terror Rift in the Ross Sea.
"This period of more focused extension likely occurred in the Neogene," Lloyd said. "If it's still hot there, it might also be hot under other basins in the rift system."
Will the heat flow grease the skids?
The rift system is thought to have a major influence on ice streams in West Antarctica. "Rifting and ice flow occur on completely different time scales," Lloyd said, "so rifting is not going to suddenly make the ice sheet unstable.
"But to accurately model how quickly the ice is going to flow or the rock to rebound, we need to understand the 'boundary conditions' for ice models, such as heat flow from the mantle," he said.
"Seismic surveys like this one will help inform models of the ice sheet," Wiens said. "Modelers need an estimate of the heat flow, and they need to know something about the geological conditions at the bottom of the ice sheet in order to estimate drag. Right now, both of these factors are very poorly constrained."
While heat flow through Earth's crust has been measured at at least 34,000 different spots around the globe, in Antarctica it has been measured in less than a dozen places. In July 2015, scientists reported the heat flow at one of these spots was four times higher than the global average.
Ever since then, scientists have been wondering why the reading was so high. "Recent extension in the Bentley Subglacial Trench might explain these readings," Wiens said.
The next big problem, he said, is to understand the structure under the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, which lie closer to the coastline than the Bentley Subglacial Trench. These two glaciers have been described as the 'weak underbelly' of the ice sheet because surges in the ice flow there could theoretically cause the rapid disintegration of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet.
During the 2014-2015 Antarctic field season, Lloyd helped deploy another 10 seismic stations that together with seismometers deployed by the British will map the underside of this key area.
Andrew J. Lloyd, Douglas A. Wiens, Andrew A. Nyblade, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Richard C. Aster, Audrey D. Huerta, Terry J. Wilson, Ian W.D. Dalziel, Patrick J. Shore, Dapeng Zhao. A seismic transect across West Antarctica: Evidence for mantle thermal anomalies beneath the Bentley Subglacial Trench and the Marie Byrd Land Dome.Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2015; DOI:10.1002/2015JB012455
Saving our Species 2016 wall calendar
New South Wales is home to some of the world's most beautiful plants and animals, but we are at risk of losing some of our species from the wild forever. Don't miss this opportunity to help support NSW threatened species recovery by purchasing your 2016 calendar.
The calendar includes interesting stories about how community groups, individuals and expert scientists efforts' are contributing to saving species in NSW.
In New South Wales:
• critically endangered species are at extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future
• endangered species are facing a very high risk of extinction in the near future
• vulnerable species are facing a high risk of extinction in the medium-term future.
Saving our Species is a conservation program that aims to maximise the number of threatened species that are being secured in the wild in New South Wales for 100 years. To find out how you can support our threatened wildlife and help preserve it for future generations, visitSaving our Species.
All profits from the sale of the calendar will be invested in Saving our Species through the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife.
If you wish to make a donation directly to the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife to support the efforts of Saving Our Species, you can make a donation at The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife .
You can purchase your calendar online at Shop NSW
Rapid Growth In Carbon Dioxide Emissions Breaks In 2015
08 DECEMBER 2015: CSIRO
Despite global economic growth in 2015, worldwide emissions from fossil fuels are projected to decline by 0.6% this year.
A report released today by the Global Carbon Project (GCP) has found that emissions of carbon dioxide in 2015 will break the rapid emissions growth of the past decade.
"The major contributor to this change has been decreased coal consumption in China", Executive-Director of the GCP and co-author of the report CSIRO's, Dr Pep Canadell says.
"After sustained emissions growth over the past decade, China's emissions growth slowed to 1.2% in 2014 and is expected to decline by about 4% in 2015."
The report shows that Australia emitted over 1% of the world's total carbon emissions from fossil fuels, emitting 0.38 billion tonnes, making it the 14th largest contributor globally.
Australia's per capita emissions remain high but with a strong declining trend over the past 6 years.
