Koalas Face Extinction from Disease and Starvation caused by Climate Change - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Key Points

Rising carbon dioxide is lowering the protein content of eucalyptus leaves already low in nutrition.[1] The Black Summer bushfires burnt 3.5 million hectares of koala habitat and killed an estimated 60,000 koalas.[4] Isolated populations face rising inbreeding as climate barriers cut gene flow between remaining colonies.[6] Reformed federal nature laws commenced in 2026, tightening approval rules for land clearing that harms habitat.[9]

Koalas depend entirely on eucalyptus forests for food, shelter and water across eastern Australia. 

Rising temperatures, worsening drought and intensifying bushfires are now eroding every part of that fragile system. 

Investigators find governance gaps compounding ecological pressure on an animal already listed as endangered.

The koala population across Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT remains listed as endangered. 

Federal monitoring places national numbers broadly between 398,000 and 569,000 animals, though estimates vary sharply by region. 

This investigation examines how climate change is reshaping every threat the species faces.^[10]

Nutritional and Dietary Impacts

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide is reducing the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves nationwide. Elevated CO2 lowers leaf nitrogen concentrations, the main indicator of usable protein for koalas. Researchers at Western Sydney University warn this shift may leave koalas unable to meet basic nutritional needs.^[1]

Climate stress also raises tannin and phenolic compound levels within eucalyptus foliage. Tannins bind to protein molecules, preventing koalas from digesting what limited nutrition remains. Koalas rely on specialised gut bacteria to break down these compounds, a defence weakened by chronic stress.^[2]

Koalas feed on a narrow selection of eucalypt species suited to specific soils and rainfall patterns. Modelling shows climate-suitable habitat for these food trees could contract sharply within years. Inland bioregions such as the Mulga Lands face complete loss of suitable habitat under current projections.^[3]

Eucalyptus leaves normally supply koalas with most of the water they need to survive. Drier leaves under drought conditions force koalas to seek alternative water sources more often. This behavioural shift increases ground movement and exposes koalas to new predators and road hazards.^[2]

Habitat Loss and Range Shifts

Worsening droughts and rising temperatures are shrinking the climatically suitable range available to koalas. Modelling predicts contractions of between 17 and 78 percent in suitable habitat by 2030. Eastern and inland Australia face the most severe losses under current warming trajectories.^[3]

Climate-induced bushfires are accelerating fragmentation and destruction of core, old-growth koala habitat. The 2019 to 2020 Black Summer fires burnt 3.5 million hectares of koala habitat across three jurisdictions. Some fire grounds recorded population losses of up to 71 percent within a single season.^[4]

Longer, more intense fire seasons threaten isolated colonies that have no pathway for escape. Koalas move slowly and struggle to outrun fast-moving fire fronts across open, cleared land. Populations already fragmented by development face compounding risk from repeated fire events.^[5]

Climate change is expected to push koala populations toward cooler, wetter coastal regions over time. South East Queensland already anchors one of the largest remaining coastal populations in Australia. Rapid urban growth in this region places extra pressure on koalas already adapting to shifting habitat.^[7]

Secondary Environmental Threats

Habitat fragmentation increasingly forces koalas onto the ground to reach isolated trees. Ground movement sharply raises the risk of vehicle strikes and dog attacks in developed areas. Vehicle collisions and dog attacks remain the two leading causes of reported koala deaths.^[7]

Physiological stress from extreme heatwaves and drought weakens koala immune function significantly. Stressed koalas show reduced expression of adaptive immune genes and elevated stress hormones. This immune suppression increases susceptibility to chlamydia, a bacterial disease already widespread in wild populations.^[5]

Climate barriers increasingly isolate koala populations from one another across fragmented landscapes. Isolation reduces genetic diversity and raises the risk of harmful inbreeding within small groups. Populations with low genetic variation recover poorly from disease outbreaks or further habitat loss.^[6]

Climate change also complicates eucalyptus forest recovery following major bushfire events. Repeated drought and heat stress slow the canopy regrowth needed to support returning koalas. Koalas attempting to recolonise burnt areas often find too few mature trees for food or shelter.^[8]

Conservation and Habitat Management

Conservation strategies must identify and legally protect climate refugia where koalas can survive future heat stress. These refugia typically retain cooler microclimates, reliable moisture and mature eucalyptus canopy cover. Mapping this habitat accurately is essential before restoration funding can be properly targeted.^[8]

Expanding national parks and building dedicated wildlife corridors can reconnect fragmented koala habitat. Corridors allow safe migration between isolated populations, restoring natural gene flow over time. The Great Eastern Ranges initiative already links fragmented forest across several states.^[8]

Selecting heat-tolerant, shadier tree species matters greatly in future revegetation projects. Species such as belah and kurrajong offer drought resilience and dense shade for shelter. Diversifying planted species helps future forests withstand hotter, drier conditions than current eucalypt stands alone.

