Planet Watch
Planet Watch: War and the environment
David Lowe - 12
War is probably as old as humanity. The natural world is much older, of course, but it's been damaged and affected by human conflicts since we first started killing each other.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Living off grid and accepting nature’s limits
Living off grid can teach an individual about living within the limits of their immediate environment – a lesson we need to learn as individuals and as a species. We are well on the way to tipping the Earth beyond its ability to support the myriad lifeforms, including us, that are here.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Regenerative agriculture as one answer to planetary crisis
Over the last few decades, modern industrialised agriculture has wrought havoc on natural systems. It has razed forests, decimated biodiversity, and has done immense damage to soils.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: the madness and corruption of unconventional gas
David Lowe - 3
The people of the Northern Rivers of NSW breathed a big sigh of relief when they stopped the unconventional gas industry at Bentley. But the industry didn't stop when it hit resistance – it simply went around us, and left the region in a false bubble of security.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Deforestation leads to more disease
Conserving primary forest and its biodiversity will reduce the likelihood of future disease outbreaks including pandemics like COVID-19, Ebola.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Is hydrogen the fuel of the future?
David Lowe - 21
There's been a lot of hot air in the media recently about hydrogen. The problem is that there's hydrogen and then there's hydrogen.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: As the NSW North Coast heats up what does it mean for you?
The North Coast region of NSW has already experienced significant climate change: average temperatures on the east coast of Australia have increased by around 0.7 °C compared to pre-industrial levels, and this warming trend is expected to continue.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: the great global experiment
David Lowe - 9
One hidden gift of this pandemic is time to reflect. As the meme goes, 'It's like the Earth just sent us all to our rooms to think about what we've done'.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Climate change and disease
As we find ourselves in the midst of a one-in-100-year global pandemic, now is the time to reflect on the way in which human activities help bring about the creation of new diseases and the spread of existing diseases.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch – Roadblocks to renewables
David Lowe - 2
The Australian political response to the COVID-19 pandemic has proved that governments can act quickly if conditions demand it, even if that means overturning longstanding ideological obstacles.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Emergency on planet Earth
The knowledge of both anthropogenic climate change and the term ‘biodiversity’ have profoundly reshaped both our behaviour and the way in which humans see ourselves in relation to our environment.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: A hot topic – Energy in the age of global warming
Australians have now experienced some of the devastating impacts of what a global heating of just one degree looks like. We must decarbonise our economy, and the earlier we do this, the less painful and costly it is going to be.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Drowning not waving – tales from a dying ocean
This month Planet Watch explores how climate change will affect the oceans and its creatures.
Planet Watch
Planet Watch: Farmers, forests & climate change
Farmers, forests and climate change: The way that humans use and change the land and its vegetation can have a profound effect on the climate, and can either counteract or exacerbate climate change.
Local News
It’s legal to grow and distribute – but only by the anointed
Aslan Shand - 2
Byron based medicinal cannabis producer is sending cannabis to Germany in a breakthrough $92m deal yet the humble plant remains illegal for locals and continues to put people behind bars.
Byron Echo
Rail trail debate
Geoff Meers, Suffolk Park
It was good to read David Lisle’s comprehensive and reasoned discussion of the history of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail corridor....
Byron Echo
No respect
Chibo Mertineit, Lillian Rock
Once again it’s that time of the year where we are meant to celebrate Australia day on 26 January. The day...
Byron Echo
A window of trust
Baden Offord, Ocean Shores
Wholeheartedly agree with Dave Rastovich’s spot-on letter regarding the value and benefit of The Echo, that it is a ‘trusted window’ (Letters,...