The largest emitter was China, with 9.7 billion tonnes, followed by USA (5.6), the European Union (3.4) and India (2.6), together accounting for almost 60% of global emissions.
Dr Canadell said that the strongest decline in emissions was in the European Union, averaging 2.4% decrease per year in the past decade, although some of it was achieved by transferring carbon emissions to emerging economies.
Lead author and Stanford University Professor Rob Jackson added, "If India's emissions continue under the current trend they will match the EU's emissions before 2020."
"The largest uncertainty in future years is China's coal use. Stabilisation, or reduction, in China's coal use might be sustainable since more than half of the growth in the country's energy consumption came from non-fossil fuel energy sources in 2014 and 2015," Dr Canadell said.
Whilst renewable energy technology will play an increasingly important role in reducing fossil fuel emissions, the GCP report looks at future emissions pathways that could keep global average temperature increase below 2°C this century.
"Most scenarios exceed the carbon budget for a 2°C warming target in the first half of this century, which then requires up to several billion tonnes of emissions to be removed from the atmosphere each year during the second half of the century," said Dr Canadell.
"Our analysis shows that the required large scale deployment of emissions reducing technology, like biomass energy with carbon capture and storage, will be limited by biophysical and socioeconomic constraints."
This points to the need for higher ambition in decoupling economic growth from emissions growth if the two degree threshold were to be avoided."
The GCP 2015 report is underpinned by a full data and methods paper published today in the journal Earth System Science Data, with two associated papers in the journalNature Climate Change.
Graph showing the annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes since 1990. 2014 saw slowed fossil fuel emissions growth and 2015 has a projected decline from the previous year.
Access:
• Data and figures: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget
• Data interface for exploring data: http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org
For more information on our assessment of the Earth system visit ourwebsite.
Australian support for Global Carbon Budget 2015 is provided by the Australian Climate Change Science Program.
Office of Environment and Heritage, PO Box A290 , Sydney South. NSW 1232
Pittwater Chill
Help Shape Domestic and Family Violence Reform: NSW Govt.
Monday 7 December, 2015
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Pru Goward today launched an 8-week public consultation inviting ideas from the domestic and family violence (DFV) sector, community groups and the public on ways to improve responses to victims and perpetrators of DFV in NSW.
Ms Goward said the NSW Government is developing a DFV Blueprint to enhance its response to DFV, and she wants the public to have their say.
“We want to start a broad conversation with the public to gain a better understanding of what works in the current service system, what doesn’t work and where there are any gaps,” Ms Goward said. “DFV services play a critical role in delivering services and support to people escaping violence every day. I want to say thank you for your tireless work in helping keep our most vulnerable families safe, especially ahead of the festive period where we see extra strain on family relationships and more demand for DFV services. It has been a big year for you all and we are grateful for all you do.”
“I look forward to working with the DFV sector throughout 2016 as we co-design and improve services for people affected by DFV. Ms Goward said input from the DFV sector and the public is vital for informing the future direction of services and support to help break the cycle of domestic violence. “I encourage everyone to have their say to help inform the way the NSW Government, service providers and the community respond to DFV,” Ms Goward said.
The consultation is now open and closes 5pm Friday 5 February 2016. To join the conversation visit HERE
The public consultation is part of a multi-stage consultation process, which commenced in September with peak government and non-government agencies. The Government has achieved significant DFV reforms this year including video evidence in courts; updating the mandatory NSW 7-10 PDHPE syllabus to explicitly include domestic violence; expanding Safer Pathway to a further four sites; funding community based Men’s Behaviour Change Programs and introducing plain English ADVOs. These reforms are further supported by a $60 million package announced in October that targets perpetrators and supports people who experience DFV.
New genus of plant bug, plus four new species from Australia
December 7, 2015
This is Restiophylus lyginiae, one of four new species of plant bugs found in Australia. Credit: Entomological Society of America
A new genus of plant bug and four new species have been discovered in Australia. The newly discovered insects, which belong to the family Miridae and the subfamily Phylinae, are described in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
Stephanie Leon and Christiane Weirauch, two entomologists from the University of California, Riverside, examined 761 specimens from museum collections and determined that some were mislabeled and were actually species that were not yet known to science.