Regional land managers must also improve fuel management to protect remaining koala habitat. Strategic burning and cleared firebreaks can reduce canopy-killing bushfire severity near key colonies. Coordinated planning between councils and fire agencies remains essential for long-term protection.^[5]

Policy, Research, and Community Action

Federal environmental law reform is beginning to address land clearing that worsens climate impacts. Parliament passed sweeping changes to national nature laws in November 2025, establishing a national environment protection agency. Regional Forest Agreement exemptions, long criticised for enabling logging in koala habitat, are also being phased out.^[9]

Veterinary networks and wildlife hospitals require greater funding to treat koalas injured during extreme weather. Specialist facilities already treat burns, dehydration and disease in koalas rescued after fire and heat events. Scaling this capacity nationally would improve survival rates during future climate emergencies.

Long-term monitoring initiatives such as the National Koala Monitoring Program track how koalas adapt to warming conditions. The program combines thermal drones, acoustic sensors and citizen science reporting across the country. This data underpins future decisions on habitat protection and population recovery planning.^[10]

Local communities can adapt driving habits, fencing and gardens to create safer havens for koalas. Reduced speed limits near known habitat and dog containment measures both lower mortality risk. Planting koala-friendly trees on private land also supports broader habitat connectivity efforts.

Climate change is intensifying every existing threat facing Australia's koalas, from malnutrition to disease. Habitat loss, bushfire and heat stress now compound one another across fragmented eastern forests. Each pressure reinforces the others, leaving populations less time to recover between shocks.

Genuine recovery depends on stronger environmental law, properly funded monitoring and protected climate refugia. Governance gaps identified over decades continue to leave critical habitat vulnerable to clearing. Restoration and connectivity work must expand faster than fragmentation is currently occurring.

Australia's response will determine whether this internationally recognised species survives beyond the current century. Accountability, adequate funding and sustained community action remain the clearest path toward recovery. The decisions made this decade will shape the koala's future across eastern Australia.

References

1. Koalas and Climate Change: Hungry for CO2 Cuts . Western Sydney University research shows rising CO2 reduces eucalyptus leaf nutrition, worsening koala malnutrition risk.

2. What do koalas eat? . Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Centre outlines how koalas select leaves by nutrient content and rely on foliage for hydration.

3. Modelling climate-change-induced shifts in the distribution of the koala . CSIRO Publishing research projects significant eastward and southward contraction of climate-suitable koala habitat.

4. New WWF report: koalas suffer 71% decline across fire grounds . WWF-Australia commissioned research documents severe koala population losses across Black Summer bushfire grounds in NSW.

5. Hot days increase the risk of heat-stress-related deaths in endangered koala populations . Royal Society research links extreme heat exposure to immune suppression and greater disease vulnerability in koalas.

6. New map shows where koalas are at most risk . University of Sydney researchers mapped genetic diversity, finding isolated koala populations face heightened inbreeding risk.

7. Koalas in space and time: Lessons from 20 years of vehicle-strike trends and hot spots in South East Queensland . Austral Ecology research examines two decades of koala road mortality data in South East Queensland.

8. Restoring eucalyptus forests to secure koala habitat for generations . Koala Research Foundation Australia explains the role of climate refugia and habitat corridors in koala recovery.

9. Stronger environmental protection and restoration . The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water details 2026 national environmental law reforms.

10. National Koala Monitoring Program . The federal program tracks koala population size, status and trends using drones, sensors and citizen science.

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Beginning of the End for Fossil-Fuelled Cars - Gregory Andrews

 Lyrebird Dreaming  –  Gregory Andrews

Author Gregory Andrews is: Founder and Managing Director of Lyrebird Dreaming A former Australian Ambassador and High Commissioner in West Africa Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner A leader in Indigenous policy

Good climate news can feel rare. But this week, we got some. 

According to new analysis reported by The Driven, the number of vehicles registered in NSW with an internal combustion engine peaked on 27 February 2026 at 6,309,403. 

And now its declining. That includes petrol and diesel cars, vans, trucks, buses, motorcycles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

This matters. Because for the first time, new EVs are not merely adding to the total number of cars on the road, they’re beginning to replace fossil fuel vehicles. That’s an historic turning point.

For more than a century, the number of petrol and diesel vehicles on Australian roads has consistently risen. More cars. More petrol. More diesel. More pollution. More imported oil. More emissions. Now, in Australia’s largest State, that trend has started to reverse.

Of course, this certainly doesn’t mean the job’s done. Far from it. NSW is not the whole country, and transport emissions remain a huge challenge. Transport is Australia’s third-largest emitting sector, accounting for around 22 per cent of national emissions. Passenger cars and light commercial vehicles alone produce about 60 per cent of transport emissions and more than 10 per cent of Australia’s total emissions.

This is exactly how transitions happen. First the old system stops growing.Then it starts shrinking. Then it becomes uneconomic, inconvenient and obsolete. That’s what happened with coal-fired power. Renewable energy hasn’t closed every coal station overnight. First it stopped the growth of coal. Then coal generation began falling. Then coal plants started bringing forward their closure dates.

