Latest news with #NorthernAustralia
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indigenous Australians lose landmark climate court case against government
Indigenous Australians living on a string of climate-threatened islands on Tuesday lost a landmark court bid to hold the government responsible for lacklustre emissions targets. Scattered through the warm waters off Australia's northernmost tip, the sparsely populated Torres Strait Islands are threatened by seas rising much faster than the global average. Torres Strait elders have spent the past four years fighting through the courts to prove the government failed to protect them through meaningful climate action. Australia's Federal Court found the government was not obliged to shield the Torres Strait Islands from climate change. "I thought that the decision would be in our favour, and I'm in shock," said Torres Strait Islander Paul Kabai, who helped to bring the case. "What do any of us say to our families now?" Fellow plaintiff Pabai Pabai said: "My heart is broken for my family and my community." Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney criticised the government for setting emissions targets between 2015 and 2021 that failed to consider the "best available science". But these targets would have had little impact on global temperature rise, he found. "Any additional greenhouse gases that might have been released by Australia as a result of low emissions targets would have caused no more than an almost immeasurable increase in global average temperatures," Wigney said. Australia's previous conservative government sought to cut emissions by around 26 percent before 2030. The incumbent left-leaning government in 2022 adopted new plans to slash emissions by 40 percent before the end of the decade, and reach net zero by 2050. - 'Climate refugees' - Fewer than 5,000 people live in the Torres Strait, a collection of about 274 mud islands and coral cays wedged between Australia's mainland and Papua New Guinea. Lawyers for traditional land owners from Boigu and Saibai -- among the worst-impacted islands -- asked the court to order the government "to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will prevent Torres Strait Islanders from becoming climate refugees". Sea levels in some parts of the archipelago are rising almost three times faster than the global average, according to official figures. Rising tides have washed away graves, eaten through huge chunks of exposed coastline, and poisoned once-fertile soils with salt. The lawsuit argued some islands would soon become uninhabitable if global temperatures rose more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The World Meteorological Organization has warned this threshold could be breached before the end of the decade. While Australia's emissions pale in comparison to the likes of China and the United States, the fossil fuel powerhouse is one of the largest coal exporters in the world. sft/djw/mtp
France 24
15-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Indigenous Australians lose landmark climate court case against government
Scattered through the warm waters off Australia's northernmost tip, the sparsely populated Torres Strait Islands are threatened by seas rising much faster than the global average. Torres Strait elders have spent the past four years fighting through the courts to prove the government failed to protect them through meaningful climate action. Australia's Federal Court found the government was not obliged to shield the Torres Strait Islands from climate change. "I thought that the decision would be in our favour, and I'm in shock," said Torres Strait Islander Paul Kabai, who helped to bring the case. "What do any of us say to our families now?" Fellow plaintiff Pabai Pabai said: "My heart is broken for my family and my community." Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney criticised the government for setting emissions targets between 2015 and 2021 that failed to consider the "best available science". But these targets would have had little impact on global temperature rise, he found. "Any additional greenhouse gases that might have been released by Australia as a result of low emissions targets would have caused no more than an almost immeasurable increase in global average temperatures," Wigney said. Australia's previous conservative government sought to cut emissions by around 26 percent before 2030. The incumbent left-leaning government in 2022 adopted new plans to slash emissions by 40 percent before the end of the decade, and reach net zero by 2050. 'Climate refugees' Fewer than 5,000 people live in the Torres Strait, a collection of about 274 mud islands and coral cays wedged between Australia's mainland and Papua New Guinea. Lawyers for traditional land owners from Boigu and Saibai -- among the worst-impacted islands -- asked the court to order the government "to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will prevent Torres Strait Islanders from becoming climate refugees". Sea levels in some parts of the archipelago are rising almost three times faster than the global average, according to official figures. Rising tides have washed away graves, eaten through huge chunks of exposed coastline, and poisoned once-fertile soils with salt. The lawsuit argued some islands would soon become uninhabitable if global temperatures rose more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The World Meteorological Organization has warned this threshold could be breached before the end of the decade. While Australia's emissions pale in comparison to the likes of China and the United States, the fossil fuel powerhouse is one of the largest coal exporters in the world.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Mango madness': why does hot weather correlate with an upswing in violence?
