Scientists have little doubt: the destruction of nature makes humanity increasingly vulnerable to disease outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister continues to defend the nation’s reliance on the coal industry and its emissions targets in the wake of catastrophic wildfires. He returned from holiday amid much criticism earlier this week to a continued spread of infernos across the country. He seeks to put distance between climate change and the ongoing fires. “Australia is taking action on climate change,” he told Australia’s Nine News. “What we won’t do is engage in reckless, job destroying and economy crunching targets.” He added that he would not consider down-scaling the nation’s coal industry. Australia is a world leader in coal exports and natural liquefied gas. “I am not going to write off the…

Over recent decades, the rate of ocean warming off Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state and a gateway to the South Pole, has climbed to nearly four times the global average, oceanographers say. One of the first victims of this change is the ocean kelp. More than 95 per cent of the giant kelp – which provides a vital habitat for some of the rarest marine creatures in the world – has died. Giant kelp had stretched the length of Tasmania’s rocky east coast throughout recorded history. Now it clings to a tiny patch near Southport, the island’s southern tip, where the water is colder. “This is a hot spot,” said Neil…