The same thing is now happening on our roads. And the benefits go far beyond climate. 

Every EV means less petrol and diesel burned in our suburbs, around our schools and along our roads. It means less toxic air pollution. It means quieter streets. It means fewer fumes for children, older people and people with asthma and heart disease. 

And it means strengthened energy security. Australia is dangerously dependent on imported liquid fuels and this leaves us exposed to global shocks and supply disruptions.

Electric vehicles help fix that. They allow us to run more of our transport system on Australian sunshine, wind and batteries instead of imported oil. That’s good climate policy. Good health policy. Good energy policy. Good national security policy. And good household economics.

This is also part of a much bigger story. Homes are being electrified. Gas appliances are phasing out. Batteries are getting cheaper. Electric utes, vans and trucks are arriving. Even heavy transport is starting to shift, with electric freight trials already proving that cleaner vehicles can also be quieter, smoother and efficient.

 

The fossil fuel lobby wants us to believe the transition is impossible. But it’s already happening. Not fast enough. Not fairly enough. Not everywhere yet. But it’s happening. The beginning of the end of the internal combustion engine age. 

It won’t be marked by one dramatic announcement. Rather, by data like this: a line on a chart that stops climbing and starts to fall. 

And it’s good news.

Gregory Andrews Climate Change Articles

• Ignoring the Warning Light
• Australia’s Flagship Climate Policy Is Failing to Cut Emissions
• Winter's Here, The Snowfields Are Open, But There's No Snow
• Worried About Climate Collapse? Here's Ten Things You Can Actually Do
• Fossil Fuel Fascism: When a Dying Industry Tries to Take Democracy With It
• Climate Policy Counts Dollars and Tonnes. What if We Counted the Dead?
• The Climate Crisis is a Health Crisis
• The Science Is In: Global Warming Is Accelerating
• While We Watch Iran, the Planet Keeps Burning
• Have your say on Canberra's next Climate Strategy: It will be make or break
• Science Warns of Future Where Billions Bake
• Two Years to 1.7°C: the “Prediction Game” We Can't Afford to Lose
• Emergency Photo Ops Aren't Climate Leadership
• Why Fascists Reject Climate Science
• Don't Be Distracted: Earth's Life Support Systems Are Collapsing
• Diesel rebates for miners and a new EV tax? Australia's climate policy double-think
• What Gas is That? Get to Know Your Climate Pollutants

How Echidnas Outsmart Deadly Heat - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Scientists have found how echidnas survive heat
once believed lethal to the species

Key Points

Curtin University research found echidnas cool their blood by blowing bubbles of mucus over their beak tip.[2] Wild echidnas kept body temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius while ground temperatures reached 47 degrees Celsius.[1] A 2016 study confirmed echidnas survive bushfires through torpor, entering an energy saving state to endure the danger.[6] Population monitoring for most Australian echidnas remains absent, leaving climate resilience largely unmeasured.[7]

Short-beaked echidnas roam across Australia in conditions once considered impossible for their survival. 

Early laboratory research suggested temperatures beyond 35 degrees Celsius should kill these ancient monotremes. 

Yet echidnas persist through summers where ground temperatures climb past 47 degrees Celsius.^[1]

Curtin University researchers have now explained this apparent contradiction using thermal imaging technology. 

Wild echidnas were filmed blowing bubbles of mucus that burst and wet their beak tips. As the moisture evaporates, it draws heat from blood vessels, cooling the animal from the nose down.^[2]

Biological and Physiological Mechanisms

An echidna's beak contains a large blood sinus, a reservoir where blood pools close to the surface. This vascular structure gives the mucus bubble mechanism its cooling power. Once the bubble bursts, evaporating moisture pulls heat directly from that blood supply.^[3]

Monotremes such as echidnas cannot sweat, pant or lick themselves to shed heat. These common mammalian cooling strategies are absent from their evolutionary toolkit entirely. Researchers say this absence made the mucus bubble discovery especially significant.^[4]

Evaporative cooling works because turning liquid into vapour requires energy drawn from surrounding heat. When bubble moisture evaporates from the beak tip, it extracts thermal energy from nearby tissue. That process lowers the temperature of blood circulating through the vascular sinus.^[2]

Thermal imaging showed echidnas begin blowing bubbles once their body temperature rises alongside rising ambient heat. Dr Christine Cooper, the study's lead author, described the response as automatic under thermal stress. The behaviour intensifies as environmental temperatures continue climbing toward dangerous extremes.^[4]

Behavioural Adaptations to Heat

Echidnas complement bubble blowing by pressing their spineless bellies against cool, moist ground. Spines cover most of an echidna's body and function as flexible insulation. Bare skin on the underside and legs works as an additional thermal window.^[5]

During extreme heat, echidnas retreat into burrows, hollow logs and spaces beneath buildings. Some individuals seek out birdbaths, rivers, and beaches for direct cooling. These shelters buffer animals from radiant heat during the hottest parts of the day.^[4]