In northern Australia they call it 'mango madness' or 'going troppo'. It's a seasonal upswing in violence associated with hot weather. Many studies in the US, Australia and Asia have established that the effect is real and seems to be universal. A 2024 meta-study of more than 16,000 scientific papers found a 10C increase in temperature typically increased the risk of violence by 9%. There are two theories to explain why this might be. According to the temperature-aggression theory, hot weather increases discomfort, frustration, impulsivity, and aggression, all of which make violence more likely. The alternative, routine activity theory, says it is because hot weather changes the pattern of daily life. People are more likely to go out and socialise, and rising temperatures bring greater alcohol consumption. All of this increases the opportunities for interpersonal conflicts and subsequent violence. But the situation is complicated. One Australian study found that aggressive online interactions followed the opposite trend to those in real life. As assaults rose in summer, the angry tweet count dipped. Again, there are several theories, but no accepted explanation. The Australian concept of 'mango madness' may be socially useful though. Blaming an outburst on hot weather offers a way of defusing a situation and reminding everyone to cool down before violence occurs.
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Australian man dies from rare infection caused by ‘rabies-like' bat virus
A man in his 50s from northern New South Wales died after contracting Australian bat lyssavirus, marking the state's first recorded human fatality from the disease. NSW Health confirmed that the man had been bitten by a bat several months ago and received treatment at the time but succumbed to the virus recently. They said an investigation was underway to determine whether additional exposures or factors played a role in the infection. This is only the fourth case ever recorded in the country of Australian bat lyssavirus infection. The virus, described by NSW Health as a 'rabies-like infection', attacks the central nervous system and is transmitted through bites or scratches from infected bats. Health officials say there is no effective treatment for the disease once symptoms develop. Healthcare authorities are urging the public to avoid any contact with bats. There have been no reports of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Trish Paterson from the Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre in Queensland told ABC News that bat-to-human transmission of the disease was 'very rare'. 'Once you get it you pretty much die and that's why we as carers have the vaccination,' she said. 'But if you don't touch bats, you can't get bitten or scratched. There's no other way to get lyssavirus other than a bite or a scratch.' Australian bat lyssavirus, first detected in a fruit bat in northern New South Wales in May 1996, remains the country's sole known lyssavirus. It has since been found in multiple species such as flying foxes, fruit bats, and insect-eating microbats. A fatality from the virus occurred in 1998, followed by the death of a child in 2012. Two cases were also recorded in horses in 2013. Prof Tim Mahony, a research fellow in veterinary biology at the University of Queensland, told the Guardian that the fatal cases in humans were down to a 'very rare convergence of different factors'. 'We've had four cases since we've known about it in the mid '90s. Over that time, I would expect thousands of people have been exposed to bats in some way or another,' he said. According to the Australian health department, the symptoms of the infection have a similar clinical presentation to rabies. 'The illness usually starts with flu-like symptoms that may last from a few days to weeks,' the Australian Centre for Disease Control says. 'Common symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, pain and/or weakness at the site of infection, loss of appetite, and anxiety.' The illness progresses to paralysis, delirium and seizures. 'ABLV usually causes death within 1 to 2 weeks of the onset of symptoms,' the centre states on its website.
ABC News
26-06-2025
- ABC News
The ethics of WW3 memes, endo and trauma + Qld's croc problem
The mother of murdered Indigenous schoolboy Cassius Turvey has delivered an emotional speech in court, saying her community was "thrust into a world of pain" due to the violence of her son's killers. Plus, is it okay to laugh about war? With content creators posting WW3 memes, is this a valid way to cope with global unrest? And booming crocodile populations are dividing some communities in northern Australia over how to deal with it. Also, researchers have found a difficult childhood is linked with a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with endometriosis later on. Listen now: 01:15 - The impact of Cassius Turvey's murder 05:23 - Why the internet's making light of war 14:18 - What should Qld do about crocs? 24:24 - New endometriosis research Guests: Ashley Fell, social researcher, McCrindle Ashley Fell, social researcher, McCrindle Dr Cameron Baker, behavioural ecologist, Charles Darwin University Dr Cameron Baker, behavioural ecologist, Charles Darwin University Dee Salmin, host, The Hook Up Get the whole story from Hack:
