Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · 19d

Air temperatures 30km above the Southern Ocean & Antarctica have climbed to 30C above average, driving a hotter, drier SE Australia. Last time this phenomenon occurred was 2019 - you may recall what happened next.... By @petrastock.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Abnormally hot days may hit Australia’s south-east after rare sudden warming over Antarctica

Phenomenon extremely unusual in southern hemisphere and last occurred in 2019 when it contributed to worsening of black summer bushfires

www.theguardian.com

1 1

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Sep 9

'It’s time for outfits that attack science and scientists to pay the price for the threat they pose to human civilisation.' Alas no. Rather, Lachlan gets promoted and the siblings who might have contained him take the $1bn+ buyout.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Science is under siege from weaponised disinformation – posing a threat to human civilisation | Michael Mann and Peter Hotez

From Covid misinformation to climate denialism, understanding the divergent paths of Australia and the US can help us fight the powerful forces that threaten our world

www.theguardian.com

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Aug 20

And in other news ... "catastrophic consequences for generations to come ....The research shows the accelerating effects of climate change – even if it is limited to 2 degrees – are placing the West Antarctic Ice Shelf in “severe” risk of collapse".
www.smh.com.au/national/emp...

Emperor penguins and three-metre sea level rises: the cost of Antarctica’s warming

The West Antarctic Ice Shelf contains enough ice to raise sea levels by three metres, and the tipping point for its collapse could be exceeded even under “best-case” carbon emission reduction pathways...

www.smh.com.au

1

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Aug 5

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · Aug 5

Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

HHS Winds Down mRNA Vaccine Development Under BARDA

WASHINGTON, DC—AUGUST 5, 2025—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations. The decision follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

550 6.8K 18K

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Royce Kurmelovs @roycerk2.bsky.social · Aug 3

The dark cruelty of a contrarian small press that has pledged to print history "as is" defending its decision to remove the secret code this guy used to document his murders from his diaries as "unprintable", and so censoring the destruction of a people by editing history, is just next level.

Royce Kurmelovs @roycerk2.bsky.social · Aug 3

Incredible work.

The killing code: strange symbols in a WA settler’s diaries lay bare frontier atrocities

Exclusive: Stories of murders passed down by Yamatji elders are confirmed by a cipher hidden in the 1850s journals of prominent pastoralist Major Logue. Now descendants on both sides want to break the...

www.theguardian.com

6 42 92

Reposted by Jo Chandler

David Ritter @david-ritter.bsky.social · Jul 24

It also found that the legal consequences for states that breach these obligations could include paying reparations to injured states.

Truly a moment of hope #ICJAO

www.smh.com.au/environment/...

Countries can be sued by neighbours over climate inaction, top court finds

The International Court of Justice’s historic advisory ruling paves the way for massive compensation claims from countries facing the brunt of the climate crisis.

www.smh.com.au

10 8

Reposted by Jo Chandler

David Ritter @david-ritter.bsky.social · Jul 24

Last night, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its advisory opinion, finding that states must take appropriate action to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees, and that a failure to do so may constitute a wrongful act.

www.greenpeace.org.au/news/worlds-...

World’s highest court delivers historic protections for climate-impacted communities - Greenpeace Australia Pacific

SYDNEY, Thursday, 24 July 2025 – The historic Pacific-led campaign to hold countries accountable for the climate damage they have caused  has been backed by the world’s highest court overnight,&h...

www.greenpeace.org.au

1 6 8

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Blair Palese @blairpalese.bsky.social · Jul 16

Never thought I'd see this day! A #carbon price back on the policy menu? It’s always been the best approach for companies to get to #netzero - let’s do it! Thanks @riotinto.bsky.social (wait...did I actually type that?). www.skynews.com.au/australia-ne... #auspol

5 22 47

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Miki Perkins @mikiperkins.bsky.social · Jul 16

I wrote something about the Pabai case for Crikey:

www.crikey.com.au/2025/07/16/t...

I met with the Torres Strait Islander elders who lost their landmark climate case. They won't give up

Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai, two brothers-in-law, are exemplars of the extraordinary commitment of ordinary people pursuing climate justice.

www.crikey.com.au

1 14 31

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Jul 12

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘We don’t want to be climate refugees’: Torres Strait uncles fear for their islands and their people

This week Australia’s federal court is due to make a decision in a landmark climate case that could safeguard the future of the island communities

www.theguardian.com

1

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · Jul 7

World leaders must take “immediate, unprecedented action” to prevent devastating climate tipping points, experts say

#climatecrisis
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

‘Tipping points’ experts issue urgent message to world leaders

World leaders must take “immediate, unprecedented action” to prevent devastating climate tipping points, experts say. The Global Tipping Points Conference is taking place in Exeter this week, and almo...

news.exeter.ac.uk

14 80 200

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Jul 5

Tragedy in Texas hill country, where 4 months’ worth of rain in just four hours caused Guadalupe River levels to spike 30 feet in just an hour and a half - in the middle of the night.

Two dozen are dead in the resulting floods and another 20 young campers still missing.

apnews.com/article/texa...

Why the Texas floods were so severe

Flooding rains in and around Kerr County had brought a widespread 10 to 15 total inches by Friday morning. Four months of rainfall came down in four hours.

www.washingtonpost.com

21 260 630

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Jul 5

'Too many people in power or with platforms "have not yet understood that we’re in a war of language – and a war of the truth – about the climate", she added (Luisa Neubauer, a German activist from Fridays for Future). “And too few of us are actively standing in the way of that.”

Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · Jul 5

"Too many people in power or with platforms 'have not yet understood that we’re in a war of language – and a war of the truth – about the climate ... And too few of us are actively standing in the way of that.'”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘A war of the truth’: Europe’s heatwaves are failing to spur support for climate action

Voters may feel hotter summers are ‘too much’ but they appear to tolerate roll-back of policies to stop global heating

www.theguardian.com

2

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · Jul 5

Just started reading Syntony and Spark by Hugh H.G. Aitken, 1976. Lovely bit on creativity; interesting to reeamine in light of claims in AI.

The temptation is, then, to see something mystical in creativ-
ity, to argue that, no matter how closely we analyze the context

in which creative acts occur, there will always be an irreducible
residue that evades systematic explanation. This must be so, we
tell ourselves, because in the nature of the case a creative act
cannot be completely explained in terms of prior circumstances.

If it could, it would not be truly creative. Creativity, the appear-
ance of something truly new, necessarily involves a leap beyond

anything that the "givens" in a situation can explain.
Now, for scientists to say, "We do not yet know," in answer to a
problem posed to them, is no reason for embarrassment. For

behind the surface humility of the statement lies confidence that
eventually, through science, we can know. But to say, "We shall
never know," is a different matter entirely, for implied by that
response is the belief that some matters by their very nature are
forever closed to human understanding. This is not something
that, in our role as scientists, we should be too ready to admit. To
assert that there is in creativity something necessarily beyond
explanation may well be a premature and unnecessary retreat to
mysticism.

3 7 19

Reposted by Jo Chandler

The Citizen @thecitizenau.bsky.social · Jun 13

Frustrated with what they describe as the Australian Government’s failure to protect them from catastrophic global heating, a group of young Australians are taking their concerns to the United Nations. If Canberra won’t listen, they say, perhaps Geneva will. @ashleighwyss.bsky.social reports.

Generation Justice: Young Australians take climate cry for help to UN

Frustrated with what they describe as the Australian Government’s failure to protect them from catastrophic global heating, a group of young Australians are taking their concerns to the United Nations...

www.thecitizen.org.au

2 3

Reposted by Jo Chandler

The Citizen @thecitizenau.bsky.social · Jun 26

Carli Reeve is part of a grassroots movement gathering data, asking questions about the environmental implications of seismic surveys, in particular on little penguin colonies, and urging a national moratorium on the practice. Theoné van der Merwe reports.

Co-published with @crikey.com.au

Citizen science deals a blow to west Victoria seismic blasting plans

Carli Reeve is part of a grassroots movement gathering data, asking questions about the environmental implications of seismic surveys, in particular on little penguin colonies, and urging a national m...

www.thecitizen.org.au

1 3

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Jun 26

Atul Gawande, a former senior official at USAID, wrote online: “This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children’s lives a year – and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

RFK Jr will be ‘personally responsible’ for children’s deaths by halting vaccine alliance funding, experts say

US health secretary says US will decline to renew funding for Gavi, a partnership that works to provide vaccines for poorest countries

www.theguardian.com

1 2

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Crikey @crikey.com.au · Jun 26

Seismic blasting is the first step in offshore oil and gas exploration — but little is known about its effects on marine life.

Do it for the little penguins: Citizen science deals a blow to Otway seismic blasting plans

Carli Reeve is part of a grassroots movement gathering data, asking questions about the environmental implications of seismic surveys and urging a national moratorium on the practice.

www.crikey.com.au

1 5 19

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Jen Christiansen @jenchristiansen.com · Jun 25

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪

Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science

These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults

www.scientificamerican.com

320 6.1K 10K

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Michael Slezak @mikeyslezak.bsky.social · Jun 25

Seems more relevant now than ever. @antoinettelattouf.bsky.social

MEAA @withmeaa.bsky.social · Feb 6

The ABC must commission an independent inquiry into the broadcaster’s independence from outside interference and apologise for allowing external pressure to influence the dismissal of Antoinette Lattouf and attempts to have other journalists sacked.
https://buff.ly/4hCtsaM
#MEAAmedia

19 32

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · Jun 20

A new addition to my TAS investigations. This is one of the most egregious cases of govt negligence I’ve ever come across.
Tasmanians need to question how their child protection bodies are run. It’s a disgrace.
#politas

A Story Of Child Protection Gone Wrong - Tasmanian Times

Nick Feik reveals how Tasmania's child protection services failed to intervene effectively in an apparent grooming case.

tasmaniantimes.com

2 25 53

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Royce Kurmelovs @roycerk2.bsky.social · Jun 19

A clear illustration of how the Australian diplomatic corps were the first to understand the value of modelling and put it to work to derail attempts to address climate change.

For more on this, check out the story I published with @drilledmedia.bsky.social about the origins of ABARE and this idea.

3 11 30

Reposted by Jo Chandler

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Jun 20

Another piece about heat waves around the world that does not mention climate change...

A heat dome is about to bring extreme heat and humidity to more than 200 million

Maps show where extreme humidity and 90- or 100-degree temperatures will affect around 255 million people across the United States.

www.washingtonpost.com

4 17 91

Jo Chandler @jochandler.bsky.social · Jun 19

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Planet’s reflective cloud coverage is shrinking - and amplifying the climate crisis, research finds

Study from Nasa and Australian universities shows cloud coverage at the poles has shrunk over past 24 years, but mystery of 2023 global temperature spike remains

www.theguardian.com

1