Foraging activity shifts substantially once temperatures spike beyond comfortable thresholds. Echidnas that forage by day switch toward dawn, dusk and overnight activity instead. This nocturnal shift reduces heat exposure while animals continue searching for ants and termites.^[4]

Keeping the nose moist also supports electroreception, the sense echidnas use to detect buried prey. Moist nasal receptors detect faint electrical signals from insect muscle contractions underground. Bubble blowing therefore serves cooling and feeding functions simultaneously, a dual-purpose adaptation.^[3]

Scientific Discovery and Research Methods

Curtin scientists used non-invasive infrared thermography cameras to carefully study echidnas without disturbing natural behaviour. This non-contact technology captured surface temperature patterns across the animals' bodies. Researchers filmed wild short-beaked echidnas in bushland roughly 170 kilometres southwest of Perth.^[2]

The team recorded 124 wild echidnas at least monthly across a full year of fieldwork. Surrounding air and ground temperatures were logged alongside each animal's thermal profile. Beak tips consistently registered as the coolest surface, while ears ran hottest.^[1]

Scientists previously assumed 35 degree heat was lethal based on controlled laboratory experiments. Those early studies lacked field observation of echidnas coping with real environmental extremes. Wild populations clearly exceeded laboratory predicted limits across multiple Australian regions and seasons.^[3]

Studying wild echidnas presents persistent challenges because the animals are cryptic and solitary. Their nocturnal habits during heatwaves make daytime observation increasingly difficult for field researchers. Thermal cameras offered a practical solution, capturing physiological data without handling stressed animals.^[2]

Climate Change and Survival Thresholds

Research into a 2015 prescribed burn found echidnas tolerate shelter temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius. That tolerance holds for periods of roughly ten hours before physiological strain increases. Beyond that threshold, researchers warn the cooling mechanism faces genuine failure risk.^[6]

Consecutive heatwave days compound physiological stress far beyond single hot afternoons. Echidnas rely on overnight cooling to recover from daytime heat exposure. Extended heatwaves without cooler nights erode this recovery window and heighten mortality risk.^[6]

Low humidity generally accelerates evaporation, making bubble cooling more efficient during dry heat events. However, dry conditions also increase moisture loss, forcing echidnas to blow bubbles more frequently. This trade-off links cooling efficiency directly to hydration availability across the landscape.^[6]

Longer, more frequent heatwaves under climate change could still strain echidna resilience over time. Population monitoring across most Australian states remains limited, according to conservation researchers tracking the species. Without baseline data, authorities cannot properly measure how populations respond to intensifying heat.^[7]

Interconnected Threats and Fire Survival

Entering torpor allows echidnas to survive bushfires by sheltering underground or within hollow logs. Body temperature drops substantially during torpor, reducing metabolic demand while flames pass overhead. Researchers studying a Western Australian prescribed burn found nearly every tracked echidna survived.^[6]

Despite surviving direct flames, echidnas face serious starvation risk once fire passes through their territory. Burnt landscapes offer little food, forcing animals to extend torpor for weeks afterward. Researchers recorded reduced activity and lowered body temperature lasting up to three weeks post-fire.^[6]

Underground shelters moderate the extreme heat generated by fast moving bushfires above the surface. Soil provides insulation, keeping burrow temperatures within the tolerable 35 to 40 degree range. One tracked echidna died after sheltering in a log that later caught fire.^[6]

Heatwaves and bushfires increasingly overlap under a warming climate, compounding pressure on echidna populations nationally. Citizen science projects have emerged partly because formal government monitoring remains patchy across most regions. Closing this data gap is essential for assessing long term species resilience.^[8]

Echidnas demonstrate remarkable physiological ingenuity, surviving conditions once assumed fatal for the species. Bubble blowing, sheltering, torpor and nocturnal foraging together form a layered defence against Australian heat extremes. This investigation shows science overturning decades of flawed laboratory assumptions about a resilient native mammal.

These adaptations still carry limits worth serious attention from policymakers and land managers alike. Compounding heatwaves and bushfires under climate change threaten to overwhelm even well evolved survival strategies across the continent.

Investment in consistent, nationwide population monitoring remains scarce outside a handful of well studied regions. Without accountable, sustained research funding, Australia risks losing insight into a species now facing an increasingly uncertain climate future.

References 

1. Echidnas Blow Bubbles of Snot to Stay Cool in The Australian Outback Reports Curtin University thermal imaging findings on wild echidna body temperatures against extreme ground heat.

2. Study finds blowing bubbles among echidna's tricks to beat the heat Curtin University media release detailing Dr Christine Cooper's Biology Letters research on echidna thermal windows.

3. Prickly echidnas stay cool by blowing snot bubbles Explains the beak's blood sinus anatomy and the dual cooling and electroreception function of moist nasal tissue.

4. Echidnas blow snot bubbles to cool down Covers monotreme physiology, shelter seeking behaviour and expert commentary from Australian echidna researchers.

5. Echidnas blow snot bubbles to stay cool Details how echidna spines insulate the body while spineless areas function as heat exchange windows.

