by bpckle | Mar 26, 2025 | Media
Slow-moving trough drags tropical moisture inland, dumping widespread heavy rain onto an already saturated landscape, Bureau of Meteorology says
Heavy rainfall has closed nearly 200 roads and cut off multiple towns in Queensland as already saturated rivers risk more flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall across normally dry inland areas of central west Queensland, including parts of the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, North West, Channel Country, and Maranoa and Warrego districts.
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by bpckle | Mar 26, 2025 | Media
UN-backed research has found emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane coming from Glencore’s Hail Creek coalmine are probably between three and eight times higher than officially reported. Two aircraft with different types of monitoring equipment and flying at different altitudes looked for plumes of methane coming from the coalmine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin – a site highlighted in a previous study as a major emitter. Glencore has challenged the results, saying in a statement it had ‘significant doubts’ about the research, claiming it used ‘out of date’ data
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by bpckle | Mar 26, 2025 | Media
Data collected by two planes suggests large open-cut coalmine in Bowen Basin is releasing methane at higher rates than official estimates
Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane at a Queensland coalmine were likely between three and eight times higher than officially reported, according to UN-backed research that flew aircraft over the site.
Queensland’s open-cut coalmines are known to be a major source of methane and experts are worried that official figures could be a gross underestimation of actual emissions.
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by bpckle | Mar 26, 2025 | Media
Opposition says Labor’s national vehicle emission standard is ‘poorly designed’, despite data showing uptick in green vehicle sales
Australia’s love-hate relationship with fuel-guzzling utes and SUVs is now a looming election issue, after the Coalition indicated it may rethink Labor’s vehicle emission standard.
On Tuesday the shadow transport minister, Bridget McKenzie, called Labor’s vehicle emission standard “poorly designed” and said the Coalition will have “more to say” about it when the opposition releases its own transport policy before the election.
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by bpckle | Mar 25, 2025 | Media
Chris Bowen announced $814m for the clean energy source despite projects in doubt across NSW, Queensland and South Australia
The green hydrogen revolution wasn’t supposed to go like this. In September, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, declared Australia “the green hydrogen capital of the world” with “50-plus companies on the ground” and a pipeline of investments worth $200bn.
The nascent industry has been touted as the start of a renewable energy revolution, with more than $8bn in support promised across federal and state governments. But just months on from Bowen’s announcement, several major proposals are either shelved or in serious doubt, prompting the question: is green hydrogen’s race over before it began?
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by bpckle | Mar 24, 2025 | Media
A broad trough has dragged in warm, moist air and offers perfect ingredients for heavy rainfall and even supercells
Northern parts of Australia have been under a flood warning this weekend, with further flooding set to bring havoc to south-eastern parts of the Northern Territory and western Queensland early this week. A broad trough – an area of locally lower pressure – has been moving across northern Australia, dragging in warm, moist air from the Gulf of Carpentaria and providing the perfect ingredients for the formation of severe thunderstorms, and even supercells.
More than 70mm (2.75in) of rain fell in an hour under the slow-moving storms over the weekend in what is usually an arid, low rainfall zone with a desert/grassland climate classification. Some parts of the region have sparse observation data, but some local stations have been able to record more than 100mm within 24 hours, with 132mm of rain at Marion Downs, Queensland.
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