The new genus is called Restiophylus. "Restio" comes from the host-plant association of most of its members with the plant family Restionaceae, and "phylus" indicates that it is classified in the subfamily Phylinae.
The four new species are R. hypolaenae, R. leptocarpi, R. lyginiae, and R. meeboldinae. R. hypolaenae is named for its association with plants in the genus Hypolaena. R. leptocarpi is named for its association with plants in the genus Leptocarpus. R. lyginiae is named for its association with plants in the genus Lyginia, and R. meeboldinae is named for its association with plants in the subgenus Meeboldina of the genus Leptocarpus.
Restiophylus species are currently the only arthropods that are documented to be closely associated with Australian restiid clade (Poales).
Habitus images, illustrations of male genitalia, scanning micrographs, an identification key, and distribution maps for the new species are provided in the article, as well as digital images and distribution maps for the hosts.
S. Leon, C. Weirauch. Restiid-Feeding Semiini (Hemiptera: Miridae: Phylinae) From Western Australia: Description and Phylogenetic Analysis of the New Plant Bug GenusRestiophylus, n. gen. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 2015; sav105 DOI:10.1093/aesa/sav105
Australia’s first Chair in High Performance Architecture
09 December 2015: by Fran Strachan - UNSW
UNSW’s inaugural Anita Lawrence Chair in High Performance Architecture, Professor of Energy Physics Mattheos Santamouris.
International built environment expert and Professor of Energy Physics Mattheos Santamouris has been appointed UNSW’s inaugural Anita Lawrence Chair in High Performance Architecture.
The emerging research area looks at minimising the environmental footprint of buildings through enhanced architectural design and performance evaluation, including how ventilation, lighting, acoustics, energy and water can be incorporated into buildings to improve their efficiency.
Announcing the Chair, the first of its kind in Australia, Dean of Built Environment Professor Alec Tzannes AM, said he was honoured to be naming a world-class leader in high performance architecture as the inaugural appointment.
“Professor Santamouris’ contribution to the advancement of the design sciences is of global significance and truly exceptional,”said Professor Tzannes.
“His research interests in sustainability, technology and the invention of low energy materials complement existing strengths in the faculty and within UNSW more generally. Professor Santamouris’ expertise will provide our graduating students with a distinctive and highly relevant skill-set, enabling them to deliver more sustainable and liveable architecture in the future.”
“Around 40% of the total energy consumption in developed nations is attributable to buildings. Manufacturing of building components and products requires almost three billion tonnes of raw materials per year, which is equivalent of 40 to 50% of the global annual material use.”
Currently based at the University of Athens, Professor Santamouris is the Director of the Laboratory of Building Energy Research. He was formerly the President of The National Centre for Renewable and Energy Savings, Greece’s national body for the promotion of renewable energy sources and energy conservation.
He is also editor in chief of Energy and Buildings, former editor in chief of the Journal of Advances in Building Energy Research and former associate editor of the Solar Energy Journal. He has been a visiting professor at the Metropolitan University of London, Tokyo Polytechnic University, National University of Singapore, Bolzano University, Brunel University London and the Cyprus Institute.
The Chair has been established with a generous bequest from UNSW alumna and former Built Environment lecturer, Associate Professor Anita Lawrence.
UNSW Chancellor David Gonski with UNSW's first female architecture graduate Associate Professor Anita Lawrence, whose generous bequest of half her estate will fund the Anita Lawrence Chair in High Performance Architecture.
Associate Professor Lawrence graduated as the University’s first female architect in 1955, before beginning a 32-year teaching career at UNSW, where she specialised in acoustics and design. She was also one of the founding members of the Australian Acoustical Society.
Associate Professor Lawrence said all built environment professionals should understand and value the practice of acoustics.