6. Cool echidnas survive the fire Peer-reviewed study documenting echidna torpor, burrow temperature tolerance and post-fire recovery after a prescribed burn.

7. EchidnaCSI: Engaging the public in research and conservation of the short-beaked echidna Outlines Australia-wide gaps in formal echidna population monitoring and the citizen science response.

8. Echidna Conservation Research Australia Research group documenting the absence of baseline population data across most Australian states and territories.

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Inside Australia's Quiet Network of Climate Change Denial - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Australia harbours an organised network
that publicly rejects mainstream climate science

Key Points

A tightly networked group of politicians, commentators and organisations sustains climate scepticism across Australian media.[1] Sky News Australia and former talkback broadcaster Alan Jones have amplified sceptical narratives for decades.[3] Parliament repealed Australia's carbon tax in 2014 after years of fierce political debate.[5] Psychologists warn that perceived consensus strongly shapes public acceptance of climate science.[9]

Across Sydney broadcast studios and Canberra's parliamentary corridors, a familiar cast keeps climate scepticism alive.

Politicians, television commentators, think tanks and advocacy groups work together in loose, informal coordination.

Their combined influence stretches from talkback radio deep into federal policy debates and beyond.

A new analysis of Australian media and politics maps this network across platforms and decades in unusual detail.

It identifies a recurring set of actors who dominate discussion wherever climate scepticism surfaces online or on air.

The findings raise fresh questions about accountability, transparency, and the durability of public trust in institutions. 

A Small Circle With Outsized Reach 
Researchers describe a relatively compact group of politicians, commentators, and organisations driving most public denial. They share talking points across platforms and frequently recycle each other's material within hours. Social network mapping shows these figures consistently dominate discussion on the platforms that matter most ^[1].

Sky News Australia and The Guardian both loom unusually large within that data, though for very different reasons. One outlet amplifies scepticism to a loyal and engaged audience, while the other documents and challenges it directly. Both nonetheless attract enormous, loyal followings on YouTube and a range of other video platforms ^[1].

Analysts increasingly describe the overall pattern as a coordinated denial machine, a term describing mutually reinforcing actors who manufacture doubt. The label borrows from earlier academic studies of organised climate scepticism first observed overseas years ago. It has since been carefully adapted to fit Australia's particular media and political landscape ^[1].

What distinguishes the Australian case is the unusually tight overlap between media, politics and industry interests. Figures who question climate science often move fluidly between these three overlapping worlds throughout their careers. That mobility helps their messaging travel further and land harder than isolated commentary ^[2]. 

The Media Machine 
Opinion segments on News Corp platforms routinely privilege sceptical voices over mainstream scientific consensus. Commentators there have built loyal, engaged audiences spanning television, radio and social media. Sky News Australia in particular sits at the centre of this broader ecosystem ^[2].

Talkback radio has played a strikingly similar role in Australian public life for decades. Former Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones became a lightning rod for these long-running debates over the years. His commentary shaped public opinion well beyond the reach of his immediate radio audience ^[3][2].

Regulators have occasionally intervened when broadcast coverage crossed into outright misinformation territory. The Australian Communications and Media Authority, the national regulator, found Sky News breached standards over its reef coverage. The finding exposed persistent tension between commercial ratings pressure and factual accuracy ^[1].

Whether such recommendations translate into lasting, enforceable policy remains an open question. A parliamentary inquiry nonetheless urged tougher action against the spread of climate misinformation online. It called for greater platform accountability alongside sustained funding for independent regional media ^[4]. 

Politics on the Fault Line 
Climate scepticism has quietly shaped Australian federal politics for well over a decade. That contentious debate culminated in Parliament voting to repeal the country's short-lived carbon tax. The decision followed years of fierce, deeply personal political argument in 2014 ^[5][6].

The carbon tax's tortuous legislative history illustrates how climate policy can become hostage to ideology. Successive governments of both political persuasions struggled to hold consistent, durable positions on emissions reduction. Sceptical backbenchers on both sides of politics frequently exploited that underlying instability for short-term advantage.

Regional and minor parties have often amplified public doubts about the economic cost of climate action. Katter's Australian Party (KAP) has been especially vocal in challenging mainstream scientific consensus. Nationals figures within the Coalition have echoed similar arguments inside Party rooms ^[7]. 

 

Nationals leader Matt Canavan memorably dismissed one parliamentary climate policy inquiry as fundamentally biased. His public dissent reflected a broader current of scepticism running through conservative political ranks. Hansard, the official transcript of parliamentary proceedings, preserves these exchanges as part of the formal record ^[7]. 

Think Tanks, Blogs and the Digital Front 
Think tanks such as the Global Warming Policy Forum help coordinate sceptical messaging internationally. Its rebranded arm, Net Zero Watch, pushes remarkably similar arguments toward new audiences. Beyond parliament and prime-time television, this quieter infrastructure sustains climate doubt online daily ^[2].

