The first place in Australia to install a permanent electricity grid was the small country town of Tamworth, on Kamilaroi country in New South Wales, in 1888, when street lights were connected to two 18 kW coal-fired generators supplied by the neighbouring Gunnedah black coal basin. The coal was of such excellent quality that it could be literally dug up and shovelled straight into the nearby generator
Food and agriculture are fundamental to human survival and it was the birth of agriculture and farming that laid down the basis for human civilisation. Since the first crops were domesticated around 10,000 years ago, advances in agriculture have been intimately linked with human development and the growing world population
The Human Rights Commission notes that there are rights protected by international treaties for which it has local responsibility, as well as a broader range of human rights as understood by the community. Among those is the right to a healthy environment. Protecting the natural world has impacts on our health, our mental wellbeing, our ability to produce the food we eat and the water we drink, as well as the spiritual comfort we draw from our surroundings
When I was born, the human population was about two billion. Today, it is approaching seven billion. In the 1960s, US biologist Paul Ehrlich warned of the consequences of uncontrolled population growth. In forecasting mass starvation if the population continued to grow, he was echoing the gloomy thoughts of Malthus, who argued over 200 years ago that population was increasing faster than food production could be expanded
In 1989, I wrote a book on climate change, Living in the Greenhouse. At the time the scientific community was still divided about climate change. It was clear that the planet was getting warmer and that other changes were happening, like rising sea levels and altered rainfall patterns
City planning is now recognised as an important part of a compre-hensive solution to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). By 2050, some 75% of the world’s population will live in cities. Almost 80% of Australians already reside in Australia’s major cities, as a result of population movements from rural areas to urban centres since the turn of the 20th century
The year 2010 was climatically distinctive. Globally, it was one of the two hottest years in the 150-year (surface thermometer) record. It was also a tumultuous year of extreme weather events — in North America, much of Europe, and in the greater Eurasian region where the combination and scale of flooding (Pakistan and China), landslides (China), extreme heat-waves (Russia, China, Vietnam), and wild fires (Russia) during August was, literally, extraordinary
Trees make major contributions to all urban landscapes, such as streetscapes, roadsides, parks and gardens, as well as private dwellings. The significance of trees comes not only from their large size, but also from their long life spans
Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting society in varied ways as researchers and practitioners are using it to gain new insights into different problems and to open up new business opportunities. Its use has expanded from industry and manufacturing, to areas of sustainability such as land, water, biodiversity, urban transportation, waste, energy supply and housing. AI has revolutionised and will continue to shape the way experts find solutions to problems in these areas
For Australians, our sense of space and place are central to our identity and culture. From the first inhabitants of Australia to the diverse range of migrants who have made their way here, this country represents a freedom and way of life that is envied the world over. Yet Australians cannot afford to be complacent. The summer of 2012–2013 has seen temperatures skyrocket and very large, destructive bushfires