“A person’s experience of a building can be drastically altered by bad acoustics – it’s imperative that architects, builders and landscape architects understand the importance of achieving optimal sound in a room or building,” she said.
Professor Tzannes praised Associate Professor Lawrence’s generosity in funding the Chair.
“Anita is one of our first cohort of graduates. Her considerable academic and international acoustic research accomplishments led to a long and distinguished career at UNSW.
“The establishment of the Chair means her academic contribution, philanthropic support and overall service to the University will continue to be honoured in the future.”
Professor Santamouris said his main aim as Chair is to mitigate the environmental impact of the built environment by decreasing the resources used by buildings.
“Around 40% of the total energy consumption in developed nations is attributable to buildings,” he said. “Manufacturing of building components and products requires almost three billion tonnes of raw materials per year, which is equivalent of 40 to 50% of the global annual material use.”
A “rich global dialogue” had opened up about how best to address these problems, Professor Santamouris said, and he believes Australia is highly developed in terms of its energy performance in the built environment.
Professor Tzannes said UNSW is well placed to become an international leader in High Performance Architecture.
“UNSW has always been a science and technology focused university. The Faculty of Built Environment now has the ability to capitalise on these strengths while drawing on the established expertise in our national innovation hub, the CRC for Low Carbon Living, and our City Futures Research Centre, Healthy Built Environment program and Liveability Laboratory.
New discoveries redefine Angkor Wat's history
9 December 2015: University of Sydney
Recent research has transformed archaeologists' understanding of Angkor Wat and its surroundings.
The temple of Angkor Wat was much larger and more complex than previously thought, University of Sydney archaeologists have discovered.
View over Angkor Wat from the west, looking towards the Kulen hills; the extent of one quarter of Greater Angkor is indicated by the distance between Angkor Wat and the north-eastern outer edge of the urban complex near the grey line of the base of the hills. Image: courtesy of Mike Coe.
The University of Sydney’s Professor Roland Fletcher and Dr Damian Evans lead the Greater Angkor Project in Cambodia, a major international research collaboration which is using airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) technology, ground-penetrating radar and targeted excavation to map the great pre-industrial temple.
The landscape of Angkor Wat redefined
The team has discovered that the Angkor Wat complex was far larger than expected, had more components than previously envisaged, and was bounded on its south side by a unique and massive structure.
"This structure, which has dimensions of more than 1500m×600m, is the most striking discovery associated with Angkor Wat to date. Its function remains unknown and, as yet, it has no known equivalent in the Angkorian world," said Professor Fletcher, from the University's Department of Archaeology.
The team also discovered Angkor Wat includes an entire ensemble of buried 'towers' built and demolished during the construction and initial use of the main temple, remains of what is thought might be a shrine used during the construction period.
Roads and homes hint at workers' role
The areas surrounding Angkor Wat have long been assumed to be sacred precincts or 'temple-cities'. However, the research has revealed evidence of low-density residential occupation in the region, including a grid of roads, ponds and mounds, possibly used by people servicing the temple.
"This challenges our traditional understanding of the social hierarchy of the Angkor Wat community and shows that the temple precinct, bounded by moat and wall, may not have been exclusively the preserve of the wealthy or the priestly elite," said Dr Fletcher.
Fortifications offer clues about Angkor's demise
The team has also discovered that Angkor Wat was fortified with wooden structures sometime late in its history. Dr Fletcher said the results reveal how Angkor Wat may have made its last attempt at defence.
"Angkor Wat is the first and only known example of an Angkorian temple being systematically modified for use in a defensive capacity," he said.
"The available evidence suggests it was a late event in the history of Angkor, either between AD 1297 and 1585, along with other defensive works around Angkor, or perhaps sometime between AD 1585 and the 1630s, representing a final attempt to defend Angkor against the growing influence of [neighbouring city] Ayutthaya. Either date makes the defences of Angkor Wat one of the last major constructions at Angkor and is perhaps indicative of its end."
The team's latest discoveries are published in this month's issue of the journal Antiquity.