Independent blogs extend that reach into niche but devoted online communities. Sites including Watts Up With That and JoNova repackage sceptical content daily. Their posts frequently resurface on more mainstream platforms within hours of publication ^[2].

Social media analysis shows a number of accounts driving most engagement. These accounts consistently link back to the same small handful of external sources. That concentration limits the diversity of information reaching ordinary social media users ^[1].

One government coral health report became a case study in this recurring dynamic. Sceptical commentators quickly reframed its technical findings to deliberately downplay the extent of reported reef damage. The episode showed how easily complex scientific data can be repurposed for political ends online ^[1].
 

Pushback From Science and Society 
Scientists and civil society groups have continued speaking out throughout this long-running debate. Many have turned toward public deliberation rather than direct confrontation. One documented case study traces a sceptical politician changing his mind after sustained dialogue ^[8].

Researchers cite the episode as evidence that entrenched minds can still change. The shift followed a televised panel discussion involving scientists and concerned citizens. Conversations continued afterwards, spilling across social media and local community forums ^[8].

Psychologists warn that perceived scientific consensus strongly shapes public acceptance of climate science. Clear, carefully calibrated messaging can gradually reduce the entrenchment of denial. Poorly designed debunking efforts can sometimes harden existing scepticism further ^[9].

Australia's often fractious domestic debates unfold against a much larger global backdrop. The Paris Agreement reshaped global expectations around climate finance and accountability. It pushed national governments to better balance funding between adaptation and mitigation efforts ^[10].

Australia's climate denial network operates openly across public life rather than covertly behind closed doors. It spans federal parliament, mainstream broadcast media and fast-growing social platforms alike. Its true influence, though, remains frequently underestimated by casual observers and policymakers alike.

The network functions less like a formal conspiracy than a self-sustaining media ecosystem. Its many actors reinforce each other constantly without needing centralised coordination. That looseness makes the wider system unusually resilient to individual political setbacks.

Regulatory rulings and parliamentary inquiries offer only partial checks on this entrenched behaviour. Stronger enforcement and sustained transparency remain essential for lasting public accountability. Australia's climate debate will stay unresolved until governance genuinely matches scientific consensus.

References
1. A case study of the Great Barrier Reef's 2021 'in danger' listing bid This peer-reviewed case study maps the social network of Australian climate-sceptic actors and outlets.

2. The Structure and Culture of Climate Change Denial This sociological analysis describes the coordinated structure behind organised climate scepticism.

3. Alan Jones DeSmog profiles the Sydney broadcaster's long record of climate-sceptic commentary.

4. Australia has to fight back against misinformation about climate change This report covers a parliamentary inquiry recommendation on climate misinformation.

5. Australia votes to repeal carbon tax This report covers the 2014 parliamentary vote repealing Australia's carbon tax.

6. Carbon tax: a timeline of its tortuous history in Australia This timeline traces the political history of Australia's carbon tax debate.

7. Hansard AustralianPolitics.com hosts the official transcript of federal parliamentary debate.

8. How a climate change sceptic politician changed their mind This journal article documents a sceptical politician's shift after public deliberation.

9. The psychology of climate change denial The Australian Psychological Society explains how perceived consensus shapes public acceptance.

10. The Paris Agreement: Turning Point for a Climate Solution The World Resources Institute outlines the Paris Agreement's finance and accountability provisions.

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A nature-based food revolution - Julian Cribb

Surviving the 21st Century - Julian Cribb

AUTHOR Julian Cribb AM ATSE is an Australian science writer and author of seven books on the human existential emergency.  He is Co-founder, Council for the Human Future.  Julian Cribb's latest book is How to Fix a Broken Planet (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Forget AI. The technological advance that will save the most human lives is being led by two million Indian farmers, who are pioneering advanced natural food production in a revolutionary movement that is spreading almost by the hour.

An overfed but badly-nourished, global society has largely forgotten what it means to go hungry. 

So long as supermarket shelves are a-bulge with empty industrial calories laced with petrochemicals, people tend to forget that no human or community can last long without good food.  

A super-El Nino bearing down on the world’s agriculture threatens to reinforce the lesson.

The global food crisis has been building steadily for two decades. It is driven by massive uncontrolled soil loss, growing water scarcity, failing farm ecosystems, overuse of poisons, declining nutritional value of food and a climate running rapidly beyond the realm of technical solution.

In India, where climate-driven famines have occurred frequently over thousands of years, the hard-learned lesson that food comes first has not been lost. 

A farmers group called Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) has received the world’s largest environmental award, the Food Planet Prize 2026, for developing and sharing a new model of science-backed agroecology aimed at securing both food production and the environment that supports it.

Driven primarily by women’s groups, the Andra Pradesh farming revolution began with just 11 farms in 2018. Thanks to 10,000 eager volunteer trainers it has been taken up by over 1.8 million small farms in 21 Indian States in under a decade.

The AP model has already been shared with farmers in Zambia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, with Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and the DRCongo due to follow shortly. The plan is to extend it worldwide by the mid 2030s.

Unlike a good many ‘natural farming’ movements, the Andra Pradesh model is science-driven, fusing state-of-the-art soil and plant science and microbiology with traditional methods and widely-accepted principles of natural farming.

In essence, the AP approach gets soil microbes to do the heavy lifting. These are used to restore lost fertility, build nutrient cycling and boost carbon storage while also improving the aeration and water penetration of the soils, leading to better, more nutritious and drought-resistant crops in harsh climate times. They eliminate the need for toxic chemicals and reduce the need for industrial fertiliser.

While it has strong support from India’s State and Federal Governments the lynchpin of the project’s success are hundreds of women’s self-help groups, who ensure local ownership by participating communities. At local level the program seeks to engage 10-15 per cent of village farms in the first year and reach over 80% by years 3-5.

At its heart, the AP model uses year-round cover crops to protect the soil, promote microbial activity, prevent weeds, end chemical use, rebuild soil fertility and structure, and conserve more moisture to ‘droughtproof’ farms. More than 30 different crops are grown, from grains and legumes to leafy vegetables, cover crops and soil improvers. 

The technique has been refined for farming at every scale from kitchen garden and smallholdings up to tenant farms and commercial operations. Above all, it is designed to deliver a viable livelihood to poor farmers with only a few hundred square metres of arable land, who can start earning income within 15 days. In practice, farm incomes were found to improve by between 19-36% in the first year.

While it might look like a case of ‘high science/low technology’ the AP method does not shun recent technical innovations such as the use of drones for farm planning and seeding. It uses sophisticated innoculants to re-establish complex soil biology in dying soils. 

Also, unlike most modern farming methods, the AP approach focuses strongly on the nutritional value of the crops being grown, especially for the families growing them. In other words, it sees farming as being about healthy food – not as the neglected limb of an uncaring industrial machine focussed purely on money.

This represents an important departure from traditional western agro-industry, with its focus on bulk commodities of declining nutritional value, health and safety – one from which more and more western farmers, shackled to corporate food, increasingly wish to break free.

The US$1.5 million Curt Bergfors Food Planet Prize will go towards opening up more demonstration sites worldwide for the AP natural farming model, adapting it to local conditions and farmer needs, to building new scientific partnerships, establishing a natural farming leadership course and training a cadre of “farmer-scientists” able to measure the results they achieve scientifically.

The salient aspect of the Andra Pradesh project is that it is not alone. Worldwide the regenerative farming and food movement is mushrooming as farmers abandon the toxic, mechanical systems of yesterday. Worth an estimated $17 billion in 2026, ‘regen; is forecast to reach $50bn by the early 2030s, due to rising farmer and consumer demand.

Whether such a scale-up can feed a hungry planet of 9 billion people, beset by climate crisis, resource loss and mass extinction remains doubtful – unless at the same time there is success in voluntarily lowering the human populationcloser to what the Earth can actually carry long-term. The fact that women are leading both global movements – family planning and regenerative food – gives grounds for sober hope that a collapse in human society can be defrayed, and that female intelligence will prevail over male hubris.

While the masculine techno boosters hail developments such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics and biotech as the next big frontiers in technology, regenerative and renewable food are arguably far more significant to the human destiny – and to the fate of every individual living on Earth.

After all, nobody can eat AI, robots or corporate dollars. Nor can those alone protect and restore a habitable planet for our grandchildren.

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Coal and gas giants spending tens of millions on programs in schools and children's sport - ABC

ABC — Senior Political Correspondent Jake Evans

A report has identified more than 260 mining-backed programs in children's settings, saying taken together it shows a network of influence on young people. (Glencore/Comms Declare)

In Short

A new report has identified a network of more than 260 coal, oil and gas-sponsored programs in childhood settings. Comms Declare says it paints a picture of an "extensive industry presence" in schools and children's sport, including direct teaching by mining companies and partners in some instances. Greens and independent senators say questions over whether more transparency and guardrails for industry-sponsored education should be examined through a senate inquiry.

Coal, oil and gas companies are spending tens of millions of dollars on programs in childhood settings, with a new report revealing the scale of investments by the resources industry to lift its brand and influence.
A network of more than 260 teaching programs, children's sport club sponsorships, partnerships with educational institutions and more has been funded by Santos, Shell, Chevron, BHP and other mining companies, climate advocacy group Comms Declare has identified.
Researchers found more than $50 million had been spent by mining companies in just six of those programs, suggesting far more is being spent by the industry across school and youth institutions.
While some are branding deals, such as Woodside Nippers in WA, others are years-long partnerships, like Queensland Museum's climate education program supported by Shell QGC, multi-day camps or mining site tours, or teaching training courses.
Many of those programs have helped to drive jobs for young people, particularly in regional areas, and prop up community organisations struggling for funding. Governments also expect the highly profitable sector to reinvest in the communities that it operates.
But the report says there are no dedicated oversight mechanisms for industry partnerships in childhood settings, few disclosure requirements for sponsorship arrangements involving schools and in some cases, little governance over how industries engage with children under those partnerships.
"A child may recognise that a television commercial is trying to sell them something. They are far less likely to view information provided by a teacher, museum educator, sporting coach or educational institution through the same lens," researchers said.
"Viewed individually, many of these programs may appear limited in scope. Viewed collectively, they reveal an extensive industry presence across the environments in which children learn, play and grow."

Comms Declare identified a number of partnerships between industry and schools, many of which are state-supported. (Comms Declare)

Lesson plans provided by mining industry

The report also raises questions over the quality of education available through some of the teaching resources offered to classrooms.
"Some educational programs and materials reviewed for this report presented climate impacts while giving limited attention to the role of fossil fuel production in driving those impacts," researchers said.
"In several cases, climate change was framed primarily through adaptation, technological responses or individual behaviour."
Comms Declare pointed to Woodside-supported teaching materials as one example.
The researchers cite a Woodside Australian Science Project (WASP) resource that says "while we often think that greenhouse gas emissions are only from industrial activities, we all contribute to the global carbon footprint", which then guides children "at length" to consider their contribution to global warming by how they get to school, without mentioning that CO2 emissions are primarily driven by the use of coal, oil and gas.
A 2021 corporate report by Woodside said its WASP project had reached 12,300 children "in-classroom" and provided professional development to thousands of teachers, and said of the early-career educators it had engaged, "100 per cent of pre-service teachers intend to use WASP resources in their classroom".
Woodside told the ABC it did not provide content for the education programs it helps to fund, and the specific content was a matter for the funding recipients that delivered those programs.

Comms Declare says many of the programs it identified provided valuable services to in-need communities. (Santos/Comms Declare)

In Queensland, a program called Oresome Resources, supported by the Queensland Resources Council, offers to "take the pressure off lesson planning" with material provided through its education arm, the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy.
The council says Oresome Resources recorded more than 43,500 users this financial year, and all its workshops align with the Australian curriculum and are developed by educators with a science education background, and that the site's lessons are regularly reviewed and updated.
Some of the materials, however, appear not to have been updated since 2010.
The site acknowledges some materials provide a "point of view of the minerals and energy sector", such as a PowerPoint presentation on the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources that describes solar power as "not reliable" because it is not always sunny and the "cost of power is high", while saying one advantage of solar is its "limited CO2 emissions".
Coal, the presentation says, provides "income from exports" and is a "source of cheap, reliable electricity", while noting it emits air pollutants such as carbon dioxide and uses large amounts of water.

An infographic on wind turbines, which emphasises that renewables production depends on coal, produced by the Queensland Resources Council and provided to students through Oresome Resources. (Oresome Resources)

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Janette Hewson said the minerals and energy academy was a partnership between the state government and industry that was highly regarded, and funded by successive governments over its 20-year history.
The academy says students at schools it has partnered with are three times more likely to pursue an apprenticeship in mining, and also more likely to pursue study in engineering or related fields at university.
A previous report by Comms Declare in 2025 identified a Queensland Museum program supported by Shell QGC that encouraged students to design their own carbon capture and storage technology, which was removed for review following that report.

Demand for senate inquiry

Greens early childhood spokesperson Steph Hodgins-May said resources companies were spending money in order to exert influence.
"I can't imagine if my son came home from school, or my daughter said they had been dressed up in a Santos T-shirt and were learning about oil from a corporation who, you know, makes billions of dollars off Australia's resources, pays very little tax and is frankly in there to build their social licence," Senator Hodgins-May said.
"Profits are their bottom line. If they are spending money on a program, they need to be able to demonstrate to their shareholders that there is a return on that — and I don't blame the corporations, they are going to do what they can do to make money, but I blame the government.
"I find it extraordinary that there has been no oversight over this for so long; we think it urgently demands a Senate inquiry."

Steph Hodgins-May will advocate for the issue to be referred to a senate inquiry. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Comms Declare said many of the sponsorship arrangements it reviewed provided genuine and valuable services within under-resourced communities.
But the researchers said the partnerships raised broader questions about whether existing transparency and accountability mechanisms were sufficient.
A 2020 review of school banking programs by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, prompted by revelations that Commonwealth Bank staff had fraudulently activated children's Dollarmites accounts to meet sales targets, found young children were "vulnerable consumers" being exposed to sophisticated marketing tactics.
Its rulings resulted in some banking programs being removed from schools.
Independent senator David Pocock said vested interests should not be trusted to provide education without oversight.
"These are companies that have a track record of trying to shape the public understanding of climate change, of trying to shape the public debate around climate change," Senator Pocock said.
"We don't allow tobacco companies to go into schools and teach about respiratory health, or whatever it might be. This is something we have got to be looking at.

David Pocock says companies with vested interests should not be teaching their own material. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

"They engage in children's education and all these programs to try and shape what young people are learning and understand about the gas industry and fossil fuels in Australia."
The senator added that schools should be properly funded to provide education themselves, rather than having to rely on